Alec Wardman

Alec Wardman was in the 11th Armoured Division, working with carrier platoons.

He was born in Wigmore in 1920, and won a scholarship to Lucton School, where he was in the Cadet Corps. In 1938 he started at Saltley Teacher Training College, but was called up in May 1940. He joined the Warwicks, and went to the Officer Cadet Training Unit at Sandhurst. He was there for 4 months, and was then commissioned into the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry and went to Shrewsbury. He then went to Northern Ireland in a carrier platoon with the Herefords, then continued to work with carrier platoons in the UK. In 1944 he commanded the Carrier Platoon of the 1st Herefordshire Regiment during the liberation of Europe. They arrived in France in ‘Liberty’ boats as part of the D-Day landings. He saw lots of action in France, before heading North following the retreating German troops. They went to Amiens, then to Antwerp, and then into Germany. He ended the war in Egypt and Palestine.

After leaving the Army in 1946 he became a teacher, working for many years at Lady Hawkins School. Alec passed away in November 2007.

In these extracts from his interview, Alec talks about being called up, his responsibilities in the army, and his experience of coming under fire.