Voices of VE Day 75 - Jeff Haward

To mark the 75th Anniversary Commemorations of VE Day, we spoke with a few of the veterans we know about their experiences on 8th May 1945 and hear their advice for future generations.

Jeff joined up before the war with the territorials 1/7th Middlesex Battalion which was equipped with Vickers Machine Guns, and saw service with the ‘Die Hards’ the whole way through the war, from its very start to its end. Jeff fought in France as part of the BEF in 1940 where he was evacuated at Dunkirk, he went on to fight in North Africa taking part in the Battle of El Alamein, then Sicily, before landing in Normandy and battling all the way through into Germany where he was on VE Day.

Jeff was one of those caught up in the fierce fighting in the Reichswald Forest in Feb 1945. He was awarded an MM for his role during this battle – which was later personally awarded by Montgomery himself. Sadly though, it was also in this same encounter that he lost his close friend and comrade, Sgt. Frank Dollin, on this day 75 years ago.

*Please note this episode may contain some explicit language / content, parental guidance advised.*