Glan was not sure what to do when he left school.

He dreamed he would either fly a plane or work on a boat and go on adventures at sea.

He made both dreams come true by joining the Fleet Air Arm, a special section of the Royal Navy. 

This meant he could fly planes at sea.

Glan was not sure what to do when he left school.

He had spent a lot of time following his new hobby: pigeon racing.

This was a very popular pastime in the 1920s and 1930s. Glan befriended a neighbour who owned a number of pigeons. They would go out together and let the racing pigeons free. The birds would then fly home.

Every time Glan helped his neighbour, he received a pigeon as a reward. In this way, Glan built up a collection of his own pigeons and kept them in a ‘loft’ ‒ a special shed for these birds ‒ which he built at the bottom of his garden.

However, the birds kept landing with a neighbour so Glan, who was known for having a good sense of humour, climbed onto the roof of his shed and wrote in large white letters: ‘Please land here!’

Glan worked a few jobs in his local area and then found work in Slough in England. His role involved helping to make propellers for aircraft.

But, as he wrote later, he had two ambitions: ‘I wanted to fly and I wanted to go to sea.’

There was a part of the Royal Navy (Britain's armed force at sea)  which flew aircraft. This was called the Fleet Air Arm.

In September 1939, Germany ‒ which was being ruled by the Nazi Party ‒ invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany.

Glan joined the Fleet Air Arm. He was going to fly planes at sea.

<table><thead><tr><th scope="col" colspan="2">Vocabulary Checkpoint</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th scope="row">Ambitions:</th><td>A strong wish to do something in particular or to achieve a goal.</td></tr></tbody></table>

Glan was not sure what to do when he left school.

He had spent a lot of time following his new hobby: pigeon racing.

This was a very popular pastime in the 1920s and 1930s. Glan befriended a neighbour who owned a number of pigeons. They would go out together and let the racing pigeons free. The birds would then fly home.

Every time Glan helped his neighbour, he received a pigeon as a reward. In this way, Glan built up a collection of his own pigeons and kept them in a ‘loft’ ‒ a special shed for these birds ‒ which he built at the bottom of his garden.

However, the birds kept landing with a neighbour, so Glan climbed onto the roof of his shed and wrote in large white letters: ‘Please land here!’

Glan worked a few jobs in his local area and then found work in Slough in England as a metallurgist ‒ an expert in metals. His role involved helping to make propellers for aircraft.

But, as he wrote later, he had two ambitions: ‘I wanted to fly and I wanted to go to sea.’

There was a part of the Royal Navy which flew aircraft. This was called the Fleet Air Arm.

In September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany.

Glan volunteered for the Fleet Air Arm. He was going to fly planes at sea.

Glan was not sure what to do when he left school.

Glan Evans

Working and Joining Up