Letters from a Teenager, Battle of Britain 1940

The following are 2 letters that my late father sent to his evacuated Sister during the Battle of Britain in WW2. When I first read the letters I was overwhelmed. Copies have been sent to the Imperial War Musium in London; who have asked for the originals.

The letters tell a remarkable story of how one teenager tried to go about his 'normal' daily life amid the death and destruction going on all around at the time.

What is impressive is the matter-of-fact way he described the devastation of London, night after night. I noted too, that everyone fought their way to work the next day despite the hardships and lack of sleep the night before. These letters are a lesson to the modern day whinger generation "Look, this is what we did, this is what we were".

First letter September 1940

Letter to sister IDA.
113 Peterborough Road
9th September 1940.

Dear Ida.
Thanks for the note which Mum brought back with her. When I was reading the bit "I hope that it is quieter for you now", we were going through the worst air raid in history. As you said it is like reading a thriller not knowing what is on the next page. I will try to describe what is happening starting from last Saturday and finishing I don’t know when. Here goes.

Saturday 7th Sept 1940.
Quiet morning after the now usual night of a few planes droning to and frow with the occasional bomb in the distance and bursts of gunfire. The bombs make an awful scream which can be heard for miles. For the most part however they are dropping great flares which light up the entire sky.

Saturday afternoon one or two of our planes go over but there is a strange stillness everywhere like a calm before a storm. At about a quarter to five there was a roar of planes going overhead towards the coast. they were our fighters. I guessed what that meant and soon after there was a tremendous roar of planes. I rushed out to get Mum as the sirens were going, She was walking the dog. Having got her in, I went into the garden with Dads field glasses and saw over the hospital a black cloud of planes, we heard later that there were over 150 in this bunch. The ground was shaking with a great barrage of gunfire and the shells were bursting just ahead of this cloud. I remember holding a tea cloth up over my head, as though that would have been of much use. Mum and Dad stayed in the house which was the best place. The planes were very high so appeared to be going very slowly, the guns were going frantic and the shell bursts were like balls of cotton wool all around them. With the field glasses the cloud separated into hundreds of small dots, big dots going steadily from the hospital chimney towards Canterbury School, whilst all around them, dozens more smaller dots which was their fighter escort, twisted and turned all over the place. When they were over the school, the guns went wild, we learnt afterwards they couldn’t quite get the height but even so it was too much for the planes and they all turned back but only for a while. Suddenly the guns stopped and down from above came about a dozen of our fighters. They split the bombers up into small groups which again turned back towards London. As a group got clear of our fighters so the guns opened up on them.

Back over the main group a series of dog fights was taking place and I watched as a plane came spiralling down to crash somewhere behind the hospital. Soon a white dot appeared getting larger slowly and I picked out a man on a parachute. He landed safely in Wanstead and was one of ours.

This same thing was happening in many other parts of the East and South of London and there were something like 1000 planes involved. Hundreds got through to the city and for two hours the noise was continuous and every few minutes another lot would go through, this time unhindered. As the bombers got over beyond our church 1 could here a continuous scream of bombs and pretty soon dense clouds of smoke were rolling up beyond the Junior school and down to the end of our road. If you can imagine what I mean, the sky became solid black over the entire length of the horizon from due West of us to the North West. That raid was over soon after seven by which time half of the sky was a wall of black. As it got dark, the black began to go pink and gradually the entire sky to the West and North turned blood red. It was an amazing sight and like an incredible sunset but it was flickering with huge flares going up and every so often an enormous explosion either a time bomb or they were dynamiting an unsafe building. It was unforgettable!.

Unfortunately we were treated to the same performance the following night, Sunday, and again on Monday. But let me go back to Saturday. Marg Brown and I were worried about her friend, Marjorie Mumford and her mother who lived in Forest Gate near to the Thatched House. As there were no trams or trolley busses running, we walked to Leytonstone High Street and then down to Forest Gate. We passed Borthwick Road where our Gran used to live but it was all roped off and smoky and there were fire engines down there. !!! had to stop writing then and Mum and I dived to the floor as a bomb whistled down close by, To continue. We reached Mumfords just after eight and got the news that all of the London docks were ablaze from Tower Bridge, down to Tilbury. Bethnal Green Bow Poplar and much of the East End of London had been badly damaged. Mrs Mumford had a bad leg and could not stand. She was just telling us how she had to be carried down to a shelter in the afternoon, by an A.R.P. warden, when off went the sirens and being the only "man" available I had to pick her up and do the same. Luckily she is quite light.! We saw them safely settled and as the fun hadn’t started, we set off to walk home. The sky was blood red from the fires, and although there was no traffic going our way, the road was packed with fire engines ambulances etc , all pouring into London from towns further North. By the time we reached Harrow Green, the searchlights were up in a great white wall. That and the light of the fires made it seem as bright as day.

