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On 13th June 1940, just three weeks after his 23rd birthday, Bert was reporting for ‘squarebashing’ with the North Staffordshires in Lichfield barracks. For a young man who had never before been away from home, the experience was what would now be described as something of a culture shock. He survived, of course, and soon found himself a trained infantryman in Northern Ireland. A fairly uneventful two years were to follow, during which he transferred to the Dorsets, until, on 20th June 1944, he landed in France to battle his way with the Second Army through Normandy and the Low Countries, heading for the Rhine bridges at Nijmegen and Arnhem. He speaks sadly of their failure to reach and relieve the paratroops at Arnhem, having encountered unexpected resistance on the way. They reached the river, but were faced on a wooded slope by a rain of stick grenades which left him with a concussion and a spell in the field hospital. Although he was not to know him at the time, a soldier in another company of the Dorsets who had met and married a Youlgrave girl was killed in the same engagement. For reasons that he is yet to understand — a not uncommon condition in the ranks — he was posted to Italy immediately prior to demobilisation. He left the army on a day he has no difficulty remembering: it was the day in 1946 that Derby County won the FA Cup.

This story was donated by Norman Wilson and Andrew McCloy, and was submitted to the site by Alison Tebbutt, Derby CSV Action Desk. The author has given his permission and fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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