In this installment of the Veteran Podcast Archive, we feature an interview we did a year ago with WW2 Veteran Captain David Render, a former Troop Commander with one of Britain’s elite Tank regiments, the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry.
The SRY went to war on horse-back in September 1939, were blooded in North Africa at Tobruk and El Alamein against Rommel’s Afrika Korps, then in June 1944 landed on Gold Beach on D-Day and battled their way at the spear-head with the rest of 8th Armoured Brigade through the Normandy bocage, into France, Belgium and Holland before reaching Bremen, amassing a staggering thirty battle honours along the way.
David Render joined the regiment in Normandy on D+5 as a 19 year old 2nd Lt fresh from Sandhurst.
Listen to Part 1 Here:
Due to its length, the interview will be split into 3 parts. In this very first episode, we discuss David’s childhood and growing up in London, being evacuated to the countryside as well as the Blitz. We look at his brother’s army service in France around Dunkirk in 1940, before then turning to David’s own experience of joining the army, training and everything that entailed including learning how to drive a tank, and then finally to the crucial moment when training becomes reality, the crossing of the channel on D+2 to Normandy to join up with his future regiment.
We do hope you have found this episode of interest. Parts Two and Three will be released very shortly as we follow the rest of David’s and the Sherwood Rangers journey battling their way through Normandy, France, Belgium, Holland and eventually into Germany. We also discuss the bitter reality of life inside a Sherman tank during this conflict, the tactics employed by both sides in the ensuing battle, a dangerous friendly fire incident by Allied Hawker Typhoons and much, much more.
Music Featured in this episode: Hearts & Flowers by Jeff Kaale.
If you know somebody, a relative or friend perhaps who served during the Second World War and is willing to talk with us about their experience, please do feel free to get in contact via our website contact us form.
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Missed our previous interview with veteran Bill Betts? Listen to Part 1 ‘Victor-Vicor-Victor’ Here.
Photo Credit – The main cover image of Captain Render was kindly provided with permission from David, Stuart Tootal and Orion Books from his new book about his WW2 experience ‘Tank Action.‘