大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Henryka McDuff for the 大象传媒 and has been added to the website on behalf of Mr Leeming with his permission. He fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

I worked for HM Customs and Excise. Just before 3 September 1939, I got a note on the Saturday saying 鈥淚f hostility is declared . . .鈥� you should stay away from work for three days. I thought this was wonderful.
On the Sunday morning, when war was announced, I was in digs. My landlady was more concerned about the cat and was calling for her saying 鈥淭immy, Timmy鈥�, and she eventually got the moggy indoors. There was no bombing. Nothing exciting happened during the three days I was off work. I cycled around Epping Forest and thought this was wonderful until I realised exactly what was happening.
Some time later, because of the war, I was evacuated to a wonderful place called Liverpool because London was going to close down as a port. I volunteered to join the army. I went into the Royal Artillery and days after joining I was on a heavy anti-aircraft gun and when the sergeant shouted 鈥榝ire鈥� I pushed the lever and the thing fired and I knew no more than that. That was just five days after joining up.
Fortunately, I had been in the Officers鈥� Training Corps at school where we did various army training. Also, I could do mathematics quite well. We had to work out the barrages over Liverpool - where to fire - when the planes were coming over. By this time, a little bit later, they were getting bombed in Liverpool, too, and becauseI had worked out the barrages, the officer thought I was wonderful and recommended me for a commission.

I became an officer nine months after joining the army, at the age of 19. I was a Second Lieutenant. I looked very young, so I grew a moustache because the men in the unit were much older than I was. I tried to make myself impressive!
Two years later, my unit was sent overseas to North Africa. I wasn鈥檛 very popular with the Major because he was a heavy drinker and I wasn鈥檛 鈥� and thus did not socialise well with him. As there were fewer officers in the regiment than in England, I was left behind. I learned later that the whole regiment was wiped out in North Africa and I think God spared me from going.
I went on to a training unit to instruct others in gunnery. The training camp was in Wales where I qualified people to fire AA guns. I got so accustomed that I didn't even hear them. I would walk about three yards behind them, shells would go up and I would keep on walking, whereas others were jumping all over the place. I am surprised I didn鈥檛 become deaf.
An instructor was wanted in West Africa 鈥� a Regimental Gunnery Instructor, which I was. There were only two of us qualified and the other was married, I was single 鈥� so who went to Africa? I arrived in West Africa and when I went to see the Commanding Officer, he asked me what I was there for. I said you asked for a regimental instructor. He said he did not want any regimental instructors.
Some time later, I asked do something worthwhile. 鈥淕o to Burma.鈥� So I was despatched to Asia. I was in the north part of India where there was a lot of fighting and skirmishing. Fortunately, by this time, the Japanese were going in the opposite direction, so I never became involved with any fighting there. I had a wonderful time however, and made a lot of friends. I met people in the YMCA of all ranks from Major General down to Private. We all met together and were very happy in this refuge.
I really had a very easy war; however, the Japanese were not advancing the right way as far as we were concerned. The Regiment was sent back to West Africa. As I had not been in India for very long, they would not let me go back to Africa. Eventually I took all the guns back to Central India which was quite an experience.
I was given good rations when we left the depot but we ran out within a week. I had to hitch on trains and try to get people to carry us wherever they would. I went back to ask for some more rations and was told you could have what were called K-rations which were dry packets, enough for seven days. I said I鈥檇 have a mutiny because I had African troops. 鈥淕ive them those, they will mutiny鈥�. The only way one could get proper rations was to have a form signed by a brigadier. They gave me a form and I signed myself as brigadier. I got good rations. I decided to do it again, seven days later, before we dropped the guns into store in Central India.
Then I was sent down to join the regiment in the jungle in The Arakan, the place called Kindongi off a 鈥� Ramree Island - there I joined the battery which was a field battery, not an anti-aircraft battery. We were in quarters there when the monsoon came. We waited for the next dry season before we were going on to fight the Japanese again.
We never got to that stage because the Japanese war ended and the African who used to look after me came at midnight and said that the war had ended. 鈥淗ow do you know?鈥� He said we got it over the drums. Thus we heard by jungle drums that the Japanese war had ended!
We walked about 100 miles to Prome in Central Burma. We had no transport. Just feet. All the guns we had were broken down to bits, together with all the ammunition, and was carried piece by piece. Everything had to be humped.
I well remember, during that march, some of the troops had gone ahead and put up on the jungle trees BEWARE TIGERS. A few miles later, notices stated TIGERS FRIENDLY, BEWARE SERGEANT MAJOR. Anything to keep the troops happy!
Finally we got to Prome. The boys said 鈥淲ar done finished, we go home tomorrow鈥�. I said I don鈥檛 think we will be going home tomorrow. We had eight or nine months left before we could leave. I was at the stage when I could be sent home and be demobbed. Because I was with African troops, we had to take them to Africa first, demob them, and finally leave for home ourselves. By this time I was earning Japanese campaign money and staff pay.
I was earning 拢1,000 a year which, then, was a lot of money. When I came back home I went back to work in the Customs and went down to 拢250 per year - exactly one quarter of what I was earning in the East. They wanted keen young men, like me, to stay in the army,. I didn鈥檛 fancy being a soldier in peacetime. I didn鈥檛 mind the wartime.
That is all I can say.

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