John
was born in Vienna on 26th July 1920 and
came to England in 1938 from Austria, after it's take-over by Nazi Germany.
When War broke out,
he was accepted for
the Pioneer Corps, with whom he served until 1943, when he succeeded in
volunteering for Airborne Forces. He chose a most dangerous role in joining
21st Independent Company, (i.e. original Pathfinders) with whom he served in
North Africa.
He
specialised in an Army Intelligence role and was transferred in
succession to 6th Airborne, SAS/HQ and finally back to 1st Airborne.
John served in these
units in North Africa, the Ardennes, Holland and Norway, from March 1943
until September 1945 when he returned to his former civilian employer in
Glasgow.
In Norway he was
involved in the identification of War criminals who were under cover as
German Army personnel.
