大象传媒

On the morning of the 14th June we were set to attack the village of Lingevres, when Lt. Jack Williams approached me and said, 鈥淓agles you and Cpl. Wood come with me; we are to look after Col. Woods so bale into the carrier.鈥� We proceeded to fall in with the advance group. As I recall, we started to move forward, with 鈥楢鈥� company to our left, and 鈥楤鈥� company to our right. We passed through the centre, over the road, and entered a large cornfield. The men were well spread out, with rifles at port position, as we waded waist high through the corn. We would be about five hundred yards up the triangular shaped field, and were advancing towards the apex when all hell was let loose: withering spandau fire (light machine guns), snipers, and mortars caught us in the cross fire. Men were falling left, right, and centre. I jumped from the carrier and ran along beside it. Jack asked me why I had jumped out, and I replied that I wasn鈥檛 sure. (In fact, I remember feeling very uneasy; sixth sense perhaps?) He said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 good enough for me鈥� and joined me on foot. A few minutes later the carriers were hit by mortar fire. Our driver, a young ginger haired lad by the name of Arthur Mortimer, was in a terrible state, but he was dead. We ran over to the other carrier, which had been hit, and pulled the Corporal clear. He was screaming in agony as his leg and arm had been blown off. There were dead and dying all around us, and gruesome screams filled the air, mingled with the sound of gunfire, which was so intense it cut the corn like a scythe. Jack screamed 鈥淭his way鈥� as he ran towards Colonel Woods鈥� carrier, where the Colonel, who was standing beside another officer, turned and shouted some order to Jack, who then turned ran towards me. Then he staggered and fell at my feet, blood pouring from his thighs. He gasped, 鈥淭ake a look, Eagles 鈥� if they鈥檝e shot my balls off, shoot me.鈥� I pretended to look and said, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e OK鈥�, then somehow I managed to get him across my shoulders and, how I鈥檒l never understand, carried him 50 yards, or maybe 150 yards, I don鈥檛 know, until I spotted a medic and dropped Jack at his feet. As the medic attended to his injuries, Jack managed to say, 鈥淚鈥檓 OK laddie, get yourself back.鈥� Then he passed out. So back I went.

The lads were still advancing, past the bodies lying everywhere. The screams of agony and the firing were less intense now, but still horrendous to hear, as I made my way back to my section. Some men silently pleaded for help as they lay helpless and in pain; I must confess these awful sights and sounds have never left me.

By the time I had found my mates, we had re-grouped into a pack of perhaps twenty or so in the apex of the cornfield, and I noticed the Colonel at the head. We scrambled through the hedgerow, into a chaotic scene. We tried to gather our composure and wits about us as the Colonel shouted, 鈥淭his way lads.鈥� We were bunched together when we noticed the turret of a Tiger tank behind a copse of trees, and we scattered in all directions and flung ourselves down for cover, except for Col. Woods, who stood there watching, and ordered 鈥淕et that tank.鈥� I couldn鈥檛 believe I was hearing him correctly, as it was a totally impossible task, sheer suicide. Then there was a hell of a noise as some mortar shells landed between us and I dived for cover. It鈥檚 one thing being brave, another to be foolish. By this time I was about six to eight feet away from Col. Woods, and crawled over to him. His eyes were open wide as he muttered his last words: 鈥淪urely they haven鈥檛 hit me!鈥� Then he died. He had terrible wounds - about the worst I had seen 鈥� he was virtually cut in half. I remember standing up and looking around me, seeing nothing but bodies scattered everywhere, one or two moaning; a dreadful, ghastly, gruesome sight. I really don鈥檛 have words to describe the horror of what I saw. The tank had gone and everything was quiet again; I seemed to be on my own, but then I saw Cpl. Wood sitting at the side of the road looking a bit worse for wear. I sat down beside him, and 3 or 4 other lads joined us (I don鈥檛 know from which company). We were all covered in mud and dust, filthy in fact. One of the lads remarked, 鈥淭hat Tiger鈥檚 got a nasty spit.鈥� I said, 鈥淭he Tiger was too close: those were mortars. We were always told you don鈥檛 hear the ones that hit you (moaning minnies). Come on lads lets move it. We can鈥檛 stand here all day. There鈥檚 a farm just down the road.鈥�

