Kith & Kin: The boy with a penchant for sitting in corners.

by Jack Currie

A ‘Coming of Age’ novel about a 15 year old boy looking back on the last ten years of his life. He recounts his experiences, happy and unhappy, and attempts to analyse how his experiences have shaped the person he is now. From being an outsider, he learns to appreciate the value of family and kinship.

The story begins with a third-person narrative, in which we learn about Nik Baird’s mixed-race family background. This narrative takes Nik to age 5, a time when he is bitterly unhappy. He considers himself a loner and maps the reasons why.

A first-person narrative begins at age 7 when he discovers his extended family and forges strong ties with Indian family members after spending a summer holiday with them in London. He recognises that Indian culture, with its focus on family values, has many attractions for him.

A major trauma enters Nik’s life when his mother contracts cancer and nearly dies. This experience acts as a catalyst to bring the family closer together and all is well for a while. The bond between Nik and his mother is cemented by the holiday of a lifetime to Australia and India after which Nik settles into a happy family routine, though he remains an outsider at school.

At school, Nik establishes a relationship with a girl called Suzie who has similar problems and experiences to his own. However, Nik is disillusioned with his parents when they show disapproval of his relationship with Suzie and he faces troubled times again. Now about fifteen years old, he goes off the rails and is forced into a move to a new school as a corrective measure.

Trauma again when Nik’s Mum’s cancer recurs with devastating consequences. Mum refuses treatment, recognising that she is facing death and not wishing to endure the pain of chemotherapy. After a last family holiday together, she dies. The family, both immediate and extended, are now close in their shared grief. However, there is more trouble for Nik when he and his father drift apart due to his father’s inability to cope with his loss. Dad turns to alcohol as a way of coping but it has unfortunate consequences for him, his business and his relationship with Nik. Nik becomes wayward at school experimenting with drugs. The future begins to look grim.

Nik and Suzie decide to run away together and escape their miserable lives. Their adventure on the run is the catalyst that eventually brings the families together again and everyone realises that a close family bond is all that really matters. The novel ends on a very positive note and Nik looks forward to a happy future

Themes addressed in novel:
Growing up. Parent/child relationships. Boy/Girl relationships. Unhappiness. Loneliness. Ethnicity. Race relations. Childhood. Adolescence. Rebellion. Alcohol/drug abuse. Illness, death and bereavement. Importance of the family.

162 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 28, 2015

About the author

Currie was born in Sheffield but moved as a child to Harrow, London. On leaving school he took a variety of jobs including being a cartoonist for the Harrow Observer and singer with a dance band. On the outbreak of war he volunteered for the RAF and having been successful in the aptitude tests was placed on the deferred service list. While waiting for his call up Currie found full time employment as a stretcher bearer/ambulance driver for Harrow council's rescue team, this was in addition to voluntary activity as an ARP runner.

Jack was called up in 1941 and after initial training was sent to the USA for pilot training under the Arnold Scheme. Narrowly avoiding being failed at primary flying school for low flying, Currie earned his wings and returned to the UK in late 1942 and was posted to Bomber Command with the rank of sergeant. With a crew assembled during the period at Operational Training Unit and final training at a Heavy Conversion Unit they were posted, in June 1943 to 12 Squadron based at RAF Wickenby. 12 Squadron had started the war flying the Fairey Battle and later the Vickers Wellington but since 1942 had been equipped with the Avro Lancaster. The crew consisted of one officer; the navigator, Pilot Officer Cassidy and six NCOs; Sergeant Currie (pilot), Flight Sergeant Myring (bomb aimer), Sergeant Walker (flight engineer), Sergeant Fairbairn (wireless operator), Sergeant Protheroe (mid upper gunner) and Sergeant Lanham (rear gunner). All were on their first operational tour, Cassidy, Myring and Lanham were Australian and the other four British.

Currie's first operation was as second pilot to one of the squadron's more experienced pilots on an bombing operation to Cologne on 3 July 1943, his first operation with his own crew was a mine-laying operation (known as "gardening") in the Bay of Biscay on 6 July 1943.

In August Jack was commissioned as a Pilot Officer (back dated to 4 July), the same month on a mission to attack Hamburg the Lancaster they were flying was caught in severe weather conditions, so bad that Currie did give preparatory instructions to bail out. The aircraft lost 10,000 feet (3,048 m) before Currie regained control and managed to fly the aircraft home despite the loss of aileron control. For this episode an award of the Distinguished Flying Cross was made to Currie, Cassidy and Lanham and the Distinguished Flying Medal to Fairbairn.

Soon after the crew took part in the raid on Peenemünde where they scored their only aerial combat victory, when Protheroe shot down a German night fighter.

Part way through the tour Currie and his crew became part of the newly formed 626 Squadron still based at Wickenby for the rest of their tour, which completed in early 1944. Lanham's tour finished slightly earlier as he had completed 9 operations before joining Currie and the rest.

After a period of leave Currie was posted to 1662 Heavy Conversion Unit based at RAF Blyton and qualified as an instructor flying the Handley Page Halifax. Promoted to Flying Officer (Probationary), he spent several months at Blyton before being posted to RAF Sandtoft.

After the war, Currie worked in civil defence and became an author of several works on the Second World War.