I had just turned twenty-two
When I found out that I might be conscripted
I did not want to go to war
And die the victim of a snipers bullet
On a dull wet Wednesday afternoon
I also had no problem with the Germans
Having visited the country frequently
All my friends were in a panic to join up
But it was not for me as I felt I was worth more
I considered registering as an objector
But I would be locked up away from Ruth
My father owned a farm in North Wales
Perhaps I could get involved in essential war work
But that would be long shot as people knew
That I could not tell a farm from a frog
Dad was not even a farmer
Which was worked by another family
The time was getting nearer which troubled me
So I accepted an invitation from Rupert Kerr
To stay on his estate in Somerset
It would give me time to think clearly
But the visit changed my life
And accounts for my now noticeable limp
Whilst there I chatted with Rupert
Who said that his father night be able
To pull a few strings and get me a cushy posting
This was an option but I was still nervous
As even people with cushy postings risked being killed
I was almost envious of Rupert who suffered from epilepsy
However on the day before I returned home I had an accident
It all started so quietly as over breakfast Millicent
Informed both of us that she would not be able to go rabbit hunting
But she still had plans to make a rabbit stew that evening
She noted that there was a problem as no rabbit equalled no stew
To be truthful I disliked killing rabbits as they never did me any harm
But Millicent’s Rabbit Stews were legendary so I gave in
And that was the decision that possibly saved my life
To put it bluntly I managed to blow part of my foot off
I tripped over a tree root and grievously injured myself
The country lost interest in me which was to my liking
I spent a considerable time in a wheelchair and was quite useless
The war passed me by without so much as a bang
I became a teacher at a small public school in Norfolk
And married Ruth when the hostilities faded
We lived happily in a cottage next to a rural railway
I soon discovered a once hidden love for trains
But I still limped which always reminded me
Of how lucky I had been or unlucky as some might say
My disablement also put me off rabbit stew for life