91Èȱ¬

I was only a baby at the start of the war, so I have no personal memories of my uncle Glenn, though he did once hold me in his arms as a baby. The family story goes that he handed me back because I was wet. Glenn loved kids though, and would play on the floor with Stephen for ages.

We lived in Monterey in California, and I can remember rationing. That's right — rationing in the States. It obviously wasn't on the scale experienced over here, but I can remember queuing with my mother to collect our rations. They restricted things like chocolate, nylons, and meat.

I first became aware of the Glenn Miller legend when I opened the door to a khaki cliff in front of me with brass buttons disappearing up to the sky. He asked if my mother was in. This was the official announcement to the family that Glenn had gone missing. He was due to be involved in a live broadcast to the States that night and they couldn't cancel it. They were also keen to make sure that the family didn't find out about the disappearance by hearing it on the radio. Hence the personal visit. I can remember various members of the family being collected together to hear the news.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.