大象传媒

I WAS BORN on the 3rd of March, 1931 at Whittington Barracks, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, the depot of the 1st Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment. My father was Sergeant Daniel Banks who was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire and my mother was Bertha Hall who was born in Belper, Derbyshire.
In 1933 my father was posted to India with his regiment, and a few months later my mother, my two sisters and I followed on the troopship s.s. LANCASHIRE, leaving Southampton for Bombay, India, via the Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal, Red Sea, Aden and the Arabian Sea. We lived in India for about six years, residing in Bangalore, Cawnpore (Kanpur), and various hill stations in Nepal when the monsoons came on the plains. I remember seeing the Himalaya Mountains and Mount Everest in the distance.
We returned to England in 1938 and was housed by the Army in Dover, Hounslow and Lydd in Kent. Whilst in Hounslow in late 1938 my father left with his regiment for Palestine. The regiment marched from Hounslow Barracks to the station and I remember vividly a group of us schoolboys marched at the side of them. We never saw my father again until 1944 (six years later).
After he left and during 1939 the war clouds were gathering and we were continually having Air Raid Warnings and practicing going to the Air Raid Shelters, which we thought was unnecessary as there was no war at that time, but it wasn't long before the Army gave us our orders to be evacuated. By that time my mother had six children to look after and although the Army would provide us accommodation in Shrewsbury my mother decided to go back to her family in Belper, Derbyshire.
When we arrived in Belper with nothing more than a suitcase each, we were split up and housed at two different relatives. My sister Lillian, brother David and I were billeted with my Aunt Gladys' and Uncle Sten's cottage. It was only a small house with the toilet situated outside "up the garden". I remember us kids all slept in the same bed! My sisters: Gladys and Alice and my brother Billy were housed at my aunt Edna's and Uncle Alec's cottage about three miles away. This was a bit more luxureous as it had an inside toilet!
My mother's sisters were very kind to us and we stayed with them until my mother was offered accommodation where we could all be together again. By the time we had settled in our new environement the war had been declared and we were issued with ration books and gas masks in a cardboard box, some people made nice covers for them and were soon branded as "POSH", my younger brother who was only a baby was issued a "Micky Mouse" one. Everywhere we went we had to carry our gas mask. I remember one day arriving at school without mine and the teacher promptly sent me back home for it, a good four-mile walk!
I attended an all-boys' school named Belper Fleet Boys' School and the Masters were of the old breed, very strict and disciplinarians to the limit, they ruled us with a rod of iron -- namely their "LICKER" a bamboo cane. We would be caned for the slightest infringement of the rules. I remember making an ink blot on my English book and I got two of the best on both hands, we used pen and ink -- Ball pens hadn't been invented in the '40s. Each morning we would be paraded in the playground and inspected, Army style, emphasizing on: Hair Combed; Hands and Face Washed; Socks Pulled Up (we wore short trousers in those days); and Shoes Polished. What was surprizing about schooldays during World War II, was that we always had good wholesome "School Dinners" which we had delivered to the school or Social Service Center in the town in metal containers and dished out by the staff. It compensated for the meagre rationing we had at home. I remember most days when arriving home from school, having condensed milk spread on bread for our evening meal!
