Veteran recalls his experiences of war

Joe Hollingsworth, 87, of Buckingham Road in South Woodford, has been a regular attender at remembrance events across the borough for the past sixty years, and this week spoke about his memories and reflections on war to the Guardian in the wake of the nation's Remembrance services.

Mr Hollingsworth, who has two children and three grandchildren, said he wanted to send a message to the country's younger generation about the “terrible” nature of war.

He said: “War is horrific and it is the ordinary people like you and me who suffer from them.

“I hope young people growing up in this country recognise that and if possible they should try to seek peace among their fellow man, irrespective of his colour, creed or religion.

“But part of me thinks war is always going to exist. Man has fought man for hundreds, thousands of years. I think in Afghanistan we have to fight otherwise they are only going to blow us up.”

Mr Hollingsworth was called up at the age of 18 in 1944.

As a rifleman in the 8th Armoured Brigade, Mr Hollingsworth arrived on the beaches of Normandy three days after the D-Day assault, and spent months battling through the French countryside.

At one point he came across the aftermath of a fierce battle in a village.

“I've never seen so many dead people,” he said.

“There was a truck and it was full of Germans all dead.”

As his division pressed into Germany they came across a Nazi prisoner of war camp holding thousands of Russians.

He said: “They were so frail. We were told not to give them anything like a cigarette or food as it might kill them.

“There was a huge pile of bodies in a trench. It was horrible. It has stayed on my mind forever.”

Despite the horrors he witnessed, he said it was important that humanity learnt from history.

“Telling the younger generation about what I experienced is an important part of my duty,” he added.