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This story was submitted to the People's War site by CSV/´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Nottingham on behalf of Gordon Darwood with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

When I was 17 I joined up with the Army. I was sent to Bovington Tank Depot near Bournemouth for my training. It was a big camp of us all being trained. Some of the lads found it really hard, they had come from offices etc and they used to cry at night as they found the conditions too difficult and tough. But I think having been in the Home guard helped me. I was already used to some of the situations / equipment etc. I really loved being in the Army — at that age it was such an adventure.
After the training we went to Normandy for D Day. Following that I was in Europe up until the end of the European conflict. Before D Day I wasn’t really scared or worried, mainly because we didn’t know what to expect, it was the following fights after that I was scared about because then I knew what it could be like, I knew what to expect and how bad it could be.

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