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Different Areas of Conflict

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posted on 2024-06-05, 18:59 authored by Their Finest Hour Project Team

My Dad, as a member of the British Expeditionary Force, got to the front line by truck and then immediately began to be withdrawn through France to Dunkirk. He didn't do any fighting hand to hand but the convoy was bombed. He spent the night in the sea before being picked up by boat. He had been told that if he lost his rifle that he would be on a charge so he held it above his head so that it was still in working order in the morning he could not move his arms.

On return to England, he was taken with the rest of his Royal Signals platoon to Palestine as part of the 8th Army. The Germans cut the signal wires and he was told to repair it. He was shot at by a sniper whilst up a telegraph pole and his helmet was knocked off, having made the repair he was given a medal for volunteering. When the troops moved forward into Libya he was held in reserve until the War ended. He served from 1939 to 1946 I do not know why he was not demobbed earlier. Like a lot of his generation, he did not talk about it much.

History

Person the story/items relate to

Peter Bury

Person who shared the story/items

Stephen Bury

Relationship between the subject of the story and its contributor

My father

Type of submission

Shared online via the Their Finest Hour project website.

Record ID

111710