大象传媒

My father died on 20th April 1985 aged 67 years. During WW2 he served in Burma and also took part in the Normandy Landings and was wounded on the march to Berlin. Although from N Ireland he was with the Somersets/Durham Light Infantry and served 27 years reaching WO2. What follows is an extract from a letter I found which belonged to him, it has to do with the fall of Singapore and it is headed 'Q.M.'s Notes'and refers to the 'Loyals'. Someone out there will be able to match this and the events to a Regiment and solve the mystery.

When reading war stories, diaries of fighting units and the like, one's interest naturally focuses on the experiences of the front line troops to the exclusion of the happenings behind the scenes. But in any campaign the problem of getting the men their rations is usually an easier matter in withdrawal than in rapid advance; the picture of the battalion in the Malayan Campaign would certainly be incomplete without some notes from the QM's diary. The QM's department always harbours staunch old soldiers of the regiment, from whom may be learnt many things of interest. In this affair their main grouse was the lack of opportunity for carrying out their primary task. Too often for days together they had little to to but prepare against eventualities; only too seldom were they allowed to 'deliver the goods'.

Probably the most heart-breaking instance of this sense of frustration occurred when the battalion was on the Jementah road after quitting Segamat by night. The QM, having delivered his goods to D Coy (then in reserve), arrived at Bn HQ only to be welcomed with the news that no vehicles were allowed, and that the situation was extremely sticky owing to the ill chosen position isolated on the wrong side of a river. Greatly disappointed, he returned whence he came and got busy in preparation for a later opportunity.

It may be worth emphasising here the well known axiom about the unexpected always happening in war. This is no less true for a Q department than for G. We learnt just how true when the battalion received midnight orders to move up country from Tyersall Park. The QM had never really expected that all the new orders for MT and the complicated schedules for loading would work in emergency; and he certainly was right. The hurried move solved many problems, and the limited amount of MT available solved all others. Priority was given to fighting equipment and bare essentials. These of course included S.A.A. which had to be collected from scattered shelters in the dark of the P.A.D. conditions. The rear party, aided by Captain Sullivan (then Garrison Adjutant), cleared up the mess, which included a lot of gas equipment and other articles of small value in jungle warfare. These quick decisions on what to load ultimately proved correct, for B echelon was subsequently able to meet each and every demand made on it by the battalion.

The problem of getting supplies proved in fact to be fairly easy, in spite of the RASC. This may sound harsh, but it is true. The RASC organisation in peacetime was excellent, and their main supply depot (Alexandra) was methodically and plentifully stocked with every kind of food, fresh and tinned; but the system of supply broke down almost at once, owing to too much decentralisation. At least that was our experience of it. For example, on two occasions on Singapore island we were ordered to report to a given Supply Point, only to find it uninhabitated and bare. On another occasion our ration party reported as ordered but were turned empty away from a wealthy dump because of some minor mistake in the indents. We soon learned to disregard orders on the subject and to forage for ourselves. Food was abundant if you knew how to look for it. Our ration NCO (Sgt Gallagher) had a good nose for ferreting out food, and never failed to find a ration dump when required; in fact, the QMs only anxiety on this score was lest he should overdo the business.

Owing to the fluid conditions of the fighting and its consistantly retrograde movement, B echelon was divorced from the unit by many miles and was often out of touch with an ever changing situation. The QMs task was rendered more difficult still by the frequent transfer of the battalion from one formation to another; his only hope was to keep everything teed up all the time and to be always ready to snatch a fleeting chance of making contact. A memorable one occurred on the night of the 22nd January when the battalion withdrew from Yong Peng and coming under orders of an A.I.F. brigade, acted as flank-guard for the long convoys moving south along the main road. The men had had an exhausting three days, ending in a lost battle and a tedious march through rain; when the food lorry arrived they were strung out over four miles of road, keeping watch all night. Never was the travelling Kitchen more welcome.

Two days later, thanks to the enterprise of the Padre who paid a swift visit to B echelon near Simpang Rengham, a small quantity of goods - mostly 'medical comforts' - packed into a 15 cwt truck reached the battalion at the 61st M.S. No MT was allowed in the forward area, so that B echelon, well stocked and waiting, remained unhappily idle until the night of 25/26 January when they got a real chance to spread themselves. Mention has already been made of this midnight feast by the wayside after the battaliuon had been relieved by the Gordons, but a point worth stressing here is the supreme satisfaction that the personnel of B echelon felt. This is best expressed in the QMs own words: "Never in all my experience (35 years soldiering) have I seen a more bedraggled, worn out collection of men. Weary, footsore, dead-tired, very hungry, most grateful for any small attention offered, and above all still in wonderful spirits. Human endurance had reached its limit. Then one heard words of praise and the pleasure of again meeting pals.... A truly wonderful experience too for B echelon, as we felt at last we had been able to do something worthwhile so greatly appreciated by a stout hearted body of men".

