大象传媒

Submitted by Mr. F. Reeb, of Binstead Isle of Wight (formerly of Brighton)

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I grew up in Hastings During WW2 I served in both the home Guard and the R.A.F. War started for us when in May 1940 refugees began coming form France and Belgium. My first experience of war was at 7.0 a.m.on 26.7.40 when bombs dropped on Hastings; one unfortunately killed a schoolmistress . Two others dropped in the County Cricket Ground about 200yds away from my bedroom. I was in bed at the time and got out a bit smartly鈥� By now Germany had occupied the French coast on the opposite side of the Channel and we could see their searchlights at night. Our town had become a reception area for people who had left London to escape the air raids, but itself now became an evacuated area. All people not in local Government had to leave. With others I helped get people on to buses heading for the railway station. Most of them went to St.Albans. After the non essential civilians were gone the town became like a ghost town.

The British army now evacuated from Dunkirk and an appeal was made for local Defence Volunteers (later renamed the Home Guard). I joined up and was issued with a 1st World war rifle and some ammo and we went through rapid training including firing practice and bayonet drill. Our main task was to defend the power station on the outskirts of Hastings. It was quite a serious business for us on the south coast at that time. I learnt many years later that the German plan was to surround Hastings, landing at Hastings and Romney Marshes and Pevensey Bay If they had come we would have been in serious trouble.

Meanwhile the |Battle of Britain was underway and for about a month we didn鈥檛 see any British planes at all 鈥� every plane was a German. The raids were continuous and we took turns to stand on the roof of our temporary office (which was on a railway line near the station and opposite the Gas Works) We were to give warning to those below if we spotted enemy aircraft and get down as soon as we could. One time I didn鈥檛 see the plane at all and the bombs demolished a timber yard about 500yds away. The blast almost blew me off the roof, and slammed me against a little brick wall surrounding the lift motor, otherwise I might not be here鈥�..

It was a very tiring period. H.G duty two or three nights a week, fire watch at the office one night, quite a few HG exercises and training, the office phone to be manned and of course air raids waking you up as well. Once on guard duty at the Power Station I was told to be specially vigilant; no one knew why but we had heard heavy machine gun fire .on the hills east of Hastings which put us all on edge . In the pitch dark I heard someone padding towards me so I thought I had better obey orders :shout halt, who goes there, rifle and bayonet forward, but this chap was closer than I realised 鈥� my bayonet came down, slashing him on the face. It turned out to be the Power Station Superintendent, a very senior man and |I was a junior clerk! I don鈥檛 know which of us was more frightened !!

I volunteered for the RAF in 1941, was called in July and sent to Blackpool for initial training. Blackpool was a complete contrast from Hastings 鈥攊t was the middle of the holiday season and the place was packed with factory workers on holiday and RAF recruits on training; plenty of dances and the only reminder of the war was the blackout. I spent about 3 months there thoroughly enjoying myself.
After Blackpool I was posted to Compton Bassett for advanced signal training on a 3 month course. I joined 54 Fighter squadron at Hornchurch, though I was actually at a satellite airfield at Rochford, now Southend airport. Before I had time to get air gunnery experience I was sent overseas. We went to Gourock on the south bank of the Clyde in Scotland and were put aboard HMTX1 鈥� actually a Greek liner (Mea Hellas) which got as near Hell as possible. We were told air training was deferred and we spent the next 3 months at sea. No one knew where we were going. We linked with a convoy in the Atlantic, heading NW then south and east again. We ended up in Freetown in W.Africa. We were not allowed ashore and after 2 days were off again. Then we saw Table Mountain so we were in South Africa. Three days there, allowed ashore in the afternoons and evenings. The people gave us a marvellous time. Then back aboard sailing up the Indian ocean to Aden; one day stop, not allowed ashore, then off again to end up in Port Tewfick at the end of the Suez canal in Egypt. I had never seen the convoy system in action. It was a large, well protected convoy for which we were grateful. We鈥檇 had N>Atlantic winter storms and could hear depth charges exploding in the distance though we couldn鈥檛 see them. The N.Atlantic storms were frightening with the seas roaring above you 鈥� and we were on a liner!
However, back to Africa: When we left Cape Town we headed south through the Roaring Forties, a most unpleasant place to be; the reason we went so far south was to avoid the Japanese subs which used to wait outside the South African ports for the troop ships. We didn鈥檛 see or hear any. Halfway up the Indian ocean the convoy split, half to the right and we knew they were going to face the Japanese. We were quite relieved as we knew the |Japs were pretty unfriendly to any they captured. The final incident on this journey was on the last night when we unfortunately rammed and sand an American freighter, the Susan V. Luckenbachighter aircraft. It was nightime and we felt the ship shudder. Alarm bells sounded and the watertight compartment doors shut; we were in the uncomfortable position of being locked in. The watertight compartment might flood if the ship was damaged but the ship would still float. We knew the doors would not be opened so e waited.. eventually it became clear that we were not going to sink so we were allowed out to stand at boat stations. Next morning we picked up survivors and steamed on the Porttewack with our bow smashed in. There were many comments on shore as everyone assumed we鈥檇 been torpedoed.

