War Stories: Lt. Alexander Hardie and John Ellis

Lt. Alexander William Hardie 'Sam':

Alec Hardie held the rank of Lieutenant in the 25" Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the Royal Artillery. The Regiment was formed in Liverpool and one of the sleeve badges shows the red rose of Lancashire.

"You will see from the service and pay book he joined up on 1 March 1940 and served until 12 October 1945 with the regular army and stayed on to become a Lt. Colonel until 1 August 1955.

He was first sent to the Orkney Isles, North Scotland. It was very cold and very wet. One of the sleeve badges is an anti-aircraft badge with a plane and a red flash. He fought with anti-aircraft guns throughout" (Later in life he suffered from deafness as a result.)

"He was then sent to North Africa with the First Army firstly in the defence of the Suez Canal then into the Northern desert to fight against Rommel. It was extremely hot, sand got into everything. It was so hot that the tinned corn beef used to run out of the tin, to be mopped up with dry biscuits. When it was quiet they used to race tortoises across the sand. He then went across to Sicily and up through Italy as the allies advanced North."

His daughter was born in 1940 and he didn't meet her until 1945.

Some notes on the documents:

One photo shows the soldier’s packing kit and you can see the bell tents they slept in, toes to the centre pole.

The Daily Round gives details of football matches and darts and other interests to keep the soldiers happy and cheerful between battles. The newspaper the Union Jack has some interesting maps and photos. The articles are written in a very positive way and was aimed specifically at the troops to keep their morale up.

In the back of the service and pay book, you can see other family members were evacuated. They lived in Great Crosby which was near Liverpool docks and a bombing target. They went to live in Earby on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border.

There are two books one the history of the Regiment and the second about the Po Valley campaign the final battle for Italy which is full of photographs of wartime action.

There is an elevation with targets and distances on, a map dating to June 1943, with enemy positions marked on that relates to the invasion of Sicily.

Some items show that he went sightseeing after the fighting had finished and his poem written about his wife, Winifred, shows his wit.

John Roberts Ellis:

John "Jack" Ellis was part of the "Home Front". "Mr JR Ellis of Aigburth, Liverpool was an Air Raid Warden from December 1938 through to the end of hostilities. One night when he was trying to extinguish an incendiary bomb on the roof of a church it suddenly exploded. This was a new innovation unknown before. The explosion injured his eye, but not seriously."