By the time that we got to the Midland railway arch, the guns were thundering and heavy formations of planes were heading into London. We had to dodge in and out of doorways and dash across roads every time a mass of shrapnel came down. We got through Fairlop and then Hainault Roads and then the air shattered as the bombers unloaded onto the fires. We had just left Hainault Road when a plane came right overhead dropping red and green flares. We thought it must be one of ours until we heard the scream of a bomb and we flattened ourselves against a wall as it landed in Hainault where we had just come from. We ran on down to the Browns house and dived under the stairs with the rest of them. They wanted me to stay the night but I thought that I should get back to Mum and Dad. I knew that Em and Sis were at our house so I didn’t hurry and as it quietened down a little by 10.30, I left the Browns with them all standing at the door shouting "RUN'.

Had to dive on the ground once in our road as an Ack Ack shell came down and burst just overhead. I had just reached our door when a fresh racket started up I found them all making up a bed under the table so gave a hand. Now and again Em or I would shout" down", and we would all hit the floor. Em and Sis had to stay the night but I chanced it and went up to bed. Every now and then I had to rush down as bombs fell nearby. Whenever the planes were driven back from London, by the guns, they would unload somewhere near to us. I did not think to see the hospital standing in the morning but they only had some in the grounds luckily,

Despite all this, there is not too much damage around here, just a few houses and shops have gone here and there. Nobody got any sleep however and lots of people are without electricity and water. But we are alright. The all clear went at about 5.30. Marg and I went for a walk to Wanstead Park when the siren went again but we only heard our fighters going over towards the coast. This was the 45th raid alert since Mum and Dad came back from there visit to you. I went back to the Browns house just as Mr Brown came in from a tour of East London. [on his bike]. He said that the fires down the Thames are mostly under control, but that the damage to Whitechapel, Poplar, Limehouse, Silvertown, Bow, Stepney, Bethnal Green, Stratford etc is enormous and that in some places whole areas have been flattened. Everyone slept all the afternoon except Dad and I as we had to put a wooden panel in the window space that the burglar had bashed in whilst they were away with you and I was working.

Things seemed quieter in the afternoon so Marg and I decided to have another walk and to get home before dark and a possible raid. We set off up James Lane and saw a mass of people going down into a shelter that has been dug just near your old school. They were carrying mattresses and all manner of things. We went across the forest and up to the water works towards Woodford. Suddenly the guns and sirens went off together and We had to rush under big trees to get out of the rain of shrapnel that began to fall. Shrapnel makes a hissing sound as it comes down and is very hot when it lands. Every so often we could see through gaps in the trees and there were many planes with shell bursts all around them. We dodged all the way back through the forest but it got dark and then the sky began to light up with many huge fires that were being started over towards London. We just got back to the Browns house as many waves of planes began to pass overhead and the gunfire became frantic again. This happened again the next day with the raids beginning during daylight and going on into the night. It is quite spectacular, the moan, moan, moan, of their engines, the weaving searchlights, the flash and roar of guns, the scream and then the crash of bombs, and the huge flickering fires as a backdrop.

I reached home at about ten thirty when it was quiet and was talking to Mr Meadows at next doors gate, when a single plane came over quite low from Whipps Cross corner direction towards the High School. Then one after another, there were five big flashes, starting at the end of our road and lighting up at intervals right across in front of us. Then we got the explosions one after the other, all in a straight line. We had another bad night and the next morning everyone looked awful.

