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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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Amy and Jack Meeting 1944

by cambsaction

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Archive List > Childhood and Evacuation

Contributed by听
cambsaction
People in story:听
Valerie Ann Milbank
Location of story:听
Buckden, Cambridgshire
Background to story:听
Civilian
Article ID:听
A7944366
Contributed on:听
21 December 2005

Amy and Jack and certificates from the borough expressing Saltash鈥檚 deep appreciation of their service.

The story is about Amy Rosina Knight and John George Henry Baxter, known as Jack. Mum was born in 1923 in the grounds of Trematon Castle and dad in 1915 in Buckden. Mum forged grandad鈥檚 signature to join the WAAFs as she was too young and was posted to Graveley in Cambridgeshire, leaving her sisters in Cornwall, who were in the land army and possibly at more risk than mum was. Mum was on a night out with the other WAAFS at the vine public house in Buckden, dad was home on leave from abroad. There they met and at the ends of the evening Jack to amy home to his mum and dad鈥檚 house where she spent the night in his sister Emily鈥檚 room. He took her back to Graveley in the early hours of the morning, unfortunately too late and she ended up spending time in jankers! I believe this was the first of many times. After the war they both went back to Saltash in Cornwall where they married on the 4th may 1946. They spent six months there but as there was no work dad wrote to his mum and dad and asked if they could come back to Buckden to live. Dad forgot to mention that their daughter, Valerie, was on the way then! to the country and offering a warm and hearty welcome on their return to the town. All the family lived together until they got their own house. Before they left Saltash they were both presented with certificates from the borough expressing Saltash鈥檚 deep appreciation of their service They lived in Buckden all their married life. Jack was born and died in Buckden the few months in Saltash were the only months he spent living away from the village. Jack joined the TAs in the Suffolk regiment, he was transferred to the Queens royal regiment and shipped straight out to the Middle East . He started in Iraq then on to Alexandria, along the north African coast with the Eighth Army and on to the landings in Salerno. Due to the push into Italy we think he was seriously injured after spending three days in a ditch as the Germans were pulling back. On the push up to Casino Dad and Dicky werw on look-out as they knew the Germans were still about. Dicky saw a German nip between the bushed on the lower ground , dicky was manning the bren-gun, dicky said I know what he was doing and I鈥檒l have him on the way back. As the German got between the bushes Dicky fired and blew his head off. His army mate all the way through was Dicky Bird. The final push up into italy took him to
trieste to have the last of his wounds treated and met up with Dicky who was also having his wounds treated. They were shipped home together.

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