Our Friend Alec
Alec Penstone is a World War Two veteran, who amongst many other things did ten and a half arctic convoys during WWII, and was part of the D-day landings. He, with the help of his friends, has written a book about it which I thoroughly recommend. Despite the serious subject matter you can hear his brilliant humour throughout. People to often say ” You will laugh, you will cry”about a book. But you really will with this one.
I found Alec (He refuses to let me call him Mr Penstone) through a series of podcasts he did for The Blind Veterans UK (Listen Here) and I loved him immediately, but I assumed there was no way he was still alive to met… yet he was! And living not to far from my family in the UK to boot. I got on the first plane I could and went to meet this incredible man in person.
It is really important to me to learn as much as I can to make sure our tours are as accurate as possible. Whilst books and films are wonderful, these first hand memories are worth their weight in gold. It’s the small stories that make history come alive to me, like the time the rat problem on a ship (they were nibbling the sailors toes as they slept!) was ignored by the Captain for too long…so a nest of a mother rat and her babies magically found their way onto the Captains bunk! Everyone got in trouble, but the next time they were in port the ship had pest control come in. A history book of World War 2 doesn’t have space to remember those little things.
Despite his age – he had just turned 99 when I first met him – he is more alive than people half his age, full of quick jokes and brilliant stories about his life, and his darling wife Gladys. When we talked of the war, and all the amazing things he did he was stubbornly modest, refusing to be called a hero. The weight of the medals on his blazer say otherwise.
As well as the medals gained during the war – the first when he was just 15 – he is also wears ones that recognise his efforts in selling poppies. He’s been doing it since he was 14 and is the oldest poppy seller in the UK. For me that is just an indicator of the kindness of this man, his warmth, and his place in every community he has been part of.
This article is not Alec’s history, for that I cannot recommend his book or the podcast enough, but just a note of the wonderful man that he is. After meeting the first time I have gone back just to spend time with him. Professional interest be damned, I feel utterly blessed to have met him as one of the most genuine, kind, funny, and brave friends I could have.
I am forever grateful for his friends James, Tania, and George for organising my visits, and to them and his other friends who got him talking about his memories!
