大象传媒

Harold Martin Army No. 860567 Royal Regiment of Artillery.

A brief history

My Father joined the army in November 1936 aged 18 and was enlisted in the Royal Artillery, based at Aldershot and Woolwich, I remember him saying to me that he joined up after hearing a military band playing, marching along a road next to the field where he was ploughing with horses and thought 鈥渢hat鈥檚 the life for me.鈥� He was born and lived in the village of Whenby in North Yorkshire, left school at the age of 13 and had worked as a farm labourer, he was the second youngest and had 2 brothers and 5 sisters, he enlisted at York on the 25th November 1936.
Being from a farming community and his experience of working with horses, the artillery seemed a good choice.
The 3 years before the war saw him 鈥榣ook after鈥� horses, he said the horse always came first, it ate before you, they were treat like royalty and were temperamental. Apart from the normal duties, he learnt signalling and driving, because of the latter on one occasion had to pick someone up from the 鈥楪lass House鈥� at Aldershot, who had been an inmate there for 3 days on a charge for something or other, my father said it was that strict that he felt a prisoner as soon as he walked in! whilst waiting he could look down onto a parade ground where 鈥榠nmates鈥� were running around with a full pack on, the chap he picked up told him he would never go back in there again, my father never asked him what he had been in there for.
When my father had only a short time to serve his 3 years enlistment, he was asked if he would stay in the army and was offered promotion to sergeant if he stayed but he wanted to leave, unfortunately a fortnight before his 3 year completion, war was declared, so he had to stay in.
My father was in the British Expeditionary Force that went to France in 1939, he told me that when they dis-embarked, he saw a wonderful sight, that of the horses of the Scots Greys, they were in a line on the quayside, he never understood why they were there, he assumed maybe for moral purposes and not used in any fighting, he never saw them again.
His Unit was stationed near Douai in France and his rank was Gunner/Signaller his duties included running lines and signalling (which I believe was Morse code), hence his nickname of 鈥榯icker鈥�.
I remember him saying to me that he had a Royal Enfield Rifle and in the first few days had no ammunition for it, this occurred also when on guard duty.
On some evenings my father and some pals would go to a farmhouse close by, where they had made friends with the farmer, I remember him telling me the farmers wife drank a fair amount of Pernot and both farmer and wife seemed to be 鈥榣ight headed鈥� most of the time, both farmer and wife were hospitable and had plenty of wine for their hosts to drink. In the farm buildings my father saw a lot of First World War relics including German helmets, guns and ammunition, I suppose left in the buildings or dug up on the farm.
One day my father and a colleague were running some lines some distance from where they were stationed, I know he told me they had been away for some 4 hours and when they returned, their unit had gone. He went to the farm to ask the farmer where or if he knew what had happened but he could only say that they had all moved away so quickly. The pair then started walking, I don鈥檛 know which way but eventually after about an hour a vehicle came along carrying some RAF personnel and gave the pair a lift, their destination was to head for Dunkirk on the coast, my father realised things were looking serious.
When they came to the outskirts of Dunkirk, the transport was abandoned due to other vehicles blocking the road, an officer told them to head for the beaches and wait, where they would be picked up by boat.
My father ended up on the beach and had a tin of peach halves in his kit, he opened them, had a half and gave the tin to a chap sat next to him, they were passed on and that was the last my father saw of his peaches!.
He remembered the harbour/quayside had been bombed and everyone around him were wondering if they would be left behind, although some boats were close to the shore, if you could swim you may get aboard, and although my father could swim, he was too tired in any case. He did say that he didn鈥檛 see much bombing of the troops on the beach; at least where he was but there was quite a bit further along.
When his turn came to get in line he waded in to the sea, I understand he had to wait quite a while, I know he lost his kit in the water during this time, I believe it became too heavy, he lost his possessions including his fathers small accordion/concertina, at some point an officer, held my father above the water when it seemed the fatigue was getting the better of him, he did say that he thinks he owes his life to that officer, I for one would like to thank him because I wouldn鈥檛 be here now telling this story. Eventually my father clambered aboard a boat and fell asleep almost immediately, on waking up I am sure he told me he found himself in Folkestone and after leaving the boat he remembers the smell of bacon and eggs, these were for the troops and prepared I believe by the NAAFI/WVS, and although hungry my father could only eat a few mouthfuls, I think due to not eating for the previous three days, my father said the smell of fried bacon always reminded him of this time.
My fathers Certificate of Service book shows the length of service in the B.E.F. of 249 days from 23/9/1939 to 29/5/1940.

