08/05/2025
Today, on the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, we will be sharing some stories of relatives of our staff who served and lived through this monumental period of our history.
Nicola, one of our Senior Archives Assistants, remembers her grandad, James.
"I grew up listening to my grandad’s stories and I loved every minute of them. It is his stories that sparked the love of and curiosity about history in me. Grandad was an engineer in the RAF, his stories were about travel and making friends. Yes he talked about planes going up and not returning, but he did so in a way that was not scary to a child, yet not glossing over the fact that it happened and that there was great sadness associated with it.
During his 5-year service he worked on Spitfire engines - he certainly liked those engines. His service record reveals that he also had nearly three years experience of overhauling American planes too. His service took him to Egypt; a different culture but one that he embraced. He would say ‘pass the salt’ and ‘shut the door’ in Arabic, or at least that is what he told me he was saying!"
Digital copies of his service record and other documents brought back home after his service have recently been added to the Northumberland Archives collection.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund I Northumberland County Council
