Now 100-years old, Maurice’s WWII service began manning anti-aircraft guns in London with the Home Guard, before joining the Royal Signals.

Sent for parachute training, he broke his arm and missed his unit’s deployment to Europe. Instead, he threw himself into jungle training in the Norfolk fens, preparing to join the war in the east. While en route, the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan and the war was over.

We also talked about his post-war service in Kenya, Egypt and Libya; his career as a journalist and NUJ activist; and, at 66, filming a documentary in Mali with Bruno Sorrentino.

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Interviewed at her care home in Westcliff-on-Sea, Doris tells us about coming of age as WWII began, meeting husband Harry during the Blitz, her ATS service, and working for trade unions after the war.

Like so many, especially women, who served on the homefront, she never claimed the medals to which she was entitled. So Dan put that right, at the end of the interview, presenting Doris with an original Defence and War Medal pair. As well as an Armed Forces Veteran's Badge.

Thank you for your service Pte Rose D W184031! (Yes, of course she remembers her service number).

AJEX would like to thank Doris's son John, and Ben Conway at the Jewish Chronicle, for helping to facilitate this episode.

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It was a privilege to be welcomed into the home of 104-year old Mark Gerson, and to be joined by his daughter Jane.

Mark served as an RAF radio operator and mechanic in WWII, flying in support of the British Liberation Army as it freed France, the Low Lands, and on into Germany. For him, all the way to the gates of Buchenwald.

Mark tells Dan about growing up amid the rise of antisemitism in the twenties and thirties, his eagerness to join the war effort at 19, serving from 1941, his accolade-full career as a photographer after demobilisation.

Mark passed on 14 April 2026, one month after we recorded this episode. The second series of For Honour's Sake is dedicated to his memory, may it continue to be as a blessing.

For more information on AJEX: https://www.ajex.org.uk/

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