There are only a handful of survivors left who can say what happened

I WAS INTERVIEWING AN ALMOST 98-YEAR-OLD man about his memories of the Second World War this week.

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In his living room in Hertfordshire, it still felt very present. There was a black-and-white picture of him in his navy uniform, and on his wall were the medals of his brother-in-law who saw action in the jungles of Malaya and Burma. He described a bomb falling through his childhood house in south-east London one night and had a clear memory of his mother running down the street in the early hours of the morning to collect sandbags to protect the family from further attacks.

As he was talking, I felt extremely privileged. I was able to capture his story, which was incredibly detailed, in his own words. When you interview someone elderly about a period from long ago, they are often transported back in time in their recounting. They paint vivid pictures, and remember the feelings of fear, exhilaration or joy. In the telling it sometimes feels as if they are living those moments again.