My Uncle: Hugh Howard: Royal Army Medical Corps

[Adrian Stevenson]

Family items are always special. These are a few items which belonged to my Uncle. He was married to my Dad's sister. He passed away some years ago now.

He served from 1939 to 1945. He was part of the BEF and fought in France in 1940. He volunteered to stay behind with the wounded at Dunkirk, but was told to embark back to the UK. He had a very bad time at Dunkirk and would get very upset if he talked about it.

He later served in North Africa, Italy and Austria.

My cousin has all his medals. But I have his insignia. Note the plastic cap badge and Austrian made insignia for the 46th Inf Div.

The photos were taken in Italy and the UK. He wears an American made Battledress blouse with service stripes and the maroon sleeve rings insignia of a stretcher bearer. This photo was taken in 1945.

The "Aerogram" microfilmed postcard was sent as a Christmas Card to my Dad who was a young boy of 9 at the time.

Cheers, Ade

[Adrian Stevenson]

Close up of his 46th Div formation signs. These are possibly made in Austria or Germany and are of "bevo" like machine woven format.

[JayhawkHenry]

Ade, thanks for sharing your uncles items. You are right about family things being special.
Henry

[scott powell]

thanx very much for sharing,family items are VERY special

[Mike Peters]

Family items are always special. These are a few items which belonged to my Uncle. He was married to my Dad's sister. He passed away some years ago now.
He served from 1939 to 1945. He was part of the BEF and fought in France in 1940. He volunteered to stay behind with the wounded at Dunkirk, but was told to embark back to the UK. He had a very bad time at Dunkirk and would get very upset if he talked about it.
Ade

I’ve found that Medics and Chaplains tend to have a different “perspective” of War than the average Soldier ..possibly because they’ve seen it through the eyes of many …including the wounded and dying .

I had a WW2 Navy Corpsman (Marine Corps Medic) visit my Collection a few times ..he gave me his Uniform and most of his Kit. He was with the first wave on Guadalcanal.
His first visit – he walked in the room and a flood of memories came over him , he started crying.
“ We were just kids …we didn’t have time to think about Patriotism and Duty and Honor ..we were doing our job , trying to stay alive and keep our friends alive ..we were scared ..many died in my arms, I couldn’t help them all ..I tried my best and did all I could …there was no time there were so many .”

Ade ..I can understand why your Uncle would get upset. He was a Hero and God only knows
what he saw and lived through .
It would be great if you could get his Medals from your Cousin …they should be framed.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, thanks for the comments.

Hugh attended his vets association meetings once a year until they folded due to there being only of handful of them left alive.

Hopefully his medals might come my way one day. My cousin is an only child and although she is married, they have no family.

I do have several stories which he told me. I might have to think a bit before telling them here, as they are pretty disturbing.

I also have his RAMC field manual. He retained an interest in medicine all his life. After the war he went into teaching engineering. One job he did before going onto the teaching side of things was to help cut up the big cross channel guns which were based on the south coast of England at Dover.

Cheers, Ade.

[RaymondG]

Hi

I think it is wonderful when such items are treasured. I know I collect awards but it still makes me feel a little sad when I visit a flea market and find medals and paperwork for soldiers and for one reason or another, they have ended up for sale for one reason or another.

I know that may sound odd as a collector myself and maybe it is just me but I always think of what that person had to do to be awarded that medal when I look at a piece for sale and wonder why it is being sold.

Luckily there are so many like Ade who clearly treasure such items and continue to tell others the stories behind the photograph, medals or insignia thus keeping the memories of these brave men alive after they have died.

Thanks for posting Mr. Howard's items up to share with us, Ade. It is always a pleasure to read your threads on groupings and the stories behind them as it adds such rich historical texture to them.

Raymond

[Adrian Stevenson]

Here is one other of my Uncle's items which I mentioned before but did not show.

A Royal Army Medical Corps manual from 1944. Even though it is entitled "Training Pamphlet No.3" it is quite a large book being about an inch thick. He kept this all his life and used it long after he was demobbed. As a result he covered the book with clear sticky backed plastic to keep it is good condition. Not great from a collectable point of view of course.

It is illustrated throughout.

Cheers, Ade.