大象传媒

8b - [continued from Part Nine] Vera now tells about her husband Tony鈥檚 War Service:

鈥淗e went out to India, they went to Bombay and whilst they were in Bombay waiting to go up to northern India to Burma to stop the Japanese from coming in and taking India over, apparently, and 鈥� I didn鈥檛 learn a lot of this until after he came home- something electrical was on a pole, quite a tall pole in the air, and something was wrong with it, and it was not his job but he did it, he climbed this pole to rectify whatever was wrong up there, and his topee fell off, his topi or whatever you call it fell off, and he got the sun and he fell off the pole to the ground, and shattered his right ankle, he had what they call a Potts Fracture, which is a fracture of the leg bit and the dislocation of the ankle, which just stymied him completely. He was in hospital for a long time and then when he was able to get out, he was anxious to go because his people were all getting ready to go up to northern India for Burma, and they said there鈥檚 no way you can go there. Had he gone there, he would have died because he wasn鈥檛 able to move, he would have died in those jungles, he would never have made that, I know that, but anyway. He wanted to go, and they said well you can鈥檛 possibly go, as a matter of fact you are now C3 which means home to England, you have got to go back, and he said please don鈥檛 send me back, I don鈥檛 want to go back till my鈥�, all the rest of my mates鈥�, we鈥檝e been together ever since the first and I don鈥檛 want to go back. So Doctor Pateliokov, whose name I will never forget will I? he was a Russian who had joined in our forces and he was a doctor at this hospital, and he said there鈥檚 only one way we can stop you being sent home, he said, that鈥檚 if I keep you on here to help me in the hospital, and Tony said I鈥檒l do anything, I can鈥檛鈥�, he felt it was losing face to come home and leave all his people he鈥檇 been with, and they鈥檇 all been through Dunkirk and everything, so he stayed.

So for the rest of his time, he was at hospital, he gave injections and did鈥�, and helped this marvellous Doctor Pateliokov, and they became bosom friends, and he was there; now I think the Lord looked after Tony always, because he didn鈥檛 let him go to Burma, I know in my heart he would never have survived Burma, I know he wouldn鈥檛.
He looked after him when he was at Dunkirk, because when he was there he arrived with all these men streaming along, and they were at De Panne, which stretches 3 miles along and he said, we found a boat because the French fish from there apparently. We found a boat, and he said, Tony said to his鈥�, an officer, he said there鈥檚 a boat there, we could go to the ships, we could take people.

And he (the officer) said, well, I don鈥檛 know, he said, because rowing is rowing. And Tony said I have rowed at Henley,鈥檆os he had, he rowed when he was at school, he was very keen on his rowing, and he was chosen with鈥�, I don鈥檛 know whether it was fours, or something they call it when there are four of them in the boat 鈥� they had been at a team sent to Henley when they had a regatta during his period there. He said I can row, I only want one other man who鈥檒l do what I say, and we could row anything. I mean, Tony said to me later on (you know, you don鈥檛 get things out of people when they鈥檝e been through that, for years after you know), 鈥榗os he said to me, you think you can鈥檛 hide under a blade of grass but you can, and it wasn鈥檛 until I went (to France) this year that I saw what he meant, I wasn鈥檛 thinking of grass on a beach you know, it wasn鈥檛 a beach like that.

So they had this boat and they could take eight men in the boat with the two rowing, and they rowed out to the ships and took the men and did that 鈥� he did that for twelve hours! And he said to me we were as鈥�, 鈥榗os I said how dare you? And he said we were as safe there as sitting on the beach waiting for the Stukas to come over and machine gun us, you know, it was just as safe there as there. So they did that. When he鈥檇 done his stint, the officer said I think it鈥檚 time that you went there, and he said we鈥檒l just do one more, then I鈥檒l go on the next one. So they did it, so this brought them into about 48 hours that they鈥檇 been like this, and then it was Tony鈥檚 turn to go. He had got to have another man rowing with the other man, so that he could get out and leave one other, and they rowed the boat, but before they got to it a plane came over and dropped a shell down the funnel of the ship, and it went, so they had to go back. But at last he did, and he said he was stripped off to just a vest, because you can鈥檛 row鈥�.He knew as a rower you can鈥檛 row with clothes on, so he had all his clothes off, and when he arrived in England all he had got was a wet vest, and an officer鈥檚 overcoat 鈥榗os they put it on him when he got on the ship, because he hadn鈥檛 got anything else on! They said are they stripping you as well now? And he said you can鈥檛 row..., they didn鈥檛 know that he had been rowing, I mean when they row they have got just a little singlet and shorts on.

So he was looked after wasn鈥檛 he? He wasn鈥檛 meant to die there was he? And when he went to India later, they had to dodge U Boaats, and he said鈥�, and I don鈥檛鈥�, my geography鈥檚 nil, but they went from Dumfries straight as if they were going to America, to avoid those things with pimples on, and to avoid those, and submarines, and then they veered off to go to Bombay, he wasn鈥檛 meant to be drowned.鈥�

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