大象传媒

William Baxter in World War Two
Great Yarmouth-Holloway-Egypt-Western Desert-Sudan-Aden-Italian Somaliland-Palestine

The account given below was taped and transcribed by my brother Robert Baxter a couple of years before my father鈥檚 death in 2004. My mother Barbara Baxter has given her permission for me to post this slightly edited account on the 大象传媒 web site. My father did look at a copy of the transcript and said that there were a few errors. Where I have been able to identify these I have made changes and I have removed some repetition.

William Baxter RAF Serial Number - 1449088

Unit - TME WTFP (Telecommunications Middle East - Wireless Telegraphy Fitting Party)

Joining up - July 1941

I volunteered to go in a couple of weeks before I was going to be called up to give me a better chance to give me the service I wanted to go in - which I decided was to be the RAF. I eventually got notice to attend a medical centre at Kingston in the Territorial Army Hall - which is still there now facing the river. After going through the medical, I then had to go before a panel of officers who wanted to know what I did and what background I had. Before they decided, I asked for a two weeks exemption because I had the Part Four of my Higher National Certificate to sit. When they found out what it was in, they said I would have to go into the RAF as an electrician.

Getting a trade - Cardington - July 1941
I eventually received notice to report to Cardington in about July 1941- which is where the old R100 and R101 hangers were - they鈥檙e still there today. (They did barrage balloon training there, with the lorries working the balloons stationed in the hangars). I can remember reporting there on the Monday and the gate clanging behind us - that was it! We received our knife, fork and spoon and mug and were allocated to huts. That night we had a test.

The following day we had to go into a big hut where we were going to be interviewed. I noticed that everyone else, bar myself, was receiving colour blindness tests. I went to the corporal and asked why I hadn鈥檛 been done. He looked at my card and said 鈥榊ou鈥檙e a cook鈥�. So I explained there had been a mistake - I told him I was to do with radio. I said this because, while I was sitting in the hut, I noticed all the way round were boards of Groups One, Two, Three, Four and Five - and electricians were in One and Two, but radio was in One. I thought 鈥楾hey鈥檙e bound to put me in Two to start with - with a lower rate of pay鈥�. So the corporal went off and came back and said the officer in charge wanted to see me. So he marched me down to the Squadron Leader and he gave me some sums to do - a quadratic equation, which was easy and two more about how much current was flowing through a light and about batteries. Then he asked me 鈥楬ow does radar work鈥�. I said 鈥榃e鈥檙e not supposed to know about radar鈥�. He said 鈥淐ome off it鈥�.everyone knows about radar鈥�. So I said 鈥淚 think its similar to a signal they send out from a ship to find out how deep the water is...but for the aircraft it must be much higher frequency. I鈥檝e seen the aerials at Ventnor on the Isle of Wight and they鈥檙e very short鈥�.

Then we got equipped with what equipment they had. But pants and vest - they hadn鈥檛 got my size, I got 44 inch waist - and I was quite slim then. The reasoning behind this was they gave you a piece of equipment regardless of whether it fitted you or not, and you changed it at the next station. We put our civvy clothes in a box we were told to bring with us and they got posted back home.

On the Friday morning, we were marched down to the railway line and boarded a train and left. We didn鈥檛 know where we were going, but we ended up in Great Yarmouth. That was where we were going to do all our initial training for a month.

Square bashing - Great Yarmouth
At Great Yarmouth, two thirds of the town had been evacuated. There was a lot of barbed wire on the beach, and you weren鈥檛 allowed to walk along the front during the day because the German E boats used to nip in along the shore and spray their machines guns along the front. That happened while I was there several times. Also the German Luftwaffe used to go along the seashore. But we did all our square bashing in the streets, so when there was an air raid we used to dive in an empty house. In fact I never learned to fire a rifle. We were supposed to go on the range, but that day it rained - so we never went!

There were lots of empty houses. We were put into a hotel and we dined in Lyons or the Express Dairy, which had been taken over by the forces as cookhouses. On Saturday morning we were all paraded and put in charge of a corporal PTI who was going to train us. Before we started he asked if anyone could write - to produce a fire duty roster. I volunteered - of course I left my name off! The thing was to look after Number One! But I did volunteer for a heavy duty rescue squad. (Because I鈥檇 been the ARP before I went in the service and a warden cum fireman in London Transport and at home I was a warden in the district where we鈥檇 had a couple of roads to look after). So every night we met in one particular house and four of us went to the cookhouse and you got the churn of tea and the tray of sandwiches. It was good - especially as we never had to do any work while I was there!

We were supposed to be there for four weeks of square bashing before you passed out before a senior officer. Usually everybody passed out; there was never any trouble. Unfortunately we had a chap with deformed shoulders and he had great difficulty keeping his rifle on his shoulder. When we did an about turn his rifle used to fly off and I had to duck as it went over my head! We also had an old soldier with us from the 1914-18 war who more or less mothered us. For example our billets were going to be inspected so he told us to put extra polish on the part right by the door. Apparently the first two officers in landed on their backs!

Radio study - Sept 1941 - March 1942

Eventually we passed out and we were sorted out into our trades. I was sent down to London to study radio and electrical at Holloway Polytechnic - to learn the basics. We were billeted at a lady鈥檚 house in Islington. I was there until Christmas time from September-December 1941. On Friday afternoons we were supposed to do experiments. But I teamed up with another lad, and we worked out a system to write up the experiments without doing them. Within two weeks we鈥檇 done the whole term鈥檚 work - so we could take Friday afternoons off!

I had two weeks leave over Christmas, and then I had to report to Cranwell near Grantham. I stayed there for three months (Jan - March 1942). There we were instructed in RAF radio equipment - both equipment that went in aeroplanes and ground stations. That lasted three months and then there was an oral exam. One incident I remember - I was called to the guardroom one morning for missing duties. But there was no one there. What I did notice was a pile of leave passes on the table. So I grabbed the guardroom stamp and printed them all up. From that time on, I went home on leave every weekend!

First posting - Herne
I passed out as an AC1 (Aircraftsman One). I was posted to Herne airfield, outside Bournemouth. I had to man a VHF unit. It was an experimental field. It had one type of every aircraft in the RAF for carrying out radio experiments - Wellingtons, Lancasters, Hurricanes, a Dakota, a Hudson, and a Liberator that was stripped right down and used to fly to Cairo non-stop for VIPs. I was there for one week! Then I got sent for by the CO who told me I鈥檇 been posted overseas - and I had to report on Monday! After much persuasion, the CO let me spend the weekend as embarkation leave at home.

While I was in the RAF, I was paid less than in London Transport, but LT made up the difference and when I went overseas they sent the money to my parents.

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