daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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A great book!
Reg Curtis recalls the day he volunteered for the new parachute force in October 1940:
"In October, as a result of a directive sent out by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, we received a letter, which was read out to us by the regimental sergeant major. ‘Volunteers’, he shouted, ‘for a new type of fighting soldier are required’. He glanced over the top of the paper, beady eyes registering some amusement.
‘Soldiers’, he carried on, ‘to be trained as commandos and parachutists. Now I know that you would not wish to desert the Regiment, but anyone wishing to volunteer, one pace forward, march!’ Glaring as he did so, he took three stealthy steps towards us. ‘Well? You all chicken, then?’ There was not a titter, nor even a hesitant shuffle.
I thought back to the days in France. I thought of the carnage, of Calais, of the British prisoners of war of the Warwick Regiment herded into a field just outside Dunkirk and machine-gunned to death by the Waffen SS. I thought of my home being blown to smithereens, and how the Germans were blocking my ambition to become a London policeman. I took a pace forward before it was too late."
Reg Curtis, The Memory Endures
Incredible 11th Special Air Service - Military Lodge #1422
Reg Curtis recalls the day he volunteered for the new parachute force in October 1940:
"In October, as a result of a directive sent out by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, we received a letter, which was read out to us by the regimental sergeant major. ‘Volunteers’, he shouted, ‘for a new type of fighting soldier are required’. He glanced over the top of the paper, beady eyes registering some amusement.
‘Soldiers’, he carried on, ‘to be trained as commandos and parachutists. Now I know that you would not wish to desert the Regiment, but anyone wishing to volunteer, one pace forward, march!’ Glaring as he did so, he took three stealthy steps towards us. ‘Well? You all chicken, then?’ There was not a titter, nor even a hesitant shuffle.
I thought back to the days in France. I thought of the carnage, of Calais, of the British prisoners of war of the Warwick Regiment herded into a field just outside Dunkirk and machine-gunned to death by the Waffen SS. I thought of my home being blown to smithereens, and how the Germans were blocking my ambition to become a London policeman. I took a pace forward before it was too late."
Reg Curtis, The Memory Endures
The Memory Endures - PilotsPublishing
When Reg Curtis enlisted with the Grenadier Guards in 1937, little did he know that two years later Britain would be plunged into the Second World War. Reg found himself fighting for King and Country in France and Belgium as part of the British Expeditionary Force and along with 300,000 other...
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Incredible 11th Special Air Service - Military Lodge #1422
