I first got to know Bruce through my place of work when he used to call in for all his bits and bobs for his DIY jobs. Before getting to know him I was aware that he had served his time at Leyland Motors and being the younger person that I was then struggled at first to fully understand the nature, inquisitiveness and eccentricities of these "engineer" type people.

After a few years we struck up a close friendship especially after I had told him that my father, who was Polish, had served with the British Army in North Africa and Italy and of my personal interest in code-breaking and espionage during WW2. Over the next 20 years Bruce would call in and lend me numerous books and video cassettes on these subjects, all his own, some of which he had owned for ages. Little did I know then that we had something in common.

Once he gave me a present to give to my father which turned out to be a video of the Monte Cassino battles (where he had fought) and upon opening this present inside was a personal letter written by Bruce addressed to my father thanking him and his fellow countrymen for their sacrifices they had made not just during the war but afterwards also. The video and letter I still have to this day.

My father never did like to discuss his time during the war but once by chance he called into my place of work at the same time as Bruce so I introduced them and Bruce was very much delighted to meet him. Over the next half-hour I listened to Bruce asking my father leading questions about the war and in that 30 minutes learned more about my father's time in WW2 than the previous 30 years! Bruce later told me that talking to war veterans was one of his interests and once said to me "soon there'll be not just no-one left who fought but no-one left who's interested in talking to these veterans".

Let's hope he's wrong on the 2nd point. Thanks Bruce for all the books etc you lent me, the time you took to talk to me and the memories!

Linsey Szalata