Sgt. William Howie
British Army 11th Btn. Durham Light Infantry
from:Ayr
My father, William Howie, was conscripted into the Royal Scots Fusiliers (in Churchill Barracks, Ayr) in April 1940 but was transferred en-masse to the 11th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry in June 1940 just prior to sailing to Iceland, possibly from Liverpool, on the troop ship Sobieski. He was, like most of the troops in Iceland, bored with nothing much to do most of the time. Ever since that time, he had an absolute hatred of tinned pilchards in tomato sauce as well as corned beef.
He returned to the UK around December 1941 and moved around with the Battalion to various training camps (of which I have a few pictures) until D-Day plus 6 when he arrived in Normandy where he fought at Rouray then on to Belgium. His unit did not enter Germany but looked after POWs and/or helped distribute food and medicines in and around Brussels.
