What a very lovely trubute to a father from a daughter who obviously inherited much of his character and intelligence. I see many similarities between your father and mine, especially the part about not getting the opportunity for secondary education…however I’m sure like my father, yours continued to self educate by reading. My father had an insatiable appetite for books and reading, something I inherited from him.

I can understand your father not wanting to speak about his wartime experiences, especially those as a prisoner of war, that is very common I find from family members and friends’ fathers who served during WW2, my own dad served in the RAF but was never captured, spending much of his overseas service in North Africa, some of which he did talk about.

In two days time it will be my parents wedding anniversary, they were married in 1937 so it is 85 years ago, and I was just thinking of them both earlier today. Dad was 27 and mum was 26 which today would make them 112 and 111. Both of them were Scottish, but my father was half Irish on his father’s side. Dad was handsome, clever, and musical too like your dad, he played the harmonica and sang with a fine tenor voice. He was a bit of a romantic and was far too compassionate and softhearted to be a shopkeeper (we had a grocery business), because he couldn’t turn anyone away and see them starving, My mother was the practical one …a true Scotswoman…nominally Presbyterian by birth, hardworking and creative, she was a great manager of resources and could make much out of very little. I will be eternally grateful to both of them, and my paternal grandfather Patrick, who left the Catholic Church in 1911 and became a freethinker and atheist, for raising me and my brother to read, and ask questions and find out about everything for ourselves and then make our own minds up…especially when it came to politics and religion.

A lot is made of the question….”nature or nurture”…I’ve always been a firm believer it’s a combination of both and I think you are a fine example of that truth.

Obviously his fruit did not fall very far from the tree. I think you would have been a heathen even without his influence because you had his genes to create a good brain.

I really enjoyed your loving tribute and like many others, I wish I could have known him.

Sounds like you had a wonderful father.

That is such an oustanding post! The biggest thanks for putting that on here. And to your father, Happy Birthday. I was brought up a biggoted Protestant- and back a long time ago my special lady was from the south of Holland, the Catholic area. Neither of us had two seconds for religion when we met.

Sounds like he was an honest man who thought for himself and for good, and he tried to impart that for you - teaching you to read, and who and what to trust in life. Many men from the war didn't like to talk about it, but he did marry a woman who wasn't of his non-spiritual persuasion, finding what he thought was good about her. You found what was good about him and took after him. He deserves your tribute and I'm glad to read about it. Also, I've never met a mandolin player I didn't like, so he lived up to that too. Very touching.

So VERY sorry I never got to meet him! (All that and he played mandolin, too???)

Your dad sounds like an interesting guy.

Thanks for sharing. I think I would have enjoyed ignoring him.

How did he become a pow?