大象传媒

I was born in Tilkey Road, Coggeshall at number 115. Today, if you go past this house the front bedroom has an old fashioned sliding window 鈥� half of it slides along to open with very small window panes. This is the same window today as it was when I was born in that room in 1908. Altogether I lived in Tilkey Road for 82 years before moving to my present address.

During the early part of the War I was a member of the ARP who went on duty when the sirens went off. The siren was situated on the fire station roof on Market Hill and then moved over to the top of the clock tower. At the time the fire station was where the glass shop and carpet shop are today.

Many air raid shelters were built in Coggeshall where people ran to when the siren went off. Just before I was called up I remember 2 land mines that fell in this area, one on the field called The Fennes and the other a bigger one, landed at Gatehouse Farm. This made a huge crater 50 鈥� 60 feet deep and 80 鈥� 100 feet across which quickly filled up with water. Later on this was fenced in which can still be seen from the footpath. Another bomb that fell in Coggeshall landed on the parish church. People began to take no notice of the siren when it went off. Instead they would come outside and watch the search lights picking out the German planes and on a clear night you could see the Flake coming through.

Eventually the time came for me to close my little builder鈥檚 and decorator鈥檚 business when I was called up and joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. I was sent my one way rail ticket and the King鈥檚 Shilling and told to report to Beckets Park Barracks in Leeds. The shilling was to get a meal if you felt like one having left your family and home. But the training was what I was there for and believe me, training was what I got!

It was soon put to use when I was sent to work at a military hospital in England before going out on D-Day. As the invasion army was being assembled, all ships taking part were allotted a Medical Orderly to look after the welfare of the troops aboard. We had hardly started out from West Indian Docks, when coming around Hell Fire Corner in Dover, we were hit by shell fire from France. The Captain鈥檚 voice was heard from the top deck. 鈥淓veryman for himself, we are sinking鈥�. This was my first taste of war, dealing with life and death. After being rescued myself I was sent to Oxford to be refitted out because all I had on when I got put of the water was a pair of denim trousers. Again we returned to cross over to the beaches of France where I was kept busy, then to the Battle of Coen, then right through to Berlin until the Russians came. Then our Company returned to Hamburg where I stayed until I was demobbed in 1947.

During my time in Hamburg I met a grand couple who became great friends for years after. The woman was English and her husband was German and on visits to their home I ran the risk of being arrested by the Red Caps because we were forbidden to fraternise with Germans. I did it because I learnt that the lady came from Essex and her brother and family were neighbours of my Father-in-law. So we could talk about her niece, Maudie, several nephews and all the family and friends that she had in Toppesfield. I was then able to get in touch with her daughter and sisters who lived in Manor Park. Neither side knew whether the others were alive or what had happened to them during the War Years. So I felt I was able to do a Christian act.

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