218575 Pte. Edward Horace Banks MID.British Army 5th Btn. East Yorkshire Regiment from:Tottenham, London My father, Edward Banks, served from 1939 to 1946 in 5th Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment. He served in Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Middle East(western desert). He was wounded in action in the Western Desert on 1/7/1942 by a gunshot wound to the back.
His story to me was while being attacked he was wounded and could not walk because of wounds to his back and legs, he could hear a "Bren gun carrier" with its engine running and crawled over to it and while trying to get up on the back the driver of the carrier, who had been blinded by a shell blast, not knowing Dad was there tried to run over him. My dad managed to stiffen his wounded legs and was pushed along the sand until he managed to shout to the driver to stop. Dad then, with considerable effort due to his wounds, got himself into the carrier and proceeded to give the blinded driver instructions of where to steer the carrier away from the advancing Germans with shells exploding all around.
He spent some time in 27 General Military Hospital wound list no 295/42. He then served more time in the Middle East,embarked on "H" force for the Sicily landings. He came back to the UK and went over to 32 General Hospital teaching wounded personnel how to paint and draw being an artist in civilian life.
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