Jenny Willis – författare

When 19-year-old self-styled ‘skivvy’, May, met airman Don, she could not have foreseen how her world would be transformed. Ripped away from her large family in the Scottish Borders, her initiation into military life began on a troop ship as she made the 6-week journey alone to join her new husband in post-war Singapore. By the time she arrived in the Far East, she had already been assimilated into the service ‘family’ which, like all families, would play both a positive and destructive role in their lives.Having been raised as an ‘army brat’ between two world wars, Don had opted instead for a career in the RAF. He met May following a tour of duty in Singapore, and their marriage had been brought forward when he was unexpectedly posted back to that country in 1949. May would be beside him as he rose from the ranks to become an officer, moved from pillar to post around the globe, saw his mental health crumble under the strain of the highly secret work which he could not discuss, even with her. When he was scape-goated for a tragic fire that destroyed his workshops, his health and ultimately his career, she continued to support him, picking up the pieces in defiance of her own near-death experience of cancer – a death which was postponed by many years thanks to superb RAF medical provision.Set in the decades immediately following WW2, with the ever-present threat of nuclear war, the book gives first-hand insight into military life and the foreign lands to which Don was posted, revealing both the best and the worst of the wider service family. It describes the impact of constant upheaval on family life, not least the emotional development and education of their three children, until Don’s early retirement from the RAF and purchase of their own house – the 29th home they had had in 24 years of married life. The narrative is in May’s voice until her death in 2004 but is based on the memories and reflections of 96-year-old Donn to whose voice it switches after May''s death. It has been reconstructed by their elder daughter, Jennifer, another victim of service life. It exposes the inherent prejudices and petty rivalries of the services of the day which vied with the camaraderie and challenges to make it the career Don loved, despite its toll on his mental health.