At a toy shop, they admired some model planes. ‘Look,’ said Andrea. ‘There’s a bomb on the bottom.’

‘That’s not a bomb, Mummy,’ he replied. ‘That’s a drop tank.’ Just a toddler, he was talking like a military historian. How had he known about the gas tank used by aircraft to extend their range?

As the nightmares continued, she asked him: ‘Who is the little man?’

‘Me,’ he answered. His father asked: ‘What happened to your plane?’

James replied: ‘It crashed on fire.’

‘Why did your plane crash?’

‘It got shot,’ he said.

‘Who shot your plane?’

James made a disgusted face. ‘The Japanese!’ he said, with indignation.