I can proudly tell you of my father James Cochrane who was born in Scotland in 1911.
He upset his father when he turned 18 years of age and joined the "English" Army
He went straight into the RAC and subsequently served six years in India, mainly in the North West Frontier (Khyber Pass) in Armoured Cars and Light Tanks.
My dad fought in the 2nd World War as a member of the 7th Tanks in the BEF in Matilda Tanks and was in Belgium when ordfered to destroy his tank. He was evactuated out of Dunkirk.
He went to North Africa with the 7th Tanks and saw action at Mersa Matruh, Bardia, Sidi Rezegh and Tobruk
His tank was hit outside Tobruk and he became a Prisoner of War for three and a half years.
Before his capture he was informed that he had been put up for the MM and Bar.
Being a bit of a card he replied the everyone was getting killed.
So he asked for a weeks leave in Cairo and after that he would come back and get killed.
He got the leave but was told that the medals would not be his.
Dad told me that the 7th Tanks were then down to six servicable Matilda tanks
In 1979 I was playing pool with an older englishman and during the conversation found that he was the recipient of my dad's medals.
I arranged for them to meet for lunch the next day and was present when my dad looked at Bob who he ahd not seen since the end of the war. Put out his hand and said "G'Day bob.
My dad immediatly turned to me and said "He got my double MM you know.
The remained good friends until Bob's untimely death in 1989.
My father died on December 31st 2002 and was cremated.
James Cochrane 7th Royal Tanks 1927 -1952
The purpose of this board is to post information and pictures of the family members who served have served in any kind of service to their country. In this way we can honour their memory and service.
-
- Private
- Posts: 70
- Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2016 12:38 pm
- Location: County Durham England
Re: James Cochrane 7th Royal Tanks 1927 -1952
Post by STEWART763 »
Enjoyed the story thanks for sharing
Stewart
Stewart
Jump to
- Welcome To RC Tank Warfare
- ↳ News and Announcements
- ↳ Hobby News
- ↳ Introduce Yourself
- ↳ Comments and Suggestions
- ↳ New Boards and Categories
- General Category
- ↳ General Discussion
- ↳ Movies
- ↳ Games
- ↳ General Questions
- ↳ Show Off
- ↳ Tips and Tricks
- ↳ Painting and Weathering
- ↳ Tank of the Month
- ↳ Winners Gallery
- ↳ Modern Tanks
- ↳ Historic Events / Days to remember
- ↳ Events / Days out
- ↳ Clubs around the world
- ↳ Club Discussion
- ↳ Ancestors
- ↳ Off topic
- Builds & Mods
- ↳ Things to fix on your new tank
- ↳ HL Tiger 1
- ↳ HL Bulldog
- ↳ HL Pershing (Snow Leopard)
- ↳ HL Panzer III
- ↳ HL Panzer IV
- ↳ HL Stug III
- ↳ HL Jagdpanther
- ↳ HL KV-1
- ↳ HL Panther G
- ↳ Build Logs
- ↳ Churchill
- ↳ Cromwell
- ↳ Ferdinand
- ↳ IS
- ↳ Jagdpanther
- ↳ Jagdtiger
- ↳ KV
- ↳ King Tiger
- ↳ Mark IV
- ↳ Panther
- ↳ Panzer I & II
- ↳ Panzer III
- ↳ Panzer IV
- ↳ Pershing
- ↳ Sherman
- ↳ Stug
- ↳ Tiger I
- ↳ Wheeled and Half-Tracked Vehicles
- ↳ Other
- ↳ Modern Build Logs
- ↳ Abrams
- ↳ Bradley
- ↳ Bulldog
- ↳ Centurion
- ↳ Challenger
- ↳ Chieftain
- ↳ Leopard
- ↳ M60
- ↳ Merkava
- ↳ Sheridan
- ↳ T-34
- ↳ T-55
- ↳ T-72
- ↳ T-90
- ↳ Wheeled and Half-Tracked Vehicles
- ↳ Other Modern
- ↳ Group Builds
- ↳ RC Battlefields
- ↳ Battlefield Construction
- ↳ Battlefield Buildings
- ↳ Battlefield Examples
- ↳ Battlefield Accessories & Enhancements
- ↳ Electronics
- ↳ El-Mod
- ↳ Heng Long
- ↳ Tamiya
- ↳ Radio Gear
- ↳ Smokers
- ↳ IBU2 / IBU3
- ↳ Clark
- ↳ Other electronics
- ↳ Open Panzer Tank Control Board
- ↳ Unboxing
- ↳ 3D Printing
- ↳ WCP Models
- ↳ Heng Long Trucks
- Vendors
- ↳ Vendors NEW items
- ↳ Recommended Vendors
- ↳ Vendors Blacklist
- Trading Post
- ↳ Swaps
- ↳ For Sale
- ↳ Wanted
- Non-RC Military Models
- ↳ Warships
- ↳ Tanks
- ↳ Planes
- ↳ Armoured Cars
- ↳ Other Military Non-RC Models
- Reference Materials
- ↳ Reference Websites
- ↳ Reference Video
- ↳ Reference Books
- ↳ Reference Camo Patterns
- ↳ Other Reference Material
- ↳ Tiger205's Tiger 1 Reference Zone
- Other Related Hobbies
- ↳ Larger Scale Military
- ↳ Smaller Scale Military
- ↳ RC Cars and Trucks
- ↳ Trains / Locomotives
- ↳ RC Boats / Ships
- ↳ RC Aircraft
- ↳ Uniforms / Equipment
- ↳ Scale Figures
- Report Forum Errors and Forum Related Help
- ↳ Help