We picked ourselves up and went in the general direction of the farmhouse. After fifty yards or so, we reached a ditch and, across the road, saw five or six of our lads lying as though observing ahead. Woodie crept over to them, and we lay down to give him cover. He soon ran back to me, panting, 鈥淭hey鈥檙e all dead, Sarge. There鈥檚 not a bloody mark on em.鈥� We were all lying there, wondering how they had died, and debating what to do next, when I heard a little cough and standing almost on top of me was a German Major, together with about a dozen or so German soldiers. 鈥淭hrow down your weapons, you are surrounded.鈥� He said in perfect English; in fact he was extremely well spoken. Much to our surprise, we weren鈥檛 searched for hidden weapons, but merely ambled, side by side, down a minor road for possibly a mile or so, where we were decamped with the men who had taken us prisoners. We were treated very well and, in hindsight, I think they enjoyed trying to converse with us: one or two could speak a little English. Eventually the officer in charge came over to us and asked who was senior rank, and I said, 鈥淢e sir鈥�, producing my Sergeant鈥檚 stripes from my pocket. He seemed quite amused by this, and said, 鈥淵ou must be the youngest Sergeant in the British Army.鈥� He asked a few questions like, 鈥淲ho is on the right and the left of your battalion?鈥� 鈥淲ho is your commanding officer?鈥� I told him,鈥� 6th, 8th, 9th, D.L.I. Sir.鈥� (I had already gathered they knew where we were from, so I wasn鈥檛 telling him any new information.) I added that I didn鈥檛 know any commanding officer names as I was drafted in a couple of days before D-day as a mines and explosives N.C.O. I cannot truthfully say he was too bothered at my lack of assistance. He told me he was educated at Cambridge before the war, or it might have been Oxford, (I had so many things on my mind, for instance what was happening to us, and relieved that none of us had been ill-treated or injured by our captors, so that I didn鈥檛 take too much notice of what the German officer was saying.) Cpl. Wood was the only one I knew of our little group, as the other three had only joined me after Col. Woods鈥� death. I told the lads what had transpired between the officer and myself when I rejoined them. The German Major returned later, and called me over to him. We sat down and he told me to relax, and offered me a mug of coffee and said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 terrible stuff, and I suppose you would prefer tea.鈥� 鈥淭hank you, Sir,鈥� I said as I accepted the mug, 鈥淚t鈥檚 warm and wet.鈥� He then explained to me that they could not send us back, as they had no transport, and Red Cross vehicles were being strafed by the Americans. He was philosophical: 鈥淭hese things happen in war. So it looks as though you and your men will be sharing our company for the night.鈥� I returned to the lads and told them the news. By this time one or two of the Panzer men were quite friendly and chatting away to us. It was weird really, a few hours earlier we had been trying to kill each other, and now one of our lads was passing some boiled sweets around. I think that really broke the ice. Then a few cigarettes were passed around. The Panzer men obviously enjoyed British tobacco more than their own. It was ironic really; we were enemies and yet we were talking to each other quite amicably, with a bit of sign language, and a mixture of German and English. They gave us the same food and drink they consumed and treated us very well. Later, the Major returned. 鈥淐ome here and sit down, please.鈥� He pointed to a log and, as I sat down he offered me a mug with some calvados. 鈥淣o thank you sir. I don鈥檛 drink alcohol.鈥� He talked of his time in England, then mentioned that the Corporal had seen action in Italy and Russia, but that most of his men had seen service in the desert. He said he would lead a small recce party out that night, and then send us to Germany. At that moment half a dozen Typhoons passed over head and dropped their load of bombs and then strafed the area with their rockets to the right of us (that would be to the west of our present position, possibly Tilly.) I got the impression he wasn鈥檛 very happy: the Panzer Lehr boys had all dispersed except the usual four or five guarding us, but they were all relaxed and nodding in the direction of the action and talking very seriously, not that we could understand them anyway.

Corporal Wood woke me up with a dig in the ribs, whispering, 鈥淚 think the Jerry patrol has just left. 鈥淭hanks Woodie.鈥� I grunted sarcastically. 鈥淒o you think the Major would like me to hold his hand? 鈥� 鈥淣o, but now you are awake have you a fag?鈥� I handed him the packet and was joined by three or four Panzers, who obviously expected to be invited to join us for a smoke in the shelter, even if we were their prisoners! I can never understand why we weren鈥檛 searched; none of our lads had anything taken from them, not even watches, rings or anything else personal. About an hour or so later, when the Major returned, he had a mug of spirits in his hand. He sat down with us, and spoke a few words to his men in German. It must have been amusing as they all had grins on their faces, then he spoke in English. 鈥淲ell whose got a cigarette then?鈥� As he inhaled, his face was a picture of pleasure. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the best cigarette I鈥檝e ever had thank you.鈥� He left shortly after.