Going to work on my bike, I was with hundreds of people on bikes or walking to their work. Only a few busses were running and the trolleys were totally off. I had to make big diversions as many roads were roped off. Huge blocks of flats up Lea Bridge Road on the right were completely demolished and opposite the nice little swan pond at Downs road, that lovely block of flats and shops was just a heap of rubble. They had had a direct hit. I reached work by devious ways, couldn’t get near Dalston, and although Essex road was open, Every road leading off to the left was shut off and there was a huge hole in the road at Islington. There had been a direct hit on the shelter opposite Sadlers Wells theatre, and many killed there. From there to Grays Inn road there was not much damage, but as I turned into Grays Inn there was not a single pane off glass intact in the whole road. I couldn’t see any big damage but it was obvious that something big had happened, I rode on down to Holborn and was stopped by a copper who asked me where I was going. I told him that my work was in Fulwood Place opposite Chancery Lane, he said I couldn’t go as it was too risky with many buildings unsafe. I looked left towards Kingsway and my goodness it was one great heap of masonry glass and all sorts of rubbish. Towards Chancery Lane was thick smoke and I could just make out shapes of firemen with hoses jetting water on smouldering ruins. There were gas mains blazing here and there, it was awful. I went over to another part of the road and was stopped by a warden who asked what the police had said to me. I said he told me to be careful, so the warden let me through. I carried my bike over piles of rubbish, and hose pipes like mad knitting until I reached Fulwood Place. There were about half a dozen of our chaps standing there who had done the same as me. As the smoke rolled back, we could see where Jolleys used to be, do you remember it, and that huge building called Lincoln House, there was just a great smoking pit and where the road used to be were heaps of twisted girders the remains of busses and cars filling the road for hundreds of yards. The firemen had great problems trying to climb around this lot. The front of First Avenue House was in the road as was the next big building next to Ernies old place and the building opposite. I can tell you that there was no building intact from Chancery Lane to the Holborn Empire and many not there at all. Just pits and smoking rubble, with gas mains flaring here and there. St Thomases had a direct hit as had the hospital at Stratford.

We all went down our court to our building and found that there wasn’t a piece of glass left in the entire building. In fact many of the frames had been blown in and were wrapped around the machines. As we also had a glass roof the top of the five story building was open to the sky. We all set to, picking glass and metal out of the machines and trying to cover windows and some chaps had a go at the roof with various pieces of wood and sheets but before long the police came along and told us to leave as several unexploded bombs had been found, With nothing to do I went home and slept in a chair in the garden as it was quite warm.

At 5.15, the sirens went and I witnessed another sky battle just overhead. After the all clear, brother Ernie came round and I helped him carry two deck chairs back for them to use to sleep in their shelter .Everywhere people were queing up to get down public shelters, carrying blankets books and food. At E!S suggestion, I went home and started making a shelter in the garden for Mum and Dad. I made it up against the big concrete wall at the bottom of the garden and after the wooden construction I covered it over with earth. I don’t know how good it will be but it may be better than having the house fall on you. I have seen many collapsed houses and many people have been buried alive in them. This will withstand shrapnel and there is no risk of fire.

I’ve just heard that the old peoples home in Union road has been hit by what they call an aerial torpedo, killing twelve old ladies and injuring many more. At about three p.m. this morning We had a very severe raid and fires raged over London again. I was surprised to see the hospital still with us in the morning although they had some bombs in the grounds. It was like going through a maze trying to get to work, it is very difficult to get in to London now. Mum has just heard from Mrs Draper, she is having a very hard time where she lives. Many of the bridges over the Thames have been weakened and are only open to light traffic. People are steaming out of London now, can’t say that I blame them. Do you remember big ginger Tom who is engaged to Ellen Etteridge, he has a time bomb in his garden that they say is about 6ft long and 1 ft 6ins in diameter and is buried about thirty feet down. Lucky for them that it is a time bomb. They have been evacuated some where to the West, Tom has gone to live with the Etteridges.

Better stop now, this has taken up much spare time over the last few days, I hope that you find it interesting, perhaps you will keep it as it may be worth reading again sometime.

There is a crater at the thatched house now big enough to lose a trolley bus in! All the shops opposite the co-op have gone. Lord Haw Haw said on German radio “don’t bother to dig up all your old tramlines, well dig them up for you.”

It may not be as bad as it sounds as there is a lot of London left. Am sending some money for your birthday its in Mums parcel.. Heres wishing you a Happy Birthday.
All the best,
Norm.

