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Cliff’s RAF Enlistment
Cliff’s RAF service number was 1,072,172.
Under the words “Current Engagement”, Cliff’s Service Record has the words “D of PE”. “D of PE” means date of present engagement (enlistment). The date of enlistment was 27 September 1940. The date of service commencement was also 27 September 1940 – Friday 27th of September 1940.
Cliff’s service in the RAF started immediately upon his enlistment; he did not get the opportunity to go home and say goodbye after enlisting. His RAF service training started immediately after completion of the paperwork.
Cliff had been disappointed at his rejection by the Army and he was grateful that the RAF permitted him to serve against Hitler. Cliff hated Hitler.
On enlistment in the RAF, Cliff was 19 years, 7 months and 2 days old.
Cliff’s Physical Description When He Enlisted in 1940
The Service Records has a box labelled “Description”; this contains headings for “Height”, “Chest”, “Colour of Hair, Eyes and Complexion” and “Marks, Scars etc”.
Cliff was 5 feet 6 ¾ inches high when he enlisted. This equates to 1.70 metres or 1,700 millimetres; Cliff was shorter than me when I was 19. At age 19, I was 1.83 metres or 1830 millimetres. My height at age 67 was 5 feet 11 inches or 1.80 metres (1800 millimetres). Cliff was not tall but he was average height for someone of his age in 1940 in Liverpool. Cliff never seemed short to me, presumably this impression was caused by the strength of his personality.
Cliff’s chest measurement was 34 inches (.8636 metres or 8636 millimetres). This is a very small chest measurement. Cliff was skinny all his life and never had the tiniest bit of aft on him. His jobs were too physically demanding to ever let him gain any weight. As a gauge of just how thin Cliff was, my chest measurement at age 67 was 45.5 inches (1.15 metres or 1150 millimetres). When I was growing up, Josey sometimes referred to people as “hollow chests”. This expression is never heard any more because most people now get plenty of food. While Cliffx was growing up, his diet was very poor – there was never enough to eat and what food was available was poor in quality. Cliff was “hollow chested” when he enlisted in the RAF.
With a chest measurement of only 34 inches, Cliff was painfully thin. He was not simply skinny; he was malnourished based on today’s standards. My guess is that most working class people in Liverpool in the 1930’s were malnourished.
Cliff’s hair was described as being dark brown. This surprised me because his hair was always jet black when I knew him. Either it darkened over the years or perhaps I didn’t look closely enough.
According to the Service Record, Cliff’s eyes were hazel coloured. Cliff always said his eyes were brown, but they were never really a clear cut brown. Hazel was probably a more accurate description of dad’s eye colour than brown.
Cliff’s complexion was listed as “fairish”. To me, most Britons (and Europeans generally) have a painfully pale skin colour, presumably because there is so little sunshine, even in summer. Once when I asked Cliff about summers in Liverpool, he said he had a shave one day and missed summer completely. He was at least half serious. When I visited Liverpool in October 2024, the weather was dull, dreary, rainy and cold.
The Service Record shows Cliff had a “Vac 4 LA” scar, or vaccination scar on his left arm. I have no memory of ever having seen this scar on Cliff’s arm, but Josey’s arm had a large circular scar (about one inch in diameter). When I asked her what had caused it, she said it was the result of a vaccination while she was young. I presume that vaccination needles in the 1920’s and 1930’s were bigger than modern ones. Josey’s vaccination scar was probably the result of smallpox vaccination.
In summary, when Cliff enlisted in the RAF on 27 September 1940, he:
Was of average height for the time (5 feet 6 ¾ inches);
Was skinny, and verging on malnourishment;
Had very dark brown or possibly black hair;
Had hazel eyes;
Had a pale, white skin; and
He had been vaccinated – probably for smallpox – when he was young and the vaccination had left a noticeable scar on his left arm.
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Millions of young men just like Cliff joined the armed forces of all Allied countries to defeat the evil of Nazi Germany.
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While he was alive, Cliff was awarded the 1939-1945 Star.
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Cliff was also awarded The War Medal.
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While he was alive, cliff was also awarded The Aircrew Europe Star. The Aircrew Europe Star was awarded only to RAF aircrew who flew over Europe before the D Day invasion began on 6 June 1044.
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Cliff’s war medals were left with my grandmother when we migrated to Australia. They were stolen when my grandmother died.
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Courage is the only way that we can ever create the Paradise that should be here on Earth.
Hatred only perpetuates the Hell we have already made for ourselves.
My parents were astonishingly brave – and they were astonishingly poor.
Bravery multiplies with use. Poverty has no effect on the amount of courage we can find within ourselves.
