Dan Nash memoir

Dan Nash memoir

Born in 1916, Dan spent his early childhood in Kent with his grandmother before moving back to his parents in Fulham. He left school at 16 for a job with the Hudson's Bay Fur Company and met Joyce, his future wife. With the outbreak of war, the family moved to Teddington and on 24 February 1940 he and Joyce married. He joined the Royal Air Force as a wireless operator/air gunner, doing his initial training at RAF Blackpool and then his wireless training there and at RAF Yatesbury. In June 1941 he went to RAF Pembrey for his gunnery training. Dan crewed up at 27 Operational Training Unit at RAF Lichfield and was posted to 149 Squadron at RAF Mildenhall. In early 1942 the squadron converted from Wellingtons to Stirlings and Dan's crew were posted to 15 Squadron at RAF Wyton, taking part in the first 1000 bomber operation. Dan flew 30 operations to Germany, Holland and France and was then given an instructional post at RAF Kinloss before being sent to RAF Cranwell to become a signals officer. After more training at RAF Cosford, Dan was commissioned and posted to RAF Bottesford, RAF Metheringham and finally to RAF Chigwell, to set up a mobile wireless unit in preparation for the Allied invasion of France. A change of plan saw Dan and his unit travelling to Toungoo, 150 miles north of Rangoon, to set up a 'Y' Station listening to Japanese military communications. He heard about the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in a letter from home. He arrived home in March 1946 and was demobbed. In 1947 Dan trained as a teacher and took his first post in a school in Middlesex where he was soon made Head of English. He moved school several times before retiring in July 1980. The memoir contains detailed descriptions of his personal and service life and also gives great insight into social and living conditions in southern Britain during the interwar years. A single appendix describes a world tour that he and his wife undertook to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.

One 68 page document

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