My paternal grandfather was born with a withered arm so he didn't serve.

My maternal grandfather was a shipwright at Chatham Naval Dockyard. Got married in December 1939, got shipped to Alexandria Dockyard in Egypt in early 1940, didn't see my grandmother (or England) again until 1946.

Spent the years in between mending battle damaged destroyers and trying to stop Egyptians nicking his tools, by his account.

My female relatives got bombed quite a lot, living near Chatham dockyard. One was blown right through her house once. However they all survived that, although the NHS subsequently managed what Hitler couldn't and killed two of them.