Memories of Captain Dennis Glover
Dennis Glover was born in December 1920. An only child, he grew up in Highbury in a family of chemists. He was always smartly dressed though slight in stature, at 5'8 ". At school, he had the nickname 'flea.' When he left school, he got a place at the University of Cambridge to study physics. He had just started his studies when he was called up. Capt. Glover would serve throughout the war with the Royal Corps of Signals.
Shortly after commissioning, Dennis was trained to ride a motorbike. He had to jumpstart the vehicle with his left foot and jump on. This proved tricky for an individual who lacked hand-eye coordination. Training in the Yorkshire Dales, led by a non-commissioned officer (NCO), they were initially travelling well. Stopping to do a headcount, however, the NCO found one trainee missing - Dennis. He'd gone straight into a stone wall and flew over it. He was eventually found sprawled out on the other side, reportedly saying: "They never taught me how to turn!" He'd managed to break every webbing strap in his crash helmet but walked away unscathed.
At one point, early in his career when he was still in England, he was responsible for communications between anti-aircraft batteries. On one occasion, he was due to visit a factory and check on the communications. However, the whole batch of munitions got destroyed, costing the lives of many men and women - something that greatly affected Dennis, according to his daughter and son-in-law.
On the evening of 6 June 1944, he was reportedly down in Portsmouth looking for a boat to take him across the channel. Looking rather vacant on the quayside, he was approached by a young, smartly dressed naval Lieutenant who gave him a crisp salute and said: "Excuse me, sir, are you looking to get across to France this evening?" He said: "Yes. Do you have a place on your boat? I've orders to cross as quickly as possible." The naval Lieutenant accompanied him to his ship. As they boarded, the junior officer turned around and gave another crisp salute. "As you're the most senior officer on the ship, you are now in command," he said. Dennis knew very little about boats and so quickly delegated command back to the naval Lieutenant.
Dennis was an accomplished ballroom dancer and was very keen on Glenn Miller's music. A Miller track would later be played at his funeral. In recollections he shared with his daughter, Dennis purported to be in the 1944 audience in Paris waiting for the renowned recording artist to conduct the Glenn Miller Orchestra (AAF Band) when he never arrived. He later found out that Miller's plane had disappeared over the English Channel. The performance was instead conducted by Jerry Gray.
