Post by Matthew Redwood on Dec 16, 2008 18:45:51 GMT
Accepted, good App, Rhys, if I bit short.
~Dan
Account E-Mail: CaratacusCaradog@hotmail.com
Name: Matthew James Redwood
Nationality:
- British
What Army will Your Character Serve Beneath?
UK
Character History:
- Matthew was born in Oxford, South East England, on the 6th of January, 1917 to a widely-respected doctor, Simon Redwood and his wife, Jane Griggs, originally from Swansea, Wales. He spent much of his childhood at the Griggs' household to the West alongside his first cousin, Richard, who doubled at his best friend.
His early life was fairly uneventful. He recieved a scholarship to Oxford University in 1935 and achieved noteworthy degrees in English and History, before settling down to continue the family business of medical trade for the next few years until 1939, the year his father died and also the year the Second World War would break out. Matthew, a self-proclaimed pacifist and nigh of a consciencous objector to the conflict, stayed out of it and life stayed much the same for him until 1941, when his cousin Richard enlisted in the British army as a fresh recruit. Determined not to lose his beloved cousin to the horros of war, Matthew followed suit and joined the 7th Armoured Division as a simple medic, his intense medical training securing this post.
While fighting in Lybia that same year, Matthew was seperated from the main group following lightning attacks from the Italian enemy and found himself with but fifteen men at his side, half of those barely able to fight to do extensive injuries and psychological damage, a common symptom of those fighting on the front line. As men fell all around him, Matthew instinctively took command of the situation despite his position as a medical recruit and held the Allied position armed only with a Bren machinegun for forty-five minutes until reinforcements arrived at the scene and annhillated the enemy within seconds. For these acts, Matthew was decorated for bravery and was, in a life-changing moment, transferred from medic to soldier and restarted his military career as a corporal under Staff Sergeant Rhys Bevan.
Over the next year, Matthew fought bravely against the enemy and held his own against the foe on countless occasions and was thus presented with a much-deserved promotion to Sergeant in early 1942. He would go on to lead his men during the First Battle of El Alamein and was regarded as one of the most skilled NCO's in the company, despite his initial position as a lowly medic.
In May 1943, Matthew was initially selected to join Bevan on his ill-fated scouting mission in Africa and only pulled out at the last minute when he broke his leg in a training excersise. This act probably saved his life; none of the men ever returned. The following day, Matthew gingerly led a small search party through the savannah until they came across an abandoned village and discovered the mangled bodies of their comrades as well as the multitude of German corpses. Although the men had been killed, it seemed the Axis had retreated from the village and the division eagerly took ahold of the village that Bevan and his men had secured with their lives. The body of Richard Griggs was found by Matthew himself; the death of his cousin spiralled him into a depression and he took to wearing the man's dog tag around his neck for the rest of his life to remind him of the young private.
With two well-respected NCO's killed within months of eachother - first Edward McMillan and then Rhys Bevan - mass promotions were awarded to the men under Brentwood and but a day after the death of his cousin and his non-commanding-officer, Matthew was promoted to Warrent Officer, Second Class, effectively taking Bevan's place in the Desert Rats.
Shunned by the privates he had fought with for so long for upping and leaving them, shunned by Bevan's men for taking their commander's position and shunned by the echo of Griggs who appeared to him sometimes at night, life was hard for Matthew. And the Germans hadn't even shown up in his life yet...
Military Rank:
- Warrant Officer, Second Class
Writing Sample:
The African savannah was beautiful at night, mused Matthew Redwood, as he crouched behind the pathetic cover of a winding palm tree. It would probably be a lot more beautiful if the horizon wasn't blotted out by a squadron of very angry, very German, Germans. Matthew swore absent-mindedly. Now was no time for admiring the view. Now was a time for surviving.
The bodies all around him seemed to stare up at him, their unseeing eyes piercing him with feelings of guilt. He could have helped them...he could have done...something. He swallowed hoarsely. He couldn't remember a time when he had ever felt quite so helpless.
Suddenly, a shot rang out in the distance. And then some more shots. And then some more. And then some more. Matthew instinctively dived for cover, rolling behind a craggy rock, seemingly out of place in the bland wasteland, before opening his eyes gingerly to see a sea of sillhouettes in the distance, hacking away at the enemy rather enthusiastically. The Warrant Officer smiled for the first time in what felt like years. The Americans. Maybe the Western movies were accurate. The cavalry did arrive in the nick of time...
As the distracted Italio-German force dealt with the bewildering onslaught, Matthew charged. Now this is more like it, he thought to himself grimly, as he raised his rifle to his shoulder and pulled the trigger.
