大象传媒

PART 2

As we reached the Volturno we provided a number of rafts to ferry anti-tank guns across the Volturno to enable the action to go on further.

The next memory is when my little scout car got stuck in the mud. A tank commander came along with his tank and was willing to pull me out as long as we were very quick to unleash the tow rope and disappear because there was shelling possibilities. We got clear but unfortunately, during the melee I lost a beautiful watch. It came off my wrist and I never knew what happened to it. I remember the name of the watch, an Ulmer bought in Egypt.

From the edge of the river we proceeded, came to the line of troops and stopped the scout car. I used to have a wireless operator driver and he stayed with the scout car as I approached the commanding officer of the troops in the line. I said to him that I would like to go up and look at the next bridge as the bridge was some 50 to 60 yards ahead and it did not appear to be blown. So I left everything, except my map board, and away I went. I had a word with the troops to let them know I was going ahead as I didn't want to be killed by our own troops!

I gradually went along the edge of the river, keeping very close to the side of the ditch and reached the bridge. On reaching the bridge I noticed there had been some digging around it and I suspected it was mined, probably with bombs or explosives. I did notice there was a length of brown slow burning fuse wire coming out. I gently caught hold of it and noticed it was fairly loose. I eased it out very gently and found a detonator on the end but got it clear. I took it back to the troops and handed it over to the officer as it was obviously not safe to have it dangling in my scout car! Immediately I returned to my base I was taken by my officer to our headquarters. On approaching the headquarters the sentry rang out the challenge "waco". The officer at my side had forgotten the reply password! Fortunately I had remembered it but I left it a few seconds to see if he could remember it before I replied "glider", which was the password. We went to the headquarters where I explained exactly what I had done and it was all written down. That was another little job we had successfully achieved.

From the edge of the Volturno river we went on to the seaside town called Castellammare near Naples. This was where we stopped our battles in Italy because from here we would be withdrawn to the strategic reserve in Great Britain ready for the D-Day invasion which was obviously not general knowledge at the time.

On our arrival in England we assembled at a place called Thetford in Norfolk. The object was to retrain and prepare for the invasion of Europe. We did not know at this time the exact date of the invasion. We did however do a considerable amount of training in Thetford, before moving to the grounds of a huge estate in Brentwood in Essex. Here all the bridging vehicles, tanks and various other vehicles were all fitted with a pipe which was to carry the exhaust gas upward. The vehicles were also waterproofed ready for the invasion. During this time we were virtually confined to a small area which stretched as far as Romford. We were not allowed to go outside of that area. It was then just a matter of waiting until the day came to move out.

Not sure exactly the dates when we started preparing but we moved down to the coast and eventually embarked on a ship, sometime in May 1944. As you know, the invasion was in June. The exact dates I have forgotten but I know we were off the coast of France before D-Day on a troop landing craft with the armour on tank landing crafts, all with the same unit. I do remember on this troop landing craft we were issued with cans which had a fuse in the top. You could light this fuse with a cigarette or a match and it would heat up the contents on the cans to have a really hot drink. It would scold you if you weren't careful! Very effective. I haven't seen or heard of them since. We were told to wait off the coast because obviously everyone couldn't go in at once, and were taken on to land as they were needed, commandos first then infantry.

Eventually D-Day plus 2 arrived and we landed. On going ashore the first thing that we did was to go in as infantry. The powers that be were expecting the Germans to make a rapid counter attack and so we provided an infantry unit in the line for the whole of that first night that we were ashore. Fortunately for us the attacks did not come and the next day we met up with our various other units and formed a leaguer where we all assembled in an apple orchard.

The next job we were faced with was a road breaking up very badly on the way to Caen. It was actually between the beaches and Caen where the first part of the action for our unit was taking place. My section was ordered, I was a Sergeant then, to collect rubble from the crossroads, which was the remains of a hamlet, which had been destroyed, called Jerusalem. The hamlet was nothing but rubble at this time. The lorries went and collected the rubble, we made the road up and used some pipes to form a drain, a culvert. I went to the local place where they manufactured pipes etc and commandeered some. I signed for them as my officer had instructed me to do. Incidentally the note that I signed to receive these pipes was taken to the officer adjutant and when we reached the outside of Caen he sent me back on a motorcycle to pay the bill!

At this time there was a lot of murmuring amongst the units as to what was happening around Caen. General Horrocks, the Corp Commander of the forces under Montgomery, called a meeting of all officers and NCO's. This was just outside Caen. He said during this meeting "you think we are being held up whilst the Americans are being allowed to swan out around in the open, and we and the Canadians are being faced with Rommel's Panzerforce but I can tell you this, the strategy is such that when we break out and defeat the German Panzers we will go, we will win". Those were the terms he used.

Also at this meeting a number of NCO's, officers and men were called out to give their names, numbers and ranks which were passed on to the authorities. At the time we did not know why this was but my name was asked for. Shortly after this I was called to our units office and was told the reason my name had gone forward. Owing to some mishap my name should have gone forward for a possible decoration in Italy and had been omitted at that time. Various actions I had been involved in had been taken into consideration and I was being considered for a medal. I was told that they did not know at this stage what the medal would be.

General Horrocks was proved right as indeed once the British Army had broken out of Caen rapid progress was made, some considerable miles every day. Our unit followed the tanks as they went forward. Many places were bypassed and the infantry just "mopped up" after the tanks. The tanks just went on and on until eventually we reached Belgium. Once we reached Belgium they stopped for a while to bring up supplies and it was at this time that General Montgomery decided to hold an investiture. At a place called Bree in Belgium he represented the Crown, and there I, amongst many, many others, was given a gallantry decoration. My decoration was the Military Medal, which I received from General Montgomery himself. In due course I also received a letter from Field Marshal Montgomery enclosing a picture taken by the war photography of the presentation. I still have the letter to this day and is pasted inside my copy of Field Marshal Montgomery's war memoirs book.

