236900 Pte. William Ralph Harris British Army 1st Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment from:West Ham My grandad, William Ralph Harris, was born in West Ham on 20th May 1925. He died in December 1982 at the age of 57.
At the time I was only 9 years old. I knew at the time that he had been in the Army during the 2nd World War but was obviously a bit young to understand what that meant. He was a brilliant grandad, but when he was gone I couldn't learn about what he had been through.
I know that he was in Italy at some point and that he was at Gold Beach on D-Day. God only knows what he went through that day.
I believe he was wounded twice as I have found 2 Casualty Lists. The first one is Casualty List Number 1531, the date of incident was 11th of July 1944.
The second is Casualty List Number 1542, date of incident was 4th of September 1944.
I don't know what these injuries were.
I have spoken to my mum and she didn't really know what the injuries were although she was aware that he had been injured. She said that he suffered with ill health for the rest of his life after the war, but like many, he didn't really let much out about his experiences during the war.
If anybody knows of any stories about his time I'd love to hear them.
Thank you
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