My Grandad came from Poplar in East London, he was a commercial artist and was conscripted. He ended up being drafted into The Agylle and Sutherland Highlanders an eastender wearing a kilt! He was based at Stirling Castle, a long way from home, and the Orkney islands, even further.
He rose to the rank of sergeant and was trained as a bren gunner. I was wondering how he must have been feeling today in 1944 as he was shipped to Nomandy to be part of the largest invasion ever seen. It must have been terrifying, unimaginable to anyone like me who's not been in military service.
I recall him telling me that he nearly didn't make the beach. He got off the landing craft and went under water, his equipment was heavy and he couldn't swim. He was pulled up by a comrade, he had no idea who.
He saw action for some weeks before being wounded and shipped home to a military hospital in Bradford. He went in A1 and returned C-, he was one of the lucky ones, he survived.
He'll never be forgotten.