On arrival at Biddedari Camp the urgent task was to refit the battalion. This was more easily said than done at a time when the greatest strain was bearing on all services in Singapore. Unfortunaley for us we received no offers of help from the two departments most directly concerned - Barracks and Ordanance; it was entirely due to the foraging propensity of the QMs henchman (Pte Kavanagh and Co) that the camp was made reasonably comfortable anda few amenities obtained. With the greatest difficulty we extracted some old Lewis Guns from RAOC jaws, and ten days later (on Blakang Mati) we received a few sets of web equipment, 1908 pattern! We wondered what had happened to all the equipment we had been at such pains to salvage up country and sent back to Ordnance Depot. A visit by a RAOC representative at this time would have solved many problems for us. In point of fact we owed many of our replacements of stores to the good offices of one of our own officers on Command HQ Staff (Major J R Cole), and most of our new arms and ammunition to another Loyal man on the same HQ (Lt Col F R N Cobley).

From 1st February onwards B echelon lived in their old quarters, Gillman Barracks. There they had hard work shifting the whole of the regimental baggage and private property of all ranks from the building specialy earmarked for it in Fortress Mobilisation Orders to the QMs clothing store and cinema. These were subsequently cleared in toto by the conquering foe. There, also, they came in for more than their share of bombs, shells and finally, mortars. After the battalion moved from Blakang Mati to the Reformatory Road position on 10th February, each meal was supplied direct from barracks, a service that became increasingly exciting, and yet somehow unreal in a locality that we knew so intimately. It was certainly a unique experience for quarter-master sergeants and cooks when the Coys fell back on to their own barracks for the last fight.

One incident 'off the record' embarassed the QM. Owing to the lack of orders for and control of evacuation of non-combatants there was chaos on the quays, and folly everywhere. After our wives and children, followed a little later by the hospital nurses, had been evacuated from Alexandra, and when the battle had rolled back from Reformatory Road, and Gillman Barracks were under continuous shellfire, then did the QM discover three families still dwelling hopefully in our married quarters. One of them, and elderly refugee couple from Kuala Lumpur, refused to budge; the old man and his wife vigorously declared their complete faith in the ability of the British troops to protect them. It took all the QMs powers of persuasion, coupled with strict orders to the lorry driver, to get then out of the house and into Singapore. That night their vacated bedroom became the front line.

When this happened (night of Friday 13th) B echelon was ordered to move into Kampong in rear of the barrack area. Half of the MT personnel were taken for front line defence, and casualties began to occur everywhere. There was much work to be done under incessant fire - not a usual experience for cooks and mechanics - and the distribution of food to Coys grew increasingly hazardous owing to enemy patrols. CQMS Leigh was killed and CQMS Downes was wounded. Prior to this the only casualty among the seniors of B exchelon had been the unlucky death of RQMS Hearn, who was hit in the head by a bullet from a dive bomber on 24 January. (The details of this are given in MT notes).

Many vehicles suffered damage, the most serious being the loss of the reserve rations lorry. This had been conscientiously stocked and carefully husbanded by thrifty Sergeant Gallagher, whose heart broke when he saw it shattered by a shell blown up in flames: hundreds of tins of Irish Stew and Steak and Kidney Pudding, three tons of them, sky high and bursting as they flew!

One last service to a sadly reduced battalion B echelon rendered in timely fashion. This was the issue of hot tea in the Alexandra Depot - Mt Washington position shortly before the final whistle went. The few essential vehicles that had not been jettisoned before withdrawing from Gillman Baracks were parked by the Civil Prison, whither our Brigade HQ had moved. From there the Padre steered the QM and hot tea through fire and blood to the Bn HQ, whence the tea was distributed to all except the platoons in action on the forward slopes of Mt Washington. To reach them the QM had to make a special detour from the rear in a blitzbuggy belonging to our old anti-tank gunner friends and driven by their commander (Lt Martin RA). This proved to be a perilous and bumpy journey but, none the less, a fitting finish for the oldest soldier of the battalion whose sole aim throughout the Campaign was to do his damnedest to keep the lads supplied.

This spirit and the QMs personal example are worthy of the attention of all Loyals in the future. B echelons will always be needed in war; without their devoted service those actively engaged with the enemy in front can not long continue. It is well, then, to remember that although the work of supply is not picked up by the searchlights of publicity, nevertheless it calls for stout hearts and willing hands.

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