大象传媒

Unfortunately my grandfather passed away in 2000 but he has remained one of the main heroes & inspirations in my life and I miss him greatly.

After the outbreak of war he volunteered for the forces at the ages of 16, initially to be a glider pilot but was told his engineering knowledge & education would be better used elsewhere so he joined the R.E.M.E and was attached to the Beach Recovery section. We don't really know a lot about what happened in his war or were exactly he served, (certainly Italy and Germany) as he never mentioned it to my mother as she was growing up, but we're pretty sure he saw some terrible things.

The one story that was told to me quite recently was one that I think will stick in my mind forever. After the war ended and he was de-mobbed he returned home to his new wife (he was married in 43 to my grandmother after being given a 48hr pass to nip back for his wedding!) and indeed new life, but had a rather unexpected guest with him - a German prisoner.

We expect that as the Reich was being surrounded from both sides this chap had probably lost his home & family and had nowhere else to go, so my grandfather invited him back to his house with him. On arriving my grandmother made him a hot meal - apparently his first for many years as he broke down in tears with gratitude - and cradled my uncle, then a small child in his arms. It sticks in my mind particularly as I was told this German soldier was a huge, blonde typical Aryan looking man, and my grandfather was dark, very stocky but tiny! The height difference must have been quite amusing, this small little Tommy with his rifle guarding a bunch of Aryan prisoners! I'm afraid I have no idea what happened to the man but would dearly like to find out one day, he certainly didn't come across as 'the enemy' to me.

We know this happened as described because I was recently given the original photos the German prisoner gave my grandfather as a momentum of 'his' war, (including one of Hitler himself, German troops posing by tanks and destroyed bridges, and some of the Nuremberg Rally) I presume because he had nothing else to offer. We also have a couple of bayonets although my Dad reckons he nicked these!@?

I have read widely about WW2 and find it fascinating, the young men thrust into combat by their governments appear to be just that, young men, but with a mutual respect for the young men on 'the other side of the hill' and is a lesson for us all, considering what those two very different men had been through.

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