WAR HERO FOUND.. AT GREENGROCERS
Re-united with soldier he saved
AN ex-soldier was re-united with a wartime comrade whose life he saved after bumping into the man’s wife in a greengrocer’s.
Richard Battherham was 20 when, fighting in Northern Italy in 1944, he found James Hyatt with one of his legs blown off in a bombing raid.
He performed vital first aid to staunch the bleeding before carrying the 18-yearold to a field hospital.
The pair spoke briefly but were later sent to different camps and assumed they would never meet again.
But decades later Richard fell into conversation with a cashier at his greengrocer’s.
She said she was going to
Italy with her husband who wanted to return to the spot where his leg was blown off.
When she mentioned his name, Richard recalled his wartime exploits and asked if he could ring her husband. Hours later he was talking to the man whose life he saved.
The pair discovered they lived only a mile apart, in south west London.
Regular phone calls, coffee shop outings and visits to each other’s homes in Wimbledon and Southfields followed.
Richard was guest of honour at the golden wedding of
James and his
wife Rose – credited with the sole reason they were able to celebrate. Now, on the 13th anniversary of Richard’s death from bowel cancer at 84, his family want to share the story of the 1986 reunion ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
Granddaughter Sarah Watt, 38, said: “It’s just such a lovely story.
“What are the chances they would find each other all those years later? “I’m just so proud of him. I’d tell him he was a hero but he just said he was getting done what needed to be done.”
Richard’s daughter Valarie Tyler, 71, said: “Dad used to speak a lot of a young soldier he rescued in Senio and wondered if he had survived.
“It was on Boxing Day 1944 that Dad heard the cries of a young man.
“He climbed down a river bank and found the soldier. “When he reached base he asked Dad’s name before passing out.
“Dad left him in good hands but said he always wondered what had happened to him. Then 42 years later it’s like a miracle happened.
“At the golden wedding Jim made a speech saying if it wasn’t for Dad none of them would be there now.
“It was the only time I’d known my dad to cry. “Not long after, we
heard Jim had died.”
What are the chances they would find each other?
SARAH WATT ON HER GRANDAD’S STORY