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Memories of John Harris and Charles Boulard

online resource
posted on 2024-06-05, 19:55 authored by Their Finest Hour Project Team

John Harris was in the Royal Marine. He fought and worked in cafes. He was trained in Devon. He joined on 15th February 1940. He was assigned to mobile base naval defense organization. He was sent to Egypt and then Crete, which was a strategic island. Then he went back to Egypt to regroup and restock. Then he went to South Africa and Ceylon near India. His group was disbanded, so he was sent back home to retrain in 1944. He spent the remainder of the war in a naval base in Scotland, Scapa Flow.

Charles Boulard was French. He worked in a café in Paris as he was too young to fight. He had to sneak into Paris on a truck to meet his sister as Nazis had occupied Paris. He served high-ranking German officers and, at the same time, helped starving people in Paris. He also served a photographer who gave him photos of French resistance fighters and American troops marching into Paris. He also witnessed the Germans leaving.

History

Item list and details

1. Small black and white photo, dated 29/08/1944, sand bags 2. 29 black and white photos, dated around 1944 3. Colour photo of John Harris, 1940 4. Black and white photo of John Harris with friend in Ceylon 5. Black and white photo of John Harris in training group, 752 Squad, D Company, April 1944 6. Black and white photo of parade getting ready for inspection by Montgomery 7. Black and white photo of John Harris

Person the story/items relate to

John Harris Charles Boulard

Person who shared the story/items

Mark Blacker

Relationship between the subject of the story and its contributor

John Harris was the contributor's father. Charles Boulard was his wife's grandfather.

Type of submission

Shared at Fitzharrys School, Oxfordshire on 16 September 2023.

Record ID

117813 | FIZ005