Coventry Experiences of War

Contributor's mother Betty Miles served in the Auxiliary territorial service as a Lance Corporal. Stationed in Edinburgh and was going to be sent to Singapore but was sent to Iserlohn, Germany, HQ of the British Army of the Rhine where she was a typist/secretary to the prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials. Spent two years reading and writing up transcripts of the proceedings, never spoke much about this, unsure if it was because of trauma or official secrets. Once ended up in a German hospital for three days after alcohol poisoning from attending a wedding while on posting. Had been born in Coventry in 1927 and was at the cinema during the Coventry blitz. Betty's childhood was unhappy and she signed up as soon as she could.

Betty's older brother Arthur served as a Desert Rat at the Battle of El Alamein and was only one of a handful of soldiers to survive being surrounded by Germans. Later served in the Battle of Messina and in Italy where he married an Italian woman and moved there.

Contributor's father Fred Harris was born in 1922 and joined the Royal Engineers performing tank maintenance. Was good at football and boxing and was sent to different countries by the army to do athletics for stationed troops, present for the uprising in Greece. Also got an HGV license in the army.

Contributor's grandmother Ethel Miles was a cook at an unknown location.