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Hello Ivor,
I am contacting you in the hope of being able to find any
information about my late uncle. He was Barnard Wild 1916-1974 He was my
mother's brother and I am his closest surviving family member. He joined the
Irish Guards as a boy soldier and ended his career as RSM in the mid 1960s.
Mother
said he was known by his mates as "Jimmy" Wild because of a successful boxer of
that name.
He
was captured at Dunkirk and spent the entire war as a POW.
I have been on this website before, a year or so ago, and was contacted
by one of your colleagues who remembered him in Hamburg in 1946. I thought I
would contact you again having found the new POW information and I hope you or any
others may be able to help me. Also, two official Irish Guards photographs have
come to light. They feature my uncle in cricket teams. One is captioned "Cricket
Team 1st Battalion Irish Guards. Season 1937 - Cairo Egypt". On this one he is
listed as L/Cpl Wild. The second photo is not captioned but it must be a year or
so earlier as he looks younger and has no moustache. I have scanned my uncle's
image for my records and I am willing to donate the actual photos to either the
Guards Museum in London or any other body. I hope this information is of interest
to you.
In the Team picture with the players listed my uncle, L/Cpl Wild is 3rd from the right standing. On the team
photo with no caption or date he is 4th from the left standing. I would suspect
that this was taken in about 1933, but I don't know where. The photo of 3 men at
Stalag 383 shows my uncle sitting, and looking fit and healthy. On the rear
of the photo it is stated as being of CQMS B. Wild 4581 (691) Stalag 383 Germany.
The
photo of him in his office is dated April 1964. The one of him and his late wife
(Betty) and late son (Richard) was also taken in 1964, outside Buckingham
Palace. He received an award but I can't remember which one - I assume it would be the lesser of the Empire
Medals.
It was presented by the late Queen Mother as the Queen was expecting
Prince Edward at the time.
Best Regards
Franklin
Woodcock
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