I’d like to share with you a picture of my Grandfather, Ronald Shrubsole.

He was just 18 when this was taken. Though he is no longer with us, I hope he won’t mind me saying
in public that he didn’t look this fresh-faced and enthusiastic when he returned home from the war.

He was with the 8th Army, fighting in Africa and then Italy in the Second World War.

It was clear to me from having spoken with members of my family that the war had a profound effect on Ron—he wasn’t the man he was when he left south London. He never spoke about his wartime service, only giving very small insights to my Dad as he reached his eighties.

These are special images and help us keep the stories alive of those special people that gave everything to fight for freedom.