´óÏó´«Ã½

My father, Roger ‘Tiny’ Lambert (his nickname was on account of his height and weight and having been given the nickname by a Sergeant when he was lining up to volunteer at the Recruitment office) was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Essex Regiment and was based for most of the 2nd War in Heysham in Lancashire. I understand he trained others how to become drill instructors. The Army Camp in Heysham was eventually transformed into a Nuclear Power Station.

Anyway, my parents met there (my mother was a telephonist at the Camp) and got married in July 1944 at St Peter’s Church, a Church which backdates to Norman times. It is a quiet little town on the picturesque Lancashire coast, and every so often part of the graveyard is washed away when there’s a big storm from the Atlantic.

Tiny volunteered many times to go overseas, but was turned down on each occasion, until finally in August 1944 he was accepted for overseas’ duty. He was hoping that he might see some action in the push into France and Germany, but in those days they didn’t tell you where you were going until you got on board ship, because of the Official Secrets Act. As ordered, Tiny presented himself at Southampton docks and once out at Sea the troops were told they were headed for Jamaica! So the story goes, Tiny played Bridge with a major as his playing partner and won more money on the voyage down than he did in wages during the whole of his stint in the Army.

At the end of the War Tiny was de-mobbed and went into Civvy Street, like so many others, and he had a successful career in Shell.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.