Description:Born in Chesterton, Staffordshire, he joined the 54th West Riding & Staffs Medium Brigade, Royal Artillery Territorial Army at the age of 19 and at 22 enlisted in the Regular Army, again in the Royal Artillery.
When World War 2 started he was a full Sergeant and was promoted to Battery Sergeant Major on the !st December 1939. During the war he fought in North Africa (A desert Rat!) He was captured in the desert by the Germans and passed on to the Italians from whom he escaped along with one or two others. After two days walking across the desert, they came across a British patrol in an armoured car and were given a lift back to the British lines riding on the bonnet which was red hot and they were wearing shorts! He also fought in Cicily and then through France, Holland and Germany. On the 29th march 1945 he was awarded the MBE.
The photo was taken in Berlin after the war ended.