85 years ago, I was a small child growing up in Cambridge. I did not know this at the time of course, but Cambridge was surrounded by RAF bases such as Duxford, Oakington and Waterbeach. This meant that my daily life was filled with the sounds of aircraft, sirens and anti-aircraft fire – not to mention the occasional bomb.
Amongst this cacophony of sound, there was one special one. It was the sound of that miracle of engineering, the Merlin aircraft engine.
That sound signalled the arrival of the heroes who had taken to the skies to beat back the Demons who had been sent to kill us.
Throughout the long life that has been granted me by God and those childhood heroes of the skies, whenever I have heard that sound, it has never failed to fill me with feelings of pride, humility and eternal gratitude, as I remember those heroes.
I shall never forget!