WAR DIARY

Elisabeth Gallon writes: ‘My father Harry Gallon along with thousands of others during WWII War was separated from his wife and children to fight for his King and Country. Little more than a toddler at the time I have no clear recollection of my father’s leave-taking.All I knew was that my tall handsome loving daddy had gone away leaving a gaping hole in the lives of his loved ones which no one else could fill. I knew little about him at the time. I might never have known him at all had he not in his wisdom kept a record of his thoughts and feelings during the long years of our separation whilst he served in India. It was a country he learned to love during his RAF days thousands of miles from home. ‘Years later reading my father’s diaries I realised the depth and quality of his intellect; his dexterity with words. He possessed a mastery over words which came to him as naturally as breathing allied to a kind of spiritual grace an awareness of beauty and a power of self-expression.