Pte. Alfred Gregory Wyles
British Army 1st Battalion, Anti-Tank Platoon Oxford & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
from:67 Barclay Street, Leicester,
My paternal grandfather, Alfred Wyles served with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. he served in an Anti-Tank Platoon of the 1st Battalion. His record states that he carried-out his Basic Training in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment of the Territorial Army, before being permanently posted in the 1st Ox & Bucks Light Infantry of the Regular Army on 16th of May 1940.
He was sent to France with the 1st Ox & Bucks to reinforce the Gordon Highlanders, according to a ˜Discharge Memorandum. He officially enlisted on the 16th of May 1940 for the ˜Duration of Emergency. This note appears which suggests a period or rest after intense combat and frontline duties Posted No.1 Rest Camp, Gordon Highlanders 10th of October 1944. He was discharged (A1) from service on the 12th of June 1945, being placed in the Army Reserve. He transferred to D Company, 1st Battalion of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and was eventually posted to Colchester at the Goojerat Barracks.
A Memorandum dated the 1st of March 1946 is entitled ˜Release Character, written by a Captain J Flemming and describes my grandfather as being "sober, honest and smart in his appearance, as well as being of ˜good character". By that time, he had been at that barracks for 2 months. He was awarded the Defence Medal and War Medal 1939-1945. An added note states ˜Stars & Clasps, 23rd of November 1948. This War Record omits any direct mention of war activities, presumably for security reasons.
However, my grandfather saw action and once recalled the death of his friend (who was shot in the head) whilst his body continued to ˜run for a short distance. I am assuming that my grandfather was sent with the 1st Ox & Bucks to reinforce the 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders after the latter landed on D-Day. The 1st Ox and Bucks landed in Normandy on the 24th of June 1944, and I suspect my grandfather entered France (and combat) through that deployment. Whatever the case, his record suggests that he ended-up in Germany by the end of the war.
