By the time I arrived, I was greeted by Sgt Hebden, Cpl
Heaton, Pte Heaton and ATS Mellor. They were busy sorting out the dining
shelter. I got parked up and joined the effort. The dining shelter was soon up
and we were busy arranging the display. We were joined by Privates Hancock, Dixon
and Dennington. Despite a damp start the weather was improving and the sun decided
to make an appearance. I decide to take the canvas of the Jeep. This was a big
mistake as no sooner had I done so than it started to rain. At first, the rain
was only slight and we soon had a few members of the public stopping to chat.
As this event was on the 8th of June we wanted it
to have a strong emphasis on what the East Yorks did on D-Day. The museum was playing
its part and had arranged for East Yorks D-Day veteran Bert Barrett to
attend. To meet Bert was the actor William, who will be playing Bert in the play
Bomb Happy and the show's producer/author Helena. The play is being
performed at the museum on 14-16 June.
Additionally, we had
Jane Milne, daughter of East Yorks D-Day veteran Captain Oates, visiting.
Captain Oates won the Military Cross for his courage and determination in getting
his men off the beach and taking their objective despite being wounded.
Jane had very kindly provided us with many of her father’s documents
including his personal diary. A great addition to our understanding of the East
Yorks on D-Day.
We were visited by BBC radio York as part of their Finders
Keepers feature. This gave us the opportunity to get a bit about the East Yorks
live on the radio.
As the day progressed the weather worsened with only a few
brief rain free spells interspersed with heavy rain. At several points, the
display was completely without public.
Lunch was had and the weather continued with the odd dry
spell and a great deal of heavy rain. By 15.00 hrs we had no public and the
cold was beginning to seep in. So we started to tidy up the display ready to
call it a day. The Sarge went to get changed and I put the canvas back on the
Jeep. As soon as these two tasks had been completed it stopped raining and the
sun came out and so did the public. We then had a final flurry of interest in
the display. At 16.00 hrs we started to pull the display in which was hampered
by a constant stream of interested public. Gradually everyone got there kit
sorted and loaded into cars and people started to depart.
I stayed with Pte Hancock who was waiting for a pickup. I
had loaded the jeep and Pte Hancock had piled up his kit ready to load into his
van. However, the public was still interested and we kept getting kit out and
then putting it away again. Eventually, Charlotte arrived with the van and we
were able to get loaded up and get on our way.
Sargeant Hebden And Corporal Heaton keeping dry in the museum
The crew
The Rain
The public