Most wartime cadets have now died, but a handful left memories of their service as cadets. Prior to his death, aged 96, in July 2021, Eric Lare committed to paper his recollections of being with 146 (Northwich) Squadron ATC. And at the invitation of his wartime squadron’s current adjutant, Flying Officer Martin Moores, he also agreed to be interviewed.
In 1939, Eric was living with his parents in Northwich, Cheshire. He wrote in A Navigator’s Narrative: “My memories of the next two years, until I left school at 16, are a jumble. I recall digging a trench about 6ft long, 2ft wide and 4ft deep in the garden, the idea being that when bombs started to fall we would dive in. It filled with rainwater and shortly after I filled it in as my father decided the space would be better used growing vegetables.”
Eric’s father was a member of Barnton ARP and Eric joined as a messenger. His father was against him joining the ADCC until he had completed his Oxford School Certificate, which Eric did in July 1941. He then worked as an assistant in the ICI Research Department at Winnington and joined 146 (Northwich) Squadron ATC with the intention of enlisting once he was 18.
