大象传媒

Reflecting over the whole period of the war, the 1940-1942 period was far worse for me in spite of experiencing the indiscriminate attacks by the V1 and V2 rockets lateron. As a civilian we had to continue to "take it", whereas as a member of the armed forces we felt able to retaliate. Whilst waiting to become a civilian again, I resumed my basic education onboard ship, as this facility was made available to us. Many years later, with the collapse of ther Soviet Union (i.e. the lowering of the "iron curtain"), I was allowed to claim a Russian medal awarded by their government (President Krushchev I believe) to those who had assisted them in winning the war. In spite of the young US sailors regarding us as "Crack Shots," I never actually fired a shot in anger nor saw a dead or injured civilian during the "Blitz" - I must be blessed.

'This story was submitted to the People's War site by Gareth Watts of the CSV Action Desk, Leicester, on behalf of Teddy Briggs and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

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