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Bernard volunteered to join the Sherwood Foresters at Lincoln in April 1942 and soon found himself on coast watch at hotspot Lowestoft. ‘I do like to be beside the seaside’ was a severely out-of-date refrain by this time — barbed wire and minefields were a far cry from sandcastles and sunbathers — and Bernard witnessed at first hand the disintegration of a comrade who neglected to recognise the difference. On transfer to the Royal Artillery, he trained as a gunner and, at the end of 1943, arrived in Italy via North Africa. He was soon in action on the grinding slog up the Italian peninsula, but the dolca vite awaited him and his comrades in Venice and Padua at the end of it. Then on to India — the Japanese had surrendered but the War Office was slow to react — and home at last to be reunited with family and the two brothers, one of whom had survived the Russian convoys and the other a prisoner of war camp.

This story has been added to the site by Alison Tebbutt, Derby CSV Action Desk, on behalf of Norman Wilson and Andrew McCloy. The author has given his permission, and fully understands the site’s terms and conditions

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