Three Chindits from Chesterfield

From the pages of The Derbyshire Times, Friday January 12th 1945
Back From Burma-Four Local Friends
Four Chesterfield men, who have been together since joining the Territorials with the Royal Corps of Signals in 1937, were amongst others who arrived home this week from the East. They were: Corporal Hedley Morton from Walton, Corporal Peter Sherwood from Spital Lane, Lance Corporal Henry Bedford of St. Augustine's Lane and Lance Corporal Arthur Hooper of Stonegravels.
Morton and Sherwood told their story to a representative of the Derbyshire Times yesterday. They were together in the same Signals Section in France and came back through Dunkirk. They went out to the Middle East early in 1941, and after taking part in the Iraq campaign, returned to Egypt to serve in the 1941 Libyan desert battles.
There were twenty-nine Derbyshire men in the section, but at the battle for Sidi Rezegh four were taken prisoner and one was killed. After going to India in March 1942, the section was largely split up and posted to other units. Morton and Sherwood joined the late General Wingate's Chindits in 1943. Hedley Morton was attached to Rear HQ and Sherwood to Advanced HQ (Brigade Head Quarters) on the Burma frontier. Sherwood was also in the thick of the action the following year in 1944, when the Japs broke through into the Imphal and Kohima region.
Morton spent one leave period with his Aunt and Uncle at Simla in India and had a thoroughly good time. His Uncle, who is his father's brother, is a Glapwell man and is a government servant in India, where he has been for some twenty years. Sherwood also spent a pleasant leave in the Himalayas, at Darjeeling, where he had sight of Mount Everest.
Whilst at Imphal, Corporal Sherwood met Lieutenant-Colonel Robin Turner, who was his previous commander in the Territorials back at Chesterfield. Turner was formerly the assistant of Mr. R. Fabry of the Staveley Coal and Iron Company. Amongst the souvenirs that Sherwood brought back from India, was a small orange with which he hoped to impress his family, whom he imagined had not seen the like for many years. He was rather disappointed on arriving home to find that his family had seen plenty of oranges!
The four Chesterfield men arrived back in this country with Lance Corporal W. Beresford from Matlock. Unfortunately, on the rail journey down from the North the five men had become separated, and at Chesterfield Beresford had slept on and was only awakened by a ticket inspector as the train was nearing Birmingham. His kit had been unloaded back at Chesterfield by his pals. He eventually turned up on Wednesday morning at the home of Peter Sherwood to rescue his kit and continue his own journey home.
Corporal Peter Sherwood was born in Chesterfield on the 25th September 1916 and lived in the Spital Lane area of the town during his early life and as a school boy. As mentioned in the above newspaper article, he volunteered for the local Territorial Unit in the late 1930's and was posted to 2 Company of the 42nd Division Royal Corps of Signals in 1938, along with his pals, Hedley Morton and Arthur Hooper. After serving with the BEF in France in the spring of 1940, Peter was one of the fortunate men to be rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk and returned safely to England in late May that year. He was sent out to the Middle East in 1941, before being posted to India, where he joined the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade (Chindits), taking up a position in Brigade Head Quarters.
Peter eventually arrived home from the Far East in early 1945. From that moment on, his main focus was to be re-united not just with his own family in Chesterfield, but also with a young French girl he had met and fallen in love with in 1940 whilst with the British Expeditionary Force in France.
Back From Burma-Four Local Friends
Four Chesterfield men, who have been together since joining the Territorials with the Royal Corps of Signals in 1937, were amongst others who arrived home this week from the East. They were: Corporal Hedley Morton from Walton, Corporal Peter Sherwood from Spital Lane, Lance Corporal Henry Bedford of St. Augustine's Lane and Lance Corporal Arthur Hooper of Stonegravels.
Morton and Sherwood told their story to a representative of the Derbyshire Times yesterday. They were together in the same Signals Section in France and came back through Dunkirk. They went out to the Middle East early in 1941, and after taking part in the Iraq campaign, returned to Egypt to serve in the 1941 Libyan desert battles.
There were twenty-nine Derbyshire men in the section, but at the battle for Sidi Rezegh four were taken prisoner and one was killed. After going to India in March 1942, the section was largely split up and posted to other units. Morton and Sherwood joined the late General Wingate's Chindits in 1943. Hedley Morton was attached to Rear HQ and Sherwood to Advanced HQ (Brigade Head Quarters) on the Burma frontier. Sherwood was also in the thick of the action the following year in 1944, when the Japs broke through into the Imphal and Kohima region.
