大象传媒

Mr Whitehead鈥檚 21st birthday was just 4 days after the outbreak of the war on 3rd September 1939. Before the war he had left school at 14 in the hope of becoming an engineering apprentice. By the age of 16 he had acheived his aim and was training as an Engineer鈥檚 apprentice at Brotherhood鈥檚 which was one of the 4 major engineering firms in Peterborough.

However just 6 months before the war broke out he was conscripted to join the militia where he was trained as a Heightfinder for the Anti-Aircraft guns (Ack Ack). After he had finished his 6 months training he was conscripted into the army, instead of becoming a Heightfinder as he had been trained the army decided to find a different post. They saw that he had been an Engineer鈥檚 apprentice and felt it wise to make him a mechanic in a Field Ambulance. He was sent to Salisbury Plain where he joined up with the rest of his team; however the driver clearly had not been trained very well as his driving showed.

When Mr Whitehead was told to prepare to be sent to France for April 1940, he left the UK on a boat at Falmouth destined for the French port of Brest. The crossing was a smooth one but as Mr Whithead was comfortable on most types of sea, his only complaint was how crowded the boat was. On arrival at Brest he expected to find a large fleet of Ambulances, which were then to progress to the front. However he was to find that all of the other Ambulances in his division had landed at the port of Calais. The common sense of the army had once again deserted them.

Life was good in France away from the front, especially due to the strength of the 拢 in comparison with the Franc. He commented that they felt like kings and most of their money was spent on the local bars enjoying a drink with the locals.

Life at the front in his section was not as chaotic as at the rest of the line. His division occupied a section of the French Maginot line near Sauerbrucken. There was not a lot of enemy fire with just sporadic shelling; only a few injuries were incurred because the troops were stationed in the protective concrete that the line offered.

After a quiet time at the front the division was ordered to enter Belgium. Their furthest advance was to Louvain, which is to the east of Brussels, in early May 1940. However the Germans were waiting for them and counter-attacked with tanks and the feared Stuka dive bombers. Mr Whitehead commented that the bombs used by the Stukas had a whistle when they fell in order to terrify the troops below, but after a few experiences he became used to the sound. It was at this stage that a general retreat was ordered to the beaches. His retreat lasted from May 10th until he reached the beaches on around May 24th 1940. The beach at which he was situated was La Panne to the west of Dunkirk where his division set up a field hospital in the basement of a hotel near to the beach. During the day he would drive the Ambulance taking the wounded from around the local area to the field hospital on the beach. At night, when there were no enemy planes about, he would drive the seriously wounded to Dunkirk where they would be evacuated back to Britain. All the time Mr Whitehead and his comrades felt like 鈥漵hittin blue sparks鈥� meaning that their imaginations were elsewhere, but they managed to keep control of themselves, aided by the Naval detachment sent to maintain order and control.

It was June 1st when the order was given to evacuate. 鈥滶very man for himself鈥� was how the troops saw it. Later that evening Mr Whitehead was able to get a place on a paddle steamer which evacuated him from the beaches. On the way they were attacked by Stuka dive bombers but as it was dark their attack was inaccurate. He arrived on the morning of June 2nd at the port of Folkstone where he immediately tried to get the word to his parents that he was alive. Whilst in France soldiers were given a card to tell their situation, on the back of which was the address of their next of kin. Mr Whitehead filled out the card so as to indicate to his father that he was alive and well. He found a porter at the local train station and asked if he would post it but the porter said he would do better to send a telegram. The telegram reached Mr Whitehead鈥檚 father on his birthday; he commented that it was the best birthday present that he had ever received. Shortly after returning to England Mr Whitehead married in 1940 and had a son in 1941.

His next posting was as a Turner/Fitter which involved repairing vehicles for the military. A lot of the vehicles that he worked on were those which had been confiscated from the public as the army had left all of their heavy equipment at Dunkirk. After working here for 6 months he was called to the manager鈥檚 office where he was told to pack his bags in order to return to 鈥檆ivvy street鈥�. His new job was as a torpedo mechanic at Brotherhood鈥檚 in Peterborough where he had been an apprentice before the war. He helped to build the 18鈥� torpedoes used by planes and 21鈥� torpedoes used by boats. As well as this he joined the Home Guard where he 鈥漰layed soldiers鈥�. In the early part of the war many of these 鈥漵oldiers鈥� realised that the role that they would play in the defence of the country would be minimal as they would have been no match for the army of Hitler.

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