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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Roger Marsh of the ‘Action Desk — Sheffield’ Team on behalf of Arthur Ward, and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

LIFE IN THE ARMY

by
ARTHUR WARD
December 1939 - November 1945
“A soldier, civilian and father of whom we are so proud”
"To My Mother and Dad"
Contents:

Chapter Title Ref. No.
Preface A4345544
Chapter 1 War is declared, and I enlist A4345544
Chapter 2 “Total Despair” A4345959
Chapter 3 A trip to France to “Save Paris” A4348073
Chapter 4 My 21st Birthday A4348587
Chapter 5 Peebles A43488820
Chapter 6 Lockerbie and I meet Nessie Bell A4361050
Chapter 7 My stay in the Norwich Hospital A4438127
Chapter 8 Ashford in Kent A4453689
Chapter 9 Embarkation leave A4453850
Chapter 10 The second part of My War A4453959
Chapter 11 A practically unknown train stop called El Alamein A4454156
Chapter 12 The Battle of El Alamein A4454282
Chapter 13 ‘Hygiene in the Field’ A4514915
Chapter 14 ‘Montgomery’s Left Hook’ A4515338
Chapter 15 The battle for Wadi Akarit AA4517345
Chapter 16 The Germans are kicked out of Africa A4517606
Chapter 17 The invasion of Europe - Sicily A4517778
Chapter 18 Catania, Sicily A0000000
Chapter 19 Back to North Africa A0000000
Chapter 20 Posted to ‘E’ Battery 11th (HAC) REGT RHA CMF A0000000
Chapter 21 The Gothic Line A0000000
Chapter 22 The Plain of Lombardy A0000000
Chapter 23 Across the River Lamone and on through Faenza A0000000
Chapter 24 D—Day in Italy and we cross the River Reno A0000000
Chapter 25 The River Po Crossed in Force A0000000
Chapter 26 Peace time in Italy and ‘V-E Day’ the End of the War in Europe A0000000
Chapter 27 My Holidays in Venice, Italy A0000000
Chapter 28 ‘V-J Day’ the End of the War in the Far East A0000000
Chapter 29 Home leave and Demobilisation A0000000
Chapter 30 The post war years A0000000

PREFACE

This story of my war years is dedicated to my wife Connie, my sons Peter and Robert, my grandchildren and all members of the Ward and Owen families who recently have patiently listened to some of my war experiences.

Also to the following:
My comrades who lost their lives and many who came back from the War with broken limbs and damaged minds.

To my best mate Albert White from Thurlstone who died in 1966 whom I shall never forget.

To the people at home who had to manage their lives with poor rations, air attacks and the worry of not knowing where their sons and daughters were, and would they ever return?

And with a heartfelt thanks to God for answering my prayers during times of extreme fear, and almost total despair, in keeping me to live through the horror of 6 years of War.

But not forgetting the many happy times but most of all, the comradeship more apparent during times of war.

I wish to thank everyone who helped in producing my War story including:

My son Peter (Ward Associates (Quantity Surveyors) Limited - Director)
Emma Ford (Ward Associates (Quantity Surveyors) Limited - Secretary)
Major K Boulton for excerpts from his War story
Sgt E Knell for excerpts from his War story

Arthur Ward was a member of:
279 Battery 70th Field Regt. R.A. from December 12, 1939 to May 21, 1941
‘A’ Battery 11th (HAC) Regt. R.H.A. from September 04, 1942 to June 24, 1944
‘E’ Battery 11th (HAC) Regt. R.H.A. from June 24, 1944 to November 30, 1945

