Pte Harry D- 2/7th Battalion Royal
Warwickshire Regiment
During our research into 2nd Battalion during
the War, we were fortunate enough to be
contacted by Harry. Harry was a Warwick
veteran himself having served with the 2/7th
Battalion, a Battalion set up as part of a
new Division
to go overseas as reinforcements to British troops in
the Middle East. Thankfully these troops were
never needed as the War came to an end before
their deployment. Harry was not demobbed
until 1948 and was shipped to Palestine as
part of the British peace keeping force where he
was transferred between a number of units as
well as the Royal Warwicks.
Although Harry was conscripted into the Army,
and said it was never something he wanted to
do, he laughs that 'I didn't like
it, but I can never stop talking about it'.
He also had some great stories to tell, such
as an example of British Army punishment or
'Jankers' in Palestine, which was, in this
case was to pick shells and stones, by hand,
off a beach used by unit officers, before
depositing them via wheelbarrow a mile up the
beach... only for high tide to come in re
deposit everything removed straight back onto
the beach!
These days Harry still owns a Royal
Warwicks battledress, which he wears to
re-enactments he attends. It's a great
privilege to have met him a number of times
and we are honored he chose to share with us
his recollections of his time in the
army, and the recordings of his late
friend Sjt Robert 'Bob' Barnett,
Intelligence Sjt for 2nd Battalion during
the war which can be found on our
website.