大象传媒

In January 1944 I started an Engineering Apprenticeship with Jones Cranes / K and H Steelfounders. I got day release for a day at college in Luton every week with pay, necessary books and instruments were also paid for by the firm. In those days it wasn鈥檛 very common for apprentices to be given that privilege.

On 6th June 1944, 鈥淒 Day鈥�, I was working on small petrol engines, which were used to drive all sorts of machinery. One application was for them to drive pumps to sink Mulberry Harbour in position. They were made of concrete and could be floated and towed into position then quickly sunk to rest on the sea bottom and form a harbour wall. You can still see a section of harbour in the sea between Weymouth and Portland. We knew something was going to happen as two of the engine fitters had been away to see that the engines were in working order. Mid morning the works loudspeaker came on and we heard General Dwight D. Eisenhower tell us that the Allied troops had landed in Normandy, opening a second front. This had been agitated over some months to squeeze the German forces both in Italy and France with the Russians also fighting for their homeland.

After that work went on, I鈥檓 sure with a feeling that we should see an end to the war. The day 6th, June 1944 was my sixteenth birthday.

In the summer of 1944, a party of about twenty apprentices was taken by the apprentice supervisor for a weeks walking holiday in the Lake District. We stayed at Youth Hostels and travelled by train via London. This was the start of my enjoyment of holidays and visiting Youth Hostels.

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