Bernie was born in to a typical working class family, with his brother John and sister Pat. As a young man Bernie joined the Navy and served, during the Korean War, upon the HMS Belfast, the fond memories of which were to remain with him his whole life. It was also during this time that he met a wren named Lena, whom he went on to marry in the summer of 1955. They had 6 children, John, Michael, David, Peter, Ann and Mark. After leaving the Navy Bernie got a job at Fords in Dagenham, where he worked for 30 years, some of this alongside his dad. Bernie was always the life and soul of any party, and would regularly throw parties, to which all his relatives and neighbours would come. In 1986 Bernie took early retirement from Fords, and Lena, Mark and him moved to a smallholding in rural Norfolk. As a child Bernie had been evacuated to Norfolk and loved it there, and as his Mum Winnie and brother John also lived up this way, it was an obvious choice of relocation for the three of them. Bernie and Lena loved the new surroundings, with them throwing themselves into country living like something out of The Good Life. They kept goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits and geese, which coupled with a two acre garden meant that their 7 grandchildren and various nephews and nieces, used to love visiting what was to them a little zoo. Bernie did have a few other jobs after retiring to Norfolk, working part time as a security guard for Norwich city council, and he also drove for a formula one team, Pacific Racing, although it was delivering parts for racing cars rather than driving them. Bernie and Lena had had their share of tragedies along the way, losing little Peter and then later John, and then in 1999 Bernie was to sadly lose Lena, something from which he never really recovered. Luckily he did have his lovely big garden with which to occupy himself, and in the last few years Bernie became more involved with both the HMS Belfast and Korean War veterans Associations.