Morton spent one leave period with his Aunt and Uncle at Simla in India and had a thoroughly good time. His Uncle, who is his father's brother, is a Glapwell man and is a government servant in India, where he has been for some twenty years. Sherwood also spent a pleasant leave in the Himalayas, at Darjeeling, where he had sight of Mount Everest.
Whilst at Imphal, Corporal Sherwood met Lieutenant-Colonel Robin Turner, who was his previous commander in the Territorials back at Chesterfield. Turner was formerly the assistant of Mr. R. Fabry of the Staveley Coal and Iron Company. Amongst the souvenirs that Sherwood brought back from India, was a small orange with which he hoped to impress his family, whom he imagined had not seen the like for many years. He was rather disappointed on arriving home to find that his family had seen plenty of oranges!
The four Chesterfield men arrived back in this country with Lance Corporal W. Beresford from Matlock. Unfortunately, on the rail journey down from the North the five men had become separated, and at Chesterfield Beresford had slept on and was only awakened by a ticket inspector as the train was nearing Birmingham. His kit had been unloaded back at Chesterfield by his pals. He eventually turned up on Wednesday morning at the home of Peter Sherwood to rescue his kit and continue his own journey home.
Corporal Peter Sherwood was born in Chesterfield on the 25th September 1916 and lived in the Spital Lane area of the town during his early life and as a school boy. As mentioned in the above newspaper article, he volunteered for the local Territorial Unit in the late 1930's and was posted to 2 Company of the 42nd Division Royal Corps of Signals in 1938, along with his pals, Hedley Morton and Arthur Hooper. After serving with the BEF in France in the spring of 1940, Peter was one of the fortunate men to be rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk and returned safely to England in late May that year. He was sent out to the Middle East in 1941, before being posted to India, where he joined the 77th Indian Infantry Brigade (Chindits), taking up a position in Brigade Head Quarters.
Peter eventually arrived home from the Far East in early 1945. From that moment on, his main focus was to be re-united not just with his own family in Chesterfield, but also with a young French girl he had met and fallen in love with in 1940 whilst with the British Expeditionary Force in France.

From the Derbyshire Times, Friday November 16th 1945.
War Romance Sequel-Chesterfield Soldier And French Bride
An interesting war romance had a sequel at Chesterfield Parish Church this Wednesday, when a local soldier was married to a young French girl whom he first met when serving with the BEF in France, just before the Dunkirk evacuation. They were Corporal Peter Sherwood, the 28 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. H.G. Sherwood of 6 Spital Lane, Chesterfield and Francoise Stalhand from Lille.
When Cpl. Sherwood was in France with the Royal Signals they received a very hospitable reception from the French locals at Lille. He met Francoise, who was then aged only 16. They were mutually attracted and a war romance began. After France was occupied by the German Army, Sherwood went to the Middle East with his Signals unit and saw active service in Iraq and Libya. In 1942 he went to India, joining General Wingate's Chindits in 1943.
During this period, it was only at long intervals that the couple were able to get tidings of each other. Cpl. Sherwood occasionally got word of Francoise through the Red Cross, but the attachment remained as strong as ever. He returned to this country at the beginning of the year and after the end of the war in France at once contacted his fiancé. Francoise, although five years had elapsed, was willing to make the journey to England to marry her soldier. She arrived in Chesterfield last weekend and the necessary official permissions were obtained.
Mademoiselle Stalhand, who is dark and petite and speaks English fluently, told the Derby Times, that the people of France had experienced a very hard time during the occupation. Food and fuel was in short supply, but they never became downhearted and tried as much as possible to take no notice of the Germans.
The bride was given away by Mr. H. Morton (senior), and the wedding service was conducted by Father Gadsby at St. Mary and All Saints. The best man was Mr. K.J. Sherwood and the groomsmen were CQMS Eric Campbell and Corporal Hedley Morton, a former RCOS comrade of Peter Sherwood. The bridesmaids were Marie Stocks and Divena Morton. A reception was held at the Odeon Restaurant and the honeymoon will be spent at St. Annes. Cpl. Sherwood hopes to be released from the Army in time for Christmas.
Francoise and Peter continued to live in Chesterfield after their marriage which lasted almost forty years, until Peter's sad death in the summer of 1984. Francoise remained in the family home for a further 25 years before she too passed away on the 12th June 2011.
