I lost my virginity to the wife of my grammar school teacher. He was sent to France as a spy and resistance fighter. They had made an arrangement that while he was in France and there was no way they could keep in touch, that if they were sexually interested in someone else, they could have a relationship. They were both in love and would remain that way throughout the war, but it was an arrangement. I was 18 and went to stay with her when I had my embarkation leave. I knew them both and was fond of them both.
I was in a single bedroom. In the morning, the door opens, and in comes this woman, in her robe. She took it off and kneeled beside the bed. And there was this 18-year-old naïve boy. Man? Boy. Not sexually experienced at all. I’d never had sexual intercourse. It was an act of kindness. I immediately fell in love with her, of course.
I loved her. I’d loved her before. I’d had great feeling for her, but this was incredible. I left with an enormous pleasure. On the other hand, I was in the army. War wasn’t something I’d chosen, I was called up.
I had an easy war. I was a driver and a wireless operator. I didn’t come in contact with the enemy. I didn’t have difficult tasks, I just operated a radio. I didn’t like being conscripted, but I didn’t object. It was a justifiable war and I expected to be conscripted.
