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VETERAN

STORIES

We capture the personal recollections of our armed service veterans so that their legacy of bravery, sacrifice and suffering can live on.

Colin Parker

Colin used to love watching the trooping of the colour but had assumed a life on the docks was his lot. That all changed when he went to an Army careers  office for some information, one week later he was walking through the Guards depot in London.

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Army 7 videos

Colin Parker

Colin used to love watching the trooping of the colour but had assumed a life on the docks was his lot. That all changed when he wen...

Sidney Mitchell

Sidney is a real character and despite his age still holds some very vivid memories of his time in the Signals including his call up.

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Army 6 videos

Sidney Mitchell

"Sidney was one of the first veterans we ever interviewed. His memories of the Battle of Crete shocked me at the time."...

Ted Verbiest

Ted is the first to admit he had a lovely war. He was one of the first in line when the recruiting office opened he found himself shipped off to Cape Town to help build the new runway. Ted passed away earlier this year.

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Navy 4 videos

Ted Verbiest

Ted is the first to admit he had a lovely war. He was one of the first in line when the recruiting office opened he found himself sh...

Rex Sheppard

I went to Korea a boy and came back a man".  Watch Rex talk about his experiences in some of the worst fighting conditions since the Great War. We cover Rex's military life in detail.  How he felt about being conscripted to war, training in sight of the Chinese enemy, life in the trenches and more than a couple of very near misses. Rex is one of the few survivors of this conflict - many who fought in Korea have since died of cancer.

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Army 6 videos

Rex Sheppard

I went to Korea a boy and came back a man". Watch Rex talk about his experiences in some of the worst fighting conditions since the...

John Harrison

John Harrison was an ordinance officer on A Turret, HMS Belfast. He shares his incredible story of survival when he was working down below and the Belfast strikes a magnetic mine. Lucky to survive that he is then dealt another ace when the rest of the Belfast's crew are sent of to serve on HMS Hood.

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Navy 4 videos

John Harrison

John Harrison was an ordinance officer on A Turret, HMS Belfast. He shares his incredible story of survival....

Bryan ‘Tab’ Hunter

"Tab" was conscripted into the Paras in 1956. He talks engrossingly about the training and some of the scrapes he was involved in before he heads to Cyprus. As well as being a member of one of the toughest regiments in the world, Bryan has some hilarious anecdotes about what life in the regiment is really like.

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Army 6 videos

Bryan ‘Tab’ Hunter

"Tab" was conscripted into the Paras in 1956. He talks engrossingly about the training and some of the scrapes he was involved in...

George Bayliss

A lovely old gentleman who survived [by the skin of his teeth] his time in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire regiments in Italy during the second world war. One of only two Chelsea pensioners in our archive, what George witnessed and was involved in are what makes Legasee the fascinating resource that it's fast becoming.

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Army 3 videos

George Bayliss

A lovely old gentleman who survived [by the skin of his teeth] his time in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire regiments in Italy dur...

Alan Tizzard

As a boy Alan was mad about motor cars. Little could he imagine that at 18 he would be commanding a 32,000 horsepower tank on the Russian borders during the height of the cold war. Alan shares some interesting insights into cold war tank training and life in Germany.

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Army 5 videos

Alan Tizzard

As a boy Alan was mad about motor cars. Little could he imagine that at 18 he would be commanding a 32,000 horsepower tank on the Ru...

Ted Hunt

At 91 Ted amazed us all with his encyclopaedic memory of his time as 2nd in command of 15 Rhino LST landing crafts on D Day. He not only provides a genuinely rare insight into the planning and execution of D Day he also recalls terror in Norway and adventure in Holland.

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Navy 6 videos

Ted Hunt

At 91 Ted amazed us all with his encyclopaedic memory of his time as 2nd in command of 15 Rhino LST landing crafts on D Day....

Douglas Hassall

Another Chelsea pensioner and a very different experience of the war to George Bayliss. We pick up the story en route to Singapore. Douglas isn't long in the country when it surrenders to the Japanese and he's taken in as a POW. It's heart breaking stuff as he recalls in graphic detail the hardships of life in a camp.

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Army 5 videos

Douglas Hassall

Another Chelsea pensioner and a very different experience of the war to George Bayliss. We pick up the story en route to Singapore. ...

Alec Pulfer

A character who served on HMS Woolwich in the Mediterranean during the second world war. As most of the fleet was damaged or sunk in the Med he's one of the first to agree he's a lucky man. After a short spell of leave in the UK he then found himself back on a boat and in the middle of the Greek civil war - a situation he still finds hard to comprehend.

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Navy 3 videos

Alec Pulfer

A character who served on HMS Woolwich in the Mediterranean during the second world war. ...

Bernard Parke

Bernard offers an amusing and insightful take on conscription in the fifties. He secured himself a place in the RAF in air craft movements at Beachy Head but was very nearly Court Marshalled after a Viscount commercial airliner was mistaken for a Russian spy plane.

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Airforce 3 videos

Bernard Parke

Bernard offers an amusing and insightful take on conscription in the fifties. He secured himself a place in the RAF in air craft mov...

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Legasee is one of the first consolidated attempts to document the war-time experiences of men and women who have served their country.  While remembrance ceremonies and battle anniversaries are regularly reported on TV,  this coverage rarely focuses on veterans’ personal experiences for more than a few seconds and is of limited value as an educational tool or a record of individual achievement. Legasee aims to cover military life in much more depth by focusing on personal stories and viewpoints. If you think this work is important, please consider a donation. PLEASE DONATE NOW