We kept abreast of the news from the front by newspapers such as "News of the World"; "Daily Mirror"; "Daily Sketch"; magazines like "War Illustrated" and "Picture Post". When we had sixpence we would go to the local cinema and watch the Gaumont British News, as well as Laurel and Hardy; The Three Stoogers and war films like "In Which We Serve"; "Sand Of Iwo Jima"; and "The Foreman Went To France". One particular time I was promised to be "treated" by one of the men on our avenue who was deferred from military service for some reason we didn't know, he had a good job working on munitions in the local foundry and he would, every Friday pick about six kids and pay for them to go to the pictures. This particular time when I showed up at his house to be treated he and a bunch of kids had already gone without me. I ran all the way down, about five miles to catch them, but they had already gone in the cinema. I approached the kiosk and told them my plight, so they allowed me to go in to find him, obtain the sixpence from him for admission and come back and pay it. Unfortunately it didn't work out like that. The movie hadn't started so it was still light in the cinema, I managed to find him he was sitting with all these kids in the "Chick Run" (a name which was given for the first three rows). I asked him for the sixpence, but he said he had spent all his money on the other kids! I was devasted as I was looking forward all week to this out-of-this-world treat. As I reluctantly made my way up the aisle to exit the cinema a couple of my school chums called to me, they pursuaded me to hide under the seat until the lights went out, being a naive twelve-year-old as I was, I went along with them, not realizing the circumstances of what I was doing. It wasn't long before the manager came down and shone his torch on me, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and dragged me out of the cinema with the words: "You're lucky I didn't get the 'Bobby' on to yer". This was the results of not having a father to discipline me and give the comfort and support a boy needs when his father is away fighting a war. I wondered why my father was fighting in this war when so many where having it easy and had got money to burn. I never had anything to do with that man after that.
My father wrote to us when he could, but all his letters were censored and photographed. He was engaged in all major battles in the North African Campaign. After the Palestine Campaign which he originally went to, World War II was declared in September, 1939 and his regiment The 1st Batt. South Staffords was sent to Egypt with General Wavell's 30,000 and was engaged in the early battles against the Italians i.e. Mersa Matruh; Sidi Barrani; Bardia; Derna, etc. When the Germans entered into the conflict, he was in the major battles at Tobruk and El Alemein with Field Marshal Montgomery's 8th Army. His decorations consisted of: Palestine Campaign Medal; Africa Star; Italian Star; Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (Rooti Gong); 1939-45 Star; War Medal; Defence Medal; and Mentioned In Despatches (Oak Leaf), with his name in the London Gazette, 30/12/41, page 7347. His rank in retiring after 21 years and 51 days was Regimental Sergeant Major of the 1st Batt. South Staffords. He was also Garrison Sergeant Major of Moascar, Egypt. He was granted a Long Service and Good Conduct Pension of twenty-two pounds a quarter, less than two pounds a week. He was grateful, as money was hard to come by in those days.
I had two very good school chums, their parents were very good to me and recognized that my father was away in the war zone. I spent a lot of time at their houses and they gave me lots of meals which was a sacrifice for them to do as all food was scarce, we never left anything for the trash bin! I will never forget them.
We didn't get a lot of war action in Derbyshire, except the time when a stray German 'plane saw a light in the local church in Belper, it strafed the church and surrounding area, damaging the beautiful age-old coloured glass windows. My friends and I went down to look at the damage the next morning, there was a lot of bullet marks on the surrounding roads and we looked and found plenty for souvenirs. There was also another German 'plane which crashed about three miles from my home on the Chevin Hills. We didn't get chance to get near it as the local Home Guard stopped us. It was said that these 'planes in our area were looking for Rolls Royce in the city of Derby seven miles away, because the Merlin aero-engine was built there.
We never experienced any kind of luxury, sweets were almost non-obtainable, bananas, peaches, oranges, grapes were non-existant. Whilst my father was in Palestine we received a big wooden box, when we opened it we discovered it was full of beautiful Grapefruits and Jaffa oranges! Which was like gold to us. We would take one each to school for our lunch and the school children wondered what they were. Bacon, Eggs, Meat, Tea, Clothes and Shoes, all on ration or clothing coupons. If you were rich enough to own a car, petrol was also rationed. When the American servicemen came over in the mid-forties they made friends with some of our neighbors, and tins of peaches mysteriously began to appear and if you were "in the know" you could end up with a luxury unheard of. One of the perks we discovered was to approach a "Yank" on Derby bus station and say "Have you got any gum chum?" If he didn't have any, you would then say "Can you give me a fag (cigarette) for me dad?" You would probably end up with a packet of Lucky Strike or Camel cigarettes, free!
