posted on 2024-06-05, 20:10authored byTheir Finest Hour Project Team
<p dir="ltr">Victor was born in 1918. He enlisted in 1939 and served until 1945, completing eight years of service.</p><p>He didn't talk much about his experiences. He spent a lot of time in the Western Desert and was evacuated from Crete. He didn't get on the correct ship and joined another one. The 'correct' ship was hit. He survived and joined another unit. He really respected General Montgomery.</p><p>At one point, he buried all the ammunition in the sand because they thought the Germans were going to capture them. They were fine but couldn't find the ammo afterward.</p><p>He wrote a diary, but it's hard to access his feelings; it's very matter of fact. He stopped writing a diary because it got very hectic. It must have been very traumatic because he had bad dementia later in life; he got confused and would think people had been shot. He had a bad head injury from being hit in the head by a gun that misfired due to an officer's incorrect order.</p><p>The contributor's mother was 14 in 1939. Her father was sent to work on ships in Scotland. Their family witnessed German planes coming over to Portsmouth. The family went to a cinema on a Sunday, and there was an air raid warning. The contributor's grandma said it was because they shouldn't have been in the cinema on a Sunday.</p><p>The contributor's parents met because they were in-laws; their mother's sister had already married their father's brother.</p><p>The contributor's paternal uncle didn't serve. Another uncle witnessed concentration camps.</p>
1. Service records
2. Newspaper article
3. Pegasus badge and letter of thanks
4. War diaries
5. Photo album
6. Framed collection of medals
7. Framed medal with photo
8. Certificate
9. General memorabilia
10. Service record - official transcript in brown envelope
11. Concert program
12. Photo
Person the story/items relate to
Victor Robert John Voller
Person who shared the story/items
Diane Voller
Relationship between the subject of the story and its contributor
Father
Type of submission
Shared at National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, Hampshire on 16 September 2023.