259344 Sgt. Thomas Houlton British Army 10th Btn. Highland Light Infantry from:Nottingham  Thomas Houlton was my grandfather and a Sergeant in the 10th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry.
Some of my fondest memories as a child growing up in the 80s, as part of what I reckon is the last generation of little boys that still dressed up as soldiers and ran around the streets playing army with toy rifles, are those of listening to his tales of his time in service during World War 2.
Looking back now the realisation is that I never heard him tell a story that didn't end in a laugh; there were never any harsh details of battles, lives lost and other awful realities of war; all the anecdotes involved the times with his pals and usually ended up with one of them doing something clumsy with their rifle, misjudging a ditch, banging their head on something etc which to a four/five year old was hilarious. It was only ever about the time spent with friends and in retrospect it just shows that for certain audiences you need to find the good in every situation. Now I'm older of course and know where he was, what he took part in and the things he would have seen.
He passed away in 1990 when I was 10, having had three boys with his wife Edith, and then later on his grandchildren. My overriding memory will always be of his big winning grin. I'm his namesake, and my daughter is named after his beloved Edith.   |