Dad In The Navy - The Memoirs Of John Francis Connor

H.M.S Royal Arthur training camp The 22nd February 1944, I still remember it clearly, it was a cold winters morning and I got up with my Dad about 6.30a.m. He went to work about 7 a.m and left me with Mam and the rest of the family. It was a struggle for Mam as Sheilagh, my youngest sister was only three weeks old and there were five more to get off to school. However I said my goodbyes and set off for the station. I was joined at the bus stop by Lol Callaghan, a school friend who was joining with me. At the station we were joined by eight others from the area and gathered together by a W.R.E.N officer who explained that we were going to Skegness to join H.M.S Royal Arthur which was a training camp (formerly Butlins Holiday Camp). She promptly put me in charge of the other nine, gave me a stack of papers and travel vouchers, shook hands, wished us luck and disappeared. Arriving at Skegness we were met at the station by a group of petty officers and our party was joined by seve

John Francis Connor My dad wrote these memoirs for my family newspaper I created in the 1980s as a teenager - The Weekly Newsletter which then changed its name to the Wednesday Echo. This was a great hobby for me and also captured the news amongst the Connor family and the life and times of its members in the 1980's. I hope to bring the newspaper to a blog soon.. John Francis Connor, was a success at many things. From being very active, poor health meant he took to playing Chess and Mastermind with me and writing his memoirs. Later in life he also joined a library poetry group and expressed himself this way. On the outside he was very much a working man, a welder by trade and always put his family first and I remember one day my work boss called to see how I was (off ill at the time) and he ticked them off for calling and that his son was ill and would come back to work when he was feeling better! This was definitely the proud working class side of him. He died in 1993