Dad's memoirs

ome years ago Dad bought a Sinclair Spectrum computer and discovered word processing using the tiny rubber keys and a program called "Tasword". I suggested that he should use it to write his 'memoirs'. I put the word in inverted commas because somehow we don't associate memoirs with 'ordinary' people. Yet why shouldn't we? A lifetime full of experiences, especially one which includes the six years of the Second World War and a career in the Ministry of Defence, is a story that deserves to be told and I, as his son, felt very strongly that I would like to read that story and be able to pass it on to future generations.

To my delight he did begin writing and his memoirs were eventually completed - on a different computer. The resulting printout was, and still is, the best book I have ever read. Now, since the advent of the Internet, it can be published to the whole world and it is with immense pride that I present 'Witness to a Passing Age' by my father, Ralph Smith, OBE.

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