Diary of a Red Devil

65 years ago a young man, Albert Blockwell, joined the army as a raw recruit. He was a young, naïve 20 year old and went straight into the rigorous army routine from a comfortable home-life with his parents in Stockton-on-Tees.

After moving up and down the U.K., experiencing the hard training and the comradeship of his fellow soldiers, like so many others he was eventually caught up in the realities of the REAL war. He joined the 1st British Airborne Division and was proud to belong to an elite force destined to fight in one of the most famous — and disastrous battles - in recent history, the Battle of Arnhem, where 35,000 troops landed. 10,095 British and Polish troops were dropped in Holland, but only 2,293 returned 9 days later.

Albert was one of the many 1st Airborne Division (the Red Berets — nicknamed “the Red Devils”) who fought bravely against all odds, but was eventually captured and taken to a Prisoner of War camp in Germany.

He escaped when the war was nearing the end and upon his return he wrote a detailed autobiography of his war exploits from February 1940 to his demob in 1946. This diary was kept merely as an outlet to his feelings and emotions during that time; he had no public in mind, beyond a few personal friends, when he set down his adventures. This may account for the intimate quality of his writing. But there can be no doubt he had a flair for picking out those details and moments which we all want to hear about — the touches of unexpected realism which help us to visualize and live over again the incredibly heroic episode of Arnhem.

This book is not a fiction adventure, full of daring exploits, but an honest, fact-filled diary written from the heart. He describes his feelings, observations and experiences, which could only be portrayed by a man who has ‘been there, done that’.
Albert went on to marry his sweetheart and lived a quiet, contented life with her for the next 55 years, initially in the North East, then in Dawlish, Devon. In the past, a handful of close friends and family had been allowed the privilege of reading this book, and after his death in 2001, his wife Dorothy treasured it more than ever before and would not let it out of her sight.

Sadly, Dorothy died in 2003 and their daughter, Maggie Clifton from Castlemorton, near Malvern discovered it amongst their box of treasures. She has now made the decision to publish this incredibly moving story, along with many other wartime photographs and letters found with the book, to share it with the rest of the world, not as a violation of his privacy, but out of respect for what he, and all the young soldiers in the 2nd World War, went through to make our country a better place for future generations.

September 2004 was the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem and Maggie and her husband Paul made a pilgrimage to Holland to retrace Albert’s footsteps. They visited the 1st Airborne Museum “Hartenstein” which was the Divisional Headquarters in 1944. This was the scene of Albert’s final “last stand” and where he was captured. It was an incredible coincidence that his daughter, Maggie, visited this exact location 60 years to the day on a guided tour of the area. On hearing of this visit, she was met by the Curator of the Museum and the Mayor of Oosterbeek, and an excerpt of the book — the section describing his capture at “Hartenstein” — together with a commemorative photograph — was presented for display in the Museum. In Maggie’s words “it was such an emotional, yet satisfying day and I felt that my father’s spirit was with me every step of the way — I was proud to be associated with such a courageous body of men who were willing to give up their lives for their beliefs”.

Albert Blockwell’s book, “Diary of a Red Devil” is being published by Helion and Co. Ltd. (Tel. No. 0121 7053393) and will be in the bookshops this month, or available on the internet at www.Helion.co.uk. R.r.p. £21.95.

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