DWBD's War by Doug Dawes

DWBD's War Part 1 - Meeting the Hitler Youth

By the Treaty of Versailles the German army was limited to 100,000 men but the demilitarised zone of...

DWBD's War Part 2 - Becoming a Gunner 1939

There were so many there that we were split into two queues and I was with 5 other friends: Stan Garnham...

DWBD's War Part 3 - Mobilised and on manoeuvres 1939

Wise in the way of the world some of them volunteered to be sanitary orderlies, batman, and officers’...

DWBD's War Part 4 - Off to France and into First World War Country 1940

As my father had been in the T.A. in the early 1900’s before the First World War and had played in...

DWBD's War Part 5 - Artillery Convoy under Air Attack 1940

We tidied up, packed our personal gear, got the vehicles and guns ready and were sent out to watch for...

DWBD's War Part 6 - Growing up fast under fire with the BEF 1940

Our guns fired from the map over the river at the village opposite... Unlike the theory that the artillery...

DWBD's War Part 7 - Retreat towards Dunkirk 1940

We moved off again, up a small country road where we saw British infantry and eventually came to a main...

DWBD's War Part 8 - Off the Beach at Dunkirk 1940

We were told that they had come from the direction of Dunkirk and presumed they had been taken off the...

DWBD's War Part 9 - Home from Dunkirk 1940

I took my trousers off and buried my filthy pants in the coal and carrying my trousers which weren't...

DWBD's War Part 10 - Becoming an Officer (and a Gentleman!) 1940-41

Although we had had our interviews on different days, alphabetically perhaps, we were both to join the 123...

DWBD's War Part 11 - Observations from Gibraltar (1) 1941-42

There must have been some inter-service strong language but within days, the Field Artillery — but no...

DWBD's War Part 12 - Observations from Gibraltar (2) 1942-43

A Liberator came in to land, fairly unusual because nearly all planes using the runway apart from F.A.A.,...

DWBD's War Part 13 - Exercises in Algeria 1943

A battle camp was opened to the West of Oran and infantry from Gib and 25 pounders to support them were...

DWBD's War Part 14 - With Combined Ops in Normandy and Holland 1944-45

The Dieppe raid in 1942 had shown how vital it was that immediate communications should be established...

DWBD's War Part 15 - From Parachutes to Palestine 1945

Hard, lots of doubling and leaping off platforms — 14’ high they said, and landing on mats...

DWBD's War Part 16 - A Passage through India 1945

The convoy was to take five days if all went well, via Poona, Satara, Belgaum, I do not remember where the...

DWBD's War Part 17 - Quitting India 1945-46

The Maharajah of Hyderabad, one of the most important Indian princes, sent his band to play to the officers...

DWBD's War Part 18 - Coming Home to the Future 1946

I actually had 3 troop ship journeys — to Gib in “the Pasteur” and to U.K. on a ship...