The next 2 years were spent in England, he was stationed at Welton (Welton House) in East Yorkshire, it is here or rather Hull which is 10 miles away that my father met my mother who came from Hull. On one occasion my father came into Hull city centre just as the air raid siren was sounding, he heard the bombs being dropped and dived into the local ABC cinema doorway, it was this raid that killed nearly all in a public shelter that was near to a place called Blundells building on the Ferensway/Springbank corner.
In 1942 my father was sent abroad to India/Burma, the sea journey being in a convoy which he said was a fantastic sight (ships all the way to the horizon) on the way the convoy stopped at Cape Town where he was amazed at the climate and colour of the plants and the variety of fruit you could eat.
He said the ships were fully loaded and troops were sleeping on ships outside, it seemed on every bit of space that could be found, they played bingo at times on the ship he was on, I think to relieve boredom, I鈥檓 not sure what the prizes would have been!.
During his service in India my father had malaria and jaundice, I have photographs of him and colleagues during convalescing in India, he did say that he went on a hospital train, which I believe carried the patients around whilst convalescing.
My father did say he was always hungry and ate the contents of his army ration box fairly quickly, the biscuits had weevils in them but he said 鈥測ou were that hungry you ate them as well鈥�. Also he told me which was quite surprising that he couldn鈥檛 obtain tea in any quantity, you had to use the same tea leaves numerous times, strange being in India and no tea!.
I have photographs of my father and a chap called Eric Blythe baking a cake made from biscuits using a primus stove, his message on the back says 鈥淓ric Blythe and myself lighting the primus stove. The large tin is an oven and inside is a cake made from biscuits 鈥� January 1945 Burma鈥�.
Two more photographs show my father on his own and one with a chap called Harry, they have made a clock, his message on one says 鈥淗arry and I outside our 鈥榟ome鈥� The clock, all my own work except the works and it actually kept good time. Position, just across the Irawaddy 鈥� March 1945鈥�.
Another photograph shows a swimming pool in Bombay on the back my father has written 鈥淏reach Candy Bombay 鈥擭ovember 1944鈥�.
There is also an official photograph of my father鈥檚 army group, taken in India/Burma.
Other photographs include Parsi Church and a group of North Indian village natives.
My father told me of an occasion when in Burma, they were laying down and told to keep silent due to some Japanese movement in front of them, my father was looking towards a small jungle clearing to his left when he saw a snake rising up and a mongoose attacking it, he tried to nudge the colleague near him but the mongoose dragged the snake into the undergrowth, it seems strange with the dangers of fighting and war going on that nature has no interest in human conflicts.
Another occasion, again in Burma, my father told me they were in a hilly region and the Japanese were shelling around their position, again they had to lay low for some 2 hours until it was over, during this time he could hear some men praying and crying, thinking that this might be the end for them.
My father fought at Kohima and he told me when the fighting was over they were allowed to go to and look around, transport was provided, I have a 2 page paper that my father received showing the unveiling of the Kohima Memorial of the Second Division Fourteenth Army, it states how 200 Naga natives brought the Memorial Stone from the hills and placed it in position, this was their tribute to the fallen.
I also have a document that my father received concerning the 33 Indian Corps activities during the period 3rd April 1944 to 27th May 1945, which states the distance travelled, liberated area, how many Japanese killed/taken prisoner and the route taken etc.
When my father was to leave India he said he was allowed to take one item from the camp, he chose a chess set, which I still have today.
My father鈥檚 record of service was from 25/11/1936 to 16/5/1946 (9 years 173 days)...
After the war my father married my mother on 1st December 1945, my father died in 1989 aged 71.

My fathers Service Record is shown below, taken from his Certificate of Service book:

Royal Artillery Home 25/11/1936 to 22/9/1939 length of service 2years 302 days

Royal Artillery B.E.F. 23/9/1939 to 29/5/1940 length of service 249 days

Royal Artillery Home 30/5/1940 to 13/4/1942 length of service 1year 319 days

Royal Artillery India 14/4/1942 to 16/11/1945 length of service 3 years 217 days

Royal Artillery Home 17/11/1945 to 16/5/1946 length of service 181 days

My father left me the following documents:

Army Certificate of Education 鈥� at Woolwich, January 1937.

The Second Division thank you document for service.

33 Indian Corps history document.

Kohima Memorial two page paper of 1944.

Regular Army Certificate of Service Book.

Soldier鈥檚 Service and Pay Book (Army Book 64)

Soldier鈥檚 Release Book Class 鈥楢鈥� (X801)

Record of Service (Army Form W5258)

His medals:
1939/43 Star (France)
1944/45 Burma Assam (Burma Star)
Defence Medal India

My father never applied for the Dunkirk Medal, in fact he only applied for the others when his grandson (my son) was born in 1975, although I and others had asked him to apply for his medals previously, he realised when my son was born that it would be beneficial to pass them on for future family generations.
He was never one for talking about his heroics, that is probably why he never applied for these medals earlier, when asked about his experiences he would tell you, but would never boast about it.
I would like to add the Dunkirk Medal to the other medals to complete the set, that is if it is available, I understand it is not given by the country but by the association of veterans.

If anyone is interested in receiving any of the photographs mentioned above, I have scanned them and can e-mail them or they could be sent if copied, I would be interested in receiving the same from others who have similar photographs that might be from areas my father served.

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