大象传媒

This story has been submitted to the People's War website by Liz Andrew of the Lancshomeguard on behalf of William Houldgreaves and added to the site with his permission.

I was 16 years old and still at Preston Grammar School when war broke out and I remember we were let off school while we dug shelters in the playground and for a time we got our lessons by post.

I left school in late 1940 and worked in the clerical department of the Aircraft factory - which was later to become English Electric.

In 1942, at the age of 19, I was called up and sent for 6 weeks training at Derby - we learnt all about parade grounds and rifles and machine guns. Afterwards I was sent to Catterick for six months training as a radio mechanic.

In May 1943 I was posted to Ulverston where we we were based above a service garage and in June we were given two weeks Embarkation Leave - two weeks of glory! On the 12th of August we marched from an old mill where we had been sleeping on the floor to the station at Whalley and took the train for Bristol. We had a break at Preston Railway station and used the well-known Preston free Buffet.This was run by local women who included my own mother. They would work 12 hour shifts and keep the Buffet open all night. The Forces couldn't believe it . The ladies even paid to work there! - they'd put a bob or a tanner in a box to help fund the Buffet. But I didn't see my mother when we were passing through - she wasn't on duty, and, of course, had not known we'd be travelling through. Mugs have been found all over the world saying Please Return to the Preston Free Buffet - they've even turned up in Africa!

In Bristol we boarded the Arundel Castle - a liner which had been converted to a troop ship with three layers of bunks below decks. In the other ships you usually had to sleep in hammocks. We were in some danger from U Boats - but we were fairly resigned. We had no idea where we were going and felt rather apprehensive but we had to take what comes - or what the officers told us to do. I remember we could show no lights at all - you couldn't even smoke a cigarette on deck. We woke to find we had joined a large convoy of ships including aircraft carriers. Ours was one of the first convoys into the Mediterranean - for a time we thought we were going to Italy but we were mistaken.

Eventually we sailed through the Mediterranean to Port Said then took the train to Tulkaram followed by five days travel by wagon to Baghdad. We arrived on my twentieth birthday and I joined the 87th Field Regiment - it was my job to look after their radio sets.

On 18th December we were given leave and stayed at the YMCA in Baghdad. It was amazing - we noticed the lights and the fact there was no blackout. There were palm trees everywhere,lots of mosques and big archways over the Tigris - it was quite up to date. There were cafes and the shops were full of goods like watches - it was a lively place. We got by because the people in the shops spoke pidgin English.

Our regiment left for Teheran on 30th March 1944 then moved back to Karnakin. It was our task to patrol the pipelines and the road to Russia. The Americans were ferrying food and ammunition along the road - you could always tell the Yanks - they'd have one leg over the side of their jeep!!

It was rather primitive living in the desert. For toilets on a journey we'd just take a spade with us into the desert. If we were in the transit camps wew'd just sit on a log next to our mates - there was no modesty. We used to call the urinals Desert Roses!

When we were travelling we'd either sleep in the back of the lorry or six to a tent. If we were pitching the tents for any length of time we'd dig down into the sand a bit so we could stand up inside without being hunched and sometimes we'd tarmac the floor! We used empty petrol cans for everything - we'd make lockers out of them and build walls with them - you could put your books on them and cups of tea.

We had a nice mobile shop with us - you could buy soap and razor blades, tins of peas and tins of bacon. You could even get spam from America. We'd have fry-ups using a frying pan and my blow lamp from work - I was a busy lad!

We were given a couple of gallons of water every day from the water wagon - it was to do us for everything - washing, shaving and teeth. We'd put our drinking water into canvas chargols and tie them to the front of the vehicles so that the draft would keep them cool. When we wanted to brew up we'd fill an empty can with sand, then pour petrol in and boil water over it - it made a costly cup of tea!

They were happy days - I enjoyed the comradeship and we knew what we were doing.
I was with the same group of people in the Signals for three years . We all shared the same tent and became good friends. We all had mosquito nets -but there were no sheets and pillows - just blankets and boards. Many of us suffered from dysentry but I was never unwell. I remember you always had to empty your boots in the morning to check there were no scorpions inside .

Sometimes the mobile cinema would come and of course we'd go out to the cinema when we could - I remember seeing The Dolly Sisiters in the cinema in Baghdad - the soundtrack was in English but it had Arabic subtitles. And I remember a cinema in Damascus where the whole of the roof folded back. Once ENSA came to entertain us - We were in the backwoods of course so it wasn't exactly Vera Lynn - just a comedian and a couple of dancers - but it was a big Do for us.

We moved on to Damascus - and to Tripoli near Haifa. I celebrated my next birthday in Haifa with a cake my mother had sent out to me. We'd been following the progress of the War in Europe all the while on maps but over in the Middlke East we were really quite safe.We celebrated VE Day with 2 bottles of beer in Ahwaz in Iran.

On November 8th the Royal Artillery held a farewell dinner at Karnakin and then packed up and left for the UK. But we in the Signals were just going on leave. The war was over but there was a lot left to do. We left on January 1st via Haifa and Port Said and then sailed to the south of France. From there we took the train north to England, London and Preston. It took three weeks to travel there and three to travel back. When I returned to the Middle East I was posted to Basra to look after the transmitter room.

In October 1946 I was promoted Corporal and posted the following month to Cairo where I had to equip a new wireless room. It was from there that I returned eventually to the UK.

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