大象传媒

My name is Cyril Clark, I live in Devonshire, have done all my life, apart from the war years.
During the 1939 -1945 war, my whole family were on active service. My father a veteran of the 1914 -1918 war, a regular soldier in the East Lankashire Reg: discharged in the rank of R.S.M.
awarded the Meritorious Medal,and a citation signed by King George V. At the outbreak of war 1939 applied to rejoin the army, which he did in March 1940. My two elder brothers were already in the army as regular soldiers, one in the Devonshire Reg:,in India, the other, in the Royal Tank Corp, in Palestine, myself I joined the army as a army apprentice, in April 1940, and went to the Royal Warwickshire Reg; for basic training, (that's why Iv'e got a infantry number, and not an R.E. number,) at the forth cavalry barracks Colchester, with the Scots Greys.then to the Royal Engineers, Giberalter Barracks Aldershot. my younger brother worked in the Woolwich Arsenal until early 1944 he then joined the Royal Tank Reg: at Bovington Dorset.
My mother joined the Navy as a cook 1942 at the Royal Navy, Yeovilton Fleet Air Arm Somerset
and served there until the end of the war 1945.
So at one time for almost three years, the whole of my family were serving in the armed forces, a truely military family. Three of us served overseas, oldest brother in Burma with the Devons from the start to the finish of the far

east war, my older brother with the R.T.C.with the 8th army from Alamein to Tunis, then back to England to "D" day. Myself, with the eight army 13 Corps R.E. Attatched to 8th and 4th
Indian Div;s, most of the time, until Tunis.
Then to Sicily, Italy,the Sangro river, across to Cassino (the slaughter house)to Rome Florence Trieste. In Italy my unit worked with a lot of the Div's in the 8th army, Canadian, Newzealand, Indian,4th and 8th, Polish, and even for a couple of days with the American engineers
Luckly we all came through safe, knocked about a bit but mainly all in one piece, to rebuild our lives again.
Apart from myself and my younger brother,
the family, and their wives, who also served, are gone now. Their names are not emblazoned on some roll of honour,or any memorial anywhere, they did not win any V.C.'s or mention in news paper columns, they just did what they were asked to do,with little or no fuss,to save what their forbears and they, belived to be a just and honourable way of life. Somewhere among our veterans ther must be other families like mine' and I would like to hear from them. Sapper.