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On April 7th. 1944 myself and others were carried on board the hospital ship “Atlantis” bound for “Blighty”. After an uneventful passage we landed at Avonmouth, Bristol and then entrained for Nottingham, ending at the General Hospital.
 My mother and Zelia (my sweetheart and later my wife) quickly traveled to Nottingham where I stayed for about two weeks recuperating. On the first visit into Nottingham City Centre we went to have tea in the “Mikado” restaurant where we were lucky enough to meet Mrs. Alice Burnell, a very kindly lady, who was with her newly wed daughter in law, her son, she told us, was the same age as myself serving in the Royal Marines. Mrs. Burnell very kindly offered my mother and Zelia accommodation and they stayed with her during my time in Nottingham. My family and myself will never forget her great kindness then and are pleased to say the friendship has lasted to this day. Later I was transferred to St. Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton where most of the amputees from Eastern and Southern England were taken. Whilst at Roehampton Jerry was sending his flying bombs over and we used to lay in our beds (we could not run to take cover), praying that the engines would not cut out and the bomb fall on us. In May I was discharged from St. Mary’s Hospital and had to make my own way on crutches across London’s underground to Liverpool Street Station to catch a train for Great Yarmouth and home. By chance Zelia had boarded the same train at Chelmsford where she was working at a Ball Bearing Factory on war work, it was not until we reached Yarmouth that we saw each other. Fate was still on hand when a lady from our village, Winterton, had arranged to be met from the station, Mrs. Ackland took control and let Zelia and myself share the back seat whilst she got us home.
During that summer of 1944 with the war dragging on, mother and I traveled from Winterton to Cambridge Artificial Limb Fitting Centre to be measured and then fitted with my “new” leg. The travel plan was catching a bus to Great Yarmouth from Winterton then a train to Norwich, changing trains at Cambridge and then taxi to the Limb Fitting Centre. I had a quick examination by doctors and fitters and then we had to embark on the same journey home. When we reached home that day I was very tired as all this was achieved on crutches.
My first limb was fitted in November 1944, the same journey as before, I was given time to practice with the new leg, this involved once round the doctors table and then home, but this time I came home with my new leg. Within three weeks I was walking quite well and also riding my cycle. The limb was very rudimentary as there had been no advancement in design since the 1914/18 war. Stumps were very often sore and painful through ill fitting limbs, but we had to get on with life. Eventually I was discharged from the army on “Ceasing to fulfill physical requirements”. Para 390 (XVI) KR 1940. On 10th January, 1945 my army pay of twenty shillings a week was stopped and immediately I was awarded a War Pension of fourty per cent, this amounted to sixteen shillings, in todays money eighty pence, per week. In March 1945 I obtained employment with the General Post Office as a Night Telephonist on Norwich Telephone Exchange. Whilst I did my training I lived in digs in Norwich but it was difficult due to food rationing and bathing was also a problem. After I had completed my training I went home to live and this meant cycling about eight miles to the village of Filby, catching a bus to Norwich, a journey of twenty miles, then doing the return journey next morning, As winter approached I could see problems so I got a job with the Great Yarmouth Corporation Electricity Department as a telephonist.
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