Veteran: Joe Parker
An RAF veteran has recounted some of his memories of the Second World War on the 71st anniversary of Britain declaring war on Germany.
Joe Parker, a sprightly 89-year-old, served with 602 Glasgow City Squadron throughout the conflict after joining the RAF as a 16 year-old. On Friday, he recalled cheering as the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced that Britain was at war with Germany.
He said: "Myself and my mates were in the canteen having a cup of tea when the announcement came over the radio by the Prime Minister that we were now at war with Germany and we all cheered. We thought it was great. We thought it would be a great adventure.
"It is sad to think we sat and cheered and thought it was going to be a wonderful time when you think of all the sons and daughters and fathers and mothers that gave their life because of this war. It was a terrible time. It seemed glorious and glamorous and funny things happened at times, but it was an experience I don't wish on anyone."
He described the loss of British service personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan as "terrible". He added: "It is my experience that war has to be avoided if at all possible.
"It's terrible, terrible and completely unnecessary, I think when Blair and George Bush got together and went to war in Iraq it was a mistake. It's terrible that each week parents are getting told that their sons - and wives are getting told that their husbands - will not come back."
Mr Parker, a resident in the Erskine Home, in Bishopton, which provides care for military veterans, also remembered how he was called up for duty at his home in Shettleston, Glasgow, in August 1939. He had previously undertaken six months TA service with the RAF auxiliary before being called up two weeks before war was declared.
He said: "One morning a policeman came to the door and called me up. We were getting ready for work and it was seven o'clock in the morning. My father immediately said, 'What has he done?'
"He gave me the call-up notice and I was told to report immediately. I didn't go home for seven years. I was quite pleased to get away with the Airforce."
Mr Parker was stationed with 602 Glasgow City Squadron at Abbotsinch, near Paisley, before being transferred as a mechanic to one of the RAF's ace pilots during the Battle of Britain, Archibald McKellar, at East Fortune Airfield in North Berwick. He was part of the squadron who fought the German bombers attacking Edinburgh and Lothian. The area was of strategic importance because of the vital Forth Rail Bridge and the the Rosyth Naval Depot.
The squadron shot down three German bombers in October 1939 - including the first enemy aircraft to fall on British soil in the Second World War. He said: "It was all very exciting because this was the first full action that had taken place.
"The pilots took off and we were left there wondering when they would get back. When we saw them coming back there was a buzz of excitement and we all wanted to know what had happened. Archie McKellar said to me: 'I got one of the so-and-so's into the drink."
Mr Parker also served at RAF Kenley, near Croydon, and saw action in France. He said: "We lost a few pilots. It was highly-dangerous work.
"I was very fortunate not only to have survived the war but mainly to have been serving with such a fine bunch of guys. I've had a wonderful life. I’m looking forward to my 90th birthday, and maybe even my 91st. I’m enjoying my life again."
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