The Luckiest Family of World War II

After the landing of the Allies in Normandy, a group of American soldiers is entrusted with a dangerous mission:to save Private James Ryan, whose three brothers have died in the war... this was the plot of the film Save Private Ryan by Steven Spielberg . The death of three brothers in the war justified the US government ordering the fourth brother who was also at the front to be brought back home. And if this was the tragic story of a family that participated in World War II, we can turn the tables and find the luckiest family… The nine British Windsor brothers who participated in World War II returned healthy and safe .

At 68, and with plenty of time on his hands after retirement, Bob Windsor He decided to investigate what had become of his father's extended family…there were 16 siblings (13 men and 3 women). After the war, the brothers had been scattered around the world and had little contact with each other; he managed to track down his uncle Wally Windsor -the only one of the brothers still living- in Edmonton (Canada) and when he went to visit him he found a 90-year-old man with the first symptoms of Alzheimer's, so he could not help him much... but before leaving he saw a Guinness World Records certificate on the wall. which credited the nine Windsor brothers with holding the record for the most brothers to serve in World War II.

Bob with the certificate

This award helped him discover that in 1940 they had enlisted in the British Army:Albert (41 years old), Jim (37), Harry (35), Bill (33), Arthur (31) -Bob's father-, Tom (30), Dick (27), Sid (23) and Wally (18)… and all survived the conflict. But there is more… the three older brothers – George, Charles and Albert – fought in the First World War. Charles died in 1917, during the offensive in France, and is buried there. George and Alfred , the two brothers who could not enlist, were working in a munitions factory and two of the sisters –Violet and May – they did it as nurses. Edward , had died in 1922 at the age of 7.