I was lucky to meet Freddie Friend in 2014, two years before he passed. In his role as secretary of the Torbay branch of the Devonshire & Dorset Regimental Association and 87th Anti-Tank, he communicated with many people enquiring about relatives and I’ve stumbled across a few of them in setting up this site. All pay tribute to Freddie’s knowledge and kindness. He was very proud of his regiment as he was his rugby, his flowers and his family. Freddie’s personal memories of the war were defined by the death of his friend Harry Marsh, whose loss is currently recorded in the blog pages but will have a page of its own in the near future.
If anyone has correspondence with Freddie they are willing to share, please get in touch.
This is a link to his obituary in the Regimental newsletter:
www.devondorsetregiment.co.uk/uploaded_images/files/Newsletter/Association_Newsletter_2016.pdf
A tribute was also paid to him by Torquay Rugby Club: https://www.brixhamrfc.co.uk/news/freddie-friend-rip-1625880.html
87th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery (7th Devons) 