大象传媒

I was born W.R Sills and I made a name for myself as a tough talking gentleman. I was working part time for the auxiliary air force in the city of London called the 600 Squadron before the war started. They were based in Northolt, Greater London - close to Wembley. I was working there 2 weeks in a year.

During the period before the war started, there were many political discussions going on within Europe. Germany was defiant upon disobeying the rules that were set upon it by the international community. This led me to believe that something dramatic was forthcoming and in order to establish peace we would have to prepare for war. Europe was like a volcano about to erupt.

I became mobilised as a R.A.F serviceman on the 29th of August 1939, while war was declared. The initial signs at the start of the war looked dim. The first army siren in our camp brought me a lot of laughter. We used to sleep in bell tents, normally about 14 men to a tent and the space we had was just enough. The alarm rang deep in the dead of the night and when it sounded, most of us were sharply awoken. When the siren blared most men lay undressed sleeping in their pyjamas and hastily scrambled towards the air raid shelter. Amidst the panic I remember pausing for a few seconds as I saw two men struggling to get into one trouser! Boy, we were supposed to be prepared. Inevitably the first air raid just happened to be a false alarm, worse was to come.

I soon moved to RAF Manston, Kent. At the start of the war my squadron lost many planes as they provided cover on Dutch soil. I within a team of 12 airforce soldiers was allotted the task to protect the Pegwell bay in Manston with a rifle and a bag. The Pegwell bay was a large expanse of area stretching miles and this seemed a difficult task. Geographically, Pegwell bay was an ideal place for the Germans to attack, it was very much opposite the country of Germany, only separated by the ocean, and Holland, which had already being captured by the Germans.

Not ironically, Pegwell bay was flooded with bomb explosion, similar to the lightening blitz of devastating destruction that happened in neighbouring Canterbury.
Canterbury was literally reduced to rubble, and timber parts while Pegwell had many bomb holes in the sand. I was quite lucky to survive. I was with a couple of soldiers when a bomb exploded close to us, I fell right to the ground with my other colleagues; while pretending, my friend seemed to have broken his nose.

Another close escape happened while I was working with my head command on a plane in our air force hanger. The sirens went, and thinking it was a false alarm. I continued working, deciding to move only when I needed something. I heard a loud bang, and forcefully steered back in midair to see a section of the hanger buried underneath the roof, including the spot where I had just being working. I saw no sign or sound of my commanding officer and then realised an indescribable pain as I hit the floor. Shrapnel had dug deep into my skin and I still hold a reminder to this day.

I was taken to hospital. Like some, hospital seems to bring out the worst in people. No one wants to be rendered bed ridden; where when you face the battle of pain, you leave unprotected the line of conscience. It was not that bad. My first surgery did bring agony for the doctor and myself. When I was being operated on I was administered a dose of anaesthetic ether, which did not put me to sleep, and on feeling pain I naturally jerked out kicking the doctor in the guts. This caused a furore in the ward and the operation was not finished.

I was transferred to the British Legion Hospital in Blackpool. At the hospital I also got into an altercation with the senior staff nurse who was not happy with my behaviour. I believe I ended up giving her a portion of her medicine. As a result I was reported to the Flight Lieutenant Doctor. After the trouble with the senior nurse I was allowed to leave the hospital. My leg was still not healed, and by this time was swollen. The weather outside was below zero and I regretted my actions as I tried to walk in the blare of the snow, slipping several times on the ice.

While my sad affair with hospitals ended I had still managed to tell war stories to the younger nurses.

As a flight maintenance engineer, I fared better. Sometimes not having to make any modifications on an aircraft for it to work. I was extremely lucky during the war, as most of my colleague would admit, and flew as partners with many good air pilots.

By the end of the war, I had made friends with the Lieutenant doctor. After the war, I also happened to see the commanding officer I was with in the hanger during the raid on our aerodrome. It was definitely a shock; I never thought I would see him again.

I enjoyed my time in the Air force, it presenting me with some memorable experiences, mostly funny ones that I could talk about for a long time. However I will have to leave you with this final quote, which summed up my time as a serviceman in the war 鈥淣o use joining the air force if you can鈥檛 take a joke鈥�.

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