My father's Second World War photo album
My father, Bernard Victor Coldwell, served with 165 W/T Section, he was a radio operator in the Army. They served in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. They called their radio truck Alice. He was a keen photographer and documented his time in the Army in a photo album. The photo album starts in 1940, and then jumps to 1944, but I'm not sure what he was doing between these years.
In October 1944 he was in Holland, with 165 W/T Section. I believe he developed the photos himself, he had a dark room in the loft.
My father was at Luneburg Heath at the time of the surrender. We believe he passed his camera to a more senior colleague who was present when the surrender was signed, and they took that particular photo. The album also includes pictures of Field Marshal Montgomery.
My dad's radio truck took the radio message about the surrender, and he retrieved a copy from the bin.
He didn't really speak much about his time in the Army, he never spoke about being in action.
History
Item list and details
1. Photograph album including photos of the surrender and Luneburg Heath and Field Marshal Montgomery 2. Four loose photographs including photos of Field Marshal Montgomery with Russian, American and British officers after the surrender at Luneburg Heath, and a photo of the King's visit to Holland in October 1944 3. 'Alice' panel from radio truck 4. Copy of surrender message received by 'Alice' radio truckPerson the story/items relate to
Bernard Victor ColdwellPerson who shared the story/items
AnonRelationship between the subject of the story and its contributor
Bernard Victor Coldwell is the contributor's fatherType of submission
Shared at Medway Archives Centre, Kent on 8 November 2023.Record ID
97371 | MED009Usage metrics
