A Daughter's Journey Through War and Reunion

I was born in Heston, Middlesex, three months before the war started. I lived with my aunt and mother and started school at four, walking to school on my own, when the doodlebugs started coming down.

We lived in an upstairs flat in Leigh-on-Sea, with no bathroom and an outside toilet.

Leigh houses had been evacuated and a lot of the streets were billets for soldiers because they believed the invasion forces would come down the Thames. The Empire Cinema and garage next door were used as a dining hall for the troops in 1944. I went to North Street School.

My Dad, Raymond Sinclair was in 3 company Grenadier Guards and was at Dunkirk. He was sent to Louth in Lincolnshire.

The first time I remember seeing my Dad was when I was four and I was in hospital with scarlet fever and I remember him looking down at me as I was in isolation. When I next saw my Dad two years later, I didn't know who he was.

My Dad was sent to North Africa and then to Italy and ended up as Batman to his company. My Dad was carrying an ammunition box with another soldier in Italy (about 1943) when the other soldier was shot through the head and killed.