I met a man who flew Spitfires in WW2

http://www.world-war-2-planes.com/spitfire.html

I sat down in the town as it was so hot.A man near me who must be about 94 said he was in the RAF.He survived 2.5 years flying to protect Britain from German warplanes.
He said on his first flight he found himself face to face with a German plane.He had to pull a trigger and fire the machine guns on the wings.For a moment he did not want to but he did and all  the bombs on the German plane exploded in front of him and the crew were blown to bits.
Another time, again he was alone in the plane, he was hit by a German   and the tail fell off his plane.He managed to get out with his parachute,hoping the enemy would not  kill him by gunfire,They did sometimes
He seemed a peaceful person but he told  me he never sleeps well and has nightmares every night.But he married and had two children and has grandchildren.He was once in a pub in the East End when the Kray brothers shot a man and killed him.He worked for a company who supplied the marble for Euston Station.
So  we agreed that we never know the stories of the people we pass in the street.And he  might write his down