I left it too late...

At the last minute I grabbed my Grandad’s photo album of Second World War pictures to take with me to the Milton Keynes Indie Book Fair. I thought it might make an interesting focal point for my table and would help to showcase his war diaries, Air Raids and RAF Days, which were published this year.

John Teague was just sixteen when he began writing those diaries. He first served in Civil Defence in London, helping to re-home those bombed out during the Blitz, and later joined the RAF as a wireless operator mechanic, serving across Europe.

I am so glad I did. Those pictures resonated with so many people and triggered memories for those visiting my table. More than one person said ‘I wished I  had talked to my dad when he was alive,’ or ‘I left it too late to ask’.

One of the most poignant images in his album is that of ‘Hamburg in ruins’, where he ended up in 1946 helping Germany to rebuild after the war. I spoke to a lady who had attended the 60^th anniversary of the Hamburg firestorm in 2003, with a friend who had lived in Coventry during its destruction. She spoke of the coming together of the two cities. Another lady reflected that the images were very similar to those we see daily of other war-torn cities around the world today. Another remembered that her mother had talked about being evacuated during the war but had no further details.

Hamburg June 1946

The pictures of the aircraft he serviced were also of interest and I spoke to a lovely man, in his eighties, who had been part of a fundraising effort for a permanent memorial to Bomber Command in Green Park. I especially loved the fact that a young lad (no more than six) came over and looked carefully at all the planes and could name most of them – his wish to be a pilot in later life. He later brought his own grandfather back to take a second look. Another chap remembered that his father, a chemist, had helped to create the paint that made Spitfires go faster. He didn’t know much more because his ‘father never spoke of it’.

RAF Mosquito

The book fair was initially about selling books (of course) and yes, I sold a few, but I came away with a much more important insight. The photographs, diaries and memories that my family collated and preserved are special. Not just to me and my family but to society as a whole. Many people have no physical artefacts to look at, no diary to read to find out what it was really like. More than ever, I felt that sharing our collection can help people remember their parents or grandparents and imagine what their lives might have been like. Perhaps these stories and memories will remind others not to leave it too late to talk to their relatives and learn about their lives.

This is exactly why my grandparents founded SynJon Books — to collect diaries, preserve memories, and share the stories of their generation. Today, my aunt and I continue that work, publishing local and family histories so that these voices, and others like them, are not forgotten.