My grandfather Peter Wescombe, who has died aged 89, was 13 when the second world war was declared. During the next seven years, Long Tall Charlie or Lanky, as he was known during his teens, played with war debris on the North Downs, watched the blitz from the top of Reigate Hill, Surrey, and took refuge under the dining-room table with his widowed mother when the sirens sounded.
His father, Charles, a mechanic, had died of peritonitis when Peter was 12. At 17, Peter volunteered to join the RAF, which ignited his lifelong passion for aircraft and aviation. Unfortunately for his mother, Lily (nee Tourle), and future wife, Sue, whom he married in 1947, he was based all over Britain flying Lancasters and Wellingtons. His wartime letters to Sue constantly commented on his unknown destinations and his desire to come home.
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