Dad completed his challenge to walk 26 lengths of his room over a week! And look at the relief and smiles on his face. He would love to you to continue donating to Our Moon. Please donate via this link. He would love to reach his target fundraising of £1000. So far he has raised £155 – I am sure you can help him by donating. You have until midnight this evening to make a donation!
It took a lot of effort, but he loved the fact that he was doing something positive as well as getting some exercise.
As it was VE Day on Friday, it is worth remembering that he was a war veteran. During the latter part of the war, Dad was a in the Glider regiment of the 6th Airborne Division, Royal Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment. He had been involved in Dunkirk the previous year and took part in a landing in Germany in April 1945.
Here is an extract from his biography:
“There were some pockets of German resistance, particularly anti-aircraft batteries. Our task was to remove them, but there only a few of us within one armoured car. We became trapped by one of the batteries. The Nazis’ guns were stronger than ours. Suddenly we could see the guns firing at us. I saw two flashes, greenish yellow, coming towards me. I was on top of the armoured truck. As the shells came past a couple of inches, they tore off my helmet and my eardrum burst. They were still firing guns but to my surprise, not very accurately – they could easily have killed me. Luck was on my side.
We were captured and marched to Wismar under the orders of a Nazi officer who enjoyed playing with our heads. He told us the war wasn’t over yet and lined us up against a wall. We thought we would all be shot. But we were lucky again. Instead, he told us to continue our journey, accompanied by some Italians. I confided in one of the kinder looking men. I knew I would be shot if they saw my military card as it said that I was born in Poland. I asked him to destroy it, which he did. He saved my life.
By the time we arrived in Wismar, the war was over and the Americans arrived to rescue us. They came in a van and offered us cigarettes, coffee and donuts. We thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world”.