大象传媒

It does not seem too long ago when I was a boy of 13 with two main hobbies. One was anything but school and the other was playing table tennis. I was sadly against school and used to prefer collecting bomb fragments and aircrafts. This period was in 1939 at the start of the Second World War.

I lived in Kidlington, Oxford which was not often bombed. This thus did not satisfy my hunger for war and I wanted to be actively involved in service.

However as I was to find out both my hobbies were to be seriously questioned during the war.

I was 16 years 11 months when I enlisted in the Grenadier Guards. I had to increase my age to become eligible for infantry service.

The training regime was rigorous, by the end of the training 鈥� the 16th week I was longing to move on. The training took place at Catherham, Surrey and comprised mainly of fitness mostly running lengths. Discipline was the top agenda and we were not allowed outside the camp.

On completion of my training, I was utilised as a holding battalion, my main duties involved guarding the palace as a stationed troop. The royal grenadier looked exactly like those guarding the Buckingham palace now, standing up straight in our bright red tunics and bear hats.

Later on, I took on some psychological tests at the Pirbright academy in Surrey to join the Guards Armours Training Wing as a Gunner and Operator. I was 鈥� informed to be suitable鈥�. I suppose I was pleased to an extent to be moving on from the Infantry where your feet were hardened from overuse. Another 16 weeks followed as I was being trained on a wireless operator course as a gunner.

When I finished, I was posted to the armoured battalion based in Yorkshire working with a reconnaissance team. There after I returned back to the south - Brighton to prepare for the Normandy Landings.

Normandy Landings

I was under the 2nd armoured Battalion for the battle at Normandy. After victory we continued eastwards to liberate Belgium from the Germans. At this period, Colonel Montgomery commissioned some airborne troops for the Operation Market Garden. The operation market garden was to quickly put an end to the war.

The airborne troops were supposed to secure the bridge for three days and receive support from the approaching armoured infantry groups. Our battalion was still some way off the airborne troops involved. The marsh plain of the Holland landscape slowed the infantry tanks down. The allied mission therefore was not as successfully as first planned. The Germans were able to regroup.

Ardennes

In a surprise attack the German tried to reclaim Belgium again, this time at Bastogne close to the Luxembourg border. I had previously been involved in the liberation of Belgium and was somewhat surprised to be going back again.

I was in Brussels at this time and had since being humbly defeated by a Belgian table tennis player. The table tennis score did not show my strengths as I lost 21 to nil. Previous to the game I had high hope of taking up table tennis seriously, but had lost to a female international player with nothing to show. I suppose being recalled to Ardennes at that time was just right.

History largely describes what took place at Ardennes in the battle of the bulge. The American soldiers fought passionately. I finished off the war at River Elbe in Hamburg.

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