that city had a thriving Jewish community.
Ralph's parents came from Poland
and he qualified as a solicitor
shortly before the outbreak of war.
Once war began, Ralph continued to pursue the law,
but in a very different direction, because in mid 1940,
the RAF Security School was established
at Halton, in Buckinghamshire,
and that's where Ralph trained to counter the threat
from sabotage and espionage.
After that school, he moved to London,
which was one of 13 RAF police districts around the country.
Now, the RAF Police was dealing with
all manner of crime prevention and security matters,
from guarding the senior Nazi Rudolf Hess,
after his flight to Scotland,
to investigating the murders and attempted murders
of the RAF Cadet serial killer, Gordon Cummins,
to keeping Operation Chastise secret
while tests were made and practice runs were flown.
These were the varied responsibilities of the RAF Police.
In London, Ralph was dealing with
a very wide range of offences committed by
the ever-growing number of RAF personnel,
and these ranged from military offences, like desertion,
to criminal matters like theft and assault.
And as the war drew on,
Ralph became a plain clothes detective
in the RAF Police's Special Investigative Branch,
and as large numbers of American troops arrived in Britain
he began working in tandem with the American authorities.
So by the end of the war,
the RAF Police was a very large organization.
It contained something like 500 officers
and over 20,000 NCOs.
It had members based in the Middle East,
and it provided operational support across the world.
Ralph meanwhile, had met his wife, Sylvia,
at the Balfour Services Club in Portland Place in London.
Now this was a club for Jewish servicemen and women
of all ranks and nationalities.
It offered accommodation, it served kosher food,
it put on dances, films and discussions, and interestingly,
there seemed to have been more Canadian members
than any other nationality,
as well as about 15% non-Jewish members.
Now, after the war,
Ralph and Sylvia went to live in Australia for a while
before returning to London
where Ralph started his own law firm.
He remained within the law
in one capacity or another throughout his life.
He died in 1962, aged only 45 years old.
