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Roland Walker- Behind Enemy Lines

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posted on 2024-06-05, 19:08 authored by Their Finest Hour Project Team

Roland Walker, was in the Durham Light Infantry he spoke fluent French and German. He was operating "behind enemy lines pretending to be French". Another of their group of men whe were also operating undercover in France must have been discovered as they had their"throats cut". Roland became a changed man after that.

Roland was part of the Normandy Landings and Operation Market Garden during this period he kept a war diary where he recorded that when he approached a French family in a farmhouse to ask for food the German soldiers had convinced them that the British soldiers would kill them and they were terrified. Unusually a chicken attached himself to Roland as they went through Caen. After all the terrible things he must have seen his most vivid memory was of someone kicking over his cup of tea!

History

Item list and details

1. Roland Walker with the chicken owners 2. Xmas Card from Roland Walker 3. Swastika Armband 4. Blockade Runners Badge

Person the story/items relate to

Roland Walker

Person who shared the story/items

Adrienne Thompson

Relationship between the subject of the story and its contributor

Father

Type of submission

Shared at Ocean Road Community Centre, Tyne and Wear on 18 November 2023. The event was organised by South Shields Local History Group.

Record ID

93762 | SSH008