Veteran Star Medal: Alfred Gregory Wyles – WWII British Army Service [1940-1946]! (4.11.2023)

Although he joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment – famous for its ‘Last Stand’ at Dunkirk – due to his ‘sharp-shooting’ ability he was soon transferred to the 1st Buckinghamshire Battalion (the ‘Light Bobs’) of the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Territorial Army) where he was placed in an Anti-Tank Platoon. During D-Day, the ‘Light Bobs’ landed in the first-waves of Allied troops that hit ‘Sword Beach’. His Unit was tasked with fighting their way in-land ten-miles to Caen – where it was to relieve D Company of the Ox & Bucks Ligyt Infantry (Professional) – which had landed as ‘Glider Troops’ around midnight of June 6th, 1944. Due to these required military objectives – my grandfather trained with the Glider Troops around the Exeter Canal System – which resembled the canal system around Caen. Indeed, this association has sometimes ‘confused’ exactly what function my grandfather fulfilled due to him possessing a ‘Winged Pegasus’ badge!

Alfred Gregory Wyles (1916-1976) – (WWII) War Record 1940-1946 (Military No: 5117194) 1st Buckinghamshire Battalion (LightBobs) – Oxford & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Territorial Army)

Military records are precise and concise and convey very little about the reality of war. As a family we do not subscribe to the notion of imperialist war, but we are proud that our grandfather volunteered to join the British Army to fight fascism in the 1940’s.