大象传媒

I joined the army at Hyderabad barracks, Colchester, in MArch 1944 after training in Sheffield as an RASC driver. I was posted to 371 Coy C.M.T.A.T. Notting Hill Gate, West London, where our training continued. This included a motor-cycle course via Kensington Barracks, back entrance to Kensington Gardens - later to become Princess Margaret's and Lady Diana's homes. When we had completed the course we used to do a duty despatch rider job over night. This was the only time I had a nice cup of tea, from a lovely ATS girl first thing in the morning. This was the calm before the storm.
The first flying bomb I remember was at night as we were going to kip. We thought it was an ME 109 as the guns in Hyde Park were firing at it and it was on fire behind the warhead. We certainly cheered when it came down, but dived for cover when the bang wentand the glass flew about. We soon learnt that when on a motorcycle the way to go was left or right if a V1 was coming up behind you, as they seemed to come from the East End over Hyde Park and on westwards sometimes!
I remember I was returning from a run around the London Barracks one day whilst passing behind Knightsbridge on Hyde Park Road, this had a speed limit, I heard the dreaded sound of a V1. Quickly opening up the 350cc Matchless and forgetting all about speed limits I made the exit gate at the Albert Hall in double quick time. As I went through the gate two Canadian Military Police seemed to take off after me but their Harleys were a bit heavy for the back streets of Kensington and I lost them and myself in the backs of South Kensington.
A really bad day was when a flying bomb hit the Guards' chapel during a Sunday morning service. Three of us were off duty and were stood at the far end from the Guards Barracks when the V1's engines cut out and it dived on to th eroof of the chapel. If only it had comedown in the Green Park the number of dead would have more than likely been none as the guard at the palace stood fast. I was amazed to see an American serviceman taking photos of the scene whilst the bomb splinters sparked along the palace railings. I decided that this was a dodgy place to be, so I dived over a Scotch Major in a kilt, heels touching him as I did so - "sorry, sir" I said. "Keep your head down laddie" he said. "Yes, sir" I says, being well aware that to us other ranks Majors were equal to Gods. I still think to this day that the Yank with cameras had a death wish. I suppose more than one person still around owes his life to a tree though.
My really close shave with a V1, that I had nightmares about for years after, came one day when I was detailed for roof spotting on a waterworks pumping station close to our billets in Notting Hill Gate. This day there was low cloud. I could hear it coming, but I couldn't see it. I blew my whistle and then it cut out, came straight over the roof of the building in a glide and blew up in the next street, putting a driver who had just passed by in Millbank Hospital. I expect I have been as close to a live V1 and lived as anybody except the German woman who flew one (without the live warhead I bet).
Another job I had was at Kempton Racecourse, Sunbury-on-Thames. This was a reception centre for German POWs; they used to come in by train by the 100s, escorted by Military Police with blue caps. once inside the stands the POWs were guarded by Pioneer Corps with Bren guns. I was amazed to see young boys playing leapfrog within the stands one day. The guards told me they were Russians who had been forced to work in the Germans' field kitchens.
My duties with a Driver Price from Exeter were to convey officers who interrogated the German POWs after they had gone through the showers (whilst they were in there their uniforms were searched)The vehicle used was a standard utility, and the officers interrogating were all bilingual. Us drivers slept in tents and were kept awake by V1 bangs and Germans singing "we are marching against England". One early morning in daylight there was a loud bang - a V2 was the culprit - the tent flap slapped the Provo Sergeant across the face, who then sat up in his camp bed and said "Who hit me?" I said "lay down or you could lose your life". I remember how the POWs in the daylight would watch the flying bombs go by. If they landed in a field there would be no noise; if it should hit a house they would cheer - one or two fingers used to tighten on triggers at that moment I think.
Whilst back at Notting Hill Gate most of the sandbags we had worked so hard and sweated to fill up (no Union agreement on this job) seemed to have been dispatched somewhere else by German explosives. One site we had sandbagged, the ATS billets, had a good selection of their underwear up on the local telephone wires and trees. We had had also sandbagged the U.S. Ambassador'shouse and that had been blasted. At this time we had a talk by a local C.I.D. officer, (stands for Coppers in Distress, I understand) he warned us about what would happen to us if we did any looting. as we were working all day and on guard duty most nights, that didn't seem likely. After seeing two nude bodies that had been blown out the top of a hotel near Kensington Barracks any of us rookies who had any doubts knew then that war wasn't very pleasant, and you would only get a gold watch if you were very, very lucky!
May I say that I think I owe Bomber Command and Fighter Command of the RAF for my life. Fighter Command for shooting so many of the V1s down and before in the Battle of Britain, and Bomber Command for the raid on Peenamunde on 17th August 1943 when they bombed and destroyed the V1 and V2 sites and afterwards the sites in France. I like to think I helped a little ( very little) as I worked on making the Stirling Bombers in Swindon area during the War. 50+ Stirlings took part in the raid and 41 aircraft failed to return out of 597 detailed. I think that if that raid hadn't taken place the bottom half of England, towns and cities would have been devastated; we could well have been on the losing side.
After London us rookies were posted to an amphibious training camp at Towyn, North Wales to do a course on DUKWs and then to the Middle East, but that's another story.

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