大象传媒

Write of wartime memories ? Where to start.. so many others will have provided much more than I can, so let me just write of my family : our was a very Services orientated family with my grandfather serving in the Black Watch, so almost inevitably my father joined up but he chose the Royal Navy. H served on a hospital ship during the first world war and was involved in moving casualties from France and Belgium and then on to Gallipoli. So, when he in turn had sons, they were 鈥減rogrammed鈥� and all joined the Regular Army.

The eldest was already in the army in 1936 and caught up in the troubles in Palestine. From there he was sent to the |North African campaign at the outbreak of W.W.2
With wartime censorship we were never sure where men were serving, but my Mother and I were watching a news reel at the local cinema on day and saw loads of troops being driven up to the front line at El Alamein, and there was my brother. He was later taken prisoner at Tobruk. I well recall the day the War Office telegram arrived telling us he was 鈥渕issing鈥� in action. It was months before we knew he was alive and a prisoner in Italy. Years on he was to be sent to Korea but no one could have guessed this.

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