James Holland

And what the crews are hoping is that this wet-behind-the-ears officer is going to learn pretty quickly and prove his worth.

Yeah.

Also thinking, oh, my God, not only am I going to be in danger, I've got to kind of somehow win over these men, some of whom are kind of double his age.

Yeah.

And make a fist of things whilst at the same time keeping alive as well.

And, you know, by this stage, people aren't coming from Lincolnshire and Sherwood area of Nottingham and so on.

They're coming from all over.

That time has passed.

That time has passed.

It's just whoever's around, they're processed out of the Royal Armoured Corps and training at Bovingdon.

Go to Sandhurst, go to Bovingdon.

And then you're badged, basically.

You're badged, yeah.

You're sent over to Normandy and you're given a badge when you get there.

And he's from North London.

He's joined the Royal Armoured Corps in September 1942 when he turned 18.

And he chooses this only because he's already liked vehicles and he'd never been particularly keen on walking.

And actually, he lived to a very good old age.

I think he was like 94 or 95 when David died.

But he loved motor racing.