February 28, 2015

Finest Hour 157, Winter 2012-13

Page 07

TEESSIDE, N. YORKSHIRE, OCTOBER 22-24TH— Winston Churchill described the battle of El Alamein, which began on 23 October 1942, as the “end of the beginning” of the Second World War, reported Mike Blackburn in Teesside News. Over three days, Teessiders spoke about their role in the historic conflict 70 years on. Wilf Routledge was one of those who had a big war. The Middlesbrough-born painter and decorator saw action in nearly every major theatre of the Second World War in the west, from the evacuation of Dunkirk to the victorious Allies’ occupation of Germany. Wilf’s long and arduous journey with the 50th Infantry Division took him to France, North Africa, Sicily, back to France for the D-Day invasion and then the final push into Nazi Germany. Read more at the newspaper’s website: http://xrl.us/bnvhnr.