The schoolboy who ran love letters between RAF Fairlop pilot and teacher in Second World War
Published:
3:35 PM November 14, 2012
Updated:
8:39 AM October 13, 2020
Derek Hall was just a young boy in the Second World War but he found employment – as a go-between for an airman and his schoolteacher.
Mr Hall, now 77, of Chigwell Road, was nine at the time and studying at Fairlop Primary School in Colvin Gardens.
He said: “I used to run love letters between my teacher and one of the pilots at the airbase.
“As I had a bicycle she asked me to carry the letters and she gave me sweets.
“I handed the letters into the guard room and sometimes there was a reply to take back.”
You may also want to watch:
Mr Hall, who lived in Penrith Road at the time, remembers watching pilots flying Spitfires on missions from RAF Fairlop, including Harold Bennett.
He said: “It’s amazing to think I used to see him taking off and landing all that time ago.”
Most Read
- 1 Residents complain their Ilford street now 'full of crime'
- 2 Ricardo Fuller death: Man charged with murder
- 3 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer visits Redbridge on campaign trail
- 4 Fire damages Ilford flats
- 5 Former Ilford South MP opens up on Labour departure in new book
- 6 Tributes to police officer killed in Ilford on 26th anniversary of death
- 7 Fairlop Waters, numbers, NHS and child exploitation
- 8 Have you seen Chantel, 15, missing from Ilford?
- 9 Covid hospital admissions and deaths in stark decline, NHS trust data shows
- 10 Two men arrested after kidnapping in broad daylight in South Woodford
Don't Miss
Comments powered by Disqus