My Tribute to an Unsung Hero

Sorting through a cupboard in my study I came across a folder with some typewritten manuscripts in it. I remembered typing it out on an old Amstrad PCW wordprocessor for my father-in-law. It was to be his memoirs of life in the Royal Air Force.
By the time he started writing this he had become a widower after a long and happy marriage. He obviously missed his dearly-loved wife and withdrew deeper and deeper into himself. We watched him suffer the loneliness. We visited as often as we could but we knew we could never replace her, nor would we want to.
We had nagged him to write his memories down because, although his story was similar to many others of his time, we were fascinated by his reminiscences of times between the wars and beyond. He would write longhand and I would type it up. Later, as he became ill, he taped his thoughts and I transcribed some of this as well. I feel sure that there may be more tapes still lying around and if I find them I will add them in the appropriate places. He passed away long before finishing the story but the script is still interesting to read.
I sometimes feel I let him down by not being able to help him finish the work. Some would say "Who cares? His story is mundane. It happened to thousands of chaps around that time." To those I would say: I care. Les Naylor became the Dad I never had. He and his ilk were the people who upheld everything that is decent and good in society. I salute him and here, with the whole-hearted support of my wife, I keep my promise to myself that one day I would publish his memoirs.
What follows is the manuscript - word for word - with nothing edited out. As such I hope it makes interesting reading for others. Maybe it will stir a few memories in a few hearts . . .

The dedication at the front of the manuscript reads as follows:

To my family, without whose encouragement this would not have been started, and without whose help it would have been completed in half the time.

I always loved his sense of humour . . .