The following is a list of Army terms, slang and abbreviations which may help when reading my War story.
TERM = DESCRIPTION
NCO's = Non Commissioned Officers
Gnr. = Gunner - lowest rank equal to Private
L/bdr. = Lance Bombardier - one stripe
Bdr. = Bombardier - two stripes
L/sgt. = Lance Sergeant - three stripes
Sgt. = Sergeant - three stripes with gun
Sgt. Maj. = Sergeant Major - Crown on forearm
2nd Lt = Second Lieutenant - one Crown on shoulder
Lt = Lieutenant - two Crowns on shoulder
Capt = Captain - three Crowns on shoulder
Maj = Major
Col = Colonel
C.O. = Commanding Officer
M.O. = Medical Officer (Doctor)
Dvr. = Driver
Sig. = Signaller
No.1 = Sgt in charge of a gun and sub section
Bty. = Battery
Regt. = Regiment
Div. = Division
Brew (up) = Make a cup of tea
Char and wad = Cup of tea and a cake or bun
25 Pdr. = 25 Pounder gun (fires 25 pound (in weight) shells)
105 mm = American gun (fires 35 pound (in weight) shells)
0.5 Browning = 1/2" bore machine gun to fire at enemy planes and infantry
Priest = 105 mm Gun on Grant tank chassis
SP Guns = Self Propelled Guns
Sexton = 25 Pdr gun on Grant tank chassis
H.F. = Harassing Fire - shells fired to keep enemy awake
D.F. = Defensive Fire - shells fired to prevent enemy attack
Tiffy = Short for artificer - maintenance engineer
Griff = Information
Kip = Asleep in bed
P.O.W = Prisoner of War
Reveille = Time to rise our of bed - usually sounded on a bugle
Lights Out = Time to sleep - usually sounded on a bugle
Bivvy = Small canvas tent to sleep one man
Wadi = African name for dried up river bed
Leaguer = Vehicles parked in a circle in the desert (similar to the wagon trains in the Wild West of America)
Latrines = Toilets - where non available `a walk with a shovel' to a `private spot'
Ablutions = Army method of washing - very often just a tap with cold water
Civvies = Civilians or civilian clothing
NAAFI = Navy, Army, Air Force Institute - Services Canteen
Quad = Vehicle for towing gun and limber

Some of the dates are only approximate as I wrote up my dairy at various times after the events took place, so that if I had been captured by the enemy, the information would have been of no use to them, Officially we should not have kept a diary.

Chapter 1 — War is declared, and I enlist

This is the start of A Ward's time in the army. In September 1938 I was aged 19 years and 2 months and the situation on the continent was bad because Adolf Hitler, the Chancellor of Germany, was in the mood to take over all their surrounding countries and Great Britain had pledged to defend these countries, so all men of my age expected to be called up under what was called 'conscription'.

However, many negotiations took place and Neville Chamberlain met Adolf Hitler and brought home his famous piece of paper which said that England and Germany would not go to war against each other. This turned out to be a ploy for Germany to have a bit more time to build up their supplies of war materials, so for months there was an uneasy peace. Things became worse and at the beginning of September 1939, the Germans invaded Poland and as Great Britain had an arrangement to help them, Hitler was given 24 hours in which to withdraw, which he refused.

September 03, 1939
On the morning of 3 September 1939 which was a Sunday, I met my cycling friends at Arthur Percival's house in Queens Road, 279 Beighton, and we had the radio on, and at 11 am the Prime Minister (Neville Chamberlain) announced that as the Germans had not withdrawn from Poland in the 24 hours given to them, then we were at war with Germany.

We could not do anything about it, so we decided to set out on our cycle ride.

My diary says that owing to the circumstances, we only went a short ride to Worksop and Blyth, and during the day, we picked blackberries and played at football. On the run were Alice Brown, Eric Percival, Dick Thompson and Winnie Sewell. I have kept in touch with Winnie ever since, although we only now exchange Christmas cards and I have not seen her since 1950. That day in 1939, we only travelled 32 miles, and the topic of conversation was how long would it be before we were called up into the forces.

During the day the air raid sirens sounded, and although we all treated it as a joke, very soon it would be serious, although the one on the first day turned out to be a false alarm.

