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Sandra

A veteran interview with

Sandra Bremner

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About Sandra Bremner

Sandra Bremner comes from Ballyclare a small town in County Antrim, where she met her husband Sammy. Having served army in the 1970’s and then in the prison service, he struggles with depression and PTSD.

Sammy and Sandra have been involved with Help for Heroes’ Band of Brothers and Band of Sisters for a few years now, and Sandra describes how much it has helped them both.

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Alex Cook

Copyright:
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Home | Veterans | Sandra Bremner

A veteran interview with

Sandra Bremner

Sandra

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Bremner, Sandra. A Veteran Interview with Sandra Bremner. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, 20 Aug. 2019 https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/sandra-bremner/. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
APA Style:
Bremner, S. (2019, August 20). A Veteran Interview with Sandra Bremner [Interview by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Retrieved May 23, 2025, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/sandra-bremner/
Chicago Style:
Bremner, Sandra. 2019. A Veteran Interview with Sandra Bremner. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, August 20. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/sandra-bremner/
Harvard Style:
Bremner, S. (2019). A Veteran Interview with Sandra Bremner. [Interviewed by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee, 20 August. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/sandra-bremner/ (Accessed: 23 May 2025)
Vancouver Style:
Bremner, S. A Veteran Interview with Sandra Bremner [Internet]. Interview by M. Bisiker. Legasee; 2019 Aug 20 [cited 2025 May 23]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/sandra-bremner/
An interview with

Lorna Hunter

Lorna Hunter shares her family's journey through military life, PTSD, and the challenges of finding the right support for her husband, Tom.

Content Warning This interview contains discussions of suicide, PTSD, and substance abuse, which some viewers may find distressing. If you are affected by these topics, please consider seeking support from a trusted person or organisation.   Lorna Hunter, the devoted wife of veteran Thomas Hunter, explains their shared experiences of military service, struggles with PTSD, and their journey to finding support and healing.  Tom served 22 years in the Army, enlisting at 17 and starting in 16 Air Defence, before transferring to 50 Missile in the Royal Artillery due to his boxing skills (which can be found on YouTube!). He later joined the Royal Logistics Corps in the Territorial Army while working as a postman for 21 years. His service took him across Germany and on tour in the Falklands before his 2003 deployment to Iraq, where he developed PTSD. Years of boxing also led to Dementia Pugilistica.  For Lorna, military life brought isolation, especially after 2003. Tom’s struggles after Iraq also proved difficult; diagnosed with PTSD as an army medic, he was denied military support as a reservist. As his mental health declined, job loss and isolation took their toll. Lorna fought tirelessly for answers, and after years of inconclusive treatments, Tom was finally diagnosed with dementia. Help came through Phoenix House, a veteran recovery centre. In the Band of Brothers, Tom rediscovered his love for sports, competing in the Warrior Games and carrying the GB team’s torch. Lorna, too, found solace in the Band of Sisters. She now urges others: “Make the call-Pheonix House saved my husband’s life.”
Service:
Project:
Interviewed by:
Paula Rogers
An interview with

Joan Mitchell

A WW2 evacuee relates her painful evacuation experience, and the joy and community she felt when reunited with her family.

Joan, a widow who was 11 when war broke out, describes her experience as an evacuee during the war. She remembers the day that war was announced, and seeing all the mothers in the town crying, although she didn't understand why at the time. Joan was evacuated from her home in Gillingham with 3 of her sisters. This was a painful separation, especially since they were not treated well by their two carers in their new home in Chartham. Joan later fell ill with scarlet fever and was put in an isolation hospital for 6 weeks, after which the sisters were taken home to their parents.  Joan recalls her experience being much improved after the family was reunited. She talks of the ‘happy days’ of ‘Digging for Victory’ and sourcing items for the local barracks. Although food was rationed, Joan remembers her mother reserving her meat ration so the family could have a Sunday roast. She also recalls using condensed milk instead of jam to make a tasty sandwich, and the jubilation on the days when boats of bananas and oranges managed to get through. She also speaks with fondness of the time spent in the Anderson air raid shelter in their garden, where they spent most of their nights. She relates happy memories of sing-alongs with their Irish neighbour who often joined them, and recalls often staying up all night talking and laughing- ‘I can’t say they were sad days… we were a community really.’ Although she doesn’t recall being scared of the bombing, the memory of Gillingham bus depot being bombed and setting the sky alight has stuck with her. Joan talks about the pub her father took over in 1942, where she worked as a barmaid. She recalls the celebrations of VE Day, when people sang and danced all night. It was shortly after this that her future husband walked into the pub after being demobbed from the Navy. They married and moved to Scotland, but he re-joined the Navy after 9 years, and she fondly recalls her years as a Navy wife.  Joan’s story reminds us of the often painful experience of evacuation, as well as the spirit of community inspired by the Blitz.
Photo Gallery icon 5 Photos
Service:
Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
An interview with

Doreen Page

Doreen was conscripted from university during WW2, at age 20. She served as an interpreter on the Ultra project and in Berin during the Airlift.

Doreen was studying German at university in WW2 when she was called up, age 20, and assigned to Naval Intelligence at Bletchley Park. This was in June 1944 at the start of the German V1 ‘flying bomb’ offensive. She was part of the Ultra intelligence unit and translated de-coded documents intercepted from the German Enigma system. After translation she classified and sorted the documents so that they could be accessed by senior officers. She worked in the same hut as Alan Turing, one of the crucial scientists in the Ultra system. One of the main tasks she worked on was tracking U-boat movements in the Atlantic as they tried to threaten Allied convoys. She also worked on locating the German battleship Tirpitz so that it could be attacked and sunk by the RAF. After the end of the war she was assigned to Berlin, in occupied Germany, where her knowledge of German and military procedure stood her in good stead. She worked with senior officers in Naval Intelligence and was in Berlin during the first part of the Airlift. After two years in Germany she returned to Britain. Here she worked for the War Office, translating documents for the War Crimes tribunal. This task she found both horrific and interesting. When this ended Doreen found a job outside the service, at Lloyds Bank. She was employed in their foreign section, where the red tape was worse than in the intelligence services! This irritated her and she left after one year.
Service:
Interviewed by:
Martyn Cox