´óÏó´«Ã½

I was a lance corporal with the DR driving trucks and motorbikes during the war. We were based in Buxton and worked all over the area north of London. My main job was towing spotlights out to landing sites during the night.

I was called up before the war because I had been in the Territorial Army. I started out working for the DR in France in 1939. However, I managed to avoid Dunkirk as our group was evacuated early.

Working with the DR gave us lots of chances to be mischievious. There were about 7 people in our group and we used to cover one another so that we could go back home during the day. Often we did this on our own transport, for example the army commandeered my motorbike and then paid me two shillings for every mile I rode it! Another time we commandeered Lord Guinness’ mansion, including his wine cellar. We used to sneak some of his drink out of the cellar.Luckily we managed to not get caught stealing his drink because the porthole we used to get into the cellar was very small and we covered it up when we weren’t using it. We gave some of the drink to the officers but they never found out where it was from.

Most of our days were spent maintaining our vehicles and preparing for inspections. We used to have to get our uniforms clean and our buttons sparkling and then rush out into muddy fields in them. Particular attention was paid to our boots and we would spend hours making sure that they were as clean and shiny as possible. At night, however, we would have to move quickly to get the spotlights out on time. Often we would have to deploy the spotlights in an air raid. Thankfully none of my unit ever got hit but at times it was a close thing.

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