My maternal Grandfather passed away not so long ago but I was lucky to be able to have a relationship with him. I was one the eldest of his grandchildren and had very special memories of summers at the coast. He was an artist and a funny man who liked to tell me, when I was older, rude jokes.

My paternal Grandad died when I was 10 so I don’t have many memories of him. He was a working class Yorkshire man and the chalk to my other grandad’s cheese. He was a fireman like my dad but before that he was in the army from 1938 – 1946.

He never shared many stories other than he was sick as a dog on the boat to Normandy which was resolved by a corned beef sandwich. There was another story about losing a friend who refused to cross a field and walked down the road.

I do have a two wartime photos which I thought I’d share.

My Grandad in France in 1939 before the Dunkirk evacuation. He’s the one on the left sitting on his truck

This picture shows him in India in 1946. We don’t have information where in India.

We do have his war records and it appears he was a Lance Corporal .. twice. He lost his original promotion in Normandy when he went AWOL (no further details) and he also was fined for speeding a few weeks later.

Oddly the thing I remember about him the most fondly was he let me watch V on TV when I stayed over once well past my bedtime and we could watch Delbert Wilkins. He probably thought nothing of it, but to me that was awesome.