Letter II From WWII

This is the second letter

113 Peterborough Rd Leyton.

27/9/1940.
Dear Ida.
Thanks for your last letter. I’II start this second one whilst I still have some paper. To carry on where I left off.

The day after I last wrote, our chaps started a huge A.A. barrage. I was in the Ritz cinema with Marg, when the film cut off and the manager said" Here’s that man again, anyone wanting to leave should go now and we will continue as long as possible. We decided to stay and saw the film round,[ Spencer Tracy in North West Passage]. Suddenly the building began to shake and we could hear a terrific roar outside. The film stopped because the operator was in the top of the building and not safe. We went to the door but the manager said that we couldn’t go out as it was too bad. Flashes were continuous and the ground was heaving Shrapnel was coming down like rain. We went back and sat down and after a long time the all clear went so we made a run for it. We ran like hell and got as far as Cheltenham Road when it started again and we had to dive into a doorway until it was quiet again and finally made it home.

There were guns everywhere including things called "PomPoms" that fired like machine guns. A few nights later we heard about land mines being dropped on parachutes and a few nights later they dropped one near to our brother Ernie. That same night one came down in Cathall Road and was caught up by its chute hanging from a roof. It was 8ft 6ins long 2ft 6ins in diameter and weighed 2 tons. Had it gone off it would have destroyed about one hundred houses. A few nights later it was our turn. One landed on the Ragland pub and one in Grove Road near the petrol place. The explosions are terrific and unlike bombs there is no scream as they come down, just a sudden enormous explosion. There were two more the next night, in Church Hill and Prospect Hill. Later that week more fell in the Forest Gate area and a Rover scout from your church St Luke’s was killed. Did you know him? His name was Len Payne.

One night when I was with the Browns, some incendiaries came down ,one was next door to the Crightons Mr Brown seeing the flames, dashed out and came flying back when a gun went off up the road. He muttered about not having a tin hat but then his sense of duty came forward, he grabbed our stirrup pump, put the washing up bowl on his head and tore of into the street. The bowl fell off when he got to the gate so he swore and left it there. By the time we all got to the fire it had been put out. There was a crowd of us. Whilst this was going on, a chap across the road was struggling single handed with a bomb in his bedroom that had come through the roof. The next night we had another big shower of incendiaries in Colchester Road and Peterborough Road, in the Hospital grounds and over in the forest.

Nearly every night there is a terrific fire somewhere that burns all night and I got to work this week to find some more of Holborn Red Lion Street, Chancery Lane etc burning. The fires in Chancery Lane are very bad, only black walls standing and screwed up chunks of metal that were lift shafts. It is much the same in many parts of London, especially in the East End. There are some enormous bomb craters over in the forest and lots of burnt area's.

A bomb fell in Lea Bridge Rd just near the water works and it blew a saloon car about 50 yards and it was on its back. Walthamstow has had it pretty bad.

People say "Do you know if so and so firm has been closed?"
"NO they have to find it before they can close it".

If you want a lump of shrapnel I’ll send you some in your next parcel. I was in bed last night when something came whizzing down and hit our side gate. I think it was only a shell cap.

Last night at about three a.m. I think a plane must have been hit because he let all of his bombs go at once. The noise was awful. I don’t know where they landed. Since I started this seven hours ago we have had four raids and they have been right overhead each time. I am writing at work now .Have just got my two weeks notice, only provisional as we don’t know how much longer we can stay open.

Bought a few clothes this weekend as prices are going up again. Had a pretty good weekend with only eight raids since Friday. Fairlop Rd got a big bomb opposite the church on the corner of Wallwood. Three big houses gone!.

Brown’s Uncle Bert made us laugh the other night. All the evening he had been saying how he wasn’t bothered by air raids and that he would go up to bed as normal. At ten o'clock sharp off he went pausing at the top of the stairs to say that it was just a case of getting used to them. At ten fifteen he was down under the stairs with the rest of us.

