Here's a lesson I learnt during the war. Never sleep under a tank!

I was 18, and had been fighting for two or three weeks in Normandy. I was with the Ts and Tyneside Division of the Dorset Regiment. We were shelled twice -- and of course wanted protection. So we simply lay down under a tank -- two or three of us, I think. There was no safer place, it seemed, than under a tank!

But then one day our Company Commander told us not to do it anymore. He said somebody had been suffocated. If it rains, you see, the ground becomes soft -- and the tank collapses, with you under it. I thought to myself: what a bad way to go. I'd much sooner be killed by shellfire.

I was relieved when the war was over. But very proud. I'd do it again, yes. But I think only about half the people these days really understand what we did.

THIS STORY HAS BEEN SUBMITTED TOTHE PEOPLE'S WAR WEBSITE BY JOHN YOUNG OF BBC SOUTH EAST TODAY, ON BEHALF OF STAN HODGE. IT HAS BEEN ADDED WITH HIS PERMISSION, AND HE FULLY UNDERSTANDS THE SITE'S TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

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