大象传媒

In August 1940,what remained of the British army was gathered on the south coast of England awaiting "Operation Sea Lion" the German code word for the invasion of England.
The 1st Kensington Regiment was assigned the task of patrolling the North Foreland and as might be expected, we were seldom in the same venue for more for more than a few days. At each location we were obliged to mount a guard and as th rota for the duty was selected alphabetically, I was constantly on duty and I lost a lot of sleep.
Stationed at Cheriton near to Folkestone,I took the opportunity to approach the Company Sergeant Major and asked polity,if on some occasions, the tour of guard duty could start from the bottom of the alphabet and include such names as Williams and Wilcocks,who seldom were called for guard duty.
The Sergeant Major smiled at me and murmured "come with me. He held me gently by the hand and took me to a local War Memorial"look Corporal Atkinson" he exclaimed in a friendly manner"when you are killed,as you surely will be. Your name will be on the top of a War Memorial"
His tone of voice suddenly changed "now get out of my way" he snarled"you orrible little man.
Needless to say the choosing of the guard followed the same pattern.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.