大象传媒

Submitted on behalf of Frank Hacon by Stafford Library.
I was one of those silly young lads that volunteered for military service. My first Unit was the 70th Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment. After a few weeks' training we went into guard duties on Ipswich and Martlesham airfields. My next unit was the 63rd Argyles where I learnt anti-tank warfare. Soon I was sent home on embarkation leave. This was a difficult time for me as I could not face up to telling Mum and Dad I was going abroad. I felt there would be tears everywhere and once I had gone I would never see them or my four sisters and brother again. It was a very sad time for me.

Next off to Africa. Soon I was with the 14th Anti-Tank Regiment then after a while we came to a small hill which had a banana tree on it, which we nicknamed 'Banana Ridge'. Once we overcame that it was straight over the plain. We were soon passing Tunis. I remember seeing smashed up planes on the airfield. Soon the Germans were surrendering. We were told not to fire on them. It was the end of the African war.

One morning we got up early and marched off. We were told the Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, would be coming. It was a very long wait and our three cheers were not just for Mr. Churchill, but the fact we would soon be able to relax. Next we were doing invasion training in the Bitter lakes, driving on and off ships, then going over the side of a very large liner and clambering down a big net on to a boat below. Then I did a short spell of guard duty in a prisoner of war camp (known as Guardimo). One day I was on duty a prisoner started screaming his head off. He had been bitten or stung by a black scorpion and he was soon in a very bad way. What happened to him later I do not know as I had finished there. Soon the same thing would nearly happen to me in Italy. By the way I had become a signaller radio operator whilst in Africa. After a few weeks in Italy we were preparing to take up positions at the front of Monte Cassino. We would do that in the dark. We had a rest period and when it was time to get dressed I knocked my books on the heels making sure no scorpions were there! Then when I was about to pull my coat on, having got my arms in the sleeves, two of my mates grabbed my arms and told me to hold it. They then slowly pulled my coat off and there, horror of horrors, on the collar was a black scorpion. Thank the Lord my mates spotted it. I was just a split second from disaster. I next remember being on the side of a mountain with a small number of us, I think less than 20. How we got there I do not remember. We were looking after something built into the side of the mountain with three or four buckets of medals at the entrance one had iron crosses, another had Italian medals for valour. I do remember being on guard in the middle of the night when a large black snake came slithering down. I was ready to shoot it but it came between me and the place we were looking after and carried on down the mountainside, so it was no problem. The next afternoon four or five of us were sitting on the floor playing cards when the door opened and in walked an officer. He came in, sat down by my left side and told us to remain as we were. It was General Alexander. He thanked us for the part we played in the battle for Monte Cassino. He then surprised us by telling us this was Kesselring's headquarters and where we were was soundproof. He was just like one of us the way he sat down and spoke to us. We all felt very proud to have met him. How as a signaller radio operator I spent a lot of time on duty, day and night, sometmes for days on end. When we had a short break from the front I was sent on a few days' leave to a rest camp which I understood was Castle Dolfus, the Pope's summer residence. Now the camp was probably in the grounds of the Pope's palace but a bit beyond where he stayed. I remember I and another lad chatting with two young ladies who were trying to learn English and we were trying to learn Italian. The second day they surprised us by inviting us in. We were brought food and drink and told we could stay the night. There were two beds in the room. They then disappeared and we never saw them again, so there was no hanky panky going on! But I do remember having a good night's sleep.

Then we switched from the 5th to the 8th army. I remember being in a field behind the Infantry with the twenty-five pounders behind us when the enemy started to fire single mortars at us. The first landed way down the other end of the field and they gradually got nearer and nearer. Our troop commander got us digging a trench. He also timed the firing of the mortar to the time it landed. Then I was studying something when the troop commander hit my back. We both jumped into the trench just as the bomb exploded. The front of my steel helmet hit him in the neck. I saw him feel his neck and then look for blood. We were all very lucky. Had the enemy moved just a fraction more we would all have died. The bomb missed us by 2 to 3 feet. It had exploded the other side of the earth we had dug out. When I looked at my coat it was full of holes.

Now one morning our troop commander had gone and had a meeting with other officers. When he came back we moved off up to the front. Suddenly I noticed the infantry in the ditch. I nudged the officer and pointed to the men of the Queen's Own. He realised immediately we were in the wrong place. He got the vehicles into what may have been a farmyard. When all the vehicles were turned round we went back down the road. Later that day we went back and the big farmhouse, or whatever it was, was just a heap of bricks, so thank the Lord we did not stop there. We were on the edge of Forli airport at the time.

Now one day I was told I had to be able to take over and drive the Bren carrier in case something happened to the driver so I went on a training trip. After my first spell the instructor said I had done well. then I got into the rear section just behind him. I stood watching this other fellow. He was going flat out. He was told to turn right at a T junction. When he got to that he spun the steering wheel round so fast and hard the Bren carrier stopped dead and I went flying up over the instructor's head and way up the road. I just managed to put my right hand out in time to break the fall. I then had about two weeks in hospital. I think it was almost a week before I could move my fingers. The hand had been closed tighter than a fist (so now you know I'm a man that has flown without wings!)

Now I come to something you will find hard to believe. On the morning of 17 September 1944 my troop commander told me he was sending Jason to take over while I had a wash & shave and my breakfast and I was then to take over again. As I started to shave I noticed a lad was trying to have a word with me, so I walked towards him so I could hear better what he was on about, when suddenly I heard this voice telling me to get back, "get back" it said it five or six times and sounded more and more urgent. I looked round. There was nobody near me, so I said to young Tinkler (I can't remember his first name)"sorry I've got to go" and ran back to the carrier, put the shaving brush up to the right side of my face and "BANG!". Five men died and six were injured including Jason. I often wonder 'did I set off a delayed action booby trap?' After all where we were at the time was deemed to be safe, and where did the voice come from that told me to get back? There was nobody near me. After thinking about it for a few days I came to the conclusion that I had a Guardian Angel. When I mentioned it to my mates, they said you must have a sixth sense. I never saw where the explosion was. I went and took over from Jason. He had been laying back with his right hand on the engine cover. He had lost the top end of his right thumb and I had another coat (I think my third) full of holes. If Jason hadn't taken over from me I would have been sitting straight in front of my coat and I would have been hit with the shrapnel. Standing as I was in front of the carrier and not having got even a scratch made me think more and more, regardless of what others thought, that I must have had a Guardian Angel. Even now nearly 61 years after it happened I have never found any other believable explanation for it.

Now there is another hard to believe thing. Look at the post code for Churchill Way ST17 9NZ. I have lived here since 1970 and although I have used that post code since it started I did not notice. Take the letters away and there is 17.9, 17th September. I hadn't twigged it till late January or early February of this year.

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