[Verrieres]

Originally Posted by Stevin

Great thread. Very much an overlooked part of WWII. I recently got "The Man Who Worked On Sundays" by Rev Leslie Skinner (8th Arm Brig - Sherwood Rangers), because it is self-published and because they were so involved in the casualty department as well. The book gives a great insight into the work these men did....very sad and difficult at times...and dangerous....as this thread testifies to.

The Reverend Leslie Skinner
The Reverend Leslie Skinner, a Methodist minister, was reportedly the first British chaplain to land on D-Day. He was senior chaplain to the 8th (Independent) Armoured Brigade, and was attached to the Sherwood Rangers when they landed on Gold beach in the first wave of the assault. Skinner was injured as his landing craft hit a mine but quickly started to gather up the wounded and arrange their evacuation. He used a lightweight motorcycle to pursue his personal mission of tracing members of the unit reported missing, and giving a Christian burial to those who had been killed. All were located except for one, for whom Skinner was forbidden by his commanding officer to search the battlefield.
Ken Markland who seved with the division recalled in 2000 An interesting recollection of the Rev. L. Skinner.
"Ron Copeman and I will remember him for driving us when wounded in his specially converted jeep from Pt.103 on 10th June, 1944, past some German troops on our way to the beach and hospital in England, commenting to us quite calmly as we lay on our stretchers that he felt fairly confident they (The Germans)would respect the red cross flag he was flying!."
The Rev. Skinner recalled later going down the main street of a town in Normandy where there was some German infantry being winkled out when suddenly firing broke out at both ends of the road-
“so I dived into a shop for cover. It was a barbers’ shop, so I had a haircut while waiting for things to simmer down. Only later did it strike me as somewhat unusual to have one’s hair cut while a bit of a battle went on outside.” - .Three weeks after the landings Skinner was wounded in the head by a mortar fragment but recovered and served with the Sherwood Rangers throughout the rest of the campaign in north-west Europe.a truly courageous gentleman
Regards
Verrieres