Albert's Page

Born in the early 1920s, Albert Hodkinson lived in Gem Street in Silvertown until he joined the RAF in 1939, just before the beginning of World War II.

Travelling eastwards along North Woolwich Road from West Silvertown, Gem Street was the the first street past the Graving Dock Tavern.  Gem Street was a typical Silvertown street, with twelve houses on either side. On the left side, a few yards from the gates of the Silvertown Park, was the last house, Number 24. Here Albert lived with his Mum, Dad, five sisters and an unfriendly cat.

From the side window of the house Albert had the choice of seeing either the well laid out flower gardens of the Park, with the many trees in abundance, or gaze further over, to a huge ship of the P&O Line, with passengers aboard, waiting to sail the seven seas. "Oh my", he says, "how many times in my imagination, did I sail with them, to the far away places of the British Empire".

Albert served in the RAF for the whole of World War II, serving in both ground crew and aircrew, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM).

Pre-war map and aerial photograph showing the area where Albert lived - click to see a larger image

Unfortunately, he never returned to live in Gem Street because along with the whole of the surrounding area it was never rebuilt after the devastation caused by the bombing raids of September 1940.

Albert's book, reproduced on this site by kind permission, was first published in 2001. As the back cover of the original book says, "This is a touching account of the life of an airman in World War II which cannot help but move the reader as Hodkinson takes a trip down memory lane into the world of the 1940s"

Memories of Different Happenings in World War II (1.12mb)

Also published here is a short story Stealing an Egg which Albert wrote for a competition recalling a family incident in 1931.

Stealing an Egg (162kb)

In 1956, Albert and his wife Enid moved to the USA and they live now in Philadelphia. They are the proud parents of five children and, equally, the proud grandparents of five grandchildren.

If you'd like to make contact with Albert by e-mail please click here. Otherwise please make contact via the Webmaster - see our Contacts Page

Note: No part of Albert's book may be reproduced in any form by photocopying or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from both the copyright owner and the publisher.

* The file is in .pdf format and to view it you will need an Acrobat Reader. This can be obtained free of charge by clicking the "Get Acrobat Reader" icon opposite

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Page last modified: 31 October 2007