A VE Day memory

We could not let the 70th anniversary of VE Day pass without a memory from a local resident who was a member of the armed forces in May 1945.

This story is taken from the recording – still available as a Podcast – AudlemOnline made of Commander Henry Curry, who lives in Buerton and is now well into his 90s.

The recording tells of his time in South Africa (including a terrifying encounter with a deadly snake in his sleep) and how he was a key member of the weather forecast for the Normandy landings in June 1944.

But the VE Day story was as follows:

After a night celebrating VE Day well into the night where he was then based in India, Commander Curry left the officers' mess and, while walking along, lit up a cigarette. As he walked on, possibly because of the extended celebrations, he fell into a dry monsoon drainage ditch beside the path.

As he did so, by the light of the moon, he saw a krait, a potentially deadly snake – they are active at night – bite him on his finger. Fortunately, the cigarette was still alight, so he immediately cauterised the wound with the end of his cigarette.

He then ran as fast as he could to the camp's medical centre, rushed in and shouted "Krait bite, krait bite." As the medical staff looked at the wound, he feared they would amputate his finger, possibly his hand, or even his arm, as a precaution.

Instead, a kindly medical orderly told him to climb into bed and said she would bring him a nice cup of tea in the morning – if he was still alive!

And living still in Buerton, he clearly lived to tell the tale.

You can hear the full story of Commander Henry Curry's wartime exploits by clicking on:
http://www.audlem.org/podcasts.html
It's the top Podcast.

If anyone amongst our readers has a VE Day story to tell, please do send it to editor@audlem.org

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.