大象传媒

WOII/Instructor A.J.White,Army Educational Corps

I arrived at Ostend,Belgium on VE day at the end of 'Operation Gold Flake'after a 5 day terrifying drive from Marseilles.I had hitched a ride with a Ferrying Unit that was picking upArmy vehicles in the docks at Marseilles and driving up to Ostend in 5 60/70 mile stages to Ostend.
In October 1944 I was attached to H.Q.,9,L.of C.Sub Area, stationed at Rouen,France,editing and printing some 1,000 newssheets a day to be sent out with the ration lorries to troops in the Area.. Early in January 1945 we were ordered into Paris where we dumped all our equipment in a large garage and spent one night in a leave hotel in Montmartre.At 1800 hours next day,Capt. Butler,myself,our clerk,Private Thomas and our Driver,Jock McLeoud,left in a convoy for an unknown destination.Early next morning we opened our instructions and proceeded to Commandeer the front of the Town Hall at Macon as a Report Centre for 'Operation Gold Flake' -this was the transfer of many thousands of Army troops and equipment from Italy,across to Marseilles and travelling in 5 or six stages up to Ostend.The men travelled by Rail and the vehicles were ferried by Canadian Transport Companies. H.Q.,9,L.of C.Sub.Area was in charge of the movement through France.
We set up a Report Centre in the Front of the Town Hall at Macon which was very difficult as the River was in flood.Vehicles arriving from Marseilles had to report to me at the Town hall and Military Police escorted them to a tented,overnight camp, that was set up just outside the Town.
A Major from the Army Educational Corps arrived some weeks later and ordered me to proceed to Les Milles near Marseilles to produce daily Newssheets for the troops arriving from Italy.Sgt.Tebboth(the lucky devil had remained in the leave hotel in Paris all this time),my co-editor,brought our equipment down from Paris.This was a Radio Set,a Duplicator(Gestetner),Typwriters and a supply of paper,all crammed into a Morris Utility Vehicle.We set up an Office in a large tent in a small patch of desert near Les Milles and produced about a thousand newssheets a day which we distributed to the units arriving from Italy.Capt Butler ,our clerk and our driver went back to Ostend with the Utility so we had to rescue a condemned Jeep from the R.A.S.C. to enable us to distribute the newssheets around the huge camp. After some weeks the flow of Troops ceased and we were ordered back to Ostend.Our Jeep was not in fit condition for the journey so we hitched a lift with the Canadian Unit which was driving the last of the Vehicles up to Ostend arriving on VE day.
Ostend was quite quiet on that day.We went out in the evening and had a few drinks to celebrate but we didn't find much by way of celebration.The,mainly Flemish population,seemed to have got along with the German troops quite well and did not realise what had been taking place until the surviving prisoners from the Concentration Camps returned.. Some weeks later the furniture belonging to collaborators was thrown out into the road and burnt and heads were shaved. We were told not to interfere. Alf White.

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