I knew Ronnie Ross before he was famous, when he came back

from America in the late forties. He lived in Sawston,Cambridgeshire

and used to drive through the village where I lived, Stapleford, in his

open topped Morris. He was the only one of our gang who had a car.

He was a drop-dead gorgeous boy and I had a crush on him but he

was only interested in his music. Whenever a famous band came to

the Rex Ballroom in Cambridge he would be there asking if he could

sit in - I felt proud that he was good enough to hold his own with Vic

Lewis, Ted Heath, The Dutch Swing band etc. 

He used to disappear to London at the weekends. We never knew

he could reach the heights he did.