The next morning, the 15th of June, was bright and sunny. The Panzer men who were guarding us brought us a mug of coffee each, but they didn鈥檛 have much to say to us, and we seemed to hang about for hours. We could hear hell of a racket going on to the West of us, and a couple of Typhoons flew overhead. We could hear the bombs drop, and later the sound of artillery fire whooshing above as they headed for their targets. It was all very alarming. Then a big plume of black smoke rose in the distance. Woodie came over to me and asked, 鈥淲hat do you think of all that?鈥� 鈥淚鈥檓 pleased I鈥檓 not on the receiving end, that鈥檚 all.鈥� I retorted. At that moment the Major called me over. 鈥淪it down Sergeant,鈥� he said, pointing to the now familiar log. 鈥淎s you know, I was out last night and things are grim. We are cut off. There is no way we can take or send you and your comrades to Germany.鈥� A weak smile passed over his face. 鈥淢ight I suggest that we surrender to you. If you take two of your men and warn your forward troops that we wish to give ourselves up, then you and your men can come back and bring us in. There are three platoons 鈥� approximately 100 men.鈥� My face must have been a picture. 鈥淪ir. I don鈥檛 think it would work out that way. Yesterday was horrendous, and those forward troops will be pretty edgy. Perhaps if you, and two more of your men, plus me and my Corporal and another man walked out, we could carry something white and hope we are lucky.鈥� I suggested. 鈥淚 will consider your suggestion Sergeant,鈥� responded the Major, and he went back through the hedge. I went over to Woodie and explained the situation. 鈥淭hey could bloody shoot us when we get down the road,鈥� he exclaimed. 鈥淟isten to me Corporal; not if the Major鈥檚 with us.鈥� I explained, hopefully.

About an hour later the Major returned. 鈥淚 have thought over the possibilities, and your plan seems the only way. If you select your men I will be ready in two or three minutes.鈥� He turned away and walked over to the Corporal who had been guarding us, and another Panzer man, and appeared to inform them of his intention. I walked up to Woodie and told him and another man what lay ahead of us. I proposed the Major and I should walk in the lead, followed two or three yards behind by Woodie and the Panzer man, followed by the German Corporal and our Private, with the same distance between them. I must confess I didn鈥檛 feel too happy about the situation and I think the Major read my mind as he suggested, 鈥淧erhaps if I give you my pistol, that would show my intentions are honourable.鈥� As he handed it over, I think we all found it embarrassing. I tucked it between my belt and tunic top (I wish now I had kept it, but I later swapped it with a Canadian soldier for cigarettes 鈥� and I don鈥檛 smoke!) He held his hand out and, I cannot recall the exact words he said, but they were something like, 鈥淚 wish you luck that you may come through this conflict unharmed.鈥� With that, we set off down the path to the minor road, and headed for the nearest village. We could hear sporadic firing in the distance and, after about half a mile or so, (it seemed like ten) we came to a cross roads, where we saw some men dug in and light machine guns resting on the top of the slit trench. I can only speak for myself, but my heart was pounding as they caught sight of us, and lined up the bren guns on us. We continued walking, franticly waving a light coloured flag (dirty vest or whatever). I don鈥檛 know who looked the most shocked, them or us, as I bellowed, 鈥淗old your fire. Make way for the Durhams.鈥� Then a voice yelled out in a thick Scottish brogue, 鈥淵OU COULD BE BLOODY GERMANS.鈥� Corporal Wood put his vocal cords into action: 鈥淒on鈥檛 be so bloody daft Jock. Get an officer down here.鈥� I yelled. I was quite concerned as these lads were a bit wild eyed and to me they seemed as though they had been at the bottle. Luckily a Lieutenant appeared on the scene and I told him the story briefly, of how we were originally prisoners of these Germans and we could go back and return with possibly 3 platoons of the Major鈥檚 Panzer Lehr men. The Major stepped forward and confirmed my report, and I was nodded approval that I should take 6 men to bring in the rest of the Panzer group. With Corporal Wood and 4 others we retraced our steps to find the Germans already assembled. God! When I saw how many men there were, I nearly died. We didn鈥檛 even have a rifle but everything went like clockwork, and all we had to do was to tell the odd one to keep in line. What a sorry state they were in: quite a few seemed pleased it was all over for them. We eventually arrived back at the original starting point, but the prisoners carried on walking to captivity through our lines.

Later, we learned the 9th Battalion had suffered casualties of 226 men and 22 officers in only about an hour and a half, leaving Major Mogg, later General Sir John Mogg, in charge. Sgt. Naylor informed us that the 9th was being reformed, and he gave us a lift in his carrier to their position. On meeting up with 鈥楥鈥� and 鈥楽鈥� companies, we found that neither Cpl. Wood nor I knew anyone at all, apart from Sgt. Naylor. It鈥檚 difficult to look back in time, but we were now veterans ourselves, me at the ripe old age of 19陆, Woodie was 28 and Geordie about 30. I can only speak for myself, but I would never be the same man again; I had matured, and I walked tall.

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