Had some work to do on Monday so didn't write. Went to sleep most of Tuesday because as soon as the Siren went on Monday night John and I went over to the hospital for stretcher bearing. We met Ramage and half a dozen Red Cross chaps. Our Rover crew has been helping at the hospital since the Blitz began. We were given supper at about ten thirty and then we three had to go on the first two hour shift at reception. Before we went we arranged our beds down in the basement and put our stuff on them to show that they had been taken. On the way through the basement we passed dozens of people sleeping as many of the staff stay overnight and use it as a shelter. Also some of the more mobile patients sleep down there and some staff bring there families, so there is quite a crowd. We sat on some trolleys waiting for any casualties and about one o'clock a girl came in with a piece of shrapnel in her jaw. Another girl had brought her in and a nurse asked me to find her a bed in the basement as it was impossible for her to go home through the raid. I took her down and she was frightened by the rows of bodies sleeping and the long dark tunnels with big groaning pipes and snoring bodies. There were no empty beds so I got to our three and found that someone had pinched mine so I gave her Johns. With no beds or blankets we decided to go home when we finished our shift. A pity because the action starts after the all clear usually. We wake the next shift then got our bikes and started off home.

We had hardly started when a great lump of shrapnel crashed down beside us so we dived back under cover. The planes were right overhead and the guns were going wild. After a time it cleared so we rushed round to Johns. His folk are away so we got into his shelter at 2.15.am. At 6.am. his alarm went of as he goes to work before me . I then rode home and at seven Dad woke me as I had to go to work. So you see why I was tired.

By the way, I don’t count the raids now as I got to 130 since Mum and Dad came up to you. I think that we’ve had eighteen since I started this letter. It is not often very bad during the day although once or twice we’ve had a real shocker. A little bit of London seems to disappear every day, but there’s still a lot left. When I knock off at 5.30.pm there is usually several hundred people lined up at every tube station in the hope of getting in for the night. Most people finish work, dash home and grab some food and blankets and dive for the underground. I wonder why some of them bother to come up at all!

Now I will try to give you some idea of the damage that has been done near home. There have been fire bombs just about everywhere. Also a number of Ack.Ack. shells have come down and exploded on the ground. There have been high explosive bombs all over the place. The hospital, Maple and the back of Popleton, Walwood, Fairlop, Hainult and the back of Chelmsford Roads. Quite a few houses down in each road. Forest Drive West has had a torpedo, quite a lot of damage. Leytonstone High Road, about a dozen H.E.s scattered around and two more on Union Road. About 150 houses wrecked near Dyers Hall Road and about 20 completely flat from one mine. An unexploded mine in Cathall Road and land mines in Grove Road, Easton Road, Church hill, Prospect Hill, Forest Road etc. About 1000 houses are uninhabitable in Walthamstow and much patching up is going on. There have been several H.E.s on the marshes and Lea Bridge Road, Leyton High Road and the area around the gas works is badly damaged.

I was in Baker Street near to Madame Tusau'ds the other day and many big buildings have been gutted and look awful.’ We may get tin hats over at the hospital but as they may have W.C. stamped on them so I'm not keen. [Whipps Cross].!

The fourth raid since 9 am today is on now. High Holborn is still shut and is piled high with debris although they have been clearing it for three weeks. Cheapside and lots more roads are shut off, the top of Woolworths in Holborn [ where Marg used to work] has disappeared although they have opened some of the shop below.

Got your card and letter last night. Regarding Len Payne, he was a warden and was on duty with another chap during a night raid. The planes had just gone so he and his friend came out of the shelter for some air. They suddenly saw a mine drifting down on a parachute The friend through himself onto the ground but Len tried to get back into the shelter and was caught by the blast and died instantly.

Going to get my new suit; blue grey. Pouring with rain today, first time for three weeks. Chingford has had lots of bombs since our Ernie moved there. A laundry and shops have been flattened. One raid today so far.
Will pack up now, hope to hear from you again soon.
All the best Cheerio
Norm.

P.S. Third raid today, bombs dropping close. Guns going mad. We have a great wall of lights at night now and they catch the planes in them.

P. P. S. Have just got back from work and found all of the front windows have been blown in. There is a huge crater in the school field opposite and because it is very deep in soft earth, we only have a few lumps knocked off the house. The house next to Mary Pearce has been burnt down but nobody seriously hurt. Sibly’s the butcher in Lea Bridge Road has gone also Ruckholt School has been hit. I must stop writing and start to board up the windows.

We are all alright.
Norm.

P.P.P. S. Weeks later, Went to work after a bad night of bombs and found just a big hole in the ground where my firm used to be. The boss was there and many of the older people were very upset. We were given hand written notice of termination and left addresses for our money to be sent home.

