Oct 15, 2016

"We're having a marvellous time!" 

When Company Sergeant Major Gray wasn't fighting for the Green Howards, sometime in 1944 he found time to compose some war poetry. Six linked poems paint a picture of the journey across the English Channel and onwards through Normandy, ending with a letter home to Doug's mum and dad,...

Oct 9, 2016

War memoirs of a WW2 military medal hero.

"Cognac, Calvados and kisses!"

The previous episode of the diary ended with Company Sergeant Major Gray winning the Military Medal. His battalion, the 7 Green Howards, had landed on Gold Beach on D-Day 6 June and advanced some distance into the dangerous French countryside.

Oct 7, 2016

Doug Gray was there on D-Day and beyond. He wrote his diary and even wrote a diary entry on the day he won his military medal - before he knew he'd won it!

The diary’s been supplied by Doug’s family. The entries start just before D-Day and finish several weeks after, so it’s quite a rare historical record because...