France

My life in the Royal Pioneer Corps

In Alamache, our 30-man troupe surrounded a farmhouse holding about 20 German soldiers. Christmas in the...

Peter Burns' Story

Prior to the evacuation the Admiralty went around to the people who had yachts, pleasure boats, rowing...

Story of my D-day & my wedding!

As war was now looming in 1939, he told us if we went in the forces we should join either the Navy...

Enos Taylor's account of the D-Day Landing in Normanday

Mon 5th June: We set sail from P with convoy Tues 6th June: We arrive on the French coast weather very...

How I learnt to drive - anything

My future wife worked for a grocery chain in Winchester called Pinks and she was allowed to visit their...

A Short History of the 71st Field Company R.E. in the North Western European Campaign 1944 - 1945

The company was formed into twelve parties as under: a Officer Commanding, two Driver Operators, one...

Normandy Veteran

Front line action was mostly in the close country area of Villers Bocage until 15th July when Den's...

From Dunkirk to Dad's Army

Stan said that the worst raids were in the latter part of the war, where the Germans deployed flying bombs...

A soldier's recollection of liberation in Belgium

We travelled across France, North of Paris, across the Seine, through Arras and the battlefields of the...

My Dads' War - his memories up to the evacuation of Dunkirk

After we settled down in the village of Cacnisty we settled into a daily routine of keeping the lorries...

One Man's War -Part 23: March 21, 1945 -- May 26, 1945

On March 27th, five days before the landings on Okinawa, the squadron received mission orders for one TBM...

Any Engineers with you?

By the time we had reached the village there were only two of us. The leading Sherman, commanded by Sgt....

Rennes Monday 17th June 1940

I joined close friends Freddie Aberdeen and Lance Corporal Gretton Foster in a bid to reach the French...

Sixty Years Ago (1944)

It was in 1943 that I obtained my Higher National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering and, as a direct...

StanEllis2

I was a soldier in the Army firstly in the UK, then in North Africa, and finally in Italy and Greece. Italy...

To Hell and Back

When we arrived on the sands the Officer-in-Charge, Capt Jackson, told everybody that it was every man for...

Tony's Dunkirk

Although secrecy was fairly strictly observed in England, it was soon generally well known that things were...

Fred Caldwell's War Story pt 1

In due course, to the best of my recollections, I was posted to Ringway for parachute training and did...

George Bailey: Sapper and Bomb Disposal - Chapter 4

This chapter covers George's experiences in Belgium, Holland and Germany as the allied armies advanced,...

Waterloo

The British and French Armies where being taken of the beaches of a French Port called Dunkirk. The two...

The Coast Route To Holland

Not for us the exhilarating fast advance through northern France and Belgium to Brussels, but the slow slog...

A soldier's New Testament

Srgt John Alan Chapman's Stories

George Medal 1698082 Sergeant John Alan Chapman Royal Electric and Mechanical Engineers. Sergeant Chapman,...

John Long's War

I landed on Utah Beach with the Americans because Mosquito aircraft were supporting the Americans. On...

The Retreat

As a 21-year-old wireless operator in the Royal Corps of Signals I was stationed in France when the Germans...

Schuldt landings

Phase One - Operation ‘Switchback’: My unit moved up from Axel to the town of Terneuzen on the...