BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.3//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:111@historyfare.co.uk DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261105T200000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261105T220000 DTSTAMP:20260904T093212Z URL:https://historyfare.co.uk/events/regs-war/ SUMMARY:Reg's War! DESCRIPTION:\n \;\n\n\nReg's War!\n \;\n\nFor our November talk\, w e welcome Paul Griffiths who will be speaking to us for the first time abo ut his father role in WW2\n \;\n\nDiscover the remarkable\, deeply per sonal\, and sometimes humorous World War II journey of Reginald Thomas Gri ffiths (702 Artisan Works Company\, Royal Engineers)\, as pieced together by his son from a treasure trove of forgotten memorabilia.\n \;\nFor d ecades\, boxes of damp postcards\, letters\, and photograph albums sat tuc ked away in an asbestos garden shed. Discovered years later\, this incredi ble archive reveals the wartime life of "Reg"—a man who\, like many vete rans\, rarely spoke of the gory details but shared rich\, vivid anecdotes over Sunday evening pints at his local pub.\n \;\nThis talk takes you on a chronological journey spanning from 1939 to 1946\, tracing the footst eps of an ordinary clerk turned soldier:\n \;\nThe Narrow Escapes: Hea r the harrowing "official" and personal stories of Reg's evacuation from F rance aboard the SS Mona’s Queen just days before it tragically sank\, a nd his miraculous escape from a bombed troop ship during Operation Torch i n North Africa.\n \;\nA "D-Day Dodger" in Italy: Follow his deployment to the Mediterranean\, where he built strategic airfields in Foggia\, wit nessed the catastrophic 1944 eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed a U S bomber base\, and put his self-taught Italian to work as a company trans lator.\n \;\nThe Lighter Side of War: Beyond the battle lines\, discov er the human moments—from a fellow soldier mistaking church ceiling fres coes for heaven after passing out from the heat\, to Reg getting "blessed" by the Pope in Rome\, attending the Opera in Naples\, and tracking down h is lost fountain pen left behind in France!\n \;\nRichly illustrated w ith authentic wartime diaries\, military leaflets\, currency\, and photogr aphs\, this talk is a poignant\, humorous\, and deeply moving window into the reality of the British soldier's experience in Europe and North Africa .Come and see how a son used Google Earth\, national archives\, and a box of old papers to bring his father’s extraordinary history back to light. \n\n \;\n \; ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://historyfare.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/202 6/09/Regs-War-.jpg CATEGORIES:Family History,Genealogy,History Talk,Military History,Royal Artillery,WW2 LOCATION:RAF Association Melton Mowbray\, 24 Asfordby Road\, Melton Mowbray \, Leicestershire\, LE13 0HR\, United Kingdom X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=24 Asfordby Road\, Melton M owbray\, Leicestershire\, LE13 0HR\, United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-T ITLE=RAF Association Melton Mowbray:geo:0,0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20261025T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR