John Subak Sharpe – Reflection On Life

INT: Can I ask you a little about your experience as a refugee? When you came up to Glasgow did you mix with other people who had escaped Germany? BSS: Yes INT: Or even before that did you…? JSS: You mean when I first came up? INT: Well you were only here for 6 weeks … Read more

John Subak Sharpe – Settling In

JSS: When I got to Birmingham University, as I said, the first years had to be shared but I got lectures from a brilliant lecturer, a not very pleasant man, but a brilliant lecturer in genetics. And I decided when he asked me to go into the first year in genetics which would be the … Read more

John Subak Sharpe – Immigration

INT: Good. When did you arrive here in Scotland and how old were you when you came? JSS: Well, first of all I did not arrive initially in Scotland but in England on the Kindertransport. I had been working for quite some time in agriculture as a farm labourer or farm pupil, whatever you like. … Read more

John Subak Sharpe – Life During The War

JSS: I ran away from that farm, I didn’t tell you this before. INT: Ah so you came over to stay with the…? BSS: Peskins JSS: Peskins INT: The Peskins… JSS: Until about May INT: So only for a very, very short time. JSS: A very short time. INT: And then what happened? JSS: I … Read more

John Subak Sharpe – Life Before The War

John Herbert Subak-Sharpe (1924- ) was Professor of Virology and Honorary Director of the Medical Research Council Virology Unit from 1968 to 1994. Born in Vienna, Subak-Sharp was brought to Britain by the Kindertransport mission in 1939 and was a farm pupil from 1939 to 1944, before serving in the Parachute Regiment. He graduated with … Read more