The Second World War was reaching fever pitch, with the entire Allied effort in top gear for the imminent invasion of Europe, while later that month buzz bombs would start falling on London.

I would tell her Your roommate's really pretty, before moving on to long monologues about ex-girlfriends, every cheerleader I ever fucked, a cousin I fingerbanged at a party in Virginia Beach[…]

My face is bait, I can't hide it

However, and just before I was due to take the entrance exam at the age of thirteen, my mother bethought herself that it might be worth taking a look at the place where I was due to be conscripted for the next five formative years.