大象传媒

My Father joined in October 1941 where he undertook training as a Sick Berth Attendant and laboratory assistant.
His service record shows he joined the 鈥楬ardy鈥� 4th August 1943 until she was lost on the 30th January 1944. As a survivor when asked he talked of jumping from the Hardy to the rescue ship (don鈥檛 know which one). He had affection for the Hardy yet I think life onboard was grim. As children my sister & I did not believe him when he said they chipped ice off the deck and turned their plates over to have a clean side for the next meal to save water.
He said he had a survivor鈥檚 breakfast after they were landed. I鈥檓 not sure where he was landed but he thought it was 鈥渟omewhere in Russia鈥�. He was given a rough thick dark sweater that he wore for years after he was discharged. I also remember he was also given a white sheepskin type hat that had earflaps, which my sister & I later used for dressing up as sheep! On the 1st Of June 1944 he joined an LST (180) and took part in the landings around D-Day. By a strange twist of fate he met his brother鈥攊n-law (who was in the Royal Army Medical Corp) on the beach. Both were taking off wounded. During the time he was on the LST he received 4 wounds although I never heard him mention these.
I can only recall seeing my father on 3 occasions during my early childhood prior to his discharge in May 1946. As a child I recall a stern man in uniform who appeared for a day and went away again. I remember he saved us his sweet or chocolate ration which we were only allowed to eat whilst my mother did the ironing鈥ith flat irons on a small fire because of fuel shortages and power cuts.
Following his demobilisation life must have been very difficult for him. Probably today we would say he Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Along with thousands of other young men he went to war, leaving behind an equally young wife & baby. Although my father survived the torpedoing of the Hardy and the D-Day landings, my mother always maintained the man who left to 鈥榡oin up鈥� was not the same person who returned.

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