Thursday 2nd November 2006
As we stand in silence at 11am on 11 November, to honour those who fought for our liberty in the First and Second World Wars, our prayers for peace between nations are as timely today as they have ever been.
Here, veteran Bill Gasson tells Sally Jarman about his memories of life on the front line in WW2, his faith which has remained steadfast throughout, and why we should continue to remember.
Arriving at Bill's home in the quiet village of Kencot, in Oxfordshire, I find him tending the war memorial near to his home, in readiness for the annual laying of wreaths on Remembrance Day.
Later, in his beautiful garden, the peace around us seems at odds with the wartime memorabilia we are leafing through in an old biscuit tin – citations, medals, and old German helmet and belt badges.
When we come to an old photograph (below) showing a handsome young Bill with friends he fought alongside in France, he gently points out those who came home, and those who didn't.
'For a long time I didn't want to think about it at all,' Bill recalls of the war years; 'it was just too horrible. But I think Remembrance Day is still very important today in reminding us of the young lives that are lost through any war.'
Bill, himself, was just 18 when he joined the Second Bucks Regiment.
'Then, two weeks before D-Day they changed us to the 11th Royal Scots Fusiliers, with pipers to play in the trench. It was supposed to make the Germans think we were more ferocious!' he smiles.
He was among troops who landed in France on D Plus One (the day after D-Day), and he says he might as well have landed on a different planet, so unlike anything he had experienced before were the daily realities of war. Mud, gunfire and fear were the norm here.
'Once we landed the prayers came thick and fast,' he remembers, 'for those with faith and without. It was all we had. When you were on watch and sitting on your own, particularly, you prayed hard that you would live to see your family again.'
Brought up in the Anglican Church, Bill says he became a Methodist during the war after serving initially in Northern Ireland:
'They gave me more freedom to worship in the way I wanted to then. I felt closer to God there.'
But denomination was not important in the thick of the fighting. And although Bill says his faith was regularly challenged by the horror and injustice of war, it also sustained him:
'There were several times that I thanked God for looking after me. In Arnhem, we went in to support the paratroopers. We dug a slip trench, ripping doors off the local houses to use as a roof, and covering them with earth.
'During the night a shell blew the roof off. I should have been killed but suffered only a damaged ear drum.'
On another occasion, he remembered: 'We were in a town, going house to house, clearing them of enemy soldiers. I was in charge of a section of my platoon and my friend suddenly said he would go first around a corner instead of me. He was shot and killed.'
Bill's citation for the Military Medal is testament to his courage in battle, stating that he was: 'a leader of considerable resource and proved gallantry,' and going on to describe him as an outstanding leader.
Returning home after the war he also returned to the Church of England, and is proud to have been on the PCC of St George's Church, for more than 40 years and church warden for 25 years. Although he has now handed over some of those duties he still locks and unlocks the church doors each day, always making time for a private prayer.
God has continued to bless his life, he says, not least in his marriage to Mavis, which lasted a happy 68 years before she became ill. As Mavis suffered Bill says he, again, turned to prayer, and God answered with a peaceful death for his wife.
His own health remains good and this year, in support of The Historic Churches Trust Stride and Ride, he raised £155 visiting six churches on his motorised scooter.
As Bill prepares to polish up his medals to wear with pride and thanksgiving on Remembrance Day this year, he says: 'I still sometimes wonder what it was all for. I would hope we've learned from it.'
And he urges people to make time on 11 November to remember those who gave their lives in two World Wars, and in more recent conflicts, and to strive and pray for peace.
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Bill, pictured standing (left) with fellow soldiers from his regiment. |
