sentences:  Eric Burchmore was born on 18 June 1920, in Thornaby-on-Tees, the son of a steel worker and was educated at the Robert Atkinson School.After leaving school, Burchmore joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) with the ambition of being a pilot, however he was turned down for pilot training due to his defective colour vision and trained to be an aircraft engineer instead.He served for three years as an apprentice at RAF Halton, followed by a posting to RAF Kenley as an aircraft fitter.