[51highland]

Nice question Ron. I can only relate what my father told me. He was much the same as you. He recalled only being told / explained to about his part in the attack at Alamein, the attack on Schijndel Holland where all ranks were instructed with the aid of the sand table, and in Germany when he was a Discipline officer at Westertimke camp, guarding a 1000 SS and 2000 Whermacht.
He always said that war was mostly fought on a intimate level, i.e. your section, platoon, or company, with you and your closest mates being the only relevant things. Hardly ever knowing what other companies were upto or facing.
A case in point is me witnessing an argument between some Cameron vets. Attacking the brickworks at Im Lohr, 1 vet said there was very little fighting. my father and 3 others nearly tore him to bits. They said if he thought that , he could not have been there. Having been there I spoke to a old lady who told me that the wounded, 27 of them, were treated in her front garden, she even came out when she saw the vets blue hackle asking "you Cameron"? Bless her, she was full of tears.