The schoolboy who ran love letters between RAF Fairlop pilot and teacher in Second World War

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.”

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.”