France

A Short War with the BEF in 1940

Bernard always said he arrived at Dunkirk many weeks after the main evacuation because he was in the...

‘Operation Mosquito’ : Pegasus Bridge, July 1944

The ‘Pegasus Bridge’ area of Bénouville, to the north-east of Caen and next to the Caen...

Rescuing Madame De Gaulle

Thanks to a small number of important personal contacts, including Colonel Franck, my cousin was put in...

D-Day minus 1

On the afternoon of June 5th, 1944, four High Speed Launches from No. 43 Air Sea Rescue base, RAF Mount...

My First Evacuation: Dunkirk 1940

I chummed up with a Welsh fellow and we went along the beach away from Dunkirk to the village of Bray...

Recollections Of ‘D — Day’ 6TH June 1944 195 Air landimg field Ambulance RAMC

One of the cyclists had never ridden a bicycle before and on a practice run he steered it into a ditch,...

Normandy Landing: 84th (Sussex) Medium Regt R.A.

Normandy Landing: 84th Medium Regt R.A. The contents comprised a small metal folding ‘stove’...

My Dad and D-Day (Operation Overlord)

My father was John Arthur Rogers, born Forty Acre Lane, Canning Town in May 1924. During the storm, my Dad...

Reminiscing

I can remember standing on Eskbank Station tearfully saying goodbye to my wife Jane, my mother in law Mrs...

Personal Experiences of a POW

At one point, they crossed the Rhine and the Nazi soldiers began trying to collect their tin helmets for...

ENSA in Normandy

Before the war Phyll had been trained as dancer at a leading ballet school and performed in various London...

The story of my brother Norman

His experience there was unknown to me, I never communicated with him as I was a soldier myself in Britain,...

One Man’s Experience of WWII and as a POW - James T Napier

We then travelled to Dunkirk, reaching the shore but were cut short on our journey back to Britain, due to...

The Lost Commando

My fatherwho died in 1987 was one of a group of 10 commandoes who were dropped by parachute in Normandy in...

Dunkirk to Austria. Bill Brands story.

Bill Brand was my nans brother, one of two brothers who sreved in the army before and during WW2. they came...

Every Man for Himself: Dunkirk 1940

But, by the middle of Jan 1940, it became clear that we were not able to hold his advance, hence the long...

A Long War's A'winding

Originated By Dave Drew at Kirkby Libray On Behalf Of Mr Ernie Wray On Februay 2005. Mr Ernie Wrayis a...

Casualty Evacuation from the Normandy Beachhead, July 1944

At about 6pm, a decision was taken to use an LST. Casualties were loaded onto DUKWs, cross-wise on the top,...

Leave this queue or I'll shoot: Dunkirk 1940

The little ships and naval craft from England were now on the scene to rescue us and I noticed that some...

The Abbeyville Kid

Abbeville is a small town lying some thirty miles inside France on the North side of the River Somme, a...

Torteval, Normandy 1944 to 1983

Her brother in law, Jack Snell, a sergeant in the South Wales Borderers, had liberated these missals from a...

Around the War and Back: A Miner Goes to War with the Royal Army Service Corps

Dad enjoyed seeing this foreign country, places like Rouen and Brittany were lovely, but eventually hard...

My WWII Experiences: In the Suffolk Regiment

We proceeded to the outskirts of Caen and on the way advanced on a German fortification but whilst crossing...

I was a 18 year old sapper with 246 Field company; Royal Engineers.

After a few beers in Scotland he had told me that neither he nor I would survive the battle but I was...

Dunkirk, 1940

The 4th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment was in 133 infantry Brigade, the Sussex had three battalions in...

Dunkirk experiences: 145th Infantry Brigade HQ

A very cold winter and sleeping in wet blankets in an old chateau brought on a bout of influenza and a...