Fighting Through from Dunkirk to Hamburg

A British infantryman shares his harrowing story of life on the frontlines of WWII, from the North African Campaign to the invasion of Germany.

In April 1939, when Bill Cheall joined the famous Yorkshire infantry regiment known as the Green Howards, he could not have imagined the drama, trauma, rewards and anguish that awaited him. But he recounts it all here, in this vivid memoir of service and courage under fire.

As a Green Howard, Cheall was on the receiving end of the Nazis' Blitzkrieg and was evacuated exhausted. Then, courtesy of the Queen Mary, he shipped off to North Africa as part of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's Eight Army. After their victory in Tunisia, Cheall went on to the invasion of Sicily. The Green Howards then returned to England to be in the vanguard of the Normandy Landings on Gold Beach—where Cheall was wounded. Once he recovered, Cheall returned to the war zone and finished the war as a Regimental Policeman in occupied Germany. It is a remarkable story told with modesty, humor, and an eye for detail.