Features
Veteran dispatch rider Lewis Banham sits astride a BSA M20 motorcycle again after 73 years
How fate works. After not seeing each other for almost six years, Douglas and Lewis Banham bump into each other in Germany, Feb 1945
It was at a British Legion lunch for World War Two veterans that I met Lewis Banham, a mild-mannered 94-year-old with a cheeky smile, once a dispatch rider with 44th Lowland Infantry Brigade.
Along with other members of what some people rightly call ‘Britain’s greatest generation’ he was there simply to enjoy tea, cake and a chat with fellow veterans. Upon finding he had served in the Netherlands I ascertained he had not yet received the ‘Liberation of the Netherlands’ award. Having taken his details I soon put things in motion; the Dutch Embassy move quickly and make sure the veterans get their medals pretty sharpish.
