大象传媒

I didn鈥檛 look forward to being a civilian, this was the life that suited me, especially in India. I could have extended service - I believe six months or a year was possible but I couldn鈥檛 have done that to my mother, and as things turned out, it was infantry which they needed at the time, not artillery 鈥� and incidentally what is always needed. I got to Delhi ok to change to Deolali. How could we have ruled India without the railways? At Delhi there was a problem. I think this must have been a special troop train, it was absolutely packed before our train arrived from D.D. I found myself on the platform with a brigadier. We looked at each other and shrugged shoulders and decided there was no way we could get on the train. Close handy was a guards van with a large open entrance. Brigadier said 鈥� can鈥檛 remember his name although it started with an S and was all over his black tin trunk and cases 鈥� 鈥淟et鈥檚 get in there鈥�. So we had our luggage loaded and followed. Very quickly the train moved as though they were waiting for us to get on board - there wasn鈥檛 a door on the van as I remember. We tried to arrange the luggage but there was already a lot in there, wooden crates, anyway, hardly any room to sit, but there was nothing to sit on anyway. So we made ourselves as comfortable as possible. It was a nightmare journey and I remember little about it. We spent a night at Deolali and were checked in. I don鈥檛 think we were there more than a day before we were off to Bombay and embarked with hand luggage on The Duchess of Richmond, the troopship which was to take us to the U.K.

I think it was the D of R or was that the ship which took me home from Gib in Feb 44? It鈥檚 2 journeys and only one ship I can remember. I actually had 3 troop ship journeys 鈥� to Gib in 鈥渢he Pasteur鈥� and to U.K. on a ship which could have been the D of R and to U.K. from India on the D of R because I flew the outward journey. How troop ships had changed. I don鈥檛 remember much about Gib to U.K. except that it wasn鈥檛 a patch on the original U.K. to Gib journey. This was really shabby now, I suppose it had been used so many times. Again a four bunk cabin and I don鈥檛 remember any of the occupants, I think they were either majors or lieutenant colonels. We went through the Red Sea, stopped at Port Said and crowds of bumboats arrived with goods, bags, belts etc, being offered for sale and hauled up in baskets. I wonder where the U.K. money came from but I remember the change was always in half crowns, mostly Australian which of course looked identical. Someone said that they were unloading the money because of a tiny exchange rate difference 鈥� I found it hard to believe.

We carried on through the Suez Canal, turned west and saw the south coast of Crete in the far distance. I don鈥檛 remember passing through the Straits of Gibraltar 鈥� I鈥檓 sure I should have done had it been in daylight. In the Atlantic weather was very unsettled but we hadn鈥檛 far to go. I remembered it is 1155 miles from Southampton to Gibraltar, so about 1500 should have seen us to Greenock, our port of disembarkation. Late one evening we could just about discern the North Coast of Ireland and in the morning we sailed into the Clyde, docked, walked to the train and off we went to, of all places, Reading, one of the demob centres.

We stopped once on the way and two of us had mugs of W.R.V.S. tea with the troops on the platform, can鈥檛 remember where. The dear old soul didn鈥檛 want to serve us and insisted that officers' refreshments were in the waiting room. We said 鈥淐ome on dear, tomorrow you won鈥檛 know the difference鈥� so it was a gradual move towards shedding class distinction. Dinner in the mess at Reading and to bed. Roused pre-8 by an A.T. orderly with a cup of tea and off to a large hall with several tables set up for documentation and a travel warrant and then dispersed around the hall for civilian clothes issue 鈥� the only item I can remember is the suit. There was very little choice 2 or 3 models were not for me anyway - I just didn鈥檛 like them - but there were a few medium grey with a thin white stripe which I quite fancied. There was one my size, so I packed all the clobber in a brown paper bag provided, went back to collect my impedimenta, was told of train times and was transported to Reading Station in a car with 3 others, ensconced on a train. Had a taxi to Charing Cross and then off to Hither Green Station and mother - and dad of course.

It was April 30th or May 1st 1946. I had paid leave to Sept 1st 鈥� four whole months 鈥� I was very surprised but it was because of all the service overseas without leave. After seven years of action of one sort or another I was bored stiff after a week or so. Being demobbed was quite a shock to me. One day I was someone, the next anyone. Apart from the occasional butcher鈥檚 bill I had enjoyed the Army. The hierarchical system suited me. I obeyed orders and I gave orders and was obeyed. I grew up very quickly; the experience, the travel and above all the comradeship. I was nearly 26 and mother thought I was still 16 in spite of dad鈥檚 best efforts.

I started taking days out in London, seeing the sights, buildings and art galleries etc. that I had never or didn鈥檛 remember I鈥檇 previously seen. I called on the Garnhams and the Laxtons. I had known Stan Garnham since the infants school and Bruce Laxton from since grammar school. Mr and Mrs Garnham were very upset but the Laxtons were younger and had come to terms with Bruce鈥檚 death. I established contact with a few school friends who had survived and we yarned once a week in one pub or the other.

Before the war when I left school an uncle, a keen bowler, had suggested I join his club, Bellingham Bowls and Lawn Tennis Club, so in July although he had died during the war I joined. I saw a girl playing tennis, what do you say, chemistry, electricity, and lived happily, very happily ever after.

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