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9th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment
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Want to know more about 9th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment? There are:1317 items tagged 9th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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L/Cpl. Harry Edward Clifton Pack 9th Btn. Devonshire Regiment    My father, Harry Pack, did not talk much about the War. He served with the 9th, 10th, 77th and 30th Devonshires. I know he was at Dunkirk and D-day. He also served on the Isle of Scilly. He received an accidental injury in 1945 and was transferred to the Y-list. I only found this out from his military record and have no idea what the injury was.
The most poignant story he told was seeing his best friend blown up next to him. Every Remembrance Day he would drive out into the countryside so he wouldn't have to hear the gun salute.
My mother said he wore a dark red beret. I believe that meant he was a paratrooper at one point. She also said he taught other soldiers how to land from a parachute jump.
He did tell some funny stories. He was a bit mischievous at times. One day he was patrolling through the countryside and seeing some onions in a farmer's field, he and a fellow soldier found a tin bath and filled it up.
Another time it was his turn to cook the dinner. He burnt the meat and, ever the optimist, he found some curry powder to disguise the taste. The men said it was the best meal they ever had.
One day, when he was on leave and not supposed to leave the town, he persuaded a man with a private aircraft to fly him home.
I am very proud of my father. The results of the war affected him through his life, as it did many soldiers, but he did his duty for his country and you can't ask for more than that.
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Cpl. Aaron "Alec" Alexander 9th Btn. Devonshire Regiment My father Aaron Alexander was called up and went into the 9th Devonshire Regiment on April 2, 1940. After three years he was transferred to the 53rd Welsh Recce Regiment. He was a radio operator and a Right Recce driver. June 6, 1944 his regiment went over to France and landed in Caen and Biager. They went straight into action and many vehicles and men were lost on the first day. They went through France and onto Lille (which they liberated). A message came through that a German general wanted to surrender and they were told to make their way across the border into Belgium to Ghent to meet up with the General. Instead of surrendering, the German's took my father and his regiment prisoners. They ended up in Stalag 4B at Muelberg. Two hundred prisoners in a large hut, food was black bread and a sort of soup. Once they were registered they could get some food via the Red Cross. To get these parcels they had to walk underground for a distance of three miles, and then they only had one parcel between several men. Lots of things terrible things happened whilst in the camp but he would never tell me. When the war was nearing the end the German guards left the camp, leaving the male villagers to guard the prisoners. They were finally liberated by the Russians, but although many of the prisoners tried to tell the Russians that the men guarding them were not German solders, many of the villagers were killed. My dad did mention that part of the camp was separated by razer wire and seemed to be a concentration camp.
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