Former soldier is reunited with precious lost photos
Published: July 9, 2005
RETIRED mill warehouseman Bill Rigg had a bit of a shock when he saw a young version of himself staring out of this newspaper last week.
At least, it was a pleasant surprise – because we knew where his precious photographs were.
Mr Rigg, of Larch Street, Nelson, admitted he had carried them around with him for years and somehow lost them in the mall at the Pendle Rise Shopping Centre a few months ago.
“I had given up hope of ever finding them again. I did not know how or where I had lost them,” he said.
Six photographs showed Mr Rigg from when he first joined the Royal Artillery through his various wartime postings.
The first one when he enlisted, showed him and some young comrades at the training barracks near Loch Lomond. He joined the Royal Artillery’s Anti-Tank Regiment and the shoulder badge that was not clear enough to recognise was the famous golden battleaxe of the 78th Division.
His first foreign posting was to North Africa, to Tunisia and Egypt.
From there he saw service at the invasion of Sicily, followed by the invasion of Italy and wound up as a member of the occupation forces in Austria. He said: “One of the photographs was taken on the roof of St Peter’s, Rome. I drove a vehicle pulling the guns and the regiment’s task job was to knock out the enemy tanks.
“I’ve carried those photographs with me ever since. They are staying in the house in future.” Widowed nine years ago after the death of his wife, Marjorie, and now 83, he says: “Nowadays, I like going for walks and having as good a time as anyone can at my age.”
But like many others who survived the carnage of the Second World War, he went a bit quiet, and added: “I was one of the lucky ones”.
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