大象传媒

My very earliest recollection of WWII is the day my mother and brother received the news that my father, Herbert Gerrard Melling DCM had been killed in action on 8th July, 1944, ten months exactly before VE Day. My father was killed in Italy, I'm not sure of the exact location; but I do know that he is buried in Bolsena War Cemetery.

Obviously my mother and brother were heartbroken, I was just three years old at the time and didn't quite understand why they were both sitting at the bottom of the stairs crying. These must have been dreadful times for my mother but she carried on and made a good life for me and my brother. I don't think either of us really appreciated all the sacrifices my mother made for us until we were both married with children of our own. My mother's love for my father was so great that she never found a man who could match his outstanding qualities and never remarried. She was 75 when she died and her last years must have been very lonely.

My father was awarded his DCM for outstanding bravery in North AFrica, he took his tank time and again onto the minefield to save wounded comrades. I often wonder if there are any old soldiers who remember my father. His regiment was the 17/21st Lancers, Death or Glory Boys.

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