When I look back I had more beach holidays with my father than I have had with Ines. In Greece they were a real treat. A few days at the beach offset 6 weeks in the village and appeased us. Later on we used to holiday for two weeks at Tolo just near Nauplion. Eventually…

I have already told you about the time I was driven to Maanhaarand with a Spitfire pilot to have my head stitched after some rifle target practice. It seems that every time I injured my head my father was around, usually taking me to the nearest medical facility. The island of Aegina off Athens is…

Hennie flew spitfires for the South Africa Air Force in North Africa during the Second World War. He always remained quite debonair, and I could imagine him in his khakis with those bomber jackets on in a bar somewhere north. It wasn’t hard to imagine him in a bar. He was an inspiration for my…

One year my father came back with caps from Tripolis. He brought them down for Christmas and handed them out to the extended family. They were classic Greek village caps, with a short crescentic visor, a narrow head band and slightly bulbous cap. They were all in grey or blue flannel, not branded and handmade…