What Harry Y2 discovered in the run up to VE Day

PUBLISHED 05 May 2020

Two very special people in his family who served in WW2

In the run up to VE Day Harry (Year 2) has been learning about two very special people in our family. His great-great uncle Robert Colin Hasty and his great-grandpa Derrik Hasty. They both served for Great Britain in World War Two. 

Uncle Robert Colin was a 2nd Officer in the Merchant Navy. Earlier this week on the 1st May it was 76years ago since the cargo ship he was onboard (Janeta) was torpedoed by a German submarine, called a U-boat, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The U-boat had mistaken the Janeta for a different ship.

We thought about how the men onboard the ship must have felt as it was sinking. We looked on a map to see where the ship sunk. 48 men were onboard the Janeta,  13 died including Robert Colin. He was 22. We discussed about why his name is on the family tomb in Royton and we also looked at a picture of his name on the Merchant Navy memorial at Tower Hill, London. Harry said that Robert Colin was a very brave man. 

We also learnt about Derrik Hasty. He was Harry’s great-grandpa or GG. He was in the Royal Sussex Regiment in World War 2, which was part of the Royal Artillery. We have looked a GG’s Royal Artillery tie which he always wore. He went over to France in June 1944 as part of D-Day. His role was to shoot down the enemy planes. He then went from Normandy, France to Germany. We spoke about concentration camps and mummy told Harry that GG went to one called Bergan-Belsen. We looked a GG’s medals. All of which are very special. One medal is extra special. It is a French medal called the Légion d'honneur. GG was given this by France is 2015 as a thank you for what he did in France during d-day. 

On Friday we will be having a tea party to remember both GG and Uncle Robert Colin and to celebrate 75 years since VE Day. Mummy has put bunting up outside our house and we are going to colour the bunting that Mrs Bleasdale sent us. We are all very proud of both GG and Robert-Colin and everybody else that helped in the war effort to defeat the enemy.