Call up notice. Major Clay was working as a solicitor when this notice arrived. He was sent to France with the 7th Battalion and was evacuated from Dunkirk on the 31 May 1940.
He fought in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy. Towards the end of the war Major Clay was asked to use his legal skills to prepare documents for the prosecution of war criminals at the Nuremburg Trials.
This type of short jacket, known as a ‘battledress’, was issued to soldiers during the Second World War.
50th Division badge -The Green Howards’ 4th and 5th Battalions were part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division and wore this distinctive divisional badge with the initials TT standing for the Rivers Tyne and Tees.
Vehicle pennant flown by Colonel H S Kreyer when Commander of 150th Brigade
Officers Identity card used while serving with the British Expeditionary Force in France.
French Liaison Officers Badge. Worn by Captain Conrad Jura who worked with the Green Howards in France in 1940.
Operation order for the 5th Battalion retreat from Dunkirk dated 31st May 1940.
6th Battalion war diary
A religious ornament found by G Wright near Dunkirk beach during the evacuation in 1940
Prisoner of War Diary compiled by Lieutenant Chambers. This diary details Chamber’s capture in France on the 28 May 1940 and his life as a prisoner.
Christmas card sent by Lord Normanby’s mother. Lieutenant Normanby was temporarily blinded by a shell explosion and later captured near Dunkirk in 1940. In 1943 he persuaded the Germans to allow all blind prisoners to return home. As a mark of respect, Lieutenant Normanby was given permission to accompany them.
Photograph of Lieutenant Colonel P V Guy with the piece of shrapnel that was removed from his thigh in a prisoner of war hospital in July 1943. It became embedded when he was wounded in France in 1940. Unable to be evacuated he was captured and spent the rest of the war in prisoner of war camps.
Find out more…
4th and 5th Battalions in France and their retreat to Dunkirk
6th and 7th Battalions in France and their retreat to Dunkirk
Introduction to the Dunkirk campaign