4093278 Corporal DAY, (deceased) John Frederick,
Royal Air Force, 1952-1957
I was born at Hildenborough, near Tonbridge, Kent on December 3rd 1933.
You could say I was a privileged child. At age 9 I was enrolled at Skinners School in Tunbridge Wells, and at 11 went as a boarder to Sevenoaks School. What I learned from public school was -you never sneak, you always own up, and you are better than anyone at other schools.
Whilst at school I developed a very strong aversion to being told what to do. I was to do my National Service as an officer, then either enter the family business or be a lawyer or doctor. So on my 18th birthday I enlisted for five years as a regular , and refused the instant offer of officer cadetship. I did my square-bashing at RAF Cardington and on my trade selection interview was offered the Russian course at JSSL, Bodmin, which I took. (There is now a book called SECRET CLASSROOMS covering that spy-mad period, by Geoffrey Elliot and Harold Shukman). I failed the final morse-code test as a RTDF operator 1, and was RTU'd Cardington again. I was again offered the O.T.C. and refused.
I was told I could choose any trade I liked as the Russian Course was the tops. By now I had been in the RAF for a year and was still an AC2. I asked which course offered the most rapid promotion and was told RAF Regiment or Police. I chose Police. I passed out from Netheravon in early 1953 as a provost policeman, and was posted to 'D' Unit, West Dray ton. The C.O. discovered I had spent a year in Switzerland before joining, and that I spoke fluent French. He asked if I would
like to go to Fontainebleau and the rest as they say.
My marriage to the French girl, for whom I went absent, didn't last, as everyone had predicted. I was left with a young son, who was thankfully taken in by my mother. A fruitless search for my wife in Paris left me destitute and desperate. I joined the Foreign Legion for the thousand francs, a meal and a railway warrant to Marseilles. Of the 272 recruits who left for Algeria only 17 of us won the 'kepi blanc'. Apart from a 6 month detachment to French Somalia (now Djibouti) I spent the whole of my contract in Algeria. A very nasty war. I achieved the rank of Caporal-chef. In 1962 de Gaulle handed over Algeria to the terrorists, and BelAbbes was moved lock, stock and barrel to Aubagne in Metropolitan France. I was
Back in England I was a fish out of water. I joined an organization called Personal Protection Services' and escorted many famous people who felt threatened by one thing or another. In 1969 I was seconded to escort two Royal Princes to and from school in London. They were the children of Prince Mohammed, younger brother of Ki ng Hussein. When he discovered my past he commissioned me on the spot as a Lieutenant in the Royal Jordanian Army, in which I served for three years.
Having now made a bit of money, through a contact I had in Switzerland I started importing watches. This I did successfully 'ti11992 when I thought I'd try my hand at writing. No great successes as yet, but a good bit published. So I can say "I am a published writer"!!! In 1996 I re-met Gwenda, a girl from schooldays, and in 1998, following publication of my ' Flight Across Europe', we were invited to RAF Halton Police training unit. I was officially
welcomed back into the fold, and we were wined and dined in the
Officers'Mess. Full circle, really.
I am now far mellower, and enjoy a wonderful easy retirement with my long-time love, Gwenda.