The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War

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248855 Cpl. Norman Henry James British Army Army Service Corps from:Halifax The following information was relayed to me by my mother and uncle. I can't totally verify the exact details as my grandfather died in 1952 of excessive drinking and lung cancer. We do know he enlisted in the Army Service Corps a day or so after the declaration. He was a qualified motor mechanic at the time. The exact details of Norman James's posting is a little sketchy but it's believed when he went to France in October 1939 he was near a place called Bailleau. He suffered frost bite to some toes over the winter 39/40 and was sent to a hospital to recuperate after having some toes amputated. That hospital was later bombed a day after he was sent back to his unit. When the retreat to Dunkirk occurred he was amongst the last to get there, as his unit were tasked with destroying anything mechanical. He made it onto a ship only to be told to get off as there were already too many people on board. The story goes (cannot verify) that the ship was bombed and sunk when a bomb from a Stuka went down the funnel? He and his mates decided they were not going to get off Dunkirk so they made their way to Saint Nazaire 5-6 hundred kilometres away where they were able to catch a trawler back to the UK. He was in a bad way with awful back injuries as his group were strafed by German aircraft on the beach at Dunkirk. He ended up with shrapnel in his back and the backs of his legs. He spent nearly three more years in the Army on light duties acting as a driver for a Colonel Wingfield? My grandfather was invalided out of the army in 1943. His personality changed after getting back to the UK. He went from being a loving husband and father, to a nasty drunk and womaniser. He found it difficult to hold down a job. I think it's fair to say he suffered what we now know is PTSD. Russell Osment Add to this record.  Related Content: Royal Army Service Corps Royal Army Service Corps Royal Army Service Corps Royal Army Service Corps Battle of France and The Low Countries 1940 Operation Dynamo - The Evacuation from Dunkirk and nearby Beaches Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area? If so please let us know. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.

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