A blind veteran from Sussex has been gifted an illustration of himself impressed by his private D-Day reminiscences.
Ken Hobbs, who’s 100 years old, joined the Royal Army Service Corps in 1942 and have become a driver, delivering important cargo throughout England.
On 6 June 1944, Ken drove his car onto Sword Beach and remembers assembly a Frenchman on the high of the seaside, who stated: “Hello Tommy, I knew you’d come back one day.”
It was this anecdote that impressed artist Tim Godden’s illustration of Ken.
Ken is supported by Blind Veterans UK, the nationwide charity for vision-impaired ex-servicemen and ladies. He lives on the charity’s Centre of Wellbeing in Rustington and it was right here that he obtained a particular go to from Tim.
Tim stated:
“These illustrations are my own small way of saying thank you to those who served. I am very interested in the history of the Second World War and having this opportunity to engage with the last generation of men who lived this period of history is a huge honour.
“These brave and selfless men saw the events of the Second World War and D-Day in colour, not black and white, and they all have their own individual stories to tell. I hope to meet and illustrate as many as I can.”
Tim travelled from his home in Devon to personally current his illustration to Ken and the 2 males frolicked speaking about Ken’s expertise in the course of the warfare and Tim described his illustration to Ken.
During the D-Day invasion, Ken drove forwards and backwards, near the frontline, shifting ammunition, gas and supplies as they have been wanted. He then drove via France, on to Holland, and at last to victory in Germany.
Ken stated:
“There was no time to think, we just kept going. We kept up with the Germans and stayed out of trouble.”
Ken spoke of his work waterproofing the lorries so that they may very well be pushed within the sea.
He stated:
“No one had driven in the sea before. We extended the exhaust pipe above the cab, then waterproofed the back axle, gearbox and engine. We used a lot of insulation tape, all the pipes and joints had to be wound around and then we used putty to seal it all up.
“It was something that no one had done before; we did a wonderful job.”
Last 12 months Tim and his spouse took their young sons to Normandy to go to the warfare cemeteries and he has since taken his sons to satisfy a few of the veterans he has illustrated.
He advised Ken:
“I will pass on all your stories to my children. They were disappointed that I was meeting you today without them.”
Ken was completely happy to listen to that Tim had taken his kids to Normandy and that, with the 80-year anniversary of D-Day approaching, folks of all generations are nonetheless thinking about listening to his story.
Before Tim left, Ken signed a replica of the illustration for Tim to hold on the wall at home for his sons.
Ken misplaced sight in his left eye following an accident simply after the warfare ended, however went on to work as a bus driver.
He was identified with macular degeneration later in life and has beforehand stated:
“Blind Veterans UK have been brilliant to me. It’s awful when you lose your sight, as suddenly you can’t do the things that you used to be able to do.
“The charity has given me lots of equipment like a magnifier which means I can continue to read using the little sight that I have left.
“One of the best things about Blind Veterans UK is being able to meet others in the same situation as myself as not only do we have a shared background in the military but we also face the same challenges that come with sight loss.”
Blind Veterans UK helps 1000’s of blind veterans throughout the nation however is aware of there are lots of 1000’s extra who nonetheless want its assist to rebuild their lives after sight loss.
If you, or somebody you understand, served within the Armed Forces, together with National Service, and at the moment are battling sight loss, then please get in contact. Call 0800 389 7979 or go to: blindveterans.org.uk/gethelp.
