Running For Home

By ChristopherDawber

Biographies & Memoirs

Health, Mind & Body

Self-Help and Personal Development

Language: English Not Rated (NR)

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Running For Home - An autobiography written from the heart

I began to write this book because I felt a sense ofinjustice and bitterness at all the failure that I had experienced in my life.But as I got further into the writing of this book I began to realise just howmany experiences I could actually share with others and hopefully, be able tohelp others just a little, to come to appreciate their lot in life.

I was born into a military family in 1953. My Father was inthe RAF, my Mother was a nurse. My sister and I had a strict upbringing whichin some ways I am glad of.

I suffered greatly with lack of self esteem and confidencewhich was extremely debilitating and led me into all sorts of farcicalsituations many of which were actually dangerous.

Enduring an almost nomadic life as a Forces child I found itvery difficult to engage with others and though I have largely got over this,even today I find it difficult to form relationships.

Much of my story covers my life as a child as one wouldexpect from an autobiography. Brought up in an era where “health and safety”issues largely did not exist it made for an exciting and eventful childhood tosay the least.

A posting to Singapore for two years was an adventure andpossibly the best part of my young life. Singapore was a totally differentplace in the early 1960’s to what it is today. For a young boy it was excitingand we got up to all sorts of things. I often wonder how I survived that periodwithout mishap.

My Father always in control, was intent on “making a man” ofme and as such entered me into a Nautical Collage called the Indefatigable whenI was 14 which was situated in North Wales. Unfortunately, this collage wasmore of a borstal unbeknown to my parents. Strangely enough my Grandfather,though mentally ill, knew this but was ignored because of his condition nodoubt.

The Indefatigable was a harsh place run on military linesinto which I did not fit yet I have a soft spot for the place today. I sufferedthe most horrendous homesickness here.

Entering the Merchant Navy at 16 as a Deck Boy on my firstship, the Canberra Star, I was out of place like a fish out of water but hadmany adventures on my subsequent travels round the world and a steep learningcurve.

I would run for home at the slightest opportunity and thisis why the book is entitled “Running For Home”. Indeed at one point I became aPsychiatric Nurse in the very asylum in which my Grandfather had spent time.This, for a while at least, enabled me to remain at home but the call of thesea came back to me and the Merchant Navy and Shell Tankers.

It wasn’t long before I joined the Royal Navy, first as aradio operator, then as helicopter aircrew. This was a particularly farcicalperiod and it was almost miraculous as to how I was able to pass the course.This led to some very dangerous and expensive moments. During the Falklands warI was engaged as a Military Policeman but left the services shortly afterwards.

This was a strange period of time where my wife and I livedin Malta on a shoestring for two years but again it was to be a tumultuoustime.

On return to the UK I could not find employment so startedmy own business as a window cleaner. This had its own form of humour andadventure which you can read about in the book, “Running For Home”.

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