Four Extraordinary War Heroes at the LJCC

Guest Blog post by Vera Litvin

Yesterday, one day before Remembrance Day, LJCC students had the honour of meeting four very special WWII veterans. They had come to the LJCC to participate in Dr Helen Fry’s “Churchill’s German Army” course. What is it that makes Willy Field, Bill Howard, Geoffrey Perry and Harry Rossney so extraordinary? What makes their story different from that of any other British soldier who fought the Germans? It is the fact that all four men were born in Germany and Austria and fled to Britain to seek refuge from Nazi persecution.

Willy, Bill, Geoffrey and Harry belonged to 10,000 German and Austrian refugees who chose to fight for Britain during the War. Their service was not at first encouraged, and was in fact actively prevented as most of the refugees were interred, and in Willy Field’s case, even deported to Australia in hideous conditions on the infamous “Dunera” vessel. Despite this, there was a burning feeling among these men that this was their War. “The People we were fighting were out to eradicate me” says Bill Howard. “The very simple fact was that the Nazis had to be defeated” adds Harry Rossney, “Coming to England saved my life. I wanted to say thank you”. At first, the only way of showing their commitment to a country in which they were still considered “friendly enemy aliens” was to volunteer for the non-combatant Pioneer Corps.

It was only later on in the War that these men were allowed to enter fighting units. They did this and many saw active service, like Willy Field who fought for 11 months on the frontline and participated in the D-day landing, or Bill Howard who used his German language skills to do top secret work for the Royal Navy. Geoffrey Perry had the distinction of being the man to shoot and arrest the traitor and Nazi propagandist William Joyce, known as Lord Haw Haw, while Harry Rossney carried out the vital work of hand writing signs for the temporary crosses on the graves of fallen soldiers.

Historian Helen Fry says that the impact of these men and others like them is not to be underestimated: “Without their contribution the War would not have been shortened. It’s marvellous that the story is finally coming out”. Our listeners felt the same way, many of them explaining that their fathers too had been in the Pioneer Corps and how grateful they were for this opportunity to find out more about what happened to them. There was a real sense at the event of being able to “touch history” and to honour four extraordinary men.  

Image: L-R Geoffrey Perry, Harry Rossney, Willy Field, Dr Helen Fry, Bill Howard

To hear more exciting and unusual stories from members of “Churchill’s German Army” join Dr Helen Fry and her guests on Thursday 17 and Thursday 24 November at 2.00pm. http://www.ljcc.org.uk/courses/1821-churchill-s-german-army-hope-and-courage.html