I have just finished reading 'Enshrined in Stone' by John H Roberts
about the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry's campaign from their
arrival in Normandy on the 25th July 1944 up to their war ending in
Hamburg.
It was written 50 years after the events and is far from being an
easy read. There were certain technical bits where I just had to skip
read.
(The book mainly follows the fortunes of the 43rd but also considers
the 52nd, the latter airborne unit actually arrived as the very first troops to land in
Normandy by Horsa glider under Major John Howard, capturing the vital Pegasus Bridge early on
D Day.)
The Ox and Bucks were also the first regiment to cross onto German
soil in 1945.
Why such interest?
Well - my late Dad is mentioned by name in a fair number of parts
of the volume which also displays his photo as a 19 year old Lance
Corporal rifleman and mortar operator.
Secondly. Dad was a fairly important contributor to the
book.
Reading the oh-so familiar names of so many of his friends who had died
in the conflict and of so many fewer who survived - some of whom I went on to
meet - brought more than a few tears to the eye.
(The picture above was taken at Faversham in 1944. Dad and two others were the only ones to escape being wounded or killed.)
