大象传媒

George was 23 years old in March 1940, when he enlisted in the Royal Artillery, having declined an offer from his employer to apply for deferment. And so began a six-year slog that took him from England to Tunisia to Italy and back. After basic training at Catterick, he joined the 2nd Antitank Unit which, in the absence of its normal targets following the Dunkirk evacuation, had turned its attention to the Luftwaffe and was pointing its guns skywards. The Tyneside shipyards were building warships, including the battleship King George V, and the 2nd Antitank Unit, stationed at Wallsend, shared with the barrage balloon units and fighter squadrons the vital task of defending them from air attack. In 1942, George transferred to the 3rd Parachute Battalion. The maroon beret worn by the Airborne regiments was a badge of honour. All troops were volunteers and all were renowned for their fighting qualities. In November 1942, the Allies invaded North Africa and the paratroops had the vital task of occupying the airfields. George鈥檚 battalion dropped onto an airfield called Bone and, as luck had it, arrived just ahead of the German paratroops who, seeing the British parachutes on the ground, wisely stayed in their aircraft. 鈥淭hey would have been sitting ducks,鈥� George recalls. From there they fought as infantry, wresting Tunisia hilltop by hilltop from the Afrika Korps. A foot injury meant a return to the artillery for George and, with the campaign in North Africa won, George fought his way through Italy with the field artillery. The war ended and Italy proved a more convivial place to be for the next six months, but demob in 1946 came as a great relief. 鈥淲e鈥檇 had enough,鈥� says George. 鈥淚n six years I鈥檇 spent five Christmases abroad and we were ready for home.鈥�

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