大象传媒

From Canterbury to Cologne. (Part 2 of 3.)

We shifted our H.Q.鈥檚 about half a mile further towards Caen after a couple of days as Jerrys鈥� guns were getting a bit too accurate. We set up in a very small wood, and were quite happy there until, through the swollen headedness of our new Sgt. Major, we were found out and bombed after having out two chandeliers of lights, one each end of the wood, and they let us have it. We were really extremely lucky and only one man was killed. It was one of my closest escapes as the man was half in my tiny dug-out when he died. It was soon after this incident that we saw the R.A.F. bomb Caen, and it wasn鈥檛 long before we went forward again as the Falaise Gap was just starting to close around the Germans. We stopped just outside a place called Thury-Harcourt, a very picturesque little village, where we stayed until Falaise was eventually taken. What a battle! and what a mess there was in there, just before getting into the town I saw a nasty sight which will always remain in my memory. There was a gap ( no doubt an old gun sight left by the Germans) cut out by the side of the main road, which was full of dead horses. In the Germans panic they had machine gunned them all so that the British troups would not be able to use them. It was really a frightful sight to see them all there as there were at least 20 or 30 of them, and they had been really beautiful animals. We stayed at Falaise for about two weeks before we pushed on towards the Seine. We crossed during the night on small rafts, and a very eerie and nasty experience too as we were being potted at all the time, although I was more concerned about sinking and getting wet as the weight of the two jeeps, two officers, another lad and myself, put the raft very nearly below water, but we just made the other side without mishap.

When daylight broke I was surprised to see a change for the better in the countryside as it was more wooded, and seemed much cleaner in appearance, but even so, we still had the smell of dead cattle around for a couple of days until they were buried. We actually used our tents this time as we were shielded all round by trees, and we all enjoyed a decent night鈥檚 sleep except for the mosquitoes that always seem to pester us in the evenings, but we didn鈥檛 even feel them bite us as we were all dog tired having dug dug-outs below our tents, just to be on the safe side, before retiring. It was after crossing the Somme that we actually saw other human beings instead of troops. You can guess how the lads cheered and gave the glad eye when a young female waved to us whilst en route, but none of us had seen a woman for quite a number of months, and to see one after so long, naturally she looked like a beautiful princess, and it wasn鈥檛 long before one of the cockney lads came out with the remark 鈥済et up them stairs.鈥�

Our next move was via Brussels, and we arrived there about four hours after its Liberation. What a welcome! The people went mad. I was driving my jeep accompanied by an officer, and we hadn鈥檛 got 200 yards into the town before the jeep was full up with apples, pears, tomatoes, grapes, minerals, eggs and bottles of beer which the people had pushed onto us. Each time we stopped we were hugged and kissed by girls and women of all ages, and believe me I had more than my share, was my face red! We stopped about 3 miles outside the town where there was hardly a living soul, but it was just as well, as we all made pigs of ourselves with eggs and tomatoes. We had them for breakfast for 3 weeks afterwards. So you can imagine the quantity I had collected. It was in the town that I had a puncture, and whilst changing the wheel, an English woman who had married a Belgian, told me about some of the atrocities the Germans had done to them.

The following morning we passed through a town called Mechalen, which was also crowded with people who gave us a great welcome. It was here that a young girl of about 10 gave me a card of the Town Hall for a souvenir, and on it was written 鈥榤any many thanks for our liberation鈥�. She spoke a little English and I had to give her a souvenir in exchange for the card. I鈥檓 afraid I was minus a cap badge for a few weeks.

It was quite some time before we saw, or came across, civilisation again and guessed that, by the devastation we passed, we were not so far behind Jerry again. Well we knew that just after leaving Heyst den Berg and found that we were to guard the canals of Albert and Escant. It was really sticky at one of them and even though we got over the bridge during the night, we had to get back again by 10am next morning and it was very man for himself. Being the Medical Orderly I was the last to leave and I only just made it by the skin of my teeth. If the jeep had had wings, it certainly would have taken off the way I shot over the bridge. Very often I had to take my officer on 鈥榬eccy鈥� and one time at Ghent 4 officers and 4 OR鈥檚, including myself, whilst just outside this town, found that we were in no man鈥檚 land, and for nearly 12 hours we had to lay hidden in amongst the bushes, at times not daring to breath, as small detachments of Germans passed within 20 yards of us. Lucky for us we had only jeeps and not bigger lorries, as we were able to push them right into the bushes and so hide that way.

