M
mike-g
Guest
A cutting I found in my fathers diary for 1951. I dont know what " soldier " said in his letter to prompt my father to write this reply.
ALLOW me to congratulate
Soldier and say how
much I enjoyed the spirit behind his article on defence in Public Opinion last Thursday. My conscience was .....ed, because I am one of many hundreds of ex-Service men in Birmingham who are
young, healthy and ex‑
perienced in the art of war
(and leadership). I would like to tell "Soldier" why I am not still in uniform.
I volunteered for service twice prior to 1939 and again in the black period of 1939. I was called up on 1 September, 1939
My wife and I had been married two years and had a neat, small house, all our own. During the bombing my wife went to live with mother. It is quite a long, involved story —but we lost our little house. (Houses were plentiful in those days, there was a war on, wha t did we care?)
We registered with the Estates Department in 1944, and now, after 6.5 years, we are still waiting for a house.
On my demobilisation in December, 1945, I hung around for a while, and then rejoined a local Territorial A.A unit.
I finished my service this year to become a fully-fledged house-hunter.
My wife and I and our two children are not Welsh, Irish, or Scots; we are just
" Brummies," so what chance have we with our City Fathers where houses are concerned?
I am' " Soldier," as you may have guessed, a little bitter. If the worst came I suppose I should have another go., because I am one of thousands of others I love this blessed England, but having four times volunteered and lost my house as a result of it, I for one am going cautiously. I do not expect reward or even preferential treatment for my services, but I did expect a fair
deal. .
For my part I say: Let the men who have homes to fight for do the fighting. Me, I'll grab a house.
" DISILLUSIONED." Birmingham, 6.
Public Opinion
He wants a home
to defend!
Soldier and say how
much I enjoyed the spirit behind his article on defence in Public Opinion last Thursday. My conscience was .....ed, because I am one of many hundreds of ex-Service men in Birmingham who are
young, healthy and ex‑
perienced in the art of war
(and leadership). I would like to tell "Soldier" why I am not still in uniform.
I volunteered for service twice prior to 1939 and again in the black period of 1939. I was called up on 1 September, 1939
My wife and I had been married two years and had a neat, small house, all our own. During the bombing my wife went to live with mother. It is quite a long, involved story —but we lost our little house. (Houses were plentiful in those days, there was a war on, wha t did we care?)
We registered with the Estates Department in 1944, and now, after 6.5 years, we are still waiting for a house.
On my demobilisation in December, 1945, I hung around for a while, and then rejoined a local Territorial A.A unit.
I finished my service this year to become a fully-fledged house-hunter.
My wife and I and our two children are not Welsh, Irish, or Scots; we are just
" Brummies," so what chance have we with our City Fathers where houses are concerned?
I am' " Soldier," as you may have guessed, a little bitter. If the worst came I suppose I should have another go., because I am one of thousands of others I love this blessed England, but having four times volunteered and lost my house as a result of it, I for one am going cautiously. I do not expect reward or even preferential treatment for my services, but I did expect a fair
deal. .
For my part I say: Let the men who have homes to fight for do the fighting. Me, I'll grab a house.
" DISILLUSIONED." Birmingham, 6.
