- Apr 19, 2018
- 2,177
This is a fascinating thread. In the military sense I had a great uncle who I remember meeting once when I was very young - he was already in the army at the outbreak of WW1 despite only being 16, was in the BEF that fought at Mons and survived the war taking ammo to the front by horseback for the Royal Field Artillery. We've got a photo of him with his mates at the frontline in 1917 and even though 19 by the he still looks way too young to be there. My great grandfather was conscripted in 1916 and gassed but survived - his wife was a hero too, walking 8 miles each way over hills and in deep snow from their tiny isolated village in North Yorkshire to get food for the family from the nearest town while he was away at the front and the weather had cut off the roads.
Locally, my paternal grandfather died in WW2 and has a military grave in Bear Road cemetery, and my great uncle who lived in Worthing was in a protected occupation working for Vickers during the war. Towards the ends of their lives both that great uncle and his wife, my great aunt, told me stories of their experiences that were absolutely horrific - the one that's stuck with me the most was that his best mate died drowning in paint during a bombing raid on the factory that hit the storage unit next to the shelter he was in and he couldn't get him out. Understandably 60 years later it still clearly traumatised him deeply. For her the one I remember most was her story of walking back along tube lines to her home during the blitz and coming out into a station that had been hit and there being bodies everywhere and trying to help but feeling useless. She thought it was Liverpool Street or nearby and I think it was probably Bank where 111 were killed in January 1941.
Locally, my paternal grandfather died in WW2 and has a military grave in Bear Road cemetery, and my great uncle who lived in Worthing was in a protected occupation working for Vickers during the war. Towards the ends of their lives both that great uncle and his wife, my great aunt, told me stories of their experiences that were absolutely horrific - the one that's stuck with me the most was that his best mate died drowning in paint during a bombing raid on the factory that hit the storage unit next to the shelter he was in and he couldn't get him out. Understandably 60 years later it still clearly traumatised him deeply. For her the one I remember most was her story of walking back along tube lines to her home during the blitz and coming out into a station that had been hit and there being bodies everywhere and trying to help but feeling useless. She thought it was Liverpool Street or nearby and I think it was probably Bank where 111 were killed in January 1941.
