Major John “Tim” Roseveare
The hero of our podcast The Demolition Men of D-Day is the dashing man in the picture above, Major John Roseveare, one of the most determined Parachute Engineers to have ever served. Born in 1914 Tim (as he was always affectionately known) always had a ready smile and was a natural born leader.
For his actions on that operation he was awarded a DSO – an award that is only behind the Victoria Cross and which, unlike the Victoria Cross cannot be given posthumously.
But of course his story begins before that – when war broke out he signed up to the Royal Engineers. He was part of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) that was over run by the Germans and had a very close escape when, hiding in a haystack, German soldiers poked the hay with their bayonets, missing him entirely. He eventually made his way back to England and after a spell instructing joined the airborne forces.
After the events in Normandy, he continued to fight seeing combat in The Battle of the Bulge and right through Germany until VE Day in 1945.
After the war he returned to Engineering and worked on many prestigious projects around the UK and the world including the Hong Kong cross-harbour tunnel, the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul and the Kotri bridge in Pakistan.
Tim died aged 86 in 2000, survived by his wife and son from a previous marriage.
Listen to his story in The Demolition Men of D-Day here:
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