Born in Manchester and raised in foster care, John Clarke became an apprentice at sixteen before joining The Black Watch, following in his grandfather’s footsteps. After training in Scotland as part of the 6th Battalion, he was deployed to Tunisia, where he fought at Sidi Medienne and helped rescue wounded prisoners from an enemy ship—a highlight of his service. He later trained in Cairo, before being stationed high up the Aurunci Mountains in Italy with the British division in the American 5th Army. John joined the 12th Brigade in Cassino and remembers the chaos around Monte Cassino monastery, the heavy casualties, and the many acts of bravery. Post-war, he joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, managing the armoury in Gaza. John reflects on his military career, recalling memorable moments including meeting Winston Churchill. For John, the friends he made during the war became the family he never had growing up.

In 1942, Jack Webb joined the 70^th young solider battalion Essex regiment, when this disbanded in 1943, he went to the 2^nd 4^th battalion Essex regiment, before finally being press-ganged into the 5^th Berkshire regiment as preparations for the Normandy invasion began. Jack details his involvement in the D-Day invasion; starting with the beach training in Scotland and ending with a firsthand account of landing on Juno beach (Bernieres-Sur-Mer) alongside the 8^th Canadian assault troop. After successfully landing, Jack worked as part of a “dump company”, a regiment tasked with unloading resources to keep troops well supplied. He described the work as valuable, but physically and emotionally demanding. Jack worked at Bernieres until August 1944; he was then transferred to the 5^th Wiltshire Battalion and sent to Vernon, where he was taken as a Prisoner of War and transported to Limburg, he stayed there until he was rescued the following April. Jack considers himself incredibly fortunate to have returned home unscathed “for an unlucky man, I had an awful lot of luck”. Following the war Jack joined the Normandy Veterans Association and has returned to France regularly to visit the graves of his old troop members.

From a young age Katherine knew she wanted to travel and when offered the opportunity to join the Royal Corps of Transport, she signed with the army. At nineteen she left for Guildford and speaks fondly of her time at the training base, in particular her passing out parade which she describes as an incredibly surreal experience. Although her trade training was postponed due to the Mill Hill Bombing in 1988, she soon became part of the team at Bovington Training Centre that drove new officers fresh from Sandhurst who were on their Tactical Exercise Without Troops (TEWT) training. Later she was moved to Rheindahlen 68 Squadron where she met different soldiers from the UN and NATO and remembers this as the best tour she served whilst in the army. During this tour she witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall and contributed to the peacekeeping duties in Czechoslovakia. In 1991 Katherine recalls troops being sent to Iraq and the importance of her work behind the front lines in the rear party. She provides great detail of one particular mission which developed from an initial twenty-four hour drive to an almost three week task of shipping ammunition to the Gulf. From here she was posted to Northern Ireland where she worked as both a driver and searcher for IRA bombs. Following the disbandment of the WRAC Katherine returned to work in Germany with the onset of the Bosnian war, and worked as a driver until she left in 1995. Katherine's interview offers an insightful overview of different experiences of WRAC women and gives an authentic account of the many adversities women faced in the army.