Former soldier George Dimmock, who has died aged 93, was posted inside the Arctic Circle and to Egypt all within six months during the Second World War. Kelly Tyler looks back at his life.
AT the age of 19, George Dimmock was forced to grow up fast.
As a member of the Territorial Army, in August 1939 he was told to report to his unit's HQ seven days before the outbreak of the Second World War.
He served in the Army and with the RAF throughout the conflict, visiting countries including Norway, South Africa and Egypt.
But his war-time experiences were only revealed to his family after he wrote about them in the Derby Telegraph's Bygones section.
His daughter, Kathryn Goodwin, said: "He started writing them a long time ago on little scraps of paper but we knew nothing about it.
"He would tell us he had been to Egypt in the war but that was it. He was a private man. He used to write in to Bygones and after his stories were published that's when he would talk about it. You could not shut him up."
Mr Dimmock was born on November 23, 1919, and brought up in Rosehill Street, Derby.
At 14 he started work in a Derbyshire pit before moving to British Rail aged 15.
At 19 he was called up for National Service and was a member of the Territorial Army until 1943.
He transferred to the RAF for a year and was trained at the RAF school in Halton before returning to the Army for a year.
Gunner Dimmock started his war-time service in Spondon, where he had to build a sand-bagged wall around four anti-aircraft guns.
After stints at gun sites in Alvaston and Stenson, Bedfordshire and then Folkestone, he was moved, in April 1940, to Scotland, from where his unit sailed inside the Arctic Circle to land in Norway, to defend the country against German advances.
It was a risky posting. In a Derby Telegraph article published in 2011, Mr Dimmock recalled: "I was asleep in the hut one day when a big bang woke me up.
"A German plane had dropped a stick of bombs which had fallen on the corner of the hut.
"It blew the roof off and five of our chaps were killed and a few injured."
Only about 50 of the 70 men sent to Norway made the return to Scotland.
After time on duties across Britain, Mr Dimmock was given jabs, issued with tropical kit and sent to Liverpool.
Once there he sailed south, docking at Freetown, off West Africa, then crossing the Equator en route to Cape Town, South Africa, before sailing via the Indian Ocean and Red Sea to a posting at an air base in Egypt.
He served until the end of the war and, shortly after his return, in 1945, met his future wife, Kathleen.
She worked at hosiery company R. Rowley Ltd, in Great Northern Road, producing socks for soldiers in the war.
Mrs Goodwin, of Castle Donington, said: "When he came back from the Army he walked into The Castle Tavern, in Castle Street, in his uniform and that's where he met my mum.
"She was with her sister, Irene, and dad was with his friend, Harry. Harry and Irene also got together."
His pal was Harry Matthews, who went on to become Mayor of Derby in May 1985. He died 23 years ago.
Mr Dimmock married Kathleen at St Peter's Church, Derby, on December 20, 1947.
They lived in Liversage Street, Derby, and had eight children.
Mr Dimmock is survived by Kathleen and their children, Susan, Terry, David, Paul, Carol, Kathryn and Diane. The eldest child, Peter, born in 1949, died in November at the age of 63. The couple had 14 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.
After the war, Mr Dimmock returned to British Rail to work in a foundry.
After redundancy in 1972 he worked at Rolls-Royce, in Nightingale Road, as an inspector until retiring at 63.
The couple moved to Alvaston in 1968 and in the early 1970s Mr Dimmock bought a fruit shop in London Road.
Kathryn said: "He had his little fruit shop as a bit of income so we could go on holiday every year to Torquay or Great Yarmouth."
He sold the shop in 1977 but continued running a fruit and veg stall at Allenton Market every Friday and Saturday for 10 years after retiring.
Kathryn said her father enjoyed a healthy social life and would often visit the Victoria Inn, in Midland Road.
She added: "He was an avid Labour supporter and was a school governor at Alvaston Junior Community School, in Elvaston Lane, for many years. He liked to be a part of everything that was going off in the community."
Mr Dimmock died on July 25 at his home, in Poplar Close, Alvaston.
Mrs Goodwin added: "He was a strong, very witty man who had a dry sense of humour. He was the most loving, supportive, caring man you could ever meet.
"He will always be in our hearts and we will never forget him."
His funeral is at St Michael and All Angels' Church, Alvaston, on Tuesday at 2pm.
'First bit of fun' at Equator Extracts from George Dimmock's memoirs:A "crossing the line" ceremony was organised for when we crossed the Equator. It involved Father Neptune coming aboard and throwing you into the bathing pool.
It was the first bit of fun we had had since leaving England. I had my first glimpse of some flying fish as they popped out of the water and sort of glided above the sea and then dropped back in again.
Our day consisted of training, lectures and physical exercise. You had to dress properly at all times – no slouching about. We sailed on to Cape Town in South Africa, where we had a good view of Table Mountain.
It was about September time. We left Cape Town and sailed on. About a week later, we were told we were in the Indian Ocean.
A few days later, we were allocated a light machine-gun post at the rear of the top deck and were told we would soon be going through the Aden Strait, which was controlled by the Italians on one side.
It was from there any trouble would come – and it did. We heard the big guns firing from the escort and planes could be seen very high up. The bombs fell well away and we sailed on.
