From the LDV to Normandy

William Henry Jackson, my Grandfather, was a pre-war manager of Smarts Grocery Store in Oxford. In 1939, he volunteered to join the army but was considered too old at the age of 33. Instead, he joined to LDV or Local Defence Volunteers in Oxford.

By 1942, conscription rules meant that he had to sign up and William duly joined the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry where his LDV service was taken into account during his training. As a Private (5393238), he landed in Normandy on D-Day +1 and served throughout the Allied advance through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.

Before being demobbed in 1946, William transferred into the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders as the rest of the Ox. & Bucks. were sent home early.

After the war, William joined Pressed Steel & Fisher as a lathe operator and as well as being a keen gardener, he also built his own bungalow out of fire bricks.