DURING the Second World War, servicemen and servicewomen from many areas came to Bolton to attend the No. 6 RAF Radio School at Bolton Technical College, for the final course of training as Wireless Mechanics.

I have now heard from Mrs Vera Pemberton, of Sussex, who tells me that there is a group of ex-RAF/WAAF members who trained at Bolton in 1943/44, formed several years ago by Don Wood of Vancouver. It now has a membership of more than 50.

"We exchange letters, experiences, photographs of old comrades and generally relive the time we were in Bolton," she writes.

"A few have returned to the town since the war, but many have not. After the course, a considerable number of RAF students served abroad, but most of the WAAF Wireless Mechanics stayed in this country.

"We were billeted out privately, although some were in Hamer's Commercial Hotel. We remember our landladies stretching the rations to feed us; we were very young -- some only 18 and most in their early 20s, -- and always hungry!

"We were billeted in Henry Street, Ernest Street, Little Lever, Bury Road, Manchester Road, Oakenbottom Road, Le Gendre Street, Castle Street, to name but a few.

"A few members recall the sound of clogs on cobbled streets in the early morning.

"For entertainment there was the Bolton Palais for ballroom dancing. One of our members remembers going to Bolton Town Hall to see Harry Parry and his Quartet and Leslie (Jiver) Hutchinson at the piano; another recalls Malcolm Sargent conducting the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

"A mixed RAF/WAAF Choir was formed at the College, and I enclose a photograph. We gave concerts at the Town Hall to entertain local residents and College students (the other picture is of Class 44 at the Radio School, with some civilian instructors on the front row. Don Wood, who started the Bolton ex-students' group, is on the back row, fourth from left).

"Several of us remember a Hudson aircraft parked outside the entrance to your magnificent Town Hall, and this was guarded by some of the students. I think the occasion was a Wings for Victory Parade.

"Those were difficult times, but some of us made lifelong friends in Bolton, and belonging to our group has brought back many memories. If any readers have similar memories to share, we would be delighted to hear from them."

I am sure that some of you have. You can contact Mrs Pemberton at 5, Tanglewood Coppice, Collington Lane West, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN39 3SB (Tel. 01424 844609).