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256891Sgt William Francis Mckenna
British Army Royal Artillery
from:Liverpool
William Francis Mckenna was my father. He died when I was young and I only heard brief stories from him about the war and being a POW. He married my mum after her husband, who was French, and signed up to serve in the Royal Navy was killed aboard HMS Beverly in the North Atlantic Convoys. My father's wife and three children were killed in the Blitz in Bootle, Merseyside after which he met my mum and they married soon after the war ended. My father, unfortunately, died when I was only 10 or 11. However, he did have two boys and one girl (my brother and sister) the same as the family he lost in the bombing. I believe my dad was a 'desert rat'. I have his military medals and a friend of mine is researching my father's military service as we speak. I have watched video footage of the repatriation of the prisoners from Stalag 357 Fallingbostel and I am 98% certain my father is in one of the videos which is really nice after all these years to have something tangible about his time as a POW.
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