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When, in 1940, young Chelsea electrician, Arthur Smith, volunteered to join the Royal Corps of Signals, he had probably never heard of Youlgrave. Yet it was on the cards that here he would spend the rest of his civilian life, thanks to a quirk of army posting. Square-bashing at Catterick was followed by embarkation for the Middle East, but not before the briefest of spells at Burton Closes had enabled him to meet Vera Wilson at a dance in Bakewell. That was almost the last they saw of each other for four years. In Cairo for his 21st birthday, Tobruk for his 22nd and a prisoner of war camp for his 23rd, Arthur must have greeted the letters from Vera with a growing sense of attachment. Captivity in Libya and Bologna was followed by a Stalag in Poland which, unbeknown to the inmates, was within 15-20 miles of Auschwitz. 1945 saw the Russians advancing from the east and Arthur’s POWs were marched out ahead of them to criss-cross northern Germany for a thousand miles on foot, during which they saw Dresden go up in flames. Happily, the Allied armies were advancing from the other direction and it was a case of all’s well that ends well. Arthur and Vera lost no time — they were married in May 1945 and celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year.

This story has been added to the site by Alison Tebbutt, Derby CSV Action Desk, on behalf of Norman Wilson and Andrew McCloy. The author has given his permission, and fully understands the site’s terms and conditions

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