Volume 2
...I have come to the end of these reflections and reminiscences. I have come to the end of these reflections and reminiscences...
Chapter 23 - I Can Say No More – December 2009
...nevertheless it is done, My past has now caught up with my present and I must say again, this is not an autobiography, only random thoughts from the past which I found cathartic in recalling and recording. - a snapshot of my many years.
To draw any conclusion on my life, who I was and who I am, one would need to ask my wife, children, family and friends and indeed my enemies, then make something of that kaleidoscope...
Chapter 22 – Events, Dear Boy, Events - November 2009
...I remember him saying that the media must always deal in honesty. Corresponders and reporters must show due impartiality, and television and newspaper reports should include enough details necessary for readers to identify with the subject, one way or the other; in essence, a focal point to measure from and form opinion...
Obviously these are changed days but I am sure he was right. After all from the beginning, for man to survive, he has had to relate, measure and appraise his place in history, pinpointed by answering the question, “Where were you when…?” The relevance to the question, and the purpose of the answer, being to establish in your psyche when some great or memorable "event" took place...
Chapter 21 - On The Road To 10 Years Of Success And Achievement - October 2009
...Luckily for me they accepted and I was thrown into the deep end. My remit was simple. They said, “We have no operations north of the border. Set up a Scottish division, write your own terms of reference and report direct to the Chairman and Managing Director.” I will try not to overdraw my description of the decade that followed; 10 years that, from the beginning to end, moved at a remarkable pace called for intensive effort and brought about considerable achievement. The Scottish division soon became one of the largest and most profitable in the group...
Chapter 20 - Who Can Tell What The Future May Bring? - August 2009
...The conversations were getting louder and louder. Excitement was rising and at its height when there was a short pause of sudden silence. Why? An attractive young girl entered the room and Joyce, following their procedure, jumped up to kiss and hug her, only to be told, “Signora, I am the maid and have come to ask the Padrone what wine he wishes served.”...
Chapter 19 - Casualties of War – July 2009
...Before they let me see him I was warned not to expect too much. But even so, when I did, I was shocked at his appearance. He was highly fevered and his wounds were very bad. They told me that, since he spent so much time in the shell hole, with only the dead and the rats for company, the big fear was of gas gangrene having entered his wounds...
Chapter 18 - Things I Want To Remember, Things I Want To Forget – July 2009
...Two short days after that night our fit, healthy, happy-go-lucky great friend was lying in hospital in a coma, surrounded with ice bags in an attempt to get his raging temperature down. I sat with him, willing with all my heart for him to come round. That was my last image of him. He died later that night, of a sudden and unexpected brain tumour. I lost my best friend. I lost my best man. All of a sudden I had lost Archie...
Chapter 17 - Grateful To Have Had My Sight Then, and My Vision Now, To Remember - March 2009
...Ken, who had been down below, rummaging in the cabin for quite some time, appeared in the cockpit, calmly smoking his pipe and wearing a lifejacket. He handed one over to Marie saying, “You had better put this on, dear,” and turning to me with an apologetic smile said, “I am sorry Allan, there seems to be only two lifejackets on board.” From that moment on I was in no doubt who would be the one to be sacrificed and eaten if we ran out of food!...
Chapter 16 - The Dawning Of Awareness – February 2009
...The next thing we heard from him was a gentle snore - he had fallen asleep. Someone was overheard to say, “I think, clearly more than one sample of the finished product went down his particular throat.” At that point he surprised us by becoming suddenly awake, loudly protesting, “Oh no, certainly not! If anything it was the strong alcoholic fumes coming from those hundreds of empty barrels ready to be refilled. That alone is enough to intoxicate one. Just imagine, you could get drunk just walking past them...
Chapter 15: Questions That Remain Unanswered – January 2009
...The scene was set way back in late 1945. One of my brothers-in-law, like so many thousands of servicemen in our Army of the Rhine, struggling to get embarkation transport back to Britain, turned up unexpectedly, late one evening, at our house in Glasgow, carrying his kit bag along with a 6 foot high double bass fiddle. It was only later that I heard it had once been the property of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra...
Chapter 14: Peace - What Peace? – November 2008
...The following year we felt confident enough to cross to what we thought would be the war-torn continent; in this instance Ostend in Belgium. We were in for a surprise! In the city there was a feeling of opulence, and in comparison to what we left behind, prosperity was all around. If it was only a show to attract tourists from ‘austerity’ Britain it certainly worked on us...
Chapter 13: End of an Era - Now Pick Up the Pieces - October 2008
...But it was now the time for us, our little war-time family, my elder sister, her children, (my niece and nephew), my brother and me to go back to our separate homes in Glasgow - the end of an era, now to pick up the pieces - she without her husband and her children without a father. War took its toll on them as it did with many families...
Chapter 12: No longer Alone - December 2007
…It was then that we agreed that he return with me to Bute the next day, or as he put it, “Whilst in the area I have a little task to do for the Admiralty.” Our plans were laid. We would take the train to Wemyss Bay and the steamer across to Bute, but we would not acknowledge each other unless he used a password…
Chapter 11: A State of Flux - November 2007
For my part however, a seven-year-old, having confidence and naive trust in the wisdom of the ‘mature ones’, had no inkling of the radical events that were to follow. Yet, I sensed the difference that summer in 1939. My father could only join us for a short time and my oldest brothers and sisters not at all. The laughter seemed to have gone out of the family - everybody seemed so serious…
Chapter 10: To Begin at the Beginning - October 2007
I started my last book ‘I’m Beginning To Forget What I Look Like’ by reflecting on my working life. I now think the time has arrived for me to reflect, hopefully without too much emotion, on my personal life - after all, it started more or less 15 years before my working life and is continuing for, well only time will tell, hopefully, some years beyond…
Chapter 9: In Search Of A Reason For Being - September 2007
…Confidence gives way to uncertainty and fear. I hear you say, “But this hasn't happened to you?” Well, you bet it has! Now I know one does not have to be blind or disabled, but this feeling can so easily creep up on any of us…
Chapter 8: Single-Mindedness Of Purpose - August 2007
…If I stand accused of taking a simplistic view of what others see as a complex issue, then so be it. Asking the question is often a prerequisite to finding the answer. I do not feel the least bit guilty. I can only say in defence that in business we would often demand a ‘single-mindedness of purpose’ as opposed to ‘a diversity of interests’ as an approach to solving many of our major problems…
Chapter 7: What Would Sigmund Freud Have Said? - July 2007
…Man is insignificant when he puts himself against nature. But that said, there is much we can certainly do to manage ourselves in this so-called sophisticated society of Great Britain…
Chapter 6: Arts And Science - June 2007
…I rarely dream, but when I do, it is in colour and I can see - at least up to the point at which someone asks me to read or sign a document or what have you. At that point I have to admit to being blind and wake-up…Does that mean someone born blind, with no image of the world around them, would not be able to dream?…
Chapter 5: Perception or Reality - May 2007
…It is not only the politicians and their spin-doctors who have come to believe that perception is more real than reality. In their case it is necessitated by them creating expectations that can never be met. So what is my excuse?…
Chapter 4: Into The Unknown - April 2007
…It was a funny sensation; my very first attempt at being part of a so-called group of blind people. I felt distinctly less comfortable than I would have been in the company of sighted people…
Chapter 3: The Way Ahead - March 2007
…Joyce and I will also be flying out to spend a week with friends in Cyprus. In many respects this is my first big step out into the public world since losing my sight…
Chapter 2: The Winds Of Change - February 2007
…This shortcoming would be minimised by me accepting that my loss of awareness is a reality, but not a weakness. Otherwise I would become an all-round bore - and that will never do!…
Chapter 1: It Is Over, Let It Go - January 2007
…I had many occasions to be grateful to my family and friends for their warm help and consideration. It leaves me humbled - I am aware that my remaining senses are getting more acute and I recognise that some people, thankfully only a few, knowing that I am blind still expect me to see…