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Just like many people of his time Joseph Aldwinckle with his brothers and sisters lived in terraced housing off Hinckley Road near Ridley Street, Latimer Street Area. Brought up suffering from rickets. Josephs dad took him to the skegness sea and took part in cureing Joseph. Josephs dad also served in the first World War and suffered gas attack.
At the outbreak of the WW2 Joseph queued up outside the Army recruitment office with many other Leicester men. Pictures in the local newspaper often showed men marching towards New Walk from the Magazine Museum area of Leicester after they had answered the call for volunteers. He joined the Leicester Regiment. From then on he served the Full time period of the war in the Eighth Army ( Desert Rats ). Served in Greece and Crete, Palestine, India, Burma, Africa. His other brothers also served in the war, including Greece, Dunkirk, Europe and Italy. After reading many historical accounts about some officials regarding German Stuka Aircraft attacks as being mostly Phsychological, I put this to him one day. He replied quite quickly, despite his normal reluctance to talk about the war.
Whoever wrote that rubbish should have been in Crete with us. Not many things more terrifying than a Stuka diving down onto our positions firing large calibre bullets and dropping bombs, and then the Paratroopers starting pouring down. We went backward and forward. At one time like so many others we got divided, had to escape and evade the enemy to regroup and rejoin our units to start again. This was the pattern throughout the war. At one time Joseph was evading the enemy and joined company with some other Australian troops who were doing likewise. On stopping for a short break they came across a bombed out house and wine cellar full of wine. Well, they felt it was their duty to deprive the enemy of this valuable food source. Their attempt was joyfull and like so many appreciative moments in life, they were short lived. They had to continue to evade and rejoin their units. The proof they they rejoined their units was the fact that they continued to serve for the full 6 years at least. Serving in North Africa Joseph took part in the Ship Born (sea ) relief of Tobruk. He later taught his sons the soldiers songs adapted to popular Army tunes like Colonel Bogey. In reference to Tobruk and Desert Rats, the lines of the song went briefly as follows. "Have you ever had your b*s caught up in a Rat Trap, In a Rat Trap, Overnight" ( repeated) and in regards to the Fokker aircraft and Stuka aircraft. "All of a sudden a dirty great f****r came flying through the air" and so on. Using North Africa as the spring board, Joseph served in Greece and India. Finally he joined the forgotten Army in Burma. Where after stopping the Japanese advance, under Brigadier General Viscount Slims command the tables were gradually turned. Soldiers who had been given the latest anti-malarial drugs were seen be looking like a green army as described by one onlooker, due to the effects of the drug, many soldiers had green looking faces. Gradually the offensives pushed the Japanese back. The Japanese soldiers were well trained and resilient. Often they made bunkers out of logs of wood, trees and camouflage. General Slim had to visit the front many times as observer, finally realising that Tanks had to be used to bust open these bunkers. Attack and counter - attack, flanking moves, escape and evasion. The Burma road used was full of high steep hills and mountains. This is where many soldier drivers learned to conserve fuel and mechanical wear. By slipping out of gear and coasting down hill, they did this in civvy street until it was made unlawfull as being out of control. The added bonus of course was that sometimes they could silently coast past enemy positions. Sometimes they tried this with the local police in speed traps etc. The ordinary man had to struggle to make a living in peace time Britain, sacrificed themselves wholeheartedly in commitment and life, and very often came back to struggle in conditions that most of us today would not tolerate. We most probably would not commit to trying to bring up a large family on next to nothing. So the ordinary person was the hero, and not the hero as depicted in films etc. Joseph had brothers; Harold, Jim and Harry. They all served in different theatres of the WW2. Not all their story is known by me the writer, so all the story is never told is it? Harold was resued from the beaches of Dunkirk after fighting rear guard actions, he later served in the Sicily and Italy campaign. The invasion of Crete and Italy is told in modern films like "Patton" and others. The design was to turn the German flank strategically and stop the Italian forces from taking part and re-enforcing Hitlers forces. As usual however, the Germans were quick to react and took up defensive positions in the best places and mountains. The offensive price that the Allied Army had to pay for each yard of ground was very high. It is worth noting therefore that anyone serving in this campaign were fortunate to survive. Not much is known about Harry or Jim 's involvement but feel free to contribute.
Joseph Aldwinckle 9th April birthday. Husband to Winifred May Aldwinckle 21 June Birthday. Father to Sons; Rodney, Stephen, Richard, David, Paul, Anthony. Daughters; Janet, Joanne, Victoria.
Written June 2005

‘This story was submitted to the Peoples war site by Rod Aldwinckle of the CSV Action Desk on behalf of Joseph Aldwinckle and has been added to the site with his permission.. The author fully understands the sites terms and conditions’.

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