I am overwhelmed by the letters, spellbound

ALTHOUGH I BELIEVE HE WROTE OTHER LETTERS at that time, these 2 are all that survive.


It was very moving, to view these letters for the first time, after my father died. Whilst I knew him, he never once mentioned his war experiences. You may have noticed that he referred to “Going to get my new suit; blue grey”
That of course was when he joined the RAF. He served in the terrible conflict in Burma and then spent a long time in India.


He said in the letters that he went to the pictures with ‘Marj Brown’ and then there are more references to her and “The Brown Family”. This gives me a very strange feeling, as I am glimpsing my Father dating my Mother whilst they are just teenagers, about seven years before they gave birth to me!

Another mention of the Brown family refers to Uncle Bert.

“Brown’s Uncle Bert made us laugh the other night. All the evening he had been saying how he wasn’t bothered by air raids and that he would go up to bed as normal. At ten o'clock sharp off he went pausing at the top of the stairs to say that it was just a case of getting used to them. At ten fifteen he was down under the stairs with the rest of us.”

Just to put this into perspective; Uncle Bert was totally blinded in the First World War. In the same conflict, his twin brother Horace was blown to pieces with no trace of his body being found.


It is sad that I have no recollection of any of the locations my Dad refers to in the letters, because the family moved to the Sussex countryside whilst I was quite young; where I had an idyllic childhood, so I am not complaining.

Another sadness concerns My Aunt Ida; the recipient of these letters. A few months ago, we were all looking forward to her 90th birthday. However, sadly a few weeks before the big day, she suffered a massive stroke. She also has ‘other complications’ which have resulted in her being placed in a nursing home in Swanage, her home town in Dorset.

EULOGY to NORMAN AYLMER

My Father Norman Noel Aylmer was born on Christmas Day and he died on Good Friday! Not the first person to do that I think. Is that just a coincidence?

I an sorry if you find this blog interminable but to complete the story of my father, I now include the:


EULOGY to NORMAN AYLMER

The first of many unusual things about Norman is his middle name, Noel. He acquired this by being born on Christmas Day in 1921, 5th in the batting order of the 6 children in the Aylmer household. The first that his oldest sister Win, then 12 years old, knew about it all was when she found herself suddenly cooking the Christmas Dinner at her father’s peremptory command! His older brother and sisters recognised in Norman from the outset the endearing rascal that reflected his energy, resourcefulness and his imaginative approach to rules, regulations and authority. Frequently his clothes would have to be sewn up, torn during some clandestine or hazardous escapade, before the parents could discover the mishap. We’ve all been there, I think, though not nearly as frequently as Norman!
During Norman’s childhood the family lived close to Epping Forest, which Norman explored at every available opportunity with his brother, sisters and friends. It was undoubtedly here that he developed the love of outdoor pursuits which characterised and enriched his private and professional life throughout the subsequent eight decades. The tiddlers and minnows brought home in jam jars from the ponds of Epping Forest are the precursors of the fine trout which he was known for catching, such as those which he cooked on the bank of a lake for Fran and Kate and the huge and majestic salmon which he caught especially for Charlotte’s christening.

At the beginning of the war as a Rover Scout Norman spent many evenings filling sandbags at the local Whipps Cross Hospital, often staying all night helping the hard-pressed hospital staff with a variety of jobs. At this time he wrote some long, graphically detailed letters to his sister Ida, who at the time had been evacuated to Buxton, chronicling in vivid detail his eye-witness account of the devastation and horrific damage caused by the Blitz and its effect on the lives of the people in London. Copies of these letters are now held at the Imperial War Museum for study and research.

Although Norman left school with no formal qualifications his ambition was to become an Engineer. As a young boy he spent virtually all of his pocket money on Meccano – that wonderfully versatile and creative construction kit which, sadly, for the present generation has been superseded by mindless computer games! By building intricate working models from his own ideas he showed the real flair for design and construction which served him so spectacularly well in his chosen career. Whilst raising a young family and working for a London-based Petroleum Company as a design draughtsman he also studied at evening classes to obtain the qualifications necessary to become a Chartered Mechanical Engineer. As Gillian observes, he must indeed have been very determined and focused to study, work and look after his family all at the same time. Nonetheless he was always ready to do things with and for his children, finding time for memorable days out and holidays – and to read to them in the evenings.

