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Arthur J Williams (RAF Ground Crew) 1939 to 1945.

At the end of 1940 I was called up for service in the Air Force. I had to go to a place in East Ham for an attestation. This was to see what I would be suitable for. But just before I went I received a letter from the Air Ministry telling me to report to Cardington. Unfortunately at this time I had injured my eye whilst at work and had been given time off by my doctor to recover. However I went along to the attestation and told them the situation. ‘Oh well you must come back again when it has all cleared up thank you very much’. At this time I was working for an Estate Agent who were obliged to provide me with a job after the war. Anyway having got my call up papers I had to write to the Air Ministry and tell them I can’t come I have a sore eye. They then wrote back to me and said they would send me a railway warrant from Romford to Cardington after my doctor signed me off. I finally received the railway warrant from them and told my employer that unfortunately I would not be coming back because I’m in the Air Force now. So they had to keep my job open for me on my return.

I received my railway warrant and made my way to Cardington. When I arrived at Cardington I went through a large metal gate entrance and after a time was called in for another assessment. It was then decided that because of my eye injury and also a hernia that they would turn me in to an armourer. I pointed out that handling heavy bombs in my situation with a hernia would be rather foolish. They then asked me if I would be capable of learning wireless and I said yes. They then asked me some more questions.’ How do you spell difficult’ I answered and this was correct and then ’How do you spell accommodation’ this was also correct and last ’Mississippi’ this I spelt correctly. I was then told ‘you will have to know some mathematics as well’ and I was asked to complete an equation. I did this without fault. They then asked me why I would like to become a wireless mechanic. I said that it was one of the highest paid jobs in the RAF. They all then smiled and said is that the only reason and I said ’yes’ that’s how I became a wireless mechanic. After another day at Cardington I was fitted out with a uniform that was an approximate size, a tailor would then walk round with a piece of chalk and mark the uniform. I then was asked to take this up the road to be altered by the girls and the next day had a fitted uniform.

Now anyone going in to the RAF at Cardington had to go through the front gates and after your assessment you were sneaked to a train via the back door to wherever you were going. I my case this was Great Yarmouth. So once inside you never came out!

Great Yarmouth

On arrival for six weeks we were in old boarding houses three or four to a room and during the day we did square bashing up and down the streets of Yarmouth. What the Yarmouth people thought about this I just don’t know! After a period of this you passed out and in my case I was posted to 13 Operational Training Unit at Bicester. Here they were training air crews to convert from fighters to fighter bombers and I was there for three years. Eventually my contributions were recognised and I became a Corporal which meant that my pay went up to 10 shillings and seven pence per day. A Kings ransom by all accounts! I then took a weeks leave and travelled back to Romford and married my girl friend Margaret Hutson (Margie) on the 17th June 1944.

Eventually I was posted to Cairo West. This RAF base was about half way between Alexandria and Cairo. Here I was called upon to join two Dakota aircraft full of radio transmitting gear bound for Calato on the island of Rhodes to help set up a transmitting base. At this time our troops had only just moved on to the island with the help of the navy at Rhodes town. Calato was a small runway built by the German and Italian occupying forces just down the road from Lindos. However when we landed at the end of the run way and opened our doors to step out. We found the ground was a seething mass of insects about two feet deep all feeding off each other! It’s a good job we had our mosquito boots on to keep these things away. We stepped out ‘crunch’ in to all these insects and noticed about 100 yards away a road with all people scruffily dressed some were armed. We were not sure if these people were Italians or Greeks and who was in charge? However one of these gentlemen came over to us and the next thing our cook came out amongst all these people and insects with a gas heater and made us all some tea. A typically English thing to do in a crisis. This seemed to ease the situation.

Masts and Mines!

The next thing we did was to occupy a small bungalow that smelt heavily of garlic and had previously been used by the Italians. Opposite this was a mine field with mines supported on poles and chained together. This was in the position we had to set up our aerials up. Our I/C at the time was a chap called Sergeant Wignall from Leicester who had to organise this and once again being British we completely ignored these mines and set our aerials up amongst them. The masts consisted of plug together parts 27 feet long. These had to be laid out and stake posts put in to hold them up and finally the masts were hoisted in to position using ropes and tackles. This was done with great care being in the middle of a mine field ! After we had set this lot up we had a transmitter used for talking to Cairo and the other one was used as a beacon.

Marvellous facilities and wired control tower !

The Italians had a marvellous barrack block set up at this place and our boys were just able to move straight in with no problem. However when we were looking round the control tower. We found that the occupying forces had wired up mines all along the run way and with the touch of a button in the control tower. The run way would have blown up taking us with it. If we knew this before landing, we would have not landed at all !

Aircraft and Germans.

There were a number of aircraft at this airfield. Some Fiesler Fi-156 Storch German observation planes and a Focke-Wulf Condor. A large four engine job. We broke in and had a good look round not only the planes but all the stores as well, not thinking of the possibility of booby traps. However there were none! The planes were then stripped of all their radio gear etc: rendering them un-usable.

Two or three months later a lorry drove up out side our barrack block and out stepped about a dozen Germans. These gents were all dressed up in their flying jackets etc: They then made their way to the Focke-Wulf Condor. However before they could make it they were all arrested. The Fockwalf so we were told at the time acted as a go between for Berlin and Tokyo by the axis forces

My older brother Ted.

Whilst on Rhodes I had a bout of sand fly fever and managed to get a week off and was able to visit my brother Ted (a staff sergeant in the army corps of signals) at a rest camp at Voulgameni close to Athens. At that time he was stationed in Athens. When I met Ted for the last time he was rather concerned that his unit was being posted to the far east and this worried him. Anyway three weeks later he was dead. I think that Elas the revolutionaries were responsible but no one knows the story.

During the early part of the war Ted was a member of the Territorial Army and was posted to northern France he stayed there until the Dunkirk evacuation. I met Ted after this at the Park Side Hotel and was able to tell my parents he was fine. He then travelled to Harrogate Yorkshire to marry a Yorkshire lass. The day after he was posted with the expeditionary forces to Tunisia North Africa, Sicily Italy and finally to Athens.

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