....."In Febuary 1939 at the age of 18 and with the prospect of war looming I joined the Royal Artillery T A in Swindon Wiltshire.This was on the advice of my friends uncle who explained that by being a field gunner I was more likley to come out of the war alive as our job would be two or three miles behind the front line, firing over the top of our infantry into the enemy, for which I have been extremly grateful to him.

I was called up for service on the 1st September 1939 the war declared on the 3rd, my first three nights were spent in the Goddards Arms Hotel, Old Town, Swindon,
We slept on the floor with matingbut no blankets or pillows. I was able to pull the matting over myself but woke up during the night with a thumping headache due my boots being my pillow.

We only had broom handles to go guard with which continued for several weeks. It shows how well we were ready for war. We had only two old WW1 guns but no ammo.
We should have had 24 guns (25pds.) but this did not come about for six months.

We moved from the drill hall Swindon to Tisbury Wilts. It was whilst I was there that I went down with poisoning in my arm after being innoculated and vacinnated. The medical staff was unable cure it and suggested that should be discharged, there was no way I was going to have that so I ask if i could go home and see my own doctor, it was agreed but if he could not get me better within three weeks then I would have to leave the army. ( I didnt want that, and What! miss all the excitment, that was not for me) .
My doctor cured me in two weeks and them told the army that I should spend another week for obversation

So after that I was back to the Army.

At the end of the war I went back into civilian life and run a successful landscaping business for many years.

Upon retiring in 1986 I started to think of all those lads who failed to return hom and felt an urge to make sure that the younger generation remember them. I was a member of my Old Comrades Association. It was then I tried my hand at raising money for a Standard for my old Regiment and I managed to raise 500 pounds in one month. I the knew that this was what I wanted to do. I followed this with by asking Lord Bath of Longleat if he would donate a piece of land (this is in my own part of the country, Wiltshire) to allow a 43 tree plantation, an arberetum, to rember the 43rd Wessex, my regiment, to which he very readily and kindly agreed.

Five local tree nurseries gave the tress and they were planted in 1999.

I was then asked by the people of Normandy if I could find an old WW2 Churchill Tank, which could be placed on Hill 112 as a huge memorial to all our war heroes. I raised £12, 500.00 in ten weeks and the tank was put in place on July 10th 1999.

(The web site Hill112.com will tell you all about it, thanks to my great friend Nigel Hay.)
Nowadays, I am actively involved in veterans affairs and the important work of educating our schoolchildren, the new generation who have lived without a World War. At 86 I am learning computer skills and was recently featured in a Daily Mail article about both this and Hill 112.

Now I am raising funds for a documentary about Hill 112 for television and for schools eductional purposes. This is a serious project and has already recieved some MoD funding, but we need YOUR help!
I am determined to make this a success - so all contibutions are most welcome. Please help keep the memory of Hill 112 alive! "

Please contact me if you would like to make a donation, by E Mail or by telephone 01227 785 227