IT is said the village of Northlew lost more of its menfolk in the two world wars than any other city, town or village in the British Isles — and 83-year-old resident Percy Curtis remembers only too well how war affected his family.

He was one of five brothers from Northlew called up to fight in the second world war. He thought it would be something of an adventure but it was not too long before reality sunk in.

'It was September 1939 and the war had just been announced on the wireless,' said Mr Curtis. 'Mother was by this time a widow, and our neighbour and village postman, Charlie Friend, who was with her at the time, they both cried — mother because she knew several of her boys would be in the fighting and Charlie because he had been through the Great War.'

There were ten Curtis children altogether — five boys and five girls. The girls were married and living away from home. Brother Tom, who had fought in the First World War, was a haulage contractor working in London, Charlie was an observer who worked for the council and Eber was a farmer and in the Home Guard.

'Somebody had to stay at home,' said Mr Curtis.

The remainder of the boys went off to war. Mr Curtis, the second youngest of the family, joined the Army in 1940 and spent the war in Africa, India and Burma.

Syd was the eldest brother, a reservist in the Royal Navy who was called up straight away after war was announced. He was a stoker and was on the Russian and Atlantic Convoys for the duration of the war.

Brother Lew was a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force 149 Squadron Bomber Command.

Maurice joined the Army and he was a dispatch rider at the Normandy landings. He was one of the men holding 'Pegasus Bridge' and was one of the first to help release the inmates of the concentration camps in Germany.

Frank, the baby of the family, was a regular in the Royal Air Force and served his time in the Middle East and came back through Italy.

'There was hardly any post in those days and so mother never knew where any of us were,' said Mr Curtis.

'Lew was the only brother not to return — his aircraft was shot down in 1943. He flew Stirlings which were known for being underpowered, slow and vulnerable. He left a widow and a baby daughter.

'The news of losing Lew was hard for mother — she was to tell us years later that she would go to bed and think of us all in turn hoping we were all right and that we were safe.

'She said she would lay in bed wondering "Where are my boys tonight?"'

Mr Curtis said his mother was a tough woman who lived to the ripe old age of 93.

'She had to be strong when you look at what life was like but it must have been a great strain on her,' he said. 'There was no support services in those day and she was on her own.'

Mr Curtis' letters never got to his mother and he was reported missing for some time.

'The trouble was I was all over the place so I had no permanent address,' he said.

He remembers the day when the family were reunited after six years of being apart.

'We did not have a huge celebration like people do now for things — there was no big fuss. There was just a feeling of being happy to be home.

'Because of losing Lew and many of my mates in the war, I felt very lucky to be alive.

'I went away thinking it would be an adventure but within weeks I wished I was back at home and everybody did — nobody wanted to be there.'

Despite all the horrific memories of his time abroad, there was one thing which Mr Curtis recalls with great delight.

'The time I saw the Taj Mahal in moonlight is something I will never forget,' he said. 'It was really beautiful and I would dearly have liked to have gone back there to see it again.'

None of the brothers stayed in the forces after the war and Mr Curtis returned to his job as a post office telephone engineer, which he remained until he retired 33 years ago.

In the mid 80s he visited the grave of his brother Lew in Belgium.

'Lew's baby daughter was only weeks old when he died,' he said.

'He said to one of my other brothers, before he went on the bombing mission, it would be his last. That just proves what state of mind he was in. That is what war does to you.'

Northlew lost 22 men out of a population of 100 in the first world war and four in the second.