War Romance Sequel-Chesterfield Soldier And French Bride
An interesting war romance had a sequel at Chesterfield Parish Church this Wednesday, when a local soldier was married to a young French girl whom he first met when serving with the BEF in France, just before the Dunkirk evacuation. They were Corporal Peter Sherwood, the 28 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. H.G. Sherwood of 6 Spital Lane, Chesterfield and Francoise Stalhand from Lille.
When Cpl. Sherwood was in France with the Royal Signals they received a very hospitable reception from the French locals at Lille. He met Francoise, who was then aged only 16. They were mutually attracted and a war romance began. After France was occupied by the German Army, Sherwood went to the Middle East with his Signals unit and saw active service in Iraq and Libya. In 1942 he went to India, joining General Wingate's Chindits in 1943.
During this period, it was only at long intervals that the couple were able to get tidings of each other. Cpl. Sherwood occasionally got word of Francoise through the Red Cross, but the attachment remained as strong as ever. He returned to this country at the beginning of the year and after the end of the war in France at once contacted his fiancé. Francoise, although five years had elapsed, was willing to make the journey to England to marry her soldier. She arrived in Chesterfield last weekend and the necessary official permissions were obtained.
Mademoiselle Stalhand, who is dark and petite and speaks English fluently, told the Derby Times, that the people of France had experienced a very hard time during the occupation. Food and fuel was in short supply, but they never became downhearted and tried as much as possible to take no notice of the Germans.
The bride was given away by Mr. H. Morton (senior), and the wedding service was conducted by Father Gadsby at St. Mary and All Saints. The best man was Mr. K.J. Sherwood and the groomsmen were CQMS Eric Campbell and Corporal Hedley Morton, a former RCOS comrade of Peter Sherwood. The bridesmaids were Marie Stocks and Divena Morton. A reception was held at the Odeon Restaurant and the honeymoon will be spent at St. Annes. Cpl. Sherwood hopes to be released from the Army in time for Christmas.
Francoise and Peter continued to live in Chesterfield after their marriage which lasted almost forty years, until Peter's sad death in the summer of 1984. Francoise remained in the family home for a further 25 years before she too passed away on the 12th June 2011.
Corporal Hedley Lister Morton was born on the 8th April 1919 in Walton, which is a suburb of Chesterfield. His Army pathway followed closely to that of Peter Sherwood's, with time spent with the BEF in France, service in the Middle East and ultimately a posting with the first Wingate expedition in 1943. In February 1943, Hedley was sent to Rear Base HQ at Agartala in India and performed communication duties in receipt of Signals from the main Chindit Brigade in Burma. Although his role was clearly a valuable and worthy contribution towards the operation, it must have been frustrating for him not to be alongside his RCOS colleagues marching through the jungles of Burma.
As mentioned in the newspaper articles above, Hedley returned to the United Kingdom in early 1945 and much like his pal, Peter Sherwood, he too married fairly soon after his return, with his wedding to Doreen McDougall taking place in the last quarter of that year. Hedley lived in the Derbyshire town of Ilkeston up until his death in late 2001 aged 82.
Lance Corporal Arthur Hooper was born in Chesterfield on the 30th July 1916. His father, like many men from those times, had suffered greatly from his own experiences during WW1. Arthur grew up in the area known as Stonegravels and worked as a miner before war intervened. His first Army posting was as a Signalman with 2 Company of the 42nd Division, Royal Corps of Signals, who were based in the North of England at the time. Here he learned Morse Code and trained in the use of the heliograph. He undertook a driving course at Lichfield and spent further periods of training at places such as Holyhead on the island of Anglesey.
Whilst serving with 236 Signal Section, part of the 60th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, he was posted to France in February 1940. Arthur would always recall the freezing cold conditions in France that year and his billet in a local village school, before being moved on to Lille, a French city close to the Belgium borders. He fought with the 60th Field Regiment in Belgium, including offering covering fire during the withdrawals at the Albert Canal and Armentieres. Eventually, the Regiment's guns had to be spiked and abandoned and the long drive to Dunkirk across the almost destroyed roads of Northern France began. He was rescued from the beaches at Dunkirk and returned to Folkestone aboard an old paddle steamer.
