I've been getting ready for a few months now to go back in time to visit people and places I haven't seen in (with one exception) 60 years. In 1953 my father, Phil Tripe, was posted to 4th ATAF in Trier, Germany. We left RCAF station Lac St. Denis, Quebec in October and sailed from Montreal to Liverpool. From there we went to Chester - where I was born. Mom, Robert, Louise, Donald and I stayed there while Dad went over to find us a place to live. There were no PMQs - Personnel Married Quarters - at the base in Trier. He, and 3 other officers, found a place in Echternach, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg about 20 minutes or so away. We lived in that beautiful little town for 3 years. I was 13 when I went there and 16 when I returned to Canada. They were 3 wonderful years and I made some good friends there, had many adventures and grew up.
Last year, I made contact with some of my old friends and decided to go on a trip to see them - as many as I could - and to see those places. I am also going back to As, Belgium for a visit with friends I made there in 2010 when my husband Bill and I visited the place where my Dad's Spitfire crashed and he was able to parachute out with a wounded arm and land behind the Hotel Mardaga. That story is told at the blog I created for his wartime experiences and our trip at .
This blog will be a record of this trip.
