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MY wife’s grandfather was a skilled mechanic who saw active service across North Africa and up through Italy during WWII. Throughout that time he was constantly on the move.
One evening, in a sidestreet off the market square of an isolated village on the edge of the Sahara Desert, he rounded a corner and bumped into his own younger brother. He knew his brother was serving in the army, but not what unit he was in or where in the world he was posted. Their chance meeting might never have happened if either of them had passed a few moments earlier or later. The younger brother was then smuggled into a sergeant’s mess for an impromptu family reunion. Sometimes the most interesting encounters come when we are off the beaten track.