大象传媒

EYE WITNESS TRUE STORIES OF WORLD WAR TWO

My name is Tom Barker. I was born on the 23rd of May 1921 in a small house on the corner of Brigg road and opposite Hopper’s Offices in Barton-upon-Humber, Lincolnshire, England.

By dodging my Father’s heavy hand I managed to survive till I was 17 and tried to join the Boy’s Service in the Navy. However due to a wily Scottish Recruiting Sergeant who lined his pockets at my expense when I was working out my notice of quitting my job whilst lodging in Glasgow, Scotland, I ended up in a Scottish Regiment. My Military title for next seven years was No 2982252 Pte T.O. Barker. My Regiment was, The First Battalion. Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. I had signed up for a total of twelve years, seven years with the colours and five years with the reserves.

This is an eyewitness account of what I saw, heard and could not avoid from September 1938 to 1945.

It has been written from memory, but since there is no way I can remember the actual conversations but can vividly remember the dialects and the faces of the speakers and the situations I am able to write this in some detail.

Many books have been written about the miseries and tragedies of war with dates and witnesses and whilst being informative can at times be boring. With this in mind I have leaned toward the lighter side and some of the happier or comical episodes of my service abroad.

Since some memories invade my mind when I try to sleep I have been forced to take medication for the rest of my life. But I have made bold with the happier times of my service. I would point out however, that if one were to go to the zoo and on finding no animals there, and were informed that the R.S.P.C.A. had demanded they all be returned to the wild, one would feel cheated.

To write this and omit some of the detail because it may offend some would be akin to the zoo with no animals and therefore pointless. In short if one removes the walls from a house there is nothing to hold up the roof.

If one wishes to check the validity of this enterprise please contact British WW2 Service records, Ministry of Defence, CS(RM) 2b, Bourne Avenue, Hayes, Middlesex, UB3 IRF.

To avoid confusion later I would point out here that I changed identity tags for the last two years of the War with one Harry Tenny who was a Sgt Engineer in the R.A.F. The reason for which will be found in the following pages.

Lets leave today (May 23rd 2003) and travel back to the 9th of August 1938 when I first walked into the Recruiting Office in Suchiehall St, Glasgow, Scotland.

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