Presentation to Donald Rose

The BBC One Show VE Day Special

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Queen’s Regiment veteran and ex trustee of the Benevolent Fund (who also served in the East Surrey Regiment and Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment) Colonel (Retd) Tony Ward OBE DL took part in a BBC sponsored event with Al Murray (the ‘Pub Landlord’) to commemorate 110-year-old Donald Rose’s service in the 1/7th Battalion The Queen’s Royal Regiment during the Second World War on 13 March.

Don was brought up in Westcott, near Dorking in Surrey the youngest of 4 brothers (2 of whom had served in the Queen’s in the First World War) and 3 sisters. Don enlisted on the 26th of July 1940 in Guildford at the age of 25 and undertook his training at Stoughton Barracks, Guildford. After which he was posted to 1/7th Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey) who together with 1/5th and 1/6th Queen’s formed 131 (Queen’s) Brigade undertaking anti Invasion duties in Kent.

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In early 1942, having been inspected by HM The King they sailed to North Africa and joined 7th Armed Division (The Desert Rats) and took part in the Battles of El Alamain, Medenine, Tripoli and up to Tunis. They then took part in the Salerno landings in September 1943 after which in October 43 they returned to England and then landed on Normandy Beaches on June D+3 – Fought in the Bocarge, Op Goodwood and then in September the breakout up through France to St Nicolas and Gent in Belgium and South Holland.

By December the Battalion was “spent” and returned to UK. Don remained a Private throughout the War. At times he was a sniper and in Europe a Bren Gun Carrier Driver. On 18th February 1945, Don was then posted to a Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment and claims to have ended up near Belsen. (The Wiltshire Regiment was one of the first to liberate Belsen). Later on, he married a German girl.