Already one member of our cycling club had been called up, it was Arthur Percival and he was a few months older than I.

It was now classed as a 'phoney' war as very little seemed to be happening. The RAF flew over Germany, but only dropped leaflets instead of bombs.

November 06, 1939
This day I had to go to the Cutlers Hall in Sheffield, where there was an inspection by 5 doctors and I passed Grade A1, which was the first step to a 'career' in the services. It was strange to me to see so many naked men, but it was a sight we had soon to get used to seeing. I was asked which service of the army I would like to be in and I said the Royal Engineers, so that I may be able to learn something which would help me in my job in the building trade.

December 01, 1939
My mother's 45th birthday - I received a letter saying that I had to report to Gibraltar Barracks, Leeds on 12 December 1939. A travel warrant for the train was included, but I had to report to the Royal Artillery; so much for my request!!! The next few days were spent in visiting friends and relations to say goodbye, for we did not know how long we would be away. It was usual for near relations to give cash or gifts like cigarettes to men in the forces, although later in the war, the latter became very scarce.

December 12, 1939
The big day arrived. I left home about 8:30 am and caught a bus to Sheffield. Walking up the Station approach to the LNER (before nationalisation) were many men of a similar age to me, most were carrying battered suitcases and some, with their belongings in brown carrier bags. Those days we did not have 'posh' suitcases, as it was very rare to have holidays at the seaside, and it was unknown for working class people to go abroad. So far, my only holidays were a week in an apartment at Cleethorpes (we had to provide our own food), and my cousin Douglas Allen and I had to get there and back on our bikes whilst our Eric, Eva and mother went on the train, also a one night stay in Blackpool for the illuminations and a cycle tour with Ray Lister to Kings Lynn, Skegness and Cleethorpes over a bank holiday weekend. Then of course the annual Sunday school trips by train to Cleethorpes and once even to Skegness!

On Victoria Station I started a conversation with Bill Turner from Maltby who was to become a good mate for my first few years in the army.

I boarded the train which was very full, mainly with men of my age reporting for the services. I was a bit embarrassed to find that in the same compartment was Mr Berry who had been the Headmaster at Woodhouse Grammar School, which I had only left four years previously. However, it was not too bad as he joined in the conversation with us all!!!

Also in the compartment was Louis Jacques from Aughton, whom I had known during my school days, but I cannot remember ever seeing or hearing anything about him again.

On arrival in Leeds, Bill Turner and I stuck close together, as a group of Army Officers and NCO's met us and herded us all together into a group. There must have been 50 pale looking young lads having just left home for the first time, looking a bit bewildered and lost. We were eventually lined up in rows of three (complete with suitcases etc) and 'marched' to Gibraltar Barracks.

We looked a motley crew dressed in all types of civvy clothing and carrying suitcases, bags etc. which did not help us to 'march' very well.

We arrived at the barracks where we split up into various groups, and Bill and I were able to keep together. There, we found that most things in the army were done in alphabetical order as T and W were not far apart.

Then we were issued with mess tins and a knife, fork and spoon and our first helping of army stew. To us it tasted terrible, but by this time we were hungry, so we managed to eat it all.

Then an announcement was made that we were all in the 70th Field Regt Royal Artillery and were being posted to Scarborough. I had told everyone at home that I would be staying in Leeds, so it would not be very far to get home. However Scarborough did not sound so bad!!!

We then had to form up in three's again and march back to Leeds station. We boarded a train to Scarborough where we had to change trains on to a smaller one, which travelled on a single track line round various small villages and finally arrived at Brompton by Sawdon (a distance of about 20 miles). By now it was dark and we made our way to a courtyard behind a large country house (which was the stables yard), where several army trucks were waiting. We climbed aboard and they took us about 4 miles, where we were told to 'dismount'. We were soon learning a new army language.

Bill Turner and I had clung together like leeches all day.

Pr-BR

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