The Bedsers' lucky escape in World War II

Alec Bedser, who turns 90 today, narrates his recollections about him and his brother Eric's battlefield experiences in World War II to the Telegraph's Simon Hughes.

They were called up in September 1939 to join the Royal Artillery at Didcot. "For some reason, we got a note cancelling it. So we joined the RAF instead. We were pretty lucky. A lot of those Didcot chaps I was at school with were caught at Dunkirk."

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The Bedsers were posted to a squadron on the Belgian border. "We were being bombed by the Germans, they were coming through. All we had was a Colt 45 and six rounds of ammunition. There was an air raid and someone said get out, so we ran away - me, Eric and another bloke - in to a field. This German bomber came at 500 feet and strafed us. The bullets went between us, and then we got up and ran off. I never knew what happened to the other bloke. Never saw him again. Then, about seven or eight years, I ago got a letter from him, saying he was the other chap and he was now living in Newcastle. Incredible."

Experiences such as this, and the twins' last-ditch rescue from the side of an occupied French road in a rickety van driven by a Surrey member who recognised them, explain why Alec was so relaxed on his England debut in 1946. "All that - it gives you a different perspective," he says