Below are a selection of snippet pieces about some of the war-time experiences of residents who live at the Home.
Bob Leither
Bob served in the Royal Marines upon HMS Sikh during the Second World War. When being towed ashore in Tobruk, North Africa, Bob’s barge was hit by German fire, as a result many of the 350 crew drowned. Bob was among only 50 that survived and following a brave battle with German Troops was taken prisoner and travelled through various camps in North Africa and Southern Europe until his release in 1944.
Ernie Small
Ernie served with the Grenadier Guards and landed on Sword beach during
D-Day. Afterwards he fought at Caen, The Battle of the Bulge, Nijmegen,
Arnhem, liberated Belsen and was one of the first British troops into
Berlin.
Stephanie Kerans
Stephanie served with the WRNS and worked in the plotting room. She took part in the plotting of D-Day before being moved to the Far East. She recalls, “There were many of us on telephones contacting radar stations, we got some information on the positioning of enemy ships and the plotting officers would record it on the big maps we had, we were on watch all the time. There was one night one of our ships was attacked and we were all waiting up. I can’t remember why, but we all felt a sort of responsibility.
Louis Pengelly-Phillips
Louis served in the Royal Marines and at one point was part of a special unit tasked with the protection of Winston Churchill himself. He was one of the first to land during D-Day and fought all the way through Northern France to Amsterdam. From there his unit was sent back to England to retrain for the Far East.