大象传媒

I joined the RAF in July 1942 at the age of nineteen. After an eight week course I passed as a driver and then was assigned to an airfield construction unit to drive a thirty ton Thornycroft. At this unit we travelled the country to build new airfields, improve drainage and do any other work necessary to make them servicable. Also I used my vehicle to transport petrol.
The only distressing incident which occurred was when at one airfield, passing by some huts occupied by airmen, travelling only at five miles an hour, the only speed possible when fully loaded with heavy equipment, an airman ran straight out of one of the huts into the side of my lorry. There was, of course, an enquiry, at which I was absolved of all blame due to the speed at which I was passing and the fact that I had already partially passed the hut when the man came running out of the door.
One other job fell to me and that was the delivery of air balloons. The route directions were in code so that should I be stopped no one would know my destination.
Eventually in 1944 we were sent somewhere, none of us knew exactly where we were, and found that we were to live under canvas, eight of us to each round marquee which we found quite roomy and comfortable.
Of course, we didn't know it at the time, but we were being prepared for the invasion of France.We were sent on long two day journeys, almost non-stop without sleep,and then came the time when we were taught how to waterproof our vehicles.Extension pipes were fitted to the exhaust pipes which enabled them to reach the top of the vehicle. The front of the engine had to be made waterproof and this was achieved with the use of our so-called raincoats. These garments fitted round our necks and draped loosely over us so they would cover not only our bodies but any equipment we would be carrying and so were large enough, if properly arranged, to do the job of keeping water out of the engine. This done we were to back onto LCTs (landing craft transport) which then drove out into water and back within a short distance from shore. We were then told to drive our vehicles into the sea and up onto the beach. One vehicle missed backing onto his LCT and had to be abandoned. This excercise proved invaluable when D-Day came. On the day we did this practise, a little jeep was dropped into the water at the same spot as my very large vehicle. While I kept dry, all that could be seen of the driver of the jeep was the top of his head, but he valiantly kept going until he got onto the beach.
While at his camp we handed in all our uniform, together with our socks, leaving us with just the underclothing we were wearing. We were then issued with khaki battle dress bearing our usual RAF flashes and rank in order that we would not be confused with the enemy whose grey uniform was so near in colour to our own blue-grey attire. Shoes were also handed in to be replaced with boots. No overcoat was supplied, but sewn into an inner pocket of our battle dress was a bar of chocolate for emergency use only. We were then given a kit containing a metel tripod, a tablet of methylated spirit with three cubes, one each of something similar to Oxo, sugar milk and tea together, porridge and a box of matches. We were also given a can of water. All this took place on D-day 6 and we moved to our place of departure on D-day 7.
By the time I backed onto an LCT I had not slept for 24 hours. Behind me on the LCT was an ambulance and I took the opportunity on sleeping on one of its stretchers, so that I slept my way across the Channel. I was woken up by a sergeant who told me we were about to land and I scrambled into my Thornycroft. It was a tense moment when the LCT's front panel was lowered and we were told to 'go, go, go!' I put my foot hard on the accelerator to land on the beach where I was ordered to drive to a nearby field and to camouflage my vehicle.
Here I dragged my camouflage netting to the top of the lorry, but before I could spread it a bullet zipped past my head, grazing my ears. I had been spotted by a German sniper and as he clearly knew where I was, I could see no sense in continuing to work on the camouflage. It seemed more sensible to climb down and lie under the lorry.
The following day I joined the convoy of vehicles leading from the beach to the front line. As we went we saw a line of German soldiers walking in the opposite direction. These prisoners looked very weary and dejected. Eventually all the Airfield Construction Unit met together and from then on we laid temporary airstrips as we passed through France and, eventually, Belgium.
At one point in France, after sleeping each night in a hole dug in the ground, considered the safest place, I decided it would be better to have my head shaved and this was done by our barbers and called a 'Normandy' haircut. By this time we had been given cooking fat and biscuits but no real food.
While still in France I was sent ahead to deliver a load of cans full of petrol. Unfortunately at one point I took a wrong turning and the town into which I drove proved to be full of German soldiers. This was no place to be with all that explosive material on my vehicle and I quickly backed into a side street and then drove out of town before I had been spotted. Once in a safe area I breathed a sigh of relief at my lucky escape.
Eventually, while still in France, having lived and slept in the same clothes, we received a complete change of underwear and uniform. This was achieved by taking us to a field in which there were two large marquees spaced well apart. In the first we discarded every bit of clothing and were then deloused. Once clean again we had to run, completely naked to the second marquee and as we ran we were watched by a number of French women lining one side of the field, laughing and making comments about us. In the second tent we were again properly clothed ready to continue our journey and work.
My particular job was to roll out the wire netting on which aircraft could land. The Thornycroft had special gears which allowed me to travel at a top speed of five miles per hour. At this speed I was able to climb out of the vehicle to check how the rollers were working. There was one instance where a plane landed, only just missing me.
Eventually we went into Germany, still working as we went forward, until we came face to face with Russian troops moving westwards and we realised that at last, the war must be over. We celebrated by exchanging drinks, the alcohol turned out to be the fuel used by the Germans in their terrible V2 rockets which, in the last stages of the war were being used to destroy homes and lives in the South East of England. In fact, there was also some vodka, and while a drank some of that I decided to put the V2 spirit offered to me into into my water flask for possible dilution later on. At the end of our celebrations we separated from the Russians and as we rejoined our own unit we saw many men lying around too drunk to move and some were draped over the ends of railway carriages. The next day we discovered that some men were dead and others very ill indeed. In the meantime, looking at my water flask, I discovered that the metal had disintegrated and all that was left was the material cover.
From there our unit, no longer needed for constructing airfields, had to be moved back into the British zone and we found ourselves based in a factory, now abandoned, but previously used for making bricks,in a town about 30 miles from Hanover, called Buckeburg. Here we were reissued with proper RAF uniforms and we had no specific work to do. We had plenty of time to enjoy ourselves in this small compact town built around a schloss (castle) surrounded by a moat. Recreational facilities were provided in the town hall by the Y.M.C.A. and a cake shop taken over by the Y.W.C.A.. It was at the regular dances that I met a WAAF who was, after the war, to become my wife.
Then one day I learned that I was to move with four other men to Esberg on the west coast of Denmark to be joined by more men and officers from thr U.K. and a similar American unit consisting of men and women. it was only once there that we learned the purpose of our work, which was to look for the bodies of British and American flying crews buried there. We were surprised that American women should take part in this grisly, but essentially decent work.
From Esberg I was returned to the UK in October 1946, to be demobbed, the same month that the girl I had met in Buckeburg was returned to civilian life. We married seven months later with much to remember of our service life.

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