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Harold went to war with a heavy heart. To him, the loyal son of a devout father, conflict was execrable and, as a married man in his thirties, he had a strong case to avoid it. But it was not in his nature to shelter behind his conscience so, reluctantly but resolutely, he joined the Sherwood Foresters and served his country in the Middle East. At last it was over and Harold, his duty done, was safely homeward bound. His unit had stayed on in Syria to ‘tidy up’ and now, 11 weeks after VE Day, the job was done and they were on the eve of repatriation. Nothing to do on the 23rd June 1945, but wait and relax in the sunshine, perhaps half-listening to the sound of firing from the distant gunnery range where an Indian troop were training with live ammunition; perhaps thinking about home, his wife, the village he had never wanted to leave and the cricket team he could soon expect to rejoin as an accomplished opening batsman. It was not to be. A misdirected shell flew suddenly amongst the Foresters and Harold’s homecoming dream died with him. He was buried in the Damascus Commonwealth War Cemetery.

This story was donated by Andrew McCloy and Norman Wilson and was submitted to the site by Alison Tebbutt, Derby CSV Action Desk. The author has given his permission and fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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