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From a Military Family

David’s grandfather fought in the Boer War, his father was in the Royal Engineers in WW1 and the War Department Police in WW2 so it is no wonder that he was a keen member of his Combined Cadet Force at Worcester Grammar School. The boys took turns to firewatch. When the siren went they had to go up to the roof to look out for incendiary bombs. He was also a messenger (on his bicycle) for the Civil Defence Corps. He led the Armistice Parade as Drum Major in 1942 when he was 16. He had always wanted to go into the Army and volunteered two weeks after his seventeenth birthday in December 1943.
He trained for the 5th Royal Tank Regiment at Bovington, Farnborough and Catterick. They were trained as driver, gunner and wireless operator. From Catterick they embarked from Tilbury to Ostend in tank landing craft (TLC) in April 1945. At first he was in a holding unit and they were all taken to witness the scenes at Belsen (as were all serving men in the region).
Then he joined his regiment (same one as Bob Woods) and after peace in Europe their work was checking buildings for booby traps and trying to round up war criminals. They trained for combat in cold conditions while they were by the Kiel Canal. There was ‘non fraternisation’ with the German civilians for three to four months. They were not allowed to speak to them. He got into trouble for letting a German woman do his washing.
When the war in the East ended he won a short leave in Denmark in a draw. He celebrated the end of the war so enthusiastically that he ended up in a Danish Prison Cell overnight!
David stayed in the Army until 1953.

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