100-year-old WW2 veteran Mr P A Jacob recounts his war time service to his good friend Mr H Barnes, chair of the WAWI Project.
Along with other young men from the West Indies ‘Jake’ wanted to help the war effort so aged 17 enlisted into the RAF.
His journey began in 1943 where he would leave his hometown in Trinidad and Tobago on board the SS Cuba initially stopping at Barbados and then Jamaica to pick up more recruits.
He fondly remembered the support and comradery of fellow West Indians as they made their way to help defend the ‘mother country’.
They finally arrived at Camp Patrick Henry in the USA for minimum training before once again boarding the SS Cuba and making their way to Liverpool, England. [The SS Cuba built in Newcastle in 1923 was used as British troop transport ship. In 1945 it was torpedoed and sank southeast of the Isle of Wight]
On arrival in the UK, Private Jacob was taken to RAF Filey, Yorkshire where he underwent military training referred to as “square bashing”. He then went on to RAF Kirkham in Lancashire. [RAF Kirkham built in 1939 by George Wimpey, was used as a main training base in 86 different trades for troops including those from the commonwealth, USA, France and Poland]
Jake was assigned to Requisition and Equipment. He recalled how he underwent additional equipment training as he was required to work alongside civilians who could not be called up for military service due to their important role in supplying military equipment to the front line.
It was common practice for military personnel to be moved from one base to another and this was no different for Private Jacob.
RAF Woodcote, Goring Heath, Oxfordshire. In operation from 1941 to 1959 as a secure storge and maintenance site Jake’s duties ranged from supplies to security and everything in between.
RAF Hixon, Staffordshire. [In operation from 1942 – 1957] He remembered how supplies would be flown in by helicopter.
Posted to RAF Stafford he was promoted to Sergeant and tasked with ‘rubber stamping’ repairs to equipment and planes. It was a pressurised role as aircrafts needed to be fully operational and back in the sky within a specific timescale otherwise, they would be scrapped. Sky patrol was essential to seek and engage where necessary in a Nazi attack.
Jake smiles as he recounts that during respite periods all personnel were actively encouraged to take part in inter sports days.
His final posting was to RAF Burtonwood near Warrington, Cheshire. [The base opened in 1940 as a maintenance and storage deport for British aircraft before being transferred to the USA in 1942 for war operations] At the end of the war it became home to 18,000 servicemen for retraining back to civilian life.
Once demobbed Jake returned to his former employment in Trinidad and Tobago. In 1947 he made the momentous decision to return to England [A year earlier than the famous SS Empire Windrush]. He married Mary in 1948, a girl he had met during his time at RAF Burtonwood. They would spend the next 77 years in a very happy and loving partnership until 2025 when Mary sadly passed away.
A featured article of Mr P A Jacob can be found at https://solihulllife.org/2022/10/03/jake-jacob-nothing-was-easy