Having achieved his professional qualifications, Norman embarked on a full and colourful career in engineering. He started in Royal Ordnance Factories, developing ways to manufacture explosives more safely and efficiently. He was then head-hunted by a large British Petro-Chemical Company which made him responsible for the design and installation of massive oil pipe lines extending hundreds of miles through geologically diverse and politically challenging and unstable countries including Russia, the East European Communist States and – his favourite for his famously engaging reminiscences – Algeria. He worked his way through the company, becoming their Engineering Director. As such he was directly responsible for the Special Projects Division, which was concerned with research and development in fields including Coast and River Erosion, Ship Testing Tanks, Conventional Power and Atomic Energy. From recent news bulletins on my car radio it sounds as if the present government could use Norman’s expertise and experience right now!

His versatility and enterprise at work were mirrored by his activities at home. He trod the path from inspiration to perspiration most conspicuously at Beacon View. He would plan improvements to the house and then carry out all the necessary work, covering every facet of the various skilled trades himself from plumbing to wiring to roofing – usually ignoring en route any tiresomely restrictive or inconvenient regulations or constraints imposed by the authorities! He was an expert at . . . well, everything! He would proudly show visitors his beloved woodland coppice – at this time of year it would be a blaze of colour from carpets of bluebells and wild daffodils. While most of us would have just walked past a fallen branch without a second glance Norman would see a potential chess set, piece of kitchen furniture – or, at the very least, fuel for the fire - and his guests would get used to the idea that they had to earn their (excellent!) dinner by hauling logs up the hill to the house.

Ian recalls from back in his early childhood how going to see Norman was a treat and something really special for him and his mother Win. Norman could do so many things: fix problems, offer advice, and give a glimpse of what you could make of life. He was like a family celebrity.

When offshore oil exploration really took off in the ‘70’s Norman, with great courage and foresight, started his own business – Aylmer Offshore Ltd – with very smart offices in London and Aberdeen. Under his energetic direction the business became very successful – so much so that he was bought out by a major British company shortly before he retired. Even then he undertook site management for a number of Milk Marketing Board projects, supposedly on a part-time basis but rapidly and typically becoming fully involved.

Norman exemplified - and excelled at - a truly remarkable range of talents – summarised succinctly and superbly on the Order of Service. He was an exceptionally practical and capable person; his DIY projects are legendary, and he would take on single-handedly tasks which even the most experienced and competent professional builders would think twice about. Fine examples of his work are to be found in every house and garden that he has owned and in many others that he took an interest in. Those who have had the good fortune to taste his Beacon View chicken and his Lower Upcott vegetables (properly cooked - NOT radiated with microwaves) and complemented by a glass of fine red wine and engaging stories and reminiscences will testify to his agricultural, horticultural and culinary expertise. Above all, though, he had a true gift for, and love of, working with wood. He would create and adapt the design of objects large and small, decorative and functional, combining the artistic vision which was so evident in his brother William with his own practical capabilities. At Lower Upcott the house and garden were a constant delight. The sense was not just of the house in itself, but of how he and Gwen had made it what it was and how they used and enjoyed it to the full. He was like a little boy still, proudly showing you what you could do with a new Swiss Army penknife - and there were always plans and projects in hand to realise more of its potential for the future. His sense of pleasure in what he and Gwen had constructed there gave one a sense of harmony achieved through restlessness and constant activity.

Nothing was considered impossible by Norman. Whatever the problem, he would always work out a solution. Richard, writing from Canada, says;
‘I cannot begin to tell you how many times his words and his ways have influenced my decisions and approach to life. He was one of the greatest men I have had the honour to know’.

This Chapel is today full of people who, as friends or members of his family, have been the beneficiaries of Norman’s energy, expertise, counsel, advice, kindness, resourcefulness and outstanding and memorable hospitality. He was a wonderfully kind, entertaining and generous person; we are diminished by his passing.
May we honour his memory and may he rest in peace.

Every member of the family is most grateful to Colin Burgess, (Son of Norman's sister Ida) for putting Norman's Eulogy together and for delivering it so eloquently at Norman's funeral. Thank you Colin. Easter 2006