This weekend I set myself a little ‘Rememberance Day’ task, which was to clean and frame the medals which were awarded to my late aunt’s husband, my ‘uncle’ Bill who had served with the ‘Desert Rats’ during World War II.
I found these medals a few years ago when my aunt died, and apart from the Defence Medal 1939-1945 which was awarded to my father for his service as a volunteer in the London Fire and Rescue Service, they are the only ‘family’ medals I have, although many of my relatives served in both the 1939-1945 war and the terrible 1914-1918 conflict.
Bill survived the war although he was seriously wounded. He was a sergeant in The Rifle Brigade and his cap badge is on the left of the above picture. The badge on the right is a damaged Wehrmacht Panzer Combat Badge which I found with the medals. So perhaps as I remember my uncle on this special day, I should spare a thought for the German soldier who had worn that badge in the North African desert all those years ago, for he may not have been as …
… lucky as my Uncle Bill !
