With my tale – Doug's War –
in The People's Friend this week I thought I would give the
story behind the story.
It's all about my dad, Douglas
Havers, and just like the setting in the story he was a Norfolk
lad, born and raised in a tiny village called Syderstone a few miles
north of Fakenham.
It is true that his desire to enlist
in the navy was thwarted by the fact that he worked on the land and
was therefore in a reserved occupation. When he was finally accepted
into the armed forces he was put into the infantry. This was a little
disconcerting as prolonged marching was painful due to him having
part of his leg bone removed as a child. He had contracted some sort
of infection which affected his fibula. However, like many
others, he just got on with it.
I've probably exaggerated his
mischievous pranks but the incident with the school bell is true. The
real reason for him being let out early was because he could
simultaneously rub his belly with one hand and pat himself on the
head with the other. A trivial skill you might think but apparently
it impressed the teacher.
It was dad's younger brother, my uncle
Frank who told me about the vicar being the LVD captain, unlike in
Dad's Army where they are two different characters. It was him that
told me about the firecracker incident too. I have a photograph of
the whole platoon with the vicar/captain centre stage minus
dog-collar.
As a footnote - I've always been a fan
of Arthur Lowe, Clive Dunn etc. in Dad's Army. My dad always
maintained that the programme wasn't all that far-fetched. In his
view he characters portrayed and the antics they got up to were a
fair reflection of real life. Still heroes though.
