大象传媒

"This story was submitted to the Peoples's War site by CSV/大象传媒 Radio Nottingham on behalf of Aubrey Sales with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions."

We had to leave Germany to go to the Gwent Shipping Canal as a dredger had been sunk at the mouth of it. The Danish salvage officer who came on board with us was in charge of operations to get this cleared up, we found after divers had been down and viewed the situation we would have to try and blow it up, as the Germans had put concrete into the buckets before they sunk it. This did not prove successful, so we had to send divers down to put steel hawsers round bows of the dredger and pull it out. This was successful and I went up with him in Jolly Boat, to Gwent to test that there was no obstacles in the way, and barges would be able to go up. There was a cafe where we had a glass of beer on Quayside at Gwent and people were overjoyed to see us. We then moved back to Hamberg and carried on moving ships sunk in StPalilie. After V.E. Day we were allowed to start going ashore, and they had set up a picture house and NAFFI. On entering this I saw some soldiers with a Robin Hoods Regiment cap badge and I ask them if they knew Eric Sales, and the reply came back there is a chic sales lookover there having tea, which was my brother and when I reached him, he said 'What you doing here', and I replied 'the same as you'. i took him back to the ship, and we made merry with the rum bottle. After on his way down gang plank he fell in and we yanked him out with a boat hook, and dried his clothes in the engineering room. And finally he was able to drive his jeep back to Blamcameeze, as he was major's batman. But what chance of meeting of your own brother in war.
Later on our Dutch salvage officer was asked to blow up submarine Pens in Bloom and VOSS ship building yard. He asked the RAF for a 500lb pund bomb and attempted what looked on the outside impossible. As the concrete was so thick and they held submarines on both sides ready to be lowered into the water but the bomb was detinated when it went off. It made the smallest of holes, from looking in this yard the amount of Subs being built , if we had to have fought a Submarine war with the German's it makes you wonder if we would have won.

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