In February 1941, Arthur travelled to Egypt via the Cape of Good Hope aboard the SS Scythia, disembarking at Port Tewfik as part of the re-amalgamated 60th Field Regiment. He then received a transfer to the RAF, performing signalling and driving duties at RAF Habbinyah, before taking part in operations in Syria with Habforce. In late 1941 he returned to the 236 Signal Section of the 60th Field Regiment and took part in Operation Crusader, it was at this point that Arthur was promoted to Lance Corporal. In February 1942, he was sent to India and took up a posting in the Signals Section of the 70th Infantry Division.
He undertook jungle training at places such as Poona and Ranchi, then spent a period of time working with the Royal Corps of Signals attached to the 3rd Indian Division, also known as Special Force. Arthur worked with Rear Headquarters at Gwalior in India during the 1944 Chindit operation, receiving signals sent from the Chindit columns fighting in Burma. He was promoted to Sergeant at this time, but also suffered on several occasions from severe bouts of malaria. After returning from the Far East in 1945, Arthur spent sometime serving in Germany as part of the British Occupation Army of the Rhine. He then took a posting at Nottingham as a Signals Instructor to the Auxiliary Territorial Service, before his demobilisation at York in December 1945.
Arthur Hooper sadly passed away in May 1999, he was 82 years old. To hear more about his experiences during WW2, please click on the following link: www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80013558
As mentioned in the newspaper articles above, Hedley returned to the United Kingdom in early 1945 and much like his pal, Peter Sherwood, he too married fairly soon after his return, with his wedding to Doreen McDougall taking place in the last quarter of that year. Hedley lived in the Derbyshire town of Ilkeston up until his death in late 2001 aged 82.
Lance Corporal Arthur Hooper was born in Chesterfield on the 30th July 1916. His father, like many men from those times, had suffered greatly from his own experiences during WW1. Arthur grew up in the area known as Stonegravels and worked as a miner before war intervened. His first Army posting was as a Signalman with 2 Company of the 42nd Division, Royal Corps of Signals, who were based in the North of England at the time. Here he learned Morse Code and trained in the use of the heliograph. He undertook a driving course at Lichfield and spent further periods of training at places such as Holyhead on the island of Anglesey.
Whilst serving with 236 Signal Section, part of the 60th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, he was posted to France in February 1940. Arthur would always recall the freezing cold conditions in France that year and his billet in a local village school, before being moved on to Lille, a French city close to the Belgium borders. He fought with the 60th Field Regiment in Belgium, including offering covering fire during the withdrawals at the Albert Canal and Armentieres. Eventually, the Regiment's guns had to be spiked and abandoned and the long drive to Dunkirk across the almost destroyed roads of Northern France began. He was rescued from the beaches at Dunkirk and returned to Folkestone aboard an old paddle steamer.
In February 1941, Arthur travelled to Egypt via the Cape of Good Hope aboard the SS Scythia, disembarking at Port Tewfik as part of the re-amalgamated 60th Field Regiment. He then received a transfer to the RAF, performing signalling and driving duties at RAF Habbinyah, before taking part in operations in Syria with Habforce. In late 1941 he returned to the 236 Signal Section of the 60th Field Regiment and took part in Operation Crusader, it was at this point that Arthur was promoted to Lance Corporal. In February 1942, he was sent to India and took up a posting in the Signals Section of the 70th Infantry Division.
He undertook jungle training at places such as Poona and Ranchi, then spent a period of time working with the Royal Corps of Signals attached to the 3rd Indian Division, also known as Special Force. Arthur worked with Rear Headquarters at Gwalior in India during the 1944 Chindit operation, receiving signals sent from the Chindit columns fighting in Burma. He was promoted to Sergeant at this time, but also suffered on several occasions from severe bouts of malaria. After returning from the Far East in 1945, Arthur spent sometime serving in Germany as part of the British Occupation Army of the Rhine. He then took a posting at Nottingham as a Signals Instructor to the Auxiliary Territorial Service, before his demobilisation at York in December 1945.
Arthur Hooper sadly passed away in May 1999, he was 82 years old. To hear more about his experiences during WW2, please click on the following link: www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80013558
Update 02/02/2017.
I was extremely pleased to receive the following email contact in regards to the story of the aforementioned Chindit soldiers from Chesterfield:
Hello,
I would just like to say how amazed I was to come across a story about my Mum & Dad (Peter Sherwood) on your site. I have learnt some things about them that I didn't know.
Regards
Nigel Sherwood
I replied:
Dear Nigel,
Thank you for your email contact via my website. I was so pleased and indeed surprised that you have seen the story about the Chesterfield Chindits so soon, as this has only been online a matter of weeks. All the information I have about your Dad is from the newspaper cuttings I found on the Find My Past website. If you would like to add any more information about your Mum and Dad and perhaps another photograph or two, I would be delighted to add this to their story.
