Wiltshire

Young Jim's Flight to Kill Hitler

'Stupid sod,' said John, 'he nearly crashed into us, let's get the heck out of here, the...

A Soldier Goes to War Part 4

The situation was exacerbated by the fact that there was at Porton quite a number of officers and warrant...

Bimps War: Friendly Allies and the Home Front

The 1st Belgian armoured car squadron was billeted in Chippenham from December 1943 until March 1944....

The Lighter Side of War - CHAPTER 9: Back with `A' Platoon at Broxmore,

Brotherstone, Powell and Rumsey Williams, and `young sods' mates, drivers Wheeler, Warhurst and Petty,...

Early Memories of Evacuation to Wiltshire

He put me onto a train from New Street Station, Birmingham to be met by my Aunt and cousin at Templemeads...

A Soldier Goes to War Part 3

The main military unit was a Royal Artillery battery of field guns consisting of some of the army's...

Commissioned Service to 1944

Their crews sprang into action and, with great difficulty and resourcefulness, managed to fix a towline...

RAF Reclamation Squad

ON occasion we were stationed on USAAF 8th Army Air Force bases in Essex and Herts, and the difference, in...

Memories of the Early Years of the War

I soon lost him again, however, as he had been recommended for a commission a week later he departed for...

A Visit to the Doctor

During an air raid the local clinic at the top of Union Street became a casulty centre - as far as I...

From Farmhand to Making Spitfires

The factory was always a prime target for the bombers but it was only towards the end of the war that the...

Enlistment and Training

Edwin did not enlist on his own, his cousin David Cole joined him, but they were soon split up after their...

School Days in Trowbridge: More Memories

Back to the shelters - obviously these were not adequate and so it was arranged that during an air raid...

What I do remember.

One day I was in a country lane with a frend when a car came a long,I think he was free wheeling...

My life in the RAF. (Part 1).

The morning of the third arrived and at eleven a.m. The Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, announced on...

The Lighter Side of War - CHAPTER 7b: Reg becomes BUTCH thanks to Smith and Wesson and lands himself in trouble

Lush suggested he hid Butch's handgun in his lorry - he'd got a pass and was going home to...

Evacuation X Three: Chipppenham, Grantham and Gloucestershire

It was following the return from Chippenham that the events relating to the bombing described earlier...

Canteen Capers in World War Two

I had been staying with my aunt at Faringdon for a few days during the summer holidays on 29 August 1942,...

Tribute to My Father: Ministry of Labour, Wiltshire

Told as a tribute to my Father, my story is a recollection of a series of events that initially occurred...

Graham's School Memories during Wartime

I started at local Grammar School in September 1939 where an enthusiastic master taught PE and sport and...

"Waho Mohammed"

Those American and British soldiers who were stationed in many camps across barren Salisbury Plain managed...

Home Guard Brass Band

We could then train the mother in the use of the gasmask, which had to be pumped up with air when the...

My life 1939-1945: Growing Up in Woolwich

My mother approached the lady whose house we were staying at and asked her where we were, her reply...

Wireless Instructor for the RAF in WW2

I travelled to Uxbridge RAF Station from Devon and as thousands were doing the same I had to sleep on a...

D-Day Imminent: Meeting American Soldiers in Wiltshire

In a mini blitz on 2nd March my maternal grandmother was killed by an incendiary bomb which bounced out of...

Hindon Hideaway

To get us away from the bombing attacks which were coming more and more frequently around Croydon, our...