大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by a volunteer on behalf of John William Reavley and has been added to the site with his permission. John fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

John was called up on 5th March 1940. He landed in Normandy and was in command of a Bren Gun Group. The group had three Bren guns and a motorcycle. In the beginning there were 13 men in the section, and after the initial battle, only 9 remained.
He fought all the way to Germany. John particulary remembers laying down with his mate by the Bren gun being shelled by the Germans. His mate was killed.
John says that during all the fighting he did not take his boots off for three weeks!
He was with the leading troops which crossed the Seine to form a bridgehead.
Later, John was with troops who supported the airbourne drop at Arnhem. They went on to Cleve and crossed the Rhine to capture Bremen.
Once the war ended, John went into Belsen.

John's lasting memory of his experience is losing the lads, which affected him deeply.

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