211417 Herbert John Hynds British Army 20 DID Royal Army Service Corps from:Barnsley, Yorkshire Herbert John Hynds, my Uncle Bert, was my mother's brother and sadly no-one of that generation is still alive. I know that my uncle was in the British Army during WWII and from the few photographs taken of him at that time I can see that he was in 20DID RASC.
After the war he gave me a bracelet made of a silver coloured material. It consists of eight linked segments, all slightly rounded, each about half-an inch square. Each segment is stamped with a place name - Livorno, Africa, Napali, Pisa, Naples, Roma, Siena and Sicily. A photograph taken during the war shows him and 42 colleagues standing in front of St Peter's, Rome, Italy. Another taken in Durban, South Africa, is of Bert and two friends, all wearing shorts, shirts and forage caps riding in a local "taxi"/ricksaw, which can best be described as an open- topped two-wheeled sawn-off carriage which is being pulled by a South African in native clothing and wearing a very elaborate headdress. Another treasure he gave me after the war was an oblong cocktail watch with a bevelled glass and a plaited silk strap which has been replaced many times since. Bert told my Mum that he gave 2lbs of sugar for it and it came from Italy. Finally I have his medals.
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