Update 12/03/2017.
I was extremely pleased to receive an email message from Stuart Marriott, a relative of Lance Corporal William Beresford, the fourth man mentioned in the above story regarding the homecoming of the Chesterfield Chindits:
I read the Three Chindits from Chesterfield with great interest, especially regarding the fourth one, William Beresford of Matlock. Bill was my cousin and I have a few fragmented memories from my childhood about him, when of course he was something of a hero. He talked very occasionally of his experiences in Burma. If you would like to know what I remember about him, please do send me an address for e-mail.
Within a matter of days, Stuart who is now aged 80, sent over the following information about his older cousin, Bill Beresford:
Arthur William Beresford (1920-1973)
Known always as Bill, he married Laura Greaves in 1940 and their son, Tony was born in 1946.
Bill’s father Arthur Beresford hailed from Staveley in Derbyshire. He lost an arm in WWI, but was able to work as manager of a labour exchange in Matlock. Bill’s mother was Mabel Marriott, my father’s eldest sister; that’s how myself and Bill are cousins. After the war Bill ran a successful electrical installation business in the Matlock area. I think that for a time he also had the contract to organise the Venetian Festival or something of the kind on the river at Matlock Bath. He died too young from heart disease, I seem recall.
When I was young, no more than nine or ten, I used to stay at Aunty Mabel’s house at Darley Dale; there was always a little talk of Bill having been in the Chindits, and as far as a youngster was likely to understand he seemed to have got over the trauma. The family had a book called Wingate’s Raiders by Charles Rolo and I read it avidly. One gripping episode was about a mule carrying the radio set, which slipped over the edge of a track into a gorge, where the wireless was smashed to bits. Bill told me that it was his radio that went down the hill. He had a big scar across his forehead, brought back from Burma, where he had been stitched up with a fibre from a piece of rope for want of any better suture.
Bill Beresford was a Signaller. I suspect he was more likely in the Signals to begin with and attached to the infantry, rather than a specialist-trained infantryman. I hope all this is of some interest to you, and perhaps to your readers. I still have a clear image of my big cousin, but regrettably no photograph. And sadly his generation of the family have now all gone.
I was extremely pleased to receive the following email contact in regards to the story of the aforementioned Chindit soldiers from Chesterfield:
Hello,
I would just like to say how amazed I was to come across a story about my Mum & Dad (Peter Sherwood) on your site. I have learnt some things about them that I didn't know.
Regards
Nigel Sherwood
I replied:
Dear Nigel,
Thank you for your email contact via my website. I was so pleased and indeed surprised that you have seen the story about the Chesterfield Chindits so soon, as this has only been online a matter of weeks. All the information I have about your Dad is from the newspaper cuttings I found on the Find My Past website. If you would like to add any more information about your Mum and Dad and perhaps another photograph or two, I would be delighted to add this to their story.
Update 12/03/2017.
I was extremely pleased to receive an email message from Stuart Marriott, a relative of Lance Corporal William Beresford, the fourth man mentioned in the above story regarding the homecoming of the Chesterfield Chindits:
I read the Three Chindits from Chesterfield with great interest, especially regarding the fourth one, William Beresford of Matlock. Bill was my cousin and I have a few fragmented memories from my childhood about him, when of course he was something of a hero. He talked very occasionally of his experiences in Burma. If you would like to know what I remember about him, please do send me an address for e-mail.
Within a matter of days, Stuart who is now aged 80, sent over the following information about his older cousin, Bill Beresford:
Arthur William Beresford (1920-1973)
Known always as Bill, he married Laura Greaves in 1940 and their son, Tony was born in 1946.
Bill’s father Arthur Beresford hailed from Staveley in Derbyshire. He lost an arm in WWI, but was able to work as manager of a labour exchange in Matlock. Bill’s mother was Mabel Marriott, my father’s eldest sister; that’s how myself and Bill are cousins. After the war Bill ran a successful electrical installation business in the Matlock area. I think that for a time he also had the contract to organise the Venetian Festival or something of the kind on the river at Matlock Bath. He died too young from heart disease, I seem recall.