Next item of real interest was when we approached Ghent in Belgium. Ghent was all canals and bridges. My section was put in charge of guarding a bridge and we worked on a rota so that there was always someone at the bridge. During this time someone asked if I would go and see a very old lady who wanted to meet a British soldier. I left a Corporal in charge and went to see this lady. They took me upstairs to meet her. She was extremely old but I went up and said hello and away I went again. I hope it made her day.

The next incident I can remember was when the full Sergeant in charge of the sections asked if I could swim! Oh yes I said and was told I had to report to officer so and so. This officer and myself would go to a swing bridge which was hanging across the river but not bridging it. We would have to swim across to inspect it. The officer, Lieutenant Kerr, and myself went with a battle patrol (a very heavy infantry patrol) to the bank. The officer said he would go across first. It wasn't very wide but the water was very murky! The battle patrol lined the bank and I stayed with them. Eventually the officer went into the water and I didn't get wet at all! I understand this incident was reported in the Daily Mirror newspaper the next day and it was written that an officer and a sapper were involved, well the sapper was yours truly!

At this time movement was very great and we quickly headed into Holland. On arrival in Holland we were based at a caf茅 where we met a very good artist. In Holland money was nothing, it didn't mean a thing at this time all they wanted was food or cigarettes. I didn't have food but I did have cigarettes. I had a photo of my girlfriend (who is now my wife and has been for 60 years) Audrey and I asked him if he could make a painting from it. We agreed the price of so many cigarettes (I can't remember the exact quantity but several hundred) and he made the painting. We have it to this day although my wife doesn't like it very much!

From this village in Holland we also had a short break from action. During this break we were taken down one of the deepest coal mines in Europe which was a tremendous experience, throwing yourself onto an endless belt and going up to the coal face. Absolutely incredible.

The next episode is as we are approaching Arnhem. We were based to one side of Eindhoven, about 7 to 8 kilometres from Arnhem. The 7th Armoured Division were put in reserve ready if there was a breakthrough, if these massive troops came over and we would be able to take advantage of it. I can clearly remember our unit being a comparatively short distance from Arnhem and suddenly hearing this tremendous whoosh as a huge aircraft and gliders came over. As they got to us they were almost at treetop height. The sky was virtually black with planes and it was a fantastic sight.

The unit I was looking after was sent to look after a bridge over a subsidiary river, an essential job. We billeted ourselves at a little bungalow nearby and at this point one of the shells being fired at the adjacent village actually dropped on the tarmac road by the bungalow. It ricocheted off and went up into the village.

As history has reported, the battle of Arnhem was lost, but all was not lost, as the Americans had captured a bridge at Mastrick and the 7th Armoured Division were eventually ordered to cross over that bridge and head into Germany. By now there were many houses in Germany who were flying a white flag. They had had enough and were gradually giving up. The war was beginning to look like it could end in the not too distant future.

An incident occurred shortly after this. We were beleaguered in a big farmhouse, surrounded by barns. There were a number of refugees, who had been captured by the Germans but released by the British and the Canadians, going forward. These men were close to the British soldiers for the simple reason that they would run riot and kill every German in sight, whether they had surrendered or not. Likewise the Germans would otherwise probably kill them. They were close by for protection.

One day someone called out to me that there was something amiss. I grabbed my rifle and went into the huge field at the back of the farmhouse to see a figure in the distance waving. I approached the figure with my rifle at the ready and as I got reasonable close I could tell it was a German soldier. I immediately stopped and indicated to him to put his hands on his head. He'd come out of the woods. As I got closer I realised the German soldier had been wounded and was in trouble. I indicated he could take his hands down from his head, I put my rifle on sling over my shoulder and I helped him back to the camp. When I got back the refugees couldn't believe that I hadn't shot him but I said he was a wounded soldier who had surrendered and that was that as far as I was concerned.

I then went to find the transport sergeant to get the German to a hospital. Together the German, the sergeant and I headed to the hospital in a jeep. The first hospital we came to was a British hospital but they wouldn't take the man as he was a German. The sergeant at the hospital said to me "you're not worried are you" and I said "I jolly well am, I said he's wounded and finished with the war". However we were directed to the nearby German hospital and we took him there. I went in with him and I said to the staff that all I required was his army pay book out of his pocket and left everything else he had with him. I took the paybook back to the office.

The next incident was as we advanced well into Germany on the outskirts of Hamburg. We were at a river outside Hamburg and the job of the 7th Armoured was to cross this river overnight and go round to attack from a different angle. We were standing by until late at night ready to bridge the river, or do whatever needed to be done. We were given a tot of rum, as it was going to be a long, cold night, and the message came through to say that Hamburg had surrendered.

We were all stood down and the next morning I went with the 7th Armoured Division into Hamburg and went over a huge bridge (not sure exactly where it is). My section was then directed to look after this bridge whilst the rest went on. I was a Sergeant, had one NCO, no officer and about 12 to 16 men all told including drivers. On this huge bridge, at the entrance to Hamburg, there were a number of canisters which were not marked. By using signs, and those Germans who could speak a little English, I was able to understand they were fleeger smoke, or anti-aircraft smoke, to hide the bridge in the event of an aircraft strike. Having established this I set about getting rid of the other small arms and mines in a nearby bunker.

There was a small footbridge adjacent and I asked the Germans to take the armourments and dump them in the river which they happily did, shouting "alles in der wasser, alles in der wasser". A bargee told me it wasn't a good idea to dump it in the river at this particular point because it was too shallow. He said he would rather dump it further down the river using the barge, which I agreed providing some of my soldiers went with it to see that it was done