Life aboard was pretty uncomfortable. We all had hammocks but were crammed in virtually touching each other. I found hammocks hurt my back so I slept on the table from which we ate, except in the tropics when I slept on deck which was better than sleeping below. From Port Tewfick we went to Kasfareet transit camp near |Bitter Lakes on Suez canal. After a short time we went on to Helwan, a small Arab town some 20miles south of Cairo. Here we had a refresher course on the Morse Code, then to Landing Grounds 28 and 29 at a place called Burg el Arab, 60 miles west of Alexandria. One bit of desert looks very like another and oftern there was no habitation.
Next I was posted to a small signal centre 208 Squadron of Hurricanes and Spitfires, doing signal work for an Army-Co-operation Squadron, a non combatant Squadron so no bombing or fighting. Our part was spotting enemy tanks or troops and reporting back. During one retreat we were left behind and found ourselves in front of an advanced tank re-fuelling and re-arming Depot. A great target for bombers as we found out鈥� At one point a truck came towards us full of Afrika Corps troops and we thought that that was that but they turned out to be prisoners of war.
Life in the desert: flies were worst. As soon as you got your tin plate or mug with any food, it was covered with flies, especially in summer. We had some relief in sandstorms.It was fine sand and got everywhere, your, mouth, up your nose, all over food or drink, no way of keeping it out. Sometimes it would last a couple of hours, sometimes a couple of days. We were almost glad to see the flies come back ! For food we had very hard biscuits, no bread of course. We used to put Oleo margarine on the 鈥渉ardtacks鈥�. We cooked using paraffin for fuel. Sometimes we got tins of stew but one in three would be bad. Tea was always black. Water was salty and we were rationed to 1/2pt daily for personal use. I used to clean my teeth, then wash my face and arms and if any was left, wash my socks in it. Luckily the sea was not far away and we could sometimes get there to bathe. Clothes were always smelly. We got a new issue every 戮 weeks. It was easier to transport new clothes rather than carry water.
Eventually I was injured and went back to Helwan in April 1943. I was supposed to go to the RAF hospital but it was full and I was sent to a New Zealand hospital in the Grand Hotel Helwan. My parents started getting mail from me with N.Z stamps on so they thought I had gone there. War ended in Africa in May 鈥�43 and I went to Ramallah in Palestine. I stayed there while doing signals work, then to Allepo, the far north of Syria near the border of Turkey, to create a new air Levant. This H/Q was to support the 9th Army which had been created in Syria and we were to support that just as the 8th Army had been in the western desert. Because we had captured Syria from the Vichy French who had supported the Germans, they might come back with German support as they were on the Greek islands just off Turkey. The Russians were advancing north of Turkey and might want to establish a base in Suria and we had to dissuade them from that. We also acted as a springboard for the ultimate invasion of Southern Europe and Greece. We saw German activity from time to time. One aspect at Allepo was working with the |British Consulate in Alexandretta, gathering information on Italian/German shipping which we passed back to Cairo, and which often resulted in air attacks on shipping. We also helped with American Lease/Lend supplies for the Turkish army. Allepo was a bad place for malaria and sandfly fever
In Sept.43 I was told to report to the Air Crew Medical Board., and have further medicals in Jerusalem as my papers had now caught up and they decided I was fit enough for training as a navigator.. I was sent to Lebanon, Beirut, and stayed til April 44. I quite enjoyed Beirut. I used to go up in Boston aircraft towing targets for anti aircraft practice. In April 44 I travelled by Wellington plane from Beirut to Cyprus, based at Nicosia in a build up of forces, including the 9th Army, ready to move into the Greek islands and Greece itself. The Russians were moving across, cutting the Germans off in Albania. My aircrew posting came and I had to fly back to Eqypt. Others in my old unit were sent to Greece and some were captured by the communists and kept in caves in the mountains.
After a few days I was sent by train to Port Said to join troopship HMT16 (Reina del Pacifico. This had been used on a route from the UK to Chile. We were short of food: it was beans and rice for every meal for the 3 weeks we were aboard, as the ship had been to Italy to collect prisoners of war and they had eaten practically everything there was, and there was no opportunity to reprovision. We were the first convoy through the Mediterranean after North Africa had been cleared. At the western end of the Med. The French and Spanish were not friendly and it was arranged that we should pass through the Straits at night. Three weeks later we reached Liverpool. A train to Blackpool again. I was in khaki, not RAF blue (all in the desert had worn khaki with just an RAF red flash) We were back to going to dances again! Then re-kitted and sent on leave back to Hastings. Invasion and D day were close, and all forces leave had been cancelled, but I had my authority for leave 鈥渁fter active service overseas鈥� so I was O.K, though Charing Cross |Military police held me for questioning.
Back in Hastings the streets were soon filled with troops and transport. Everyone took out cups of tea and cakes for them. We had seen strange objects out at sea being towed westwards, part of the Mulbury Harbour being taken to Normandy for the invasion.
By 12/13 July new V2 rockets were being launched from Holland. You鈥檇 get a double bang, the sonic boom and then the explosion.
A few months later I was posted to Kiddlington and there I met my future wife. By May 45 I was sent to Northern Ireland Coastal Command, but everything was being run down as the Atlantic war was virtually over, and sending loads of us to the far east at that stage was a real possibility.
An Education programme was started and I was sent to Salisbury Plain and spent almost a year there, and on to Telecom Research at Malvern. There was not much for us to do, basically recording data for them, and we had days free to go walking in the hills. I was demobbed in June 46 and so ended my war.
Some years later I went back to a reunion at my old school, and on the war memorial there I saw the names of fifteen of my schoolmates who had been killed. I was very lucky.

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