204566 Leonard Brown British Army Middlesex Rgt from:Tottenham, London Len was my grandfather and I remember being fascinated by the stories he told me as a child. I know he was at Dunkirk and my mum says he was also involved in the D-day landings.
He died when I was 19 so I didn't get the chance to ask him for any more information, so with the little mum and I can remember and some research on my part, here is what I have been able to piece together.
Presumably, being from Tottenham he would have served with the Middlesex regiment, but mum says that he had something to do with the Black Watch. Odd I thought for a Londoner, but it turns out that the 1/7th battalion of the Middlesex served as a support unit to the Black Watch in Normandy. This would tally because we know that Len was a cook in the Army and at D-day. I remember him telling me about some of his experiences in the war, including training with broom handles as rifles and finding soldiers who had been gassed and died on the spot, all sat around their camp still with playing cards in their hands, tea etc, a haunting image. However, I am not really sure if he was talking about British soldiers during the Dunkirk retreat or Germans they encountered after the Normandy landings, my memory is a little hazy. He also showed me some photographs and I recall them being pictures of the devastation he saw whilst in France and I think he may have gone to Germany, photos of streets with corpses lining them, wrecked buildings, vivid stuff for a young boy, I think this is why I remain fascinated and in awe of the war and my grandads part in it. I also remember him telling me that he came home in some kind of amphibious craft! My active childhood imagination always assumed he meant an American DUKW, but this is unlikely if he was talking about Dunkirk because the Americans had yet to enter the war and would a DUKW have been able to cross the channel?! . Perhaps he meant D-day and I misunderstood the home part, or he could have been talking about a different vehicle.
If anyone knows more and could help me fill in the gaps, I would be grateful to hear more.
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