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In April 1940 I was called up to join the 72nd Med; Regiment R.A in Ipswich Suffolk. I was in civvy billet with a very kind couple called Mr and Mrs Dean. During my service there was a parade ground for drill practise. We had a wooden hut that was used for both meals and lectures. The food was awful. My uniform was a laugh because nothing fitted.
Many of us feared an invasion. I was given a bike and bugle to sound an alarm. Thank god I didn’t have to do it for real.
The regiment’s role was coastal defence. World War 1 guns were used again, but later long barrel 5.5s were brought into service. On the East Coast of England there were various stations. In June I had pneumonia and spent six weeks in Colchester and Chelmsford hospitals, but no sick leave was given! Back I went to the Regiment but 100lb shells were too much for a person of nine stone in weight!
I became a batman to Captain Carr and his dog ‘Punch’. When I got married on the 5th August I was given a weeks leave. I was transferred to Signal section that was part of the line crew. The Regiment went to many places in England and Wales to fire guns on exercises.
In Kent ‘Monty’ came and spoke to us. Then, I was on the move again to Wanstead Flats to a wait D-Day. There were storms in the English Channel which delayed us until late in June 1944 (Please note:It was not late June as this contributor states. It was 6 June 1944 after days of rain and wind that vessels approached the Normandy coast and started a series of landings. D-Day (D for deliverance). A previous contributor informed that the initial date for D-Day was supposedly 5th June 1944.).Then at the London Docks was driven on to a L.S.T (Landing craft) which transported us across the Channel. I was sick all the way. We drove off the ship on to a beach that was dry. We were part of the 53rd Welsh Division 30 Corps that took part in the battles in France, Belgium, and Holland to Germany. I made some good friends such as Andre Devasin; a Belgium and the family named Neillson in Holland. We crossed the Rhine on a pontoon bridge and our war ended soon after. I was sent to Hanover back to Guards for spit and polish. My war service did not end until April 1946. It was six years, just!
'This story was submitted to the People's War site by ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Merseyside's People's War team on behalf of the author,Frank Prior,and has been added to the site with his permission.The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions'

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