A Bailey Bridge at Deventer

I have brought in a plaque presented to my father, John William Roustone, by the Mayor of Deventer on behalf of the Managing Directors of the Netherlands Railway at the end of 1945. My father was a Major in the Royal Engineers and after landing in Normandy worked on many reconstruction projects during the war.

John was born in 1913 in Sheffield and started working as a Junior Draughtsman on the LMS Railways (his father had been a Senior Draughtsman and got him the job). He joined the Territorial Army before the war. Shortly before mobilising to France, John got married after meeting his fiancé playing hockey. They did not get to spend much time together before war broke out. John was a Corporal in the British Expeditionary Force and sent to France in early 1940. When the Germans invaded France, John was working on the railways further back from the Belgian border and was evacuated in a small fishing boat from Cherbourg.

On returning to Britain, John attended officer training and worked on several postings around the UK. He was frustrated that his commanding officer wasn't promoting him fast enough, so he made enquiries what he needed to do to go up the ranks. He was advised to go on a bridging course - which he put himself forward for and sure enough he quickly made the rank of Major after that.

His Royal Engineering unit was sent to Normandy some time after D-Day and repaired railways, built lines of communication, and established supply lines. He worked on building the Bailey Bridge at Deventer, Holland and was presented with a plaque by the Mayor in November 1945.

When John was demobilized in 1946, he took a job as a civil contractor in Newcastle. Although his old job as a Junior Draughtsman on the railways was left open for him, there was a strict order of promotion and he felt frustrated with this after being promoted to a Major in the Army during the war.

He rarely spoke of the war or his experiences within the Royal Engineers to his family, even when one of his sons joined the Royal Engineers after the war. He just got on with what was in front of him. After he retired, John did revisit Deventer in Holland a number of times, but again rarely spoke of his experiences.

The other object that has been passed down as a family heirloom is John's officer campaign kit box, with his service number (30364) and name embossed on it.