Gerald was born on 4 May 1924 in Liverpool to Polish father Ely Hilel Berger and American mother Celia nee Friedman. Gerald lived with his parents at 9 Newstead Road, Liverpool and attended Morrison County primary school followed by the Liverpool Institute until 1940. Whilst at the Liverpool Institute he was a member of the Officer Training Corps and it was against this background that he joined the 11th Hussars.

Gerald served as a gunner in 5-Troop, C Squadron, which arrived in Normandy on 9 June, three days after D-Day. The general movement of British troops in Normandy was to the south-east, towards the town of Alencon, and the following weeks saw many casualties. ‘In the early evening (17.44) on 7 August 1944 the leading car of 5 Troop ran into the forward enemy defence in thick woods. Immediately it received a direct hit from a 75mm gun which destroyed the car and killed the driver Trooper H Johnson and the operator/gunner Trooper G Berger. The commander, Sgt Thompson escaped with burns to his face and hands.’

Gerald was engaged to be married to a girl from a well-known Jewish family in Liverpool and it transpired that she was pregnant by him. She gave birth to a baby girl in 1944 but her family removed the child without her knowledge and she was adopted out of the family and was raised as a Catholic. It was only when she was thirty-nine and after a great deal of research and investigation that she discovered the identity of her parents. Her mother had eventually married but kept a photo of Gerald which she gave to her daughter.

Grateful thanks to Saul Marks for Gerald’s story.