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Having been promised an infantry posting at my call up interview, I was called to the R.A.O.C. and, after military training with the Wiltshire Regiment at Devizes, posted to the Ammunition Section at H.Q. Northern Command as a clerk. Waging a vigorous campaign for a transfer to infantry, I was called before Brigadier Pickthal (later Major General D.D.O.S., First Army) and told ‘relax and sit down, I want a heart-to-heart chat’, followed by ‘You are becoming a thorough nuisance with your requests for transfer, but as a frustrated infantryman myself, I understand your feelings but long ago realised that the infantry must be given the wherewithal to fight — I think you could do a great job in Ordnance, so will you try to do that?’ — which elicited from me an enthusiastic ‘Yes Sir’ and thereafter nothing was allowed to deter me from that task.

As a Lance-Corporal I became a vital cog, even deputising for the Chief Clerk when he was on leave.

By now a Corporal, the Chief Clerk (a W.O.1) one day strode into my office declaring ‘now we have got you!’, before explaining that he and a Staff-Sergeant had found a technicality which enabled them to put me on a charge. I then realised the current of petty jealousy which I had endured and exploded with a threat of physical violence before hurrying to the office shared by Major Havard and Captain Brockes to request an immediate posting and, reluctantly, they agreed to talk it over, with the result that next day I was posted to one of our depots in the rank of Lance-Sergeant.

In late 1943 War Office devised a new accounting system involved six cross referenced documents which the Storeholder, (a dynamic Scot W.O.11 who became a lifelong friend) — insisted on passing to me to ‘sort’, bypassing the overweight and indolent Chief Clerk (also a W.O.11) and then assuaging the ageing Commanding Officer, Captain Daniels, when he discovered that I had rejected three of the documents and devised a more practical system using the other three.

During the ensuing weeks our workload grew enormously, requiring me to devise a routine whereby we switched the contents of incoming rail wagons before re-consigning them to units and formations. After about eight weeks the pressure eased and Daniels was informed of a visit by the fiery Major Havard and we had a laugh when Havard greeted him (quaking) with ‘I have not come to inspect your depot Daniels, but to thank you for the amazing job you have done in taking on all of the command traffic whilst the other five depots sorted out the confusion caused by the new accounting system.’

With D-Day passed, I was posted to India in September 1944 and languished in totally unsuitable jobs until posted to No 2 Base Ammunition Depot in February 1945. Met at railhead by the ration Sergeant, he told me ‘Major Brockes told me to look after you as you are to be our new Storeholder — he told me he would have had you made up to W.0.1. in Blighty had it been possible’ — which was pleasing as we had gone our separate ways a few weeks on from my 22nd birthday. No 2 B.A.D. was commanded by a Eurasian Colonel who had received a ‘direct commission’ because of his millionaire status; he was so deeply steeped in the caste system that he only spoke to fellow officers, and on the rare occasions that he spoke to N.C.O’s it was in a tone only slightly above that which he used to coolies.

I had scarcely straightened the chaos which I found in the depot when the Depot Officer, Captain Jordan, informed me that he (but not me) had been called to an officers conference, so what would I like him to do? My reply was ‘to put on a grass skirt and do a Mata Hari’, which he proceeded to do to a huge degree, enabling me to plan for the 42,000 tons of in and out tonnage in six weeks which this obviously vital project involved; this was seven times our planned capacity and I had only nine British N.C.O’s against an establishment of 42. Over a fortnight into the exercise, Jordan brought me a copy of the Colonel’s ‘Master plan’ with orders in implement it forthwith, but after a brief scan I told him ‘Sorry Sir, but this is a recipe for disaster, not only because the project is too far advanced to be reversed, but it includes such things as storing returned phosphorous smoke with bulk high explosive, both of which could be in dangerous condition, so my answer is ‘no way!’, but your orders are received and understood, Sir (saluting), so you are in the clear.’

Two days later I encountered the Colonel wandering the depot with the voluminous master plan under his arm, to be greeted with ‘Who are you?’ before he demanded to know why his orders were not being carried out and refusing the listen to my explanation of late receipt of his orders and having to use my initiative and my promise to re-site the offending stocks as soon as the emergency was over. In a continuing haughty tone he demanded ‘what are you trying to do?’ at which I rasped ‘I am trying to win this war, what are you trying to do, lose it?’, and then dismissed his dire threats with ‘I have urgent things to do, and if you are not away from here in 20 seconds, I will ram your teeth down your stupid b****y throat!’

I did not see him ever again but was told by the Chief Clerk (Administration) that when he stormed in demanding court martial papers, he was confronted by his second in command, Major Harper (Brockes having been taken grievously ill soon after my arrival) and, refusing to listen to Harper’s urgent counsel to drop the affair, was told by him that if he persisted, he (Harper) would at once apply to G.H.Q. for a transfer, stating as the reason for his request the Colonel’s total mismanagement of the depot. The exercise was completed dead on time and no demurrage paid on a single truck. The day after completion I collapsed with nervous and physical exhaustion and two days later General Slim marched triumphantly into Rangoon. It was six weeks before I returned to duty and was shortly sent to Deolali Transit Camp to work up a Beach Landing Depot — as Storeholder.

In early August we were informed that we would not be proceeding to Bombay as Largs Bay (our troopship) had an outbreak of cholera on board, then came the news of the atom bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima followed by Japan’s surrender — as our destination was undoubtedly mainland Japan, we were hugely relieved!

Soon after demobilisation I received, by post, the acknowledgement of my efforts — the same two medals as my sister-in-law who served in Britain as an A.T.S. clerk!

10555203 Sub-Conductor R.G. Heiron

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Sarah Evans of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Reginald Heiron and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

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