| Len West, served as a medical officer
of the British 16th Parachute Field
Ambulance, part of the 6th Airborne Division. He saw active
service in D-Day and Rhine crossing campaigns, parachuting or landing by
glider into occupied enemy territory to set up advance medical
facilities. Near the end of the war he was promoted to Lieutenant
Colonel and took command of the Royal Army Medical Corps of the 1st
Parachute Division.
|
 Len in 1932 |
|
| November 1942 |
 |
Returned to England Attended 4 week parachute course at Hardwick near Chesterfield, Derbyshire Second part of course at Ringway, Manchester |
| Joined 6th Airborne division, 224 Parachute Field Ambulance | ||
| Promoted to second in command 195th air landing field ambulance | ||
| February 1944 | "ex listed, that is initiated into all the secrets of the forthcoming invasion of France" | |
| late May 1944 | 12 Parachute Battalion, Keevil Airfield, Devon | |
| D Day, 5 June 1945 | Captain West parachuted from a Stirling bomber with 20 others of the 225th Parachute Field Ambulance at 2am and landed near Caen. On the morning of the 6th he joined up with the Medical Dressing Station (MDS) of the 195th and guided them to Le Bas de Ranville where it was based for the night. | |
| 11 & 12 June 1944 | Battle of Breville | |
| August1944 | Pushed along the coast to Deauville and LeHarve | |
| Returned to England | ||
| 23 December 1944 | Rushed to village of Perrin, Belgian Ardennes | |
| February 1945 | Suburb of Venlo-Hout-Blerick, Venlo, Maas front Returned to England |
|
| 24 March 1945 | Rhine river crossing, Holland | |
| Allies advanced through Germany until they met with the Russians | ||
| Division inspected by Russian Marshal Rokosovski and General "Monty" | ||
| Flew back to England via Brussels | ||
| Palestine, training for Far East theatre when the atom bomb was dropped, ending the war | ||
|
9 March 1946 |
Croyden, England |