To Tell You The Truth

Bob King was born in 1923. He and his siblings emerged into a poverty-stricken family in which love for them was noticeably absent. They did not themselves feel deprived, being too young to realize that the state in which they lived was not the universal pattern. In December 1934, Bob, aged 11, together with a younger brother of 4 and sister of 8, were abandoned in the most heart-rending circumstances. Self-preservation was now the characteristic most needed by them if they were to survive the consequences of the desperate life into which they were born. An immature bond developed between these three young, abandoned children who had shared the most severe consequences of deprivation, the nearest they came to experiencing love or affection. The reminiscences of Bob, the elder of the three, are prompted by the inquisitiveness of his own children, grandchildren and friends with whom he had always been evasive about the details of his early life, feeling too ashamed to reveal them. Advancing years has given him a greater sense of freedom to speak and record them which has proved to be a cathartic experience, releasing him from the imprisonment of perpetual deception about episodes in his life over which he had no control or responsibility. He recalls, in extraordinary detail, pathos and humour, how he strived to overcome the disadvantages of his birth and the profound changes wrought upon him by joining the Royal Navy in January 1940, aged 16, at the beginning of World War II. He was recruited as a Boy seaman, 2nd Class and without reservation, credits the training received and disciplines practiced in The Royal Navy, as the cornerstones upon which he was to develop and advance in life, to an extent that seemed very unlikely, given his beginnings. He presents a fascinating insight into a young man's life in the Navy during the war and beyond. If his brother, Alec, and his sister, Joan, were to record their own life stories, they would reveal a similar struggle to overcome disadvantage and emerge from it to preside over large, loving and caring families, and he remains in awe of their success.