When I was young, no more than nine or ten, I used to stay at Aunty Mabel’s house at Darley Dale; there was always a little talk of Bill having been in the Chindits, and as far as a youngster was likely to understand he seemed to have got over the trauma. The family had a book called Wingate’s Raiders by Charles Rolo and I read it avidly. One gripping episode was about a mule carrying the radio set, which slipped over the edge of a track into a gorge, where the wireless was smashed to bits. Bill told me that it was his radio that went down the hill. He had a big scar across his forehead, brought back from Burma, where he had been stitched up with a fibre from a piece of rope for want of any better suture.
Bill Beresford was a Signaller. I suspect he was more likely in the Signals to begin with and attached to the infantry, rather than a specialist-trained infantryman. I hope all this is of some interest to you, and perhaps to your readers. I still have a clear image of my big cousin, but regrettably no photograph. And sadly his generation of the family have now all gone.
Update 16/04/2017.
From the pages of the Derbyshire Times dated, Friday 19th January 1945 and under the headline, A Chindit Comes Home:
L/Cpl. A. W. Beresford of Chesterfield and Darley Dale
L/Cpl. A. W. Beresford, son of Mr. and Mrs. Beresford, South Lea, Darley House Estate, Dale Road South, Darley Dale, one of Wingate's Follies, has arrived home from Burma and is on three weeks leave. His adventures did not end with his arrival at a North-west port, however. He came home with four friends with whom he had been serving since the war, but they were separated on the train. Beresford went to sleep on the train, and instead of alighting at Chesterfield, he woke up to find himself near Birmingham. His friends had unloaded his kit at Chesterfield, and he had to return to recover it before he could go on to Matlock.
A representative of the Derbyshire Times found him at home looking out onto a snow-clad landscape, such as he had not seen for many a year and very much liking it in spite of his shivers. He was invalided home following an attack of malaria. For the period of the war (until he was transferred to Northampton last year), L/Cpl. Beresford's father was employed at Matlock Labour Exchange, but the family is really a Chesterfield district one. L/Cpl. Beresford was born at Spital, and spent a good deal of his youth at The Haag Farm in Handley. He has been in uniform almost all his life, first with the original Boy Scout group formed at Barrow Hill, then with the Old Whittington Church Lads Brigade and after that with the Territorials.
He went to France with the Royal Corps of Signals, and was evacuated from Dunkirk. At the beginning of 1941 he was sent to the Middle East, and took part in the campaigns in Iraq and North Africa before he was transferred to the India Command. Subsequently, he joined up with Wingate's Chindits and had many adventurous days when the Japanese were threatening India. L/Cpl. Beresford spoke highly of the magnificent job of work the Forgotten Fourteenth Army was doing in Burma, and suggested that they deserved much better treatment than they had received up to now.
From the pages of the Derbyshire Times dated, Friday 19th January 1945 and under the headline, A Chindit Comes Home:
L/Cpl. A. W. Beresford of Chesterfield and Darley Dale
L/Cpl. A. W. Beresford, son of Mr. and Mrs. Beresford, South Lea, Darley House Estate, Dale Road South, Darley Dale, one of Wingate's Follies, has arrived home from Burma and is on three weeks leave. His adventures did not end with his arrival at a North-west port, however. He came home with four friends with whom he had been serving since the war, but they were separated on the train. Beresford went to sleep on the train, and instead of alighting at Chesterfield, he woke up to find himself near Birmingham. His friends had unloaded his kit at Chesterfield, and he had to return to recover it before he could go on to Matlock.
A representative of the Derbyshire Times found him at home looking out onto a snow-clad landscape, such as he had not seen for many a year and very much liking it in spite of his shivers. He was invalided home following an attack of malaria. For the period of the war (until he was transferred to Northampton last year), L/Cpl. Beresford's father was employed at Matlock Labour Exchange, but the family is really a Chesterfield district one. L/Cpl. Beresford was born at Spital, and spent a good deal of his youth at The Haag Farm in Handley. He has been in uniform almost all his life, first with the original Boy Scout group formed at Barrow Hill, then with the Old Whittington Church Lads Brigade and after that with the Territorials.
He went to France with the Royal Corps of Signals, and was evacuated from Dunkirk. At the beginning of 1941 he was sent to the Middle East, and took part in the campaigns in Iraq and North Africa before he was transferred to the India Command. Subsequently, he joined up with Wingate's Chindits and had many adventurous days when the Japanese were threatening India. L/Cpl. Beresford spoke highly of the magnificent job of work the Forgotten Fourteenth Army was doing in Burma, and suggested that they deserved much better treatment than they had received up to now.
Copyright © Steve Fogden, December 2016.