France

Douglas Smithson - Glider Pilot, Part 7

Tuesday, Spinner and me spent the day watching planes and gliders take off and land whilst lounging on the...

12th Casualty Clearing Station: France 1940

A very real danger was fast approaching — the Germans were coming and the French were taking up their...

Ray Heslop's War Diary

Ray, one of three children, was born on 19th September 1916 of Robert Heslop and Helena Lily in Darlington,...

A Normandy Veteran by Jim Ratcliffe

Norman Waterhouse- the first British soldier to enter Bayeux I spoke to a bloke in Normandy in 1994 called...

BEF Memories 1939-40

Our vehicles and guns were parked under trees as camouflage from the air, and we were ordered to dig slit...

Miscellaneous Memories: Royal Armoured Corp

Having arrived back from hospital we had to take the old Shamans to the Stadium in Brussels as we were...

A Polish Battle, Normandy 1944 (Translated from the French)

At dawn, German armoured cars from St-Lambert burst through: S.S. troopers, trapped in 'the pocket'...

A Motor Mechanic’s Memories of the Second World War by Jack Williams

One night on the way home from work, I stopped the Austin 7 outside the drill hall in Nottingham, and I...

The Trip to Dunkirk

Engineer captain, and he said, ”Want you to take a boat called the ‘Chantecler’ across to...

Travels of a Captain R.E. (Searchlights) - Part Two

Patton with the U.S. 9th army, was assembling in East Anglia - which news we now know led the Germans to...

I Was Lucky: Memories of the Royal Army Medical Corps

An amusing incident occurred when I was in the Field Hospital, there was an outbreak of a disease caused by...

Dunkirk by Ernie Holden

I was on guard duty during the night and as I stood by a haystack I watched German aircraft drop flares and...

Ronald 1940

We had already heard a radio massage that the German forces had broken through Holland and Belgium and that...

From 10th May 1940 to end of May 1940 at Dunkirk

One day our transport with drivers were taken and a few days later they were returned and had been carrying...

From rags to riches part 1

When I was born on the 1st October 1924, my Mum and Dad had three children already, an older sister and two...

A Bill Brown Experience: Chapter 6 D Rothery: Evacuated from Dunkirk

Two Coldstream Guardsmen returning from a night patrol had lost their direction and had wandered into our...

Unlikely horseman

Our transport arrived and we began our journey across France which I found interesting if uncomfortable as...

Ubique and Unique - the story of the Lincolnshire Gunners

The Germans had almost over-run their positions when two British tanks appeared, hull-down, to give the...

From Rags to Riches part 2

Christmas 1946 Wynne's Mum and Dad asked me if I would like to spend Christmas with them at their home...

Memories: 1st Border Regiment

HAVING STOPPED, A GERMAN SERGEANT JUMPED UP ONTO THEIR CARRIER, AND KNOCKED OFF THE MAGAZINE ON THEIR BREN...

A Bill Brown Experience: Chapter 10 D Rothery: France 1944

Our Platoon officer Mr McEwan was inquisitive about a small cottage standing on its own to our right, so he...

Honouring Two Adopted ‘Sons of Cuverville’, Normandy

While I was in the Caen area during the 60th Anniversary commemorations of 'Operation Goodwood' in...

Arthur Rose

One day I was detailed to drive a car commanded by a Lieutenant to Beccles Aerodrome to collect Major...

A Line Mechanic's D-Day

The voice of the officer in the front of the vehicle suggested we wait until the water entered the inside...

“Of Course, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Was All Based On Fact”

But we never saw a German aircraft during the Battle of Normandy. The first time we went to the Omaha Beach...

D-Day to VE Day: A Driver's Tale (Part 2)

On the 1st of October we moved up a bit nearer the front, but after all the work my wagon had done...