ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

When my husband came home after serving with the 8th army in N.Africa, he would tell his children
then aged 5 and 6 war stories. The stories tended to get bigger and better over the years, but one
remained the same. It was "under the train". He told them how he landed in1942 at a very bad
time, troops were ordered to break up and make for base. He hid under an empty train. "All the
past events of my life flashed through my mind, leaving my lovely wife and children - the bombs
were dropping, and I really thought this was the end "
The children grew up and the stories were told to the grandchildren, but as the they got older they
suspected the story was glamourised, and did not quite believe it happened at all
However the moment of truth arrived in 1983 when I met the keeper of documents at the Imperial
War Museum, who asked me if I had any letters from my husband, they wanted letters from a soldier to his wife. We came home, took out the precious bundles of letters and lo and behold there was a letter recounting the under the train story, absolute proof, it really did happen!
l