208669 WO2 Albert John Cotterill British Army North Staffordshire Regiment from:Tamworth. Staffs My Dad, Jack Cotterill joined Nth Staffs in 1933 and was posted to Palestine in 1936. In 1939 he was shipped off to France and was evacuated from Dunkirk with 300,000 of his mates.
In due time he served in North Africa and volunteered to be trained as a commando. After serving in 6th Commando and spending time with the Long Range Desert Group,he was sent to Italy where he was captured by the Italians. When Italy surrendered, he was handed over to the Germans and sent off to Germany to finish the war in a POW camp. He was repatriated by the Soviets and sent back to the UK. In 1946 he was sent to Trieste (Betfor) where he met my mother,a local girl. They were married in 1947. I was born in the British Military Hospital and we stayed in Trieste until 1954 when the Regiment was sent back to England. In 1955, Dad left the Army and we emigrated to Australia. Dad went through WW2 uninjured, survived the commandoes and spent two years in a POW camp. In 1973, aged 57,he died of cancer. Mum passed away last Xmas.
Dad did not talk about the war that much except to say that his most fondest memory was not the food or the thought of someone shooting at you or the wonderful RSM but the bond he had with his mates (even the RSM). I joined the navy in 1966 and two years later,I was in Vietnam. It was then I understood what he meant.
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