大象传媒

I was always called by my second name 'David' as I had another brother William.

I joined the army, General Service Corps, in 1943 aged 17 1/2 years, at the drill hall in Acton, London. Then, via the Royal Fusiliers, I joined the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment destined for D-Day.

On the 3rd June 1944 I entered the 'War Zone' embarking on a ship in the London docks to the Isle of Wight area. We were aboard for a couple of days before proceeding to the Normandy beaches. We were escorted over by American destroyers who provided a smoke screen.

I felt squeamish on the boat because of a heavy swell to the sea. During the night doors were closed and I had my first experience of sleeping in a hammock.

Disembarking was 'amusing', the boat had 8 or 9 decks so, after the arrival of the landing craft by the side, we (another first!) had to climb down cargo nets, throw our rifle to the matlow in the landing craft and then jump.

Arriving on Gold Beach, Green Section, I jumped into the sea up to my chest and waded ashore. Mines had been cleared from the sea obstructions but we later learnt that when we were lying on the beach, we were over tiller mines. Luckily these were designed to explode under tanks and our weight was not enough to set them off.

I now became part of the 'Beach Group' and had to clear the beach of bodies and wrecked vehicles etc. We had followed 'A' Company which suffered quite heavy losses because they had met entrenched German rear guards. One of our 'A' Company officers was awarded a MC for charging a German pill box.

I was then transferred to the Somersets (for 3 hours!) then to the 4th Battalion Wiltshire Regiment. We had heavy fighting in Normandy.

Now a Section Commander, I was involved in the battle of Arnham and marched to Nijmegan to break through the German lines to reach the paras.

After this I volunteered for Malaya and in December 1944 rejoined the Suffolk Regiment.

Some years later, in 1953, when back in England, I was posted to Korea (just after the famous Gloucesters). Then, on medical grounds I went to Seoul then to Hiroshima in Japan. Later I was a Sergeant in the stores in Northern Ireland.

Actually I came to know my future wife through being in R and R (Rest and Relaxation) in Japan. I was offered a pen friend of someone in a hotel in Margate. My future wife worked there and offered to be my pen friend. We have been married 42 years.

During those war years, I will never forget going into Belsen Concentration Camp; all the troops working there were covered in a white powder - DDT for protection. The Commandant, Krammer, was taken to Celle, Germany, tried and executed.

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