4040067 Gnr. Godfrey Alfred Lacey, always called ‘Goff’ by his mates, gives us a thrilling day-by-day, village-by- village account of his war which would have been experienced by all members of 181 field regiment. Take note of the action he records, this was no picnic – “Fired barrage all day, in action all morning, in action all afternoon, attack going in, Jerry bombing us, jerry sending shells over”. Relentless, hard graft- lugging 25 pound shells about, man handling the guns to bear, digging gun pits, digging slit trenches and dugouts, the deafening sound of the guns hour after hour, the deprivation, wearing the same clothes for days and weeks on end, having to eat cold rations, when they were stuck on the banks of the River Maas during the winter of 1944 it rained constantly for six weeks while they lived in slit trenches, and the constant strain of knowing that the artillery was always a priority target for the enemy.
At a time when WW2 is fading into history, and the men who fought for our freedom are passing from us it’s important that we NEVER forget the sacrifice they made. There is a fine photograph of Goff in my heroes gallery, take a look – 20 years old like many others, just a boy really. Many thanks to his son Paul, who transcribed it and sent it to be added to my archive. Paul was himself a Royal Marine gunner and served in the Falklands war.