A day after the Arnhem men had dropped, we followed the wedge that we had cut through Jerries lines. It was a pretty gruesome affair as we not only had Jerry in front of us, but on both sides too, and naturally we were always afraid of being cut off. The going was hard, and two or three times we had to stop and do an anti-gun roll. A Regiment of R.A. L.A.A. just in front of us did get cut up and we saw what there was left of men and guns on the way through; it was very nerve racking for me. We got as far as Grave where we protected an airstrip for Dakotas taking wounded back to England. We were only there for a day and I slept in a barn full of beautiful apples and I ate to my heart鈥檚 content. We stayed another day at Eindhoven (quite near the town) where the bridge was quite a beautiful one, and much bigger that the ones we had crossed in out previous journeys.

The next stop was our real destination, Nijmegen, a tremendous span of bridge not very far from Arnhem. I am afraid our casualties were very heavy there as we had to guard that bridge at all costs and at the same time help get the Arnhem boys out. Night and day it was being shelled or attempted to be blown up by German frogmen, as we called them. We were there quite a few weeks, but I had plenty to do. Going around finding casualties in the dark, generally during the pouring rain, was no mean feat. It was on one of these occasions that I called my Colonel a B.F., to his annoyance, and got away with it. I was call out to a casualty on one of our gun sites. It had been bombed and I had to take this man to a F.D.S. but unfortunately it had moved, so I promptly took him to the nearest M.O. which was at our own H.Q. I treated this man for shock. He didn鈥檛 realise how bad his injuries were. The Colonel walked in and said what a terrible gash it was, which naturally upset the man, especially when the Colonel offered him a morphine tablet.

Owing to being short of men, I volunteered to get the mail, but the snag of it was that I had to go over Nijmegen Bridge twice to get it, there and back. I was always in my jeep, my life saver I think, as I always just missed being a casualty when in it. I always shot over that bridge like a rocket. No good to dilly dally when 88 shells were being shot at it and I never did less than 60mph.

After the Nijmegen affair we went back to Weert for a rest, and it was indeed a good rest if only for 2 weeks, as we were fairly shaken up and needed a break. Weert is quite a small town in Holland, but very neat and clean, and the Dutch folk were very friendly towards us and couldn鈥檛 do enough to make us feel at home. Whilst there, our small T.H.Q. were billeted in a small cardboard and vinegar factory, but we made ourselves very comfortable as there were plenty of mattresses to which we helped ourselves instead of sleeping on the hard floor. Our cook and I got very friendly with a family of blacksmiths next door and I had my birthday in their home as the father of the family had his 80th birthday on the same day. Where they got all the good food and ice cream from I don鈥檛 know, but we had about seven courses. I ate from 7 to10pm and gorged myself nearly sick. Luckily there was a Father of a Brotherhood (a monk) who could speak a little English so we were able to converse and make ourselves fairly understood. When I left I carried on a correspondence with him and still hear from him occasionally. One of the outstanding things I recall is that there was a public baths and, not having had a proper bath for months, we all made full use of it. We were indeed very sorry to leave our Dutch friends, but war is war and we were off again, and what a hole, talk about sublime to the cor-blimey!!

We went on to Louvraine, a place very desolate and terribly bombed. The gun sites were in the rubble of what was left of houses and our T.H.O. was in a shattered gasworks, but we were fortunate enough to have a roof over our heads and we were warm as there was a big stove in the hut where we slept. On Christmas Eve, three of us went for a walk around what was left of the town, but after about half an hour, we went back and amused ourselves playing cards. Our dinner was all out of tins and was not appetizing at all. In fact it was worse than a Christmas spent in the Army at all, but like most things in war time, we just put up with it. New Year鈥檚 Day we left Louvraine, at least all but myself, my jeep and a mechanic, owing to a breakdown. Our guns hadn鈥檛 left more than half an hour previous when Jerry came over with about 100 M.E.鈥檚 and shot up the place; they came in so low that I didn鈥檛 take much notice of them, thinking them to be Spitfires, until they opened up with their cannons. Maybe some of you will remember that the airfield at Brussels was badly wrecked that day and it may have been the same squadron. I was fairly fortunate to dodge behind a very thick wall and luckily my jeep missed being hit. When we finally did leave, we were about seven hours behind the others, and arrived at Dinant in Belgium just about midnight.

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