ELDERLY people with war memories of their own are sending treats to the frontline troops of today.

A group of eight residents at Marlborough Nursing Home, in Parkstone, Poole, have been filling shoeboxes with snacks, toiletries and other gifts to send overseas.

Former Royal Engineer Jack Reeves, 98, was keen to take part in the project for charity Support Our Soldiers.

Mr Reeves, who served with the Eighth Army in North Africa and clearly remembers the Battle of El Alamein, said: “That shook me up.

“It was a terrific battle and you felt you were lucky if you came out of it.

“War is a terrible thing. Men just get blown to pieces.”

He had just married Edith, who is also at Marlborough, when he was posted for three and a half years.

“Things like this keeps morale up,” Mr Reeves said.

“Troops today are in a very difficult situation.

“Edith wrote regular letters, one a week, but boxes like this never caught on.”

Bessie House, 77, remembers her mum teaching her to knit socks for soldiers when she was just three.

“War’s terrible,” she said, packing sweets, crisps, biscuits and razors into her box.

“The boys in Afghanistan are doing a good job for us, bless their hearts.

“It’s a hard job to do.”

Mrs House heard tales from her dad’s First World War experiences, and her husband served in the RAF for eight years before they met.

“He was an ambulance driver out there as well,” she said.

Mandy Bell, Marlborough’s operations manager, will deliver the 10 boxes to the charity, which sends them out to Forces members.

She said: “Whoever gets the box will have been nominated by an officer. A box like this goes down really well.”

Key victory

THE Battle of El Alamein, considered a key Allied victory in the fight against the Germans, took place in Cairo in 1942.

German Commander Rommel’s embarrassing defeat was one of the first major setbacks for Hitler.