They were very generous but there was a lot of anamosity between the British Tommy and the American Serviceman, which included a lot fights in the pubs and dance halls. Gt. Britain at that time needed them and they did a good job defending us from being enslaved by the Germans. After Dunkirk we stood alone and needed help from America's Lend Lease. My Uncle Ted was in the South Staffords and was a survivor of Dunkirk. I remember going to see him when he returned. He was straight from the beaches, complete with steel helmet,FSMO (Field Service Marching Order) and rifle. Things looked grim for us then, the Germans could have come over the twenty-two miles from Calais to Dover and invaded us and we couldn't have stopped them! I remember Mr. Churchill's speech on our old Cosser wireless (radio) ". . . we will never surrender" I often wonder what would have happened if they had come over.
In 1943 when I was twelve years old, my sister Alice was fourteen and had just started work at Belper Mill training to be a secretary, one day she brought home a copy of "LIFE" magazine and on the front cover was a label with a name and address: A Miss Price of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. -- Now, in those war years the big thing wasn't the "Chat" programme on the Internet but Pen-Pals by letter, seeing an opportunity to write to someone who lived in a country that advertised in four-color process those beautiful meals and automobiles, etc. in this magazine, she decided to take a chance and write to this "Miss Price" thinking she was a teen-ager like herself. After several months she received a reply which revealed that the person was not a teen-ager but a mature woman in her 40s. However, she said that she would write to my sister as long as she wanted her to. This woman was an angel from heaven, over the years she sent us many gift parcels containing beautiful "Arrow" shirts, ties, food, chocolates, etc. Those parcels boosted up our family's morale and we looked forward to receiving them. I would go to school in these pure white "Arrow" shirts with button-down collars (never before seen in our town) and gaily coloured ties also never seen before. I was a novelty! My sister and Miss Price corresponded for many years during and after the war and when she emigrated to the USA in the 50s she took a trip to Philadelphia and met her.
I also had two girl pen-pals, one in the Bronx, New York named Arlene Valentine and another in Yoder, Colorado named Alvera Giek. I corresponded with them for many years but never got to see them. They both must be in their 70s now.
Although we boys never got into serious trouble involving the police, we did do mischieveous things. In the school outside toilets we would try to urinate over the high wall separating the school from the public road with people passing by. This event went on until one day one of teachers caught us and we ended up on the wrong side of the bamboo cane! Other times we would go "scrumping" (pinching apples from family-owned orchards) usually at night, until the owner would chase us off with a vicious dog! In the summer months when it was a warm day we would go swimming in the river Derwent, near the railway bridge. We would undress on the side of the river and stand there stark naked and wait for a train to pass. When it came we would all dive into the water. I guess the passengers had a field day when they saw us.
When I left school in May, 1945 at the age of fourteen I experienced the celebrations of V.E. Day when we had a big party on the avenue where we lived. A whole string of tables and chairs were arranged and each family brought the food and drinks, we played games in the nearby fields. Everyone was relieved that the first phase of the war was over. The next one was Japan! In the evening we all paraded around the town of Belper with a Scotsman leading the way playing the bagpipes. I will never forget it!
My first job on leaving school was a Telegram Boy. Although the War was almost at its end, men were still fighting the Japanese in the Far East. I delivered a couple of sad news telegrams which were too traumatic for me. I left the Post Office and took an apprenticeship with a local printers as a Typesetting Compositor and remained in the printing trade ever since (except for my two years' National Service in the British Army stationed in Egypt, 1949-51).
I am seventy-three years old and will always remember the good and bad times of World War II.
I always remember the first words I said to my father when he returned from the war "What have you brought me Dad?" he replied "I've brought myself, son". I guessed that was a bonus considering all the soldiers who didn't return.
Daniel Banks, North Carolina, U.S.A.

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