Henry Benjamin Charles Vitler 1900-1985
 

Henry & Emmie's
Family Album

My father was born in Dover on 28 October 1900.  At some point the family moved to Godstone, Surrey and it was here that he spent his formative years.  He became an active member of the 1st Godstone Scout Group and I still have his scout badges on display.

On leaving school he was offered a scholarship to study architecture but was unable to take it up due to lack of funds.

The family moved again in 1915 to the Portsmouth area where he became a baker's roundsman.  Eventually he passed his driving test (I have his first licence!) and drove a delivery van.

At the age of 23 he joined the then up and coming Automobile Association, riding a bicycle in those days.  One of his duties was traffic control at the junction of the A27 and A3 at Cosham.

Soon after joining the AA he met my mother Emmie Helena Collins, and they were married at Elm Grove Baptist Church in 1927.

At the outbreak of World War II, being too old for active service, he volunteered for the RAF and during heavy raids on Portsmouth was stationed at Gosport as a member of a barrage balloon crew.  When the raids diminished he re-mustered as an RAF Police dog handler and was stationed at RAF Cosford near Wolverhampton.

After the war he returned to the AA and was soon riding the distinctive motor cycle combination, which he did until his retirement in 1965.

He spent a happy retirement, but always bemoaned that fact that just after his retirement the AA dispensed with the motorcycle combination and brought in the mini van!

Right: From the 'Evening News', Saturday, 4 September 1965