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I’m Cyril Jones, and I’m 84.
I was in the Royal Engineers, and I was in the army altogether just over 6 years. I started off in Ireland, keeping watch there. Then, for 2 and a half years, I was abroad in North Africa, the invasion of Sicily, and Italy. I often wondered whether I’d ever get back home.
At 17, I was thinking about the state the country was in, and that it could be over run by the Germans, so I thought that if I joined the army, perhaps I could help to ensure that that didn’t happen. To make a difference. But, unfortunately, it didn’t.
The worst time was when I had to go abroad. I got engaged to my wife, because I didn’t know whether I’d be coming back. And after two and a half years, when I came back, it was actually a bit of a laugh, because my uncle, who was a Methodist minister, was on holiday in the village at that time, so I said to my lady friend, ‘Well, if you want to get married, you’d better pull your finger out, because Uncle Herbert’s only here for a fortnight!’ So, we did get married!
I don’t know how she put up with me, but it lasted fifty years, and we had a son and a daughter, who’ve both done well.
There’s one thing I remember about Italy. Not a gory thing at all. But we were advancing towards the north, and we went through this one village, and they appreciated us freeing them that much, that they stoned us! Yes. Very pleasing that was. We felt very welcome then.
Another thing I remember. There was one village, somewhere round Central Italy. And the Germans were retreating, and the Yanks supposedly were blowing the bridge up to stop them retreating. But they never hit the bridge. They completely wrecked the village instead.
I’ve erased a lot of memories. I don’t really like to think about it.
I’ve never been happy about it, the way things have gone with the country, when a lot of us really went out of our way to try and stop it, to try and help.
When I joined up at 17, I had no idea whatsoever what I was getting myself into. I just thought I was going to save our country. That was all.

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