IN this month of remembrance, one of five brothers from Northlew who was called up to fight in the second world war has told of the profound impact the war had on his family. Percy Curtis, 89, who now lives in Stratton, joined the Army 65 years ago and served in Africa, India and Burma. He was the second youngest sibling and is the only one who is still alive. The eldest brother, Syd, was a reservist in the Royal Navy and was called up when war was announced. He was a stoker on 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 one of the first to help release the inmates of concentration camps in Germany. Frank, the baby of the family, was a regular in the Royal Air Force, served his time in the Middle East and came back through Italy. Back at home was the boys? mother, Jessie, who anxiously awaited news of her sons with other family members. There were ten Curtis children altogether, eight boys and two girls. The girls were married and living away from home. Brother Tom, who had fought in the first world war, was a haulage contractor in London, Charlie was an observer who worked for the council and Eber was a farmer and in the Home Guard. ?There was hardly any post in those days and so mother never knew where any of us were,? said Percy 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 said. Lew left a widow and a baby daughter who was only weeks old when he died. ?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??? Percy 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,? he said. Percy?s wartime letters never got to his mother as he moved around many times and had no permanent address. He was even reported missing for some time. He remembers well the day war was declared. ?It was September 1939 and the war had just been announced on the wireless,? said Percy. ?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.? Percy had his own expectations for what war would be like, but these were quickly dispelled. ?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.? When the family was reunited after six years of being apart, it was a cause of happiness. ?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.? Percy said because of losing his brother Lew and many of his comrades in the war, he felt ?very lucky to be alive?. In the mid 1980s, he visited the grave of his brother Lew in Belgium. Despite all the horrific memories of wartime, there was one sight which Percy has remembered fondly: ?The time I saw the Taj Mahal in moonlight is something I will never forget. 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 Percy returned to his job as a post office telephone engineer until he retired in 1967. He also recalls the amusing story of the time he took his mother to watch her first ever football match, a game between Northlew and a local rival side: ?After they had been playing for a short while, mother said ?I have been watching that man standing there, leaning against the post, why don?t he come out and chase the ball like the rest?? ?I told her he was the goalkeeper and if they try to put the ball between the post he was there to stop them.? However, Mrs Curtis was unimpressed: ?I don?t see why because they have already got a net between the post to keep the ball in. I shall not come up here again, with all the shouting going on. Let?s go home and have a cup of tea.?