Went out and marched as one of the veterans in the village today, pleased that I can still keep in step. Had also heard today that an old shipmate had passed away a fortnight ago, always sad to hear. As always a good turnout from many of the village.
It would be interesting to hear of any story's of our fathers or grandfathers that took part in WW1 and WW2 ...on the late bay . My father signed up with his brothers WW2 but did not let him go due to the fact that he was on production line at Vickers Armstrong building 25 pounders at Newcastle on Tyne A field gun i think they are . My grandfather signed up in WW1 at St Andrews Fife in 1914 and was in the 7th Black Watch regiment . He was taken prisoner in February 1918 at the battle of Cambrae with damage to his ear , which was actually recorded by the Germans on his POW documents . He was held at Freidrichfeld camp , which was write next to the town . He was also put down to work down the coal mine at Westerholt . By all accounts i believe he was not maltreated whilst there . Iam not sure if he went to the remembrance day meetings
My grandfather volunteered in 1942 and was drafted into the Royal Ox and Bucks Infantry, before being seconded across to the 6th Airborne when it was formed in 1943. He wasn’t a tall chap by all accounts, so fitted nicely into a glider for the D Day Landings and the taking of Pegasus Bridge on the morning of June 6th 1944. He was wounded in the battle and sent home for a short while, but not long enough to see the birth of my auntie in November (although he got a pass at Christmas, and she was christened on Boxing Day by special arrangement, as he was only back for a few days). The regiment worked their way across Europe from France and were behind German lines after taking part in Operation Varsity when, on April 16th 1945, he was shot and killed by a sniper. Only a few weeks before Victory in Europe on May 8th. He was 31. My Dad was 7 and a half, my Auntie just 5 months old. RIP Corporal Clifford Desmond Harvey Hasted.
I would assume your father would have been in a reserved occupation i.e. essential/specialist trade for the war effort, many of my older relatives were dockyard tradesmen who didn't join up for the same reason, in fact I believe they were banned from joining. Whilst they didn't actively fight their skills were key to the overall effort and being at home at the threat of being bombed in a naval dockyard port everyday cant have been much fun. There was a rivalry between the dockyard works and sailors, but I believe they dug out when necessary for each other, demonstrated to me when the Falklands kicked off and without the shore based support the invasion force as it was called would never have been put together in such short order, I remember my dad whilst a manager being short of tradesmen going back to his tools to help convert the ships taken up from trade. The only one of my family that I know a little of his military history lost his life in the retreat to Dunkirk was in the Royal Sussex Regiment. I have never found out the detail, although if he lived he would have been my uncle, my father never spoke of him.
My grandfather was a cpt in the Worcesters during ww1 he lost two brothers who fought alongside him at the battle of Ypres in 1918. He also lost an uncle who was a cpt in France too. He brought me up and I have his medals. He never spoke a word of it afterwards, except to say once that it was an awful waste.
Long service and good conduct Queens golden jubilee Queens diamond jubilee Afghanistan OSM with Clasp
Domino British Cemetery Epehy, France. Where Great Uncle Dan is buried. Second Lieutenant Daniel Reid Macarthur 7th Bn., Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) who died on 21 September 1918 Age 20 Son of Daniel and Maggie Macarthur, of 31, Kirkburn Avenue, Cambuslang, Lanarkshire. Born at Glasgow. My Grans brother, my Grandfather was in the same regiment until he was wounded and then spent the rest of the war on General Staff in Egypt and Palestine as the Chief Cipher Officer. Both of them were regular Army.
As soon as my father graduated, he volunteered for the RAF. " I have a pilot's licence" he said. "That's great!" Came the reply, "We are desperate for pilots. What did you study at university?" "Medicine." Said my dad. "Sorry, you're joining the RAMC. We are more desperate for doctors than pilots!" He survived the war but suffered permanent hearing damage due to the constant noise of heavy artillery fire.
My nans brother died on board ship in Crete in WW2, tho I only knew fairly recently when going through some old newspaper cuttings at dads. my one grandad worked in the fire service in Walsall in WW2 and I don’t know about the other one. sadly we never really asked as kids and now the older generation have either died, or like my dad, can’t remember.
My Grandad was also a fireman in the war, he also ran a boozer, well sort of a boozer, the brewery only got it part built when war broke out so he ran it from the cellar. There was an Ack Ack battery over the road and he would open up for the boys when they finished a shift regardless of the time.
My 6 year old at his beavers remembrance parade today, respect needs to be taught young. He is the short blond one with the glasses
My dad’s dad went from Africa with Monty through to Germany via Italy as a sergeant in the Warwick's. He and his corporal scooped up lots of gold prizes en route to Germany and filled the spare wheel with them, unfortunately they hit a land mine and he ended up having his smashed in skull plated. The first words he spoke when he woke up after the op was ‘ where’s the spare wheel?’ unfortunately when he came home he could get little work and when he was awarded medals threw them in the bin saying he couldn’t feed his f..in family with medals. my gran developed cancer a few years later and because they were poor could not afford treatment or medication. She died young and grandad was a broken man. He did his bit, but always said they did nothing for him.
I think there must have been a lot of bitterness and a sense of being overlooked by returning soldiers who had risked their lives for their country, and possibly even more so for the Commonwealth forces personnel. Probably still is for service men/women returning from Afghanistan now.