235558 Sgt. Joseph Boyd Henderson British Army Royal Army Ordnance Corps My father, Joseph Henderson, served with RAOC and REME. He died when I was fairly young. Before that he never spoke of the war. There were no medals - nothing. Years after he died I decided to research his records. What I found out blew me away.
He was in the BEF and was one of the last out on 17th June 1940. By December he was posted to the Middle East and then North Africa. In October 1943 (I was told by my mother) that he was in Tobruk and went missing for six months when it fell, living off the Germans. He made it back. His hearing was damaged at El Alamein when the guns went off. He then went with the 8th Army across North Africa, Sicily and Italy and after four years solid he returned to the UK.
My father was in a heavy tank recovery unit with the first Armoured Division and then with the 8th Army as a driver/mechanic. In civvy life he was a staff nurse. He never drove - none of the family knew he could - and he couldn't hold a screwdriver correctly.
I have received his medals: the 1939-45 Medal, 1939-45 Star, African Star with 8th Army clasp, Italian Star and the Defence Medal. I will wear his medals with pride on Remembrance Day on my right side, and my Falklands medal with rosette on my left.
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