Born Willy Hirschfeld on August 17th 1920 in Bonn. At the age of 18 Willy was arrested the day after Kristallnach and interrogated by the Gestapo. Willy was beaten and sent to Dachau concentration camp where they shaved his head, stripped him naked and hosed him down with ice cold water. After his former employer was able to secure his release, Willy left Germany for England. He was never to see his parents again; like most of his family they were murdered in concentration camps.

Once in England, Willy worked on various farms in harsh conditions then moved to London where he was arrested in June 1940 and sent to Australia on the infamous internee troopship Dunera. Living conditions on the Dunera were horrific. Willy stayed in Australia for one year and returned to England on the 29th November 1941. He immediately signed up to join the British forces and was sent to the Pioneer Corps at Ilfracombe.

Willy transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps on 26th August 1943. He was assigned tank driver to C Squadron 8th Hussars. Three days after the first D-day landings, Willy’s unit arrived in France and advanced through Normandy where C Squadron suffered numerous attacks by the German army. During this attack they lost five tanks and eight personnel.

In September 1944, while travelling to Nijmegen in Holland Willy’s Tank was attacked by a German anti-tank gun and suffered a direct hit. Willy was the only survivor. Once recovered Willy returned to the front line and headed through Belgium and Holland towards Germany where he took part in the liberation of Hamburg.

He was demobilised in 1946 and returned to England.