大象传媒

To begin my Papa was born on the 1st October 1909 in Cowley, Oxford. He served with the 5th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry pre 1930. No other information about this is known. He enlisted with the Royal Artillery (Territorial Army) as a gunner and was posted to 399 Battery, 100 field brigade (3/1/30-2/1/34). He then enlisted with the RASC in Oxford 13/1/36 as a driver. His supplementary Reserve was T/5667914. He was mobilised and posted on the 2/9/39 to the 46 company Ammunition Column and was then posted to the 12 Field Ambulance in September 1939. He may have left Brigend, Glamorgan with a detachment of the RASC. The group consisted of Ted Maguire and Indian Driver Bhatta Chaudri. Both served in St. Nazaire where papa was. Ted was at Dunkirk like my papa but he was wounded on the beaches before being lifted on Winchelsea.

W J Biggs T5667914

No information regarding the day or which beach head he was rescued from, however men who could swim, were told to dump their kit and make for out lying ships and under no circumstances help anybody in difficulty as they would pull them under.

Because of the shallow beach the larger vessels had to stand off. He managed to reach a paddle steamer, which came from the River Clyde on the West Coast of Scotland and originally operated between Glasgow and the islands off the Firth of Clyde. The story goes that there were cargo nets slung over the side. He began to haul himself up. The bombing was very heavy as the Luftwaffe tried to sink as many ships as possible, shells were exploding everywhere. Unfortunately, shrapnel fragments hit my papa's back and legs. He was blown off the net and landed face down in the water. Thanks to swift action by a crewmember of the Jeanie Deans, who managed to catch hold of his tunic with a boat hook till other members managed to haul him on board. My papa and the other rescued men were eventually landed in Margate. How long he was there or where he was taken I don't know. He, however, was transferred by train to Lockerbie in the Scottish Borders where he and the other wounded personnel were taken to military hospitals at Jardine Hall and Dryfe Holm. These were large houses on estates, which were taken over by the war office for the duration. After the war they were handed back to the owners. Some became hotels, private schools, Jardine Hall was eventually demolished as it was too costly for the family. It wouldn't have been pulled down today as it would be classed as a listed building. Both houses mentioned were about 3 miles north of Lockerbie near the village of Millhousebridge.

This is where the Romance starts. My Gran, Margaret Clark Parker, was a nurse. After training, she moved to various hospitals in and around Glasgow. She applied to the war office as she had been told they were looking for qualified medical staff. Needless to say her mum, my Great-Gran, wasn't to pleased but off she went and was posted to Jardine Hall. They were told to expect heavy casualties from the BEF evacuation, very few British at first, mostly from the commonwealth, Canadian, New Zealanders, South Africans and a few from Australia, then the British started to arrive including my papa. By this time, Gran was a staff nurse. Long months of care and convalescing, the men used to play tricks on the nurses. Papa and Gran started talking and he asked her out but she refused, she came home on leave and papa followed her. His persistence paid off and on 21st November 1942, they were married at her local church. 3 days later, papa was off to rejoin his unit, which was now in North Africa. As far as I know this was the first action he saw since Dunkirk. He also served in Italy. Apart from letter cards, she never saw him till the end of the war and as his address was now at Greatgrans house, he was sent back to Scotland and demobed at Redford Barracks in Edinburgh. They were married for 47 years. Sadly he passed away in 1989, aged 80, Gran died 2001, aged 94. They both had a great life and I (their grandson) enjoy listening to the stories that my dad tells me.

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