Gordon Huntington was in his 20s when World War II broke out. He worked as a signalman for the British Navy when he was captured in 1942 at Tobruk, a port city in Libya. He was brought to a prison camp in Italy, managed to escape in 1943 and after tramping through the mountains for two months, he finally reached allied lines and got to his home in Wallington, Surrey just in time to spend Christmas with his wife and four children.
Now, the War veteran is already 93 years old and recently, has decided to put pen on paper and write down about his years in WWII combat, his capture and his escape from the hands of the enemy as he believes his tales promise an understanding of how it was to be in WWII’s sharp end fighting for country and for life.
Mr. Huntington’s published memoirs, Seize the Day, includes not just his war exploits but also how his life was like before the Second World War, during the combat years and after it, when he started picking up the pieces and once again, started living the ‘ordinary’ life.
“I’ve always wanted to write a story about life in general, and perhaps mine in particular. But, I’m lazy – always have been in some ways. However, I’ve decided to put my story down, so here it is,” he said.
before he joined the Territorial Forces, he was with the Prudential Assurance Company. After the war, he returned to his former work in this company.
he also was able to establish a successful catering service business in London as well as a sauna bath enterprise.
Mr. Huntington and his wife, Edna, were high school sweethearts and met when she was a school girl in Wallington High School for girls. They got married during WWII and had four children – two boys and two girls.
– Article based from a feature in Sutton Guardian