Tom joined the Seaforth Highlanders on 11 August 1939 and was initially posted to 7th Battalion. In July/August 1940 he volunteered for the No.11 Scottish Commando and on 7 September 1940 was accepted and went for further training on the Isle of Arran, before sailing to Egypt via Cape Town. He served with this Commando unit, for some time as part of Layforce C Battalion, until August 1941. When the Commando Unit was disbanded, he volunteered for and was accepted into the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) on 3 September 1941. He served with the LRDG until 19 January 1943, mostly behind enemy lines. He was then posted back to the Seaforth Highlanders 2nd Battalion in Libya/Tunisia and was involved in the Sicily landings, being wounded in the battle for Sferro Hills. He then returned to the UK and was involved in Operation Overlord, being evacuated back to the UK (Glasgow Hospital). Tom's medals include the Africa Star with 8th army clasp, the Italy Star and the France/Germany Star.

Posted by Robert Young on Fri 25 Oct 2019 04:48:18 EDT