Memories of Douglas

Its nearly 10 years since my husband Douglas died and each September he is in my thoughts more often.  So I decided to try and capture some memories of him this month.

Today's blip shows a postcard of a photograph of him taken on 21st December 1947 which he sent to his mother - he has written on the back " Best wishes for 1948".

At the time he was in Palestine serving as a British member of The Palestine Police Force.

When he left school he joined Barclays Bank but he yearned for adventure and when he saw recruitment adverts for The Palestine Police he decided he wanted to join.

So as a young lad of 17 he went off to Palestine - only until May 1948 when the British withdrew.  He was one of the last ones there.

On 20th July 1948 he was one of the 200 Palestine Policemen who paraded at Buckingham Palace to be inspected by The King ( King George VI ).  A proud moment for him.

Douglas had many memories of his time in Palestine and never tired of sharing them.  It was only a small part of his life but an interesting and exciting part.

He wanted to get back to this sort of life and decided to try and join a Colonian police force - Kenya or similar.  However as he was still under the age of 21 he needed consent of a parent.  When he joined The Palestine Police his father authorised it.  However in 1948 his father wasn't on the scene and his mother refused to let him go. ( He never forgave her for that ).  So he joined London's Metropolitan Police and served in the Soho area for many years.

Well that's number one memory of Douglas - will have to see what I can come up with for another day.