大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War website by Julia Shuvalova for GMR Actiondesk on behalf of Mr R. H. Russell and has been added with his permission. The author is fully aware of the terms and conditions of the site.

I was 18 in 1942 when I was called up. I was trained for the Royal Artillery.

I was in the Normandy landings in June 1943. This is the experience I will never forget. I slept in the slit trenches in the field, and the bombs were dropping all around. The German air forces were bombing us all the time.

I said my prayers every night, and they were answered. A bomb had once dropped 3 yards away from where I was, but it had never went off. Had it done, I wouldn't have been telling this story now.

On another occasion I had just got up at 5.30 in the morning and was making a brew for the boys. Out of the blue two German soldiers came. They had left their rifles behind, and had crossed the river Seine, to give themselves up. I woke the sergeant up, and he told to search them both, and then we would transfer them to H.Q. I was told to take any money from them that we would share out later between ourselves.

One of the soldiers had a golden pocket watch and looked so innocent. He would be about same age as me, 19, and I didn't want to take this watch off him. After we transported them off to H.Q. I told the sergeant that I had let that soldier keep his golden watch. The sergeant said: "You're a fool - they will take it off him at H.Q."

When the war finished I was sent over to the Middle East for two years. While there, I ran over a mine in the road. My wheels just missed it, but the vehicle behind mine ran over it, and the mine went off. The driver had lost his leg in explosion.

I was very lucky in the army to come out alive.

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