Winds of Destruction ( PDFDrive )

Younger days
AT 13:15 ON 2 JUNE 1936, Doctor Ritchken’s regular lunchtime break was
interrupted to attend to my mother who was in labour at the Lady Chancellor
Maternity Home in Salisbury. No complications occurred with my birth and I
was declared to be a strong and health baby.
My father and mother were both from England. Dad was born in Southampton
and Mum in Brighton. Dad came from a long line of naval pilots who brought
many thousands of ships safely down Southampton’s Water. Not surprisingly
Dad had hoped to join the Royal Navy but he was rejected for being unable to
differentiate between purple and mauve. So, in 1923 at the age of 17 he set out to
see the world as a hired hand on a steam-powered cargo ship. In New York he
explored the big city, wearing the only clothes he possessed—a rugby jersey and
shorts. After roaming the seas he found New Zealand to be the right place to stay
ashore and to try and settle down.
He did well as a lumberman. He also worked on sheep farms and played a
good deal of rugby in his free time. There he met his lifelong friend, Alan
Martin, who later became my godfather. Alan interested Dad in opportunities
being offered by the British Government in far-off Southern Rhodesia; so they
moved to Africa together.
Dad was christened Paul Charles Petter Bowyer. The third Christian name was
in fact his mother’s maiden name. The Petters were, and still are, well known for
their internal-combustion engines and other engineering successes. For instance,
William Petter was designer and chief engineer of Britain’s Canberra bomber,
Lightning interceptor and Gnat trainer. Prior to this, William’s father had
designed the famous short-field aircraft, Lysander, which gave such excellent
service to special agents and the French Resistance during World War II.
In New Zealand Dad’s banking affairs were getting muddled up with another
Bowyer. All efforts to rectify the situation failed until Dad hyphenated his name
—to become Petter-Bowyer. Though this resolved his problem and fitted a
fashion for double-barrelled names in those times, the surname has presented its
difficulties over the years.
When I joined the Royal Rhodesian Air Force my surname was short-