大象传媒

My story starts soon after I gained a degree in 1939 at Bristol University and war was declared. I wanted to be ordained, but had not been accepted as a candidate. Instead of accepting a commission I thought service in the ranks would better equip me.
I was trained as a private in the Gloucestshire Regmnt.
Shortly after my 21st birthday we were shipped across to Le Havre and on to the Reinforcement Depot outside Rouen, where on my days off duty I used to walk to the town and I remember seeing St Maclou Church there.

Sometime later we were embarked on a train to Cherbourgh where we were taken aboard the "Duke of York" ferry and across the channel. the boat zig zagged and i knew this because i had a compass and at one time thought we were heading westwards and i wondered why we were going towards Portugal and then Gibraltar and then Africa.
But we disembarked at Southampton...we went up by train to Leeds where we were billeted in Armley ice skating rink and we were drafted in to the 1st battalion of the Welsh Fusiliers and proceeded to coast defence.

I was then under the command of Sgt "Chinkie" Lee - so called beacause he had a chinese moustache, nurtured with anti-dim - a kind of vaseline used to stop gas mask goggles from misting.
We were in the intelligence unit cycling about E Yorkshire looking for enemy parachutists. We had our magazines loaded and Chinky was a sgt who didn't order us to unload our magazines...I was not an observant soldier, so one day on sgt major parade I went through the usual procedure of putting the rifle at 45 degrees and pressing the trigger I was surprised to hear a loud bang! - as was the sgt major...He called "Fall out" and I was taken before the Colonel - he sentenced me to 18 days in the "Glass House" and I must have blanched because he made it 28 days, which i spent mainly in the cook house, incompetently peeling potatoes. I was then transported to A company with a number of fusiliers from Anglesea Welsh speaking and they would feign ignorance of English if they didn't like an order. During this time on coast defence partially spent at Bridlington and at Flamborough Head. My superior and Baptist Chaplain let me go on several days to a course for ordinands held at the C of E training college at York by its principal Dr Cooke. During one of these he approached me and asked if I would like to be interviewed by the Archbishop of York, William Temple.

I remember that a fusilier was delegated to smarten me up and take me to Archbishop, who was the icon of young christians then, put me at ease and - to my amazement now - I talked about Platonic thought. He accepted me for ordination.

Fairly soon after this news came through that 1st RWF were due for embarkation leave ...the rumour was that we were going to Burma. However the platoon sgt major took me aside and said in a very welsh accent...
"Herbert, you're a scientist and we're sending you to be trained as a radar mechanic"
I replied " but sir, my degree was in Latin, English and Philosophy"
"Oh don't worry about that...go and get your travel warrant for London"
So I left and proceeded to Walthomstow , where I learnt about oscilators..I managed to do with great inepitude some soldiering that somehow passed the test. I think it was there that I met Kennie from Edinburgh, who laughed at the Kelvingrove accent and taught me the line
"The beautiful, beautiful water of the Leith ...where the lassies go down......to clean their teeth"

He and I kept together as REME radar mechanics down to Salisbury plain. It was much less regimented in REME and officers and men weren't poles apart. Our sgt was "Decent" Bligh and there was a group of us together: Agg, Kelly from South of Ireland who taught me that Ulster was really 9 counties.
I was separated from them to go as radar mech to a searchlight battalion in the Quantocks, largly consisting of women. There were various stations. I specially remember Upton between the Quantocks and Exmoor. Whilst i was stationed there, about a month before D-day we woke to find a USA ecampment above us. I palled up with an American sgt from West Virginia - a Selkirk. He introduced me to the mysteries of the PX and outdoor movies - Betty Grable - Then one day he showed how different the attitudes were in the US and British army...he said
"Oh Tony come along and meet our colonel"
I went in and Selkirk said...
"Colonel, meet Tony, he's a great guy" and we sat and chatted.

Soon after the whole outfit disapeared on their way to Normandy. I know Selkirk survived because we wrote to each other for 12 years or more, but then lost touch.

Finally in the time of doodle-bugs I was transfered from Somerset to Essex, where I was attached to an artillery unit that had radar to locate the ideal target of doodle-bugs.

From there I was sent to be de-mobilised in Wiltshire.......it was a great slice of my youth, and a surprising one. I think I learnt a lot about ordinary people in it.

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