大象传媒

This contribution was submitted by Bill Spry to the People's War team in Wales and is added to the site with his permission.

In May 1940 I was sent on a Senior NCO鈥檚 course at Prestatyn, North Wales . It was held in a Signals depot in a former holiday camp. Most of the facilities were still there. We were housed in chalets with thick spring interior mattresses to sleep on.

We were drilled to Guards standard, bags of 鈥渟pit and polish鈥� together with some anti gas training. Bernard Lloyd (from Blakes鈥檚) was also in the course.

There was a lot of free time and there was a lovely sandy beach nearby. We both wrote to our wives, who incidentally were both pregnant, telling them about the lovely time we were having.

The two ladies got together and decided that they would come and join us. We were instructed to find 鈥榙igs鈥� for them, as they were due to arrive the next day we had to find something very quickly. We were successful and they stayed with us for the duration of the course. It was lovely to have them with us.

One day, towards the end of the course, three lorries packed with soldiers arrived on the parade ground. They were filthy, unshaven, tunics undone. Most of them were not wearing caps. The lorries were only there for about ten minutes and they drove off. We found out later that they had been evacuated from Dunkirk.

At the end of the course we had a written exam about anti gas procedures. As we approached the building where the exam was to be held, we saw through a window a blackboard with all the exam questions written on it. I don鈥檛 know if this was done on purpose, but we all had high marks for the exam!

Some six months earlier, in a moment of boredom, I put in a written request for a transfer to a more active service unit. I had only been back a month when the C.O. decided to do something about it.

I was promoted to full sergeant, given a travel warrant and ordered to proceed to the Central Hotel in London. The hotel had been taken over by the Army and was jam packed with soldiers.

We were sorted into 鈥渄rafts鈥� which could be sent any where in the world. The draft before mine had been sent to Singapore. They walked off the boat into captivity by the Japanese.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.