The second book is dedicated to my 'Uncle Jim' Penfold. He was actually my Grandmother's cousin but always known as Uncle. He joined the RAF after the start of the Second World War and was posted to Bomber Command where he became a Mid Gunner on the Lancaster. He and his crew as was so often the case were largely close friends and completed 16 missions mostly over Germany including some of the most dangerous targets where losses were extreme. His final mission saw their aircraft badly shot up with Uncle Jim being shot through the thigh, a wound that once healed caused him to limp for the rest of his life. As they struggled back across the channel, it became clear they were not going to reach their base and so the pilot decided to land on Beachy Head. It was very nearly the last thing any of them did as after touching down heavily just over the cliff edge, the aircraft slewed round through 180 degrees and headed back towards the cliff. Fortunately it stopped short but it caused some further anxious moments. Jim didn't fly operationally again but he did join the Royal Observer Corps on the home front. He was without doubt much of my inspiration.

Haute Avesnes Military Cemetery

The first book is dedicated to my Great Uncle, Private Sidney George David Moore, eldest son of David and Alice Moore, born in 1897, who volunteered like so many others in the wave of patriotism  that swept the country in 1914. He joined the London Regiment and was posted to the 2/22nd Battalion.

He was badly wounded at the height of the Somme battle in July 1916, possibly in his own trench by a grenade explosion and died a couple of days later. 

He was buried in one of the numerous small military cemeteries hidden in the villages of northern France at a place called Hautes Avesnes, just a few miles from Arras, and here he remains, cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission  and their army of volunteers.

The third book is dedicated to my wife and family, mainly for putting up with me and my obsessions!

Paul F Moore

Arming pin from a raid on 27th August 1944 on Kiel Naval Base