August 8, 2007
Cabbie wins over royal favour
An ex-cabby who has had the likes of Ingrid Bergman and Dusty Springfield on his back seat has published a book about drivers who navigated London's roads throughout the Blitz.
Octogenarian Bill Eales felt many of the capital's cabbies were harbouring "excellent tales" which he decided to pen and publish in a book.
Called London Taxis at War, the work is a collection of stories gathered from taped interviews, illustrated by the author.
Bill, 80, from Albert Road, Mitcham, said: "I felt the drivers had some good stories.
"I started driving in 1957. Some drivers I met had driven taxis around London during the Blitz. I recorded them and compiled them into a book."
Each driver has a chapter which has been used to record their short anecdotes and earlier parts of the book recount how the taxis were viewed as strong vehicles by transport chiefs and converted into army personnel carriers, fire-engines and ambulances to support the emergency services.
But there is plenty of lighthearted entertainment too. One cabby Charlie Kerslake recalls when a pair of GIs asked him where to buy some heroin and he dropped them off at a fish shop for herrings. He has also been entered into the Guiness Book of Records as the oldest taxi driver and boasts Wallace Simpson, the Duke of Windsor's wife, as a passenger in his cab.
But Bill has his own list of famous faces who have climbed into his cab.
He said: "John Cleese, Spike Milligan, Bruce Forsyth, Margot Fontaine, Dusty Springfield and Ingrid Bergman to name but a few. They were all pleasant but they prefer to be left alone in the taxis."
After quitting the cabs in the 1990s, Mr Eales put his energies into researching the book which has been the subject of a BBC radio interview. His work has even been given the royal seal of approval from the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh who are said to have "liked some of the amusing anecdotes which showed the spirit of that unforgettable period".
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