Journeys and Resting Places
- Foreword
- Part I: Growing Up in Northern England
- Part II: Soldiering On in Southern India
Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
The moral rights of the author and editors have been asserted.
Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
The moral rights of the author and editors have been asserted.
John Adams, known throughout his life as Jack, was born in 1920 and died in 2010. Growing up in Widnes and educated at Farnworth Church of England Primary School and Wade Deacon Grammar School, he secured employment at ICI where he stayed throughout his career, rising from Laboratory Assistant to Research Scientist. There he met Margaret, his wife of 67 years. A wartime romance and marriage in Frodsham in 1943 was followed by Army service in India from 1945-47, one of the seminal experiences of his life.
Although ill-health marred his final years, it did provide time to convert his recollections of his early life in Widnes and memories of India into a series of folders interspersed with photographs and mementos. He initially declared that it was not his intention that these should be read by anyone other than himself: it was the process of recollection that was so energising, not its outcome. However on completion, he felt that the material he had produced might after all be of some interest to others. Thus in memory of his life and work, members of his family have collated his recollections and memories into book form. The words contained therein are substantially his, with only minor editorial amendment (in italic font). Sufficient material was amassed to form a volume of two parts gathered under the overarching title Journeys and Resting Places.
Part I describes Growing Up in Northern England and covers the period 1920 to 1945, recording his early life in Widnes, his schooldays and his first employment, together with recollections of Home Guard service and Army training.
Part II describes Soldiering On in Southern India, tracing his posting as a Lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals from 1945 to 1947.
Dedicated to his memory, it is hoped that this volume not only captures the recollections and experiences but also the spirit of the man, and that it might, as he hoped, be of some wider interest as a story of his time.
