Fighter Boys: Saving Britain 1940

Автор

Patrick Bishop

Жанр

Историческая литература

Год написания книги

2018

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Other atavistic instincts were stirring; the impulses to marry, or at least to have sex. The pre-war RAF discouraged officers from matrimony under the age of thirty. This was partly out of parsimony, partly out of considerations of efficiency and the desire to foster a mess-centred squadron spirit. What the service needed were single men free of family responsibilities, ready to move, at virtually no notice, where and when they were needed. Pilots had to seek the permission of their commanding officers before taking a wife. Failure to secure it meant no married quarters accommodation and no allowances. As the year wore on, the number of requests multiplied. On getting engaged to his girlfriend, Annette, Pete Brothers had to appear before Group Captain Dick Grice, the Biggin Hill commandant, who, ‘fortunately…was a very charming chap. He was sitting behind a desk smoking a pipe, and he said, “You’re very young” – I was just 21 – “what if I refuse?” I said in that case it would be very difficult to send him an invitation to the wedding.’

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