~Dan
Account E-Mail: CaratacusCaradog@hotmail.com
Name: Matthew James Redwood
Nationality:
- British
What Army will Your Character Serve Beneath?
UK
Character History:
- Matthew was born in Oxford, South East England, on the 6th of January, 1917 to a widely-respected doctor, Simon Redwood and his wife, Jane Griggs, originally from Swansea, Wales. He spent much of his childhood at the Griggs' household to the West alongside his first cousin, Richard, who doubled at his best friend.
His early life was fairly uneventful. He recieved a scholarship to Oxford University in 1935 and achieved noteworthy degrees in English and History, before settling down to continue the family business of medical trade for the next few years until 1939, the year his father died and also the year the Second World War would break out. Matthew, a self-proclaimed pacifist and nigh of a consciencous objector to the conflict, stayed out of it and life stayed much the same for him until 1941, when his cousin Richard enlisted in the British army as a fresh recruit. Determined not to lose his beloved cousin to the horros of war, Matthew followed suit and joined the 7th Armoured Division as a simple medic, his intense medical training securing this post.
While fighting in Lybia that same year, Matthew was seperated from the main group following lightning attacks from the Italian enemy and found himself with but fifteen men at his side, half of those barely able to fight to do extensive injuries and psychological damage, a common symptom of those fighting on the front line. As men fell all around him, Matthew instinctively took command of the situation despite his position as a medical recruit and held the Allied position armed only with a Bren machinegun for forty-five minutes until reinforcements arrived at the scene and annhillated the enemy within seconds. For these acts, Matthew was decorated for bravery and was, in a life-changing moment, transferred from medic to soldier and restarted his military career as a corporal under Staff Sergeant Rhys Bevan.
Over the next year, Matthew fought bravely against the enemy and held his own against the foe on countless occasions and was thus presented with a much-deserved promotion to Sergeant in early 1942. He would go on to lead his men during the First Battle of El Alamein and was regarded as one of the most skilled NCO's in the company, despite his initial position as a lowly medic.
In May 1943, Matthew was initially selected to join Bevan on his ill-fated scouting mission in Africa and only pulled out at the last minute when he broke his leg in a training excersise. This act probably saved his life; none of the men ever returned. The following day, Matthew gingerly led a small search party through the savannah until they came across an abandoned village and discovered the mangled bodies of their comrades as well as the multitude of German corpses. Although the men had been killed, it seemed the Axis had retreated from the village and the division eagerly took ahold of the village that Bevan and his men had secured with their lives. The body of Richard Griggs was found by Matthew himself; the death of his cousin spiralled him into a depression and he took to wearing the man's dog tag around his neck for the rest of his life to remind him of the young private.
With two well-respected NCO's killed within months of eachother - first Edward McMillan and then Rhys Bevan - mass promotions were awarded to the men under Brentwood and but a day after the death of his cousin and his non-commanding-officer, Matthew was promoted to Warrent Officer, Second Class, effectively taking Bevan's place in the Desert Rats.
Shunned by the privates he had fought with for so long for upping and leaving them, shunned by Bevan's men for taking their commander's position and shunned by the echo of Griggs who appeared to him sometimes at night, life was hard for Matthew. And the Germans hadn't even shown up in his life yet...
Military Rank:
- Warrant Officer, Second Class
Writing Sample:
The African savannah was beautiful at night, mused Matthew Redwood, as he crouched behind the pathetic cover of a winding palm tree. It would probably be a lot more beautiful if the horizon wasn't blotted out by a squadron of very angry, very German, Germans. Matthew swore absent-mindedly. Now was no time for admiring the view. Now was a time for surviving.
The bodies all around him seemed to stare up at him, their unseeing eyes piercing him with feelings of guilt. He could have helped them...he could have done...something. He swallowed hoarsely. He couldn't remember a time when he had ever felt quite so helpless.
Suddenly, a shot rang out in the distance. And then some more shots. And then some more. And then some more. Matthew instinctively dived for cover, rolling behind a craggy rock, seemingly out of place in the bland wasteland, before opening his eyes gingerly to see a sea of sillhouettes in the distance, hacking away at the enemy rather enthusiastically. The Warrant Officer smiled for the first time in what felt like years. The Americans. Maybe the Western movies were accurate. The cavalry did arrive in the nick of time...
As the distracted Italio-German force dealt with the bewildering onslaught, Matthew charged. Now this is more like it, he thought to himself grimly, as he raised his rifle to his shoulder and pulled the trigger.