大象传媒

Now we are going into winter, plus the thought of cold days and colder nights, leads me into a memory I have got tucked away in my brain, in a little box only the size of 1鈥� x 戮鈥� 鈥� it does not take up a lot of room 鈥� we all have one, and only ourselves have the key to unlock it.

I was 62 years ago, around this time of year in 1939. I was in the B.E.F in France with No 85 鈥楩鈥� Squadron which flew Hurricanes MK1. We had the coldest winter recorded for many year, it was so cold some of the Airmen fitters, ringers, armourers etc suffered frost bite on the tips of their fingers and ears, I was lucky in that respect as I got away with it.

What I do recall most vividly was the billet we had to sleep in. It was a very large aircraft hanger with only half a roof on it, hence when it snowed (which was almost every day) it simply was blown into the area where we were supposed to sleep. The nights were at least 10-12 degrees below centigrade, it was so very cold that it was difficult to sleep (we did have a rum issue)

My mate a fitter by trade came up with the idea of sharing the blankets and sleeping together (funny fellows I can hear you say). Whatever you may be thinking was farthest from our minds. The combined warmth of this issue blankets plus our bodies warmth did the trick 鈥� we were able to get a few hours sleep with reasonable warmth.

Our sleeping periods were not of any great length 鈥� 11o鈥檆lock at night until 4 o鈥檆lock in the morning 鈥� the time the aircraft had landed from its last sortie until its first in the morning, did not leave a lot of time for sleep.

The so-called beds were not of the usual type 鈥� MacDonalds or beds airmen for the use of 鈥� they consisted of three wooden slats six inches wide x six feet in length (conversion tables available on request) nailed to a wooden frame of much stouter wood. The legs of the wooden structure were four empty petrol tins, two at one end and the two at the other end, thus the so called 鈥渂ed鈥� rested on top of the tins.

The mattress and pillows were of course fabric material called a palliasse, which we filled with straw (bugs and all) from a local hay rick, so that was our sleeping arrangement, it was hard going, the cold weather was so intense that the memory has stuck in that little box and me all these years.

The final indignity was when we woke up, our breath, which had been exhaled overnight, had turned into frost around our facial area, yes it was cold, the coldest place I ever served in, I have also served in one of the hottest 鈥� that鈥檚 another story.

One of the phrases used by us in Service Life 鈥� HARDSHIPS YOU B----, YOU DON鈥橳 KNOW WHAT HARDSHIPS ARE鈥� 鈥� Have a warm winter.

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