大象传媒

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I received my call up papers on my nineteenth birthday but my mother hid them away until the following day. I did my training at Beverly in Yorkshire and joined the Durham Light Infantry.

We sailed out to North Africa from West Scotland, joining a large convoy and made our way to North America. We stayed there for about two days but we did not step on land. Many other ships joined the convoy and we sailed back over the Atlantic around South Africa. We stopped for two weeks in Durban for a very nice break. We then sailed on and landed close to Cairo, joining the forces at El Alamein.

The German forces had been forced to move back and our army were moving forward. We were called 鈥楾he Desert Rats鈥�. I was asked by a captain what my job had been before the war. I told him that I had just finished a five year apprenticeship in carpentry and joinery. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e just the person we need.鈥� He said. Most of the time I was used as a timber repairer and as a backup. Our forces fought along the north coast of Africa until the Germans were defeated. We then sailed across the Mediterranean to land on the south east coast of Sicily. We forced our way northward until the opposing forces gave up.

Our next move was back to England through the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. We stayed for a while in the Plymouth region, before joining forces in Europe, some on D Day.

We continued right through the northern districts of Europe and after a great struggle for everyone, finished in Trieste. We were sent there as a precaution. We were then transferred to the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire regiment. After a short time we returned to England where a number of us stayed in Saffron Waldon in Essex. After about five years I returned to my home in Tilsworth.

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