Victory in Europe - Story of a soldier.

16/11/2020

In the last week we just had Veterans Day in the USA and the Lest We Forget Armistice in the UK and all over the World to remember the fallen in the two World Wars. I finally got around to talking about my Dad's service in World War Two on an instagram link and you can see that by hitting this link. LestWeForget

                                                       Donald Fraser Sutherland, 1942

                                            

My father, Donald Fraser Sutherland joined the war early in 1938 because he believed that Hitler was dangerous and must be stopped at all costs. He joined the Territorial Army, signing with the Royal Artillery as a gunner in command of a 25 pound machine as part of their Anti-Tank Division. He was also in the famous Scottish regiment known as the glorious 51^st Highland Division.

Saint Valery, Normandie

But for the Highland Division the start of the war in 1940 was not a very happy one when they were defeated by the German General Rommel at Saint Valerie where many of the infantry of the division were taken prisoner for the whole duration of the war. My father was lucky in that it seemed as a member of the Royal Artillery HQ squad of the Division he failed to be captured in a position further from the infantry. As a result he was able to make his way back to British lines, then rejoin the Highland Division when it was reformed for the battle of El Alamien in North Africa.

Battle of El Alamein

Of the battle of El Alamein my father described the way he witnessed the many tank battles. He was particularly upset about one battle in which he saw the soldiers try to get out of the tank with no means but to die in a terrible state on fire. These events contributed to his shell shock which he still suffered from sometimes. However he was proud of the challenges he experienced as a gunner at the battle of El Alamein, which was the largest continuous bombardment of world war two. Once they loaded one set of gun shells they set them up again with no breaks creating a wall of bombshells against the Nazi army. It was a resounding victory for the British army, which changed the fate of the entire war in favour of the British allies.

Battle of Monte Casino, Italy 

After the North Africa campaign for which he got the Africa Star Medal, he went on to Sicily where he sent a postcard home, which we still have today. The rest of the Italian campaign was marred by his memory of the battle of Monte Cassino, where the bombardment of a Monastery on a hilltop, took 40,000 deaths. At this point in the war I think he felt that the command was not in touch with the difficulties there on the ground. However Montgomery was so impressed with the Highland Division that when Churchill wanted to move the war to Normandy, Montgomery said he would not go there without the Highland Division behind him. He wanted them to rest first after the Italian campaign and then support his plans to retake France.

Falaise Gap, Normandy

Finally Donnie went onto service in Normandy in 1944 when it must have been a joy to go back to Saint Valerie, this time as an act of Victory then Liberation. After that success he went on to the Falaise Gap, which turned out to be a very difficult battle for him because he gained a shrapnel wound in the neck while also contracting tuberculosis at the same time. There he was commended for staying at his post during friendly fire from the British RAF planes. He told the story about his army officer shouting to him during the bombing of the lines, saying' Sutherland will you bloody well get out of there now'. Confirmation that even the officers thought war could be very unfair at times.
He found the Falaise battle to be a test as a soldier so he wrote to the High Command to tell them, the positioning of the army was all wrong and had he believed, contributed to the high number of casualties there.

Victory March Berlin 1945

Due to his illness he was sad he did not make it to the Victory March of the Highland Division in Berlin but on his final discharge service card was written in bold letters 'Very Good' Service. He was discharged in the summer of 1945.

Dad had a hard war in that he took the brunt of the worst battles as a gunner loading the shells for every bombardment. Among the many events in his life, his war record remains, his biggest achievement and he is part of a rare group of men who survived all six military campaigns of world war two.

You can see my short dedication to my father for VE Day on You Tube here

Here is the trailer for my short documentary about his army service, which will premiere soon on my you Tube Channel. You can see it here at this Link