David Berry was born in Thorpe Langton, near Market Harborough, into a well-known farming family. He attended Market Harborough Grammar School, where he won the Victor Ledorum Trophy. After school he was employed as a tailor at W A Lea and Son in Leicester.

In 1939 David enlisted in 5th Battalion Leicestershire Regiment and trained as a signaller. He was about to embark on an exceptional war career.

In April 1940 he was part of the ill-fated Norwegian Campaign. He evaded capture with the help of Norwegian fighters and eventually reached Sweden, to be repatriated via Iceland back to the UK in September 1940. David was next to serve in the 2/5th Leicester’s after being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. The Battalion was posted to Tunisia and was soon in action against German Panzers. One particular action was when three German tanks burst through our lines heading for Bn HQ. David Berry with his two pounder gun and crew managed to fire off three rounds and disabled the tank; the second tank was also disabled, and the third fled. Many years later his friend Peter Moore remarked that if ever a man should have been awarded the Military Cross it should have been David.

David also received a mention in dispatches for rescuing Sgt Clare after he had been wounded at Montaigne Farm battle. The Battalion finally left Tunisia in September 1943 after a long and arduous campaign.

9 September 1943 was the allied attack on Salerno; the first landing on mainland Italy. This was the start of a very difficult and lengthy campaign, with the Battalion suffering a great many casualties. David was badly wounded in September 1944, but managed to evade capture by crawling down a ditch and hiding overnight until being rescued by comrades. After recovering from his wounds, David did not return to the Battalion.

After the war he returned to Market Harborough and went into partnership with a tailoring company. It was not for him, so he returned to farming and continued farming until the end of his life.

As a keen radio ham, David kept in contact for many years with his Norwegian friends from the war, and visited them in 1970. He also returned to Italy and found the spot where he had been wounded in 1944.