Dennis Bateman
Dennis was born in Birmingham on 17th June 1928. He joined the Army as a regular soldier in1946 at age 18 and served until 1952.
His first unit was 1st Airborne Squadron, Royal Engineers, then, on the reorganisation of 6th
Airborne Division, 9th Airborne Squadron RE.
At that period, shortly after the War, the Division was serving in Palestine, trying to keep the
peace between the Jews and Arabs. They endured ceaseless provocation and numerous acts of
sabotage, and the need to show endless patience and restraint was in direct contrast to the
normal Airborne doctrine of boldness, speed and aggression.
Though he was not personally involved, an illustration of the situation is that men of his
Squadron had the distressing task of clearing the debris and rescuing survivors from the King
David Hotel, blown up by a Jewish underground group in 1946.
Dennis was one of the very last group of Army personnel to leave Palestine in May 1948. His
unit then went to Germany as part of the Army of Occupation, but from there were rushed to
the Suez Canal Zone in 1950, where he served till his release in 1952.
