A Vintners Tale

I find it interesting that when I talk to some of my grandchildren about what they are learning at school, I have been told that in history they have been learning about the Second World War. I count myself very lucky that I am of a generation that has not had to suffer the sacrifices that my parents had to in living through two world wars. When I read the history of the First World War it has many descriptions of the hardship, rationing and shortages experienced at the end of that conflict and I can relate with what I read as we had the same experience in the first twelve years of my life with rationing and shortages in the Second World War. So my story begins with quite a few pages about that. I have included all my diary entries written on board HMS Bulwark. I had not read these diaries since I wrote them fifty five years ago but there are some interesting insights into the mind of a naïve insecure nervous National Service conscript along with some interesting descriptions of some of the places around the world we went to. The rest of the story is of my two loves, my family and the building of a successful business in the wine trade.