Tony's father Tommy served in the R.A.F. 1939-45 and was assigned to 242 Squadron. His Squadron leader was the legendary fighter pilot, Douglas Bader.

Tommy on the drums in the Squadron "band"

He was captured by the Japanese and was incarcerated in Java and Sumatra for three and a half years.

"Tommy's War" - click here for more...

Tommy's eating utensils cobbled-together in a Jap prison camp to hold his meagre daily ration of rice

He witnessed the most appalling atrocities as his fellow internees were literally forced to dig their own graves. Although starving, some surrendered their daily ration of rice in return for a cigarette. When he was finally liberated, he weighed little more than five and a half stones (77lbs/35kg). Yet, despite all his experiences, he survived and appeared to bear no malice towards the Japs.

Upon his release, he returned to the family business, which had been kept ticking-over during the War by Tony's grandfather. On the night of Saturday September 24th 1949, something unexpected landed in the backyard of 47b! It made front page news for the Leicester Mercury...

and the Daily Mail!

It was a Saturday night when there was "an appalling crash"! The building shook and Tony's grandfather is quoted as saying: "This is it! I grabbed my wife and dashed downstairs with her. We had just reached the shop when, what appeared to be a black man (actually a white person covered in coaldust!) came in. As we stood almost petrified, he turned round slowly and collapsed. Another black man staggered in - we thought they must be visitors from Mars!"

The crash in fact was made by a goods train engine falling 25 feet into the yard behind the shop after a collision with a light engine on the parapit above. Miraculously, no-one was killed.