In 1954, my mum (who had never been abroad) bundled three children under eight into her Hillman Mix and set off on a 4,000-mile drive to Baghdad - all for her lover!

On June 30, 1954, a Berkshire housewife, who had ne'er been abroad, bundled her 3 tiny children into a six-year-old Hillman Minx saloon and embarked connected a 4,000-mile thrust to Baghdad.

In the weeks that followed she met a cavalcade of colourful characters, from a erstwhile U-boat skipper to a brace of teenage striptease artistes, and astir died aft skidding disconnected a span and plunging 10ft into a ditch.

I cognize each this due to the fact that the pistillate involved, Mary Tisdall, past 31, was my mother, and the highlights of her trip, poignant and melodramatic by turn, are recorded successful a 22,000-word memoir and adjacent to a 100 handwritten letters that she exchanged with my father, Billy, an RAF sergeant who had been posted to Iraq.

Seventy years later, their heavy emotion for each different inactive shines retired of each connection and missive.

'My tendency for you is terrific astatine times,' Billy penned to his 'bravest of princesses' from his furniture successful an aerial unit basal astatine the godforsaken metropolis of Habbaniya.

In response, Mary — surviving successful the tranquility of RAF White Waltham, conscionable extracurricular Maidenhead successful Berkshire — signed disconnected with 'all my emotion ever and ever and always' followed by a agelong enactment of kisses.

Ten months aft Billy had near for his overseas posting, they could carnivore the separation nary longer and she resolved to undertake her intrepid odyssey.

Over the people of six weeks, the mates hatched a concealed program to reunite, which they called 'Operation Magic Carpet'.

By sheer bully fortune, Mary had a brother, Alan, who worked for the Automobile Association successful London and it was helium who supplied her with an extended 72-page way description.

Hand-typed, its item is astonishing. The European limb of the trip, from Dunkirk to Istanbul, is listed arsenic precisely 2,163¾ miles.

It besides came implicit with suggested stops for sightseeing — astatine cathedrals, castles and mosques — portion en route, arsenic if the household were embarking connected an educational, three-week expansive circuit alternatively than a alternatively hair-raising expedition to the time-worn sands of Mesopotamia.

Before mounting off, Mary dashed up to London to get visas for Syria and Iraq for her and her children, Roger, Susan and Bridget, respectively aged seven, 5 and two. (I arrived 3 years later.)

Vaccinations and dental checks were urgently arranged, and small Roger's Post Office savings relationship was raided to assistance money the enterprise.

'Do I request a structure for crossing the desert?' Mary asked successful 1 missive to her husband.

'No, the soil is excessively brushed and determination are excessively galore insects,' Billy wrote back. 'Instead, you'll person to articulation a convoy of RAF trucks and slumber successful your vehicle, arsenic the chaps do.'

Fired up by her mission, Mary informed Billy that if helium dared halt her present 'there would beryllium a large large enactment overmuch worse than immoderate atom bomb!'

With that, she booked a Pickfords van to enactment each their worldly goods into retention and the household headed to Dover successful the car that was affectionately known arsenic 'Miranda' to committee the nighttime ferry to France.

'Everything is truthful antithetic and fascinating,' Mary wrote to Billy, arsenic Miranda sped done a West Germany inactive rebuilding aft World War II.

She recovered it unusual to brushwood adjuvant and likeable radical 'who each my beingness I had been taught to dislike'.

At a edifice successful the metropolis of Aachen, 1 chap impermanent who struck up speech implicit meal turned retired to beryllium a erstwhile U-Boat commander.

'When helium fondly took Bridget connected his genu and played with her teddy bear, I recovered it hard to representation him successful his erstwhile grim role,' Mary mused. 

'How is it a antheral tin beryllium truthful benignant yet truthful cruel?'

Mary aboriginal recovered retired that the German proprietor of the edifice had been captured astatine the Battle of Dunkirk successful 1940 and had spent 4 agelong years arsenic a prisoner- of-war successful Bournemouth and Edinburgh.

But acold from bearing a grudge, helium professed a liking for the English — adjacent our food! — and generously gave his improbable guests sandwiches to prolong them during the adjacent limb of their journey.

'If lone radical were to question more,' Mary reflected, 'surely it would beryllium a measurement towards a greater knowing and satellite peace?'

Things took a lurid twist erstwhile Mary made a sojourn 1 evening to a café wherever a philharmonic troupe, fronted by a compère 'with a imperishable smile', was performing for customers.

Its different members included a 'fat, debauched pianist', an impersonator who had a 'horrid' wont of waving his fingerless manus astatine the audience, and 2 teenage striptease artistes' — 1 of whom had a nasty scar connected her forehead.

'They started playing a gambling crippled successful which the loser had to bargain a circular of brandy and the winners portion it each successful 1 gulp,' Mary recalled.

'It was amusive to watch, but I was afloat of pity for these 2 young girls whose lives were being utilized up truthful quickly.'

It was erstwhile they reached Stuttgart that Billy's superiors yet learned of Mary's intended arrival. He was informed successful nary uncertain presumption by his commanding serviceman that, if his woman turned up astatine the base, she would beryllium sent consecutive backmost to England 'within 14 days astatine your expense'.

'The antheral is simply a woman-hater,' Billy raged.

One facet of this travel that surprises modern eyes was Mary's willingness to enactment her children to furniture successful a overseas edifice country past spell retired astatine night.

Keen for caller experiences, she writes however she went dancing with Josef, a travelling confectionery salesman, and dined with Werner, a German technologist en way to Zagreb successful then-Yugoslavia.

'I americium a curiosity here,' she reported to Billy, 'one Englishwoman with 3 children going to Iraq.'

Although cautioned not to thrust astatine nighttime oregon prime up strangers, erstwhile they drew adjacent to Belgrade Mary gave a assistance to a gaunt, 19-year-old escapee from communist East Germany.

Hans had been surviving connected his wits for the past 3 years and had picked up a fig of antithetic languages successful the people of his travels, which came successful precise utile arsenic they travelled though Yugoslavia, past a desperately mediocre country.

It was here, adjacent Skopje (now the superior of North Macedonia), that Mary's travel took a fateful turn. Literally. 

Miranda skidded and veered disconnected a constrictive span into a ditch.

'I retrieve tumbling and tumbling successful the backmost seat,' Susan recalls, 'and Mummy having humor each implicit her face.'

Bridget, who was sitting successful the beforehand connected Hans's thigh (no spot belts backmost then), was besides severely hurt.

Fortunately for Roger, his top calamity (as helium subsequently wrote to Billy with large sadness) was that successful the mayhem helium mislaid a treasured artifact crane that helium had been fixed for his birthday.

Shaken but alive, the Tisdalls were rapidly helped by section villagers. Then, miraculously, a manager carrying 25 French holidaymakers, including respective nuns, came implicit the hill.

They agreed to instrumentality the household and their luggage backmost to Skopje, but they didn't look to recognize rather however severely wounded they were. The circuit radical duly stuck to their sightseeing itinerary, stopping astatine historical buildings and scenic viewpoints to instrumentality photographs arsenic they went along, portion 'les Anglais', bruised and bleeding, sat astatine the backmost of the manager successful tears.

It was aboriginal discovered that two-year-old Bridget had a breached leg, portion Mary required stitches to her face.

Back successful Skopje, Mary went consecutive to the British Consul to inquire for assistance. William Maxwell, 'a existent Scottish gentleman', and his wife, Olive, were 'kind beyond words', taking the battered quartet into their location and letting them enactment for the adjacent 4 weeks.

While Mary and her children recuperated, the Hillman was sent to a store for repairs, with a presumption to them continuing the travel connected to Baghdad. Given the mediocre authorities of the roads ahead, Miranda's propensity to interruption down and the request to transverse 200 miles of uninhabited godforsaken implicit the borderline into Iraq, Maxwell sternly advised against this.

His connection was to get Billy sent to Yugoslavia to assistance with the driving, but the RAF refused to authorisation this move. Then, successful an unexpected twist, Air Marshal Sir Claude Pelly, Commander-in-Chief Middle East Air Force, got to perceive astir Mary's epic venture.

He was truthful impressed by her plucky effort to scope her husband, which — helium declared — 'shows a tone lone excessively uncommon these days' that helium made a decisive intervention.

He instantly sent a awesome describing her arsenic 'like a enactment of caller upland aerial coming implicit the blistery desert', and an acquisition to 'see that Sgt Tisdall is reunited with his family'.

Billy was rapidly posted to RAF Amman, successful Jordan, wherever the household would beryllium allowed to enactment successful section accommodation earlier progressing to joined quarters.

After 2 days of delays and re-routed flights via Istanbul and Beirut, Mary and the 3 children were yet reunited with Billy successful Jerusalem connected August 6, 1954, his 36th birthday.

'The extremity of your travel is successful my arms,' Billy had written to Mary the period before, and now, astatine agelong last, the magic carpet had landed.

For much information, spell to: journeytojordan.co.uk