大象传媒

This is a story by Edward Albert Wade about his memories of the East End and the North African campaign in the Royal Pioneer Corps, 47 Co..
I lived in Mile End Road, East End with my parents and two brothers and two sisters, I was the eldest I was up at Aldgate doing demolition and billeted in the People's Palace, Mile End Road. A bomb was dropped between the Bank and the Mansion House, it went right through to the underground and people were electrocuted and a policeman was blown to right down the underground corridor. I remember seeing a crane bringing with concrete a man's head with it. The crater was so big they planned to build a bridge over it.
I took some friends round to Clinton Road to collect some furniture after their house had been damaged. My mother used to have a cleaner before the war and some of the troops used to go round seeing what they could find from the bombed places and I asked them to leave that lady's house alone after it had been bombed so that she could claim what was left when she could.
My parents moved to Surrey and my sisters were evacuated to Surrey as well.
I was in North Africa at D-Day with the commandos. There were Americans with ours. At that time we had bombed the French fleet so the Germans would not get them and the so the French were not very friendly. They dressed our commandos in American uniform so the French would be more friendly. They wanted to put stars and stripes on the commandos uniform but they were told 'enough is enough' and wouldn't allow it. We landed near Algiers at midnight just as Churchill was making a speech. I had to wear a yellow bib on the back of my uniform so that any troops following wouldn't shoot. I still have it. I was the first one to land of my company. A crane lowered all the supplies and I was hanging on to it, and the boat was rocking quite badly, if it had rocked to the left I would not be here now, as it was I dropped into the sea up to my waist. The boat was able to dock into Algiers and I was left on the beach all night soaking wet, I made a shelter with the supplies and evetually joined up with the company.
I came back to England and had embarkation leave. On the way to visit my parents who had moved to Epsom, I arrived at Epsom railway station and backed out of the train as I had my pack on my back and landed down on the railway lines flat on my back. I remember the porter looking down at me and saying 'What are you doing down there mate?' One of problems about the blackout was that you could not see very far and I had been used to the platforms always being on one side in London and at Epsom they were on the opposite side.

I was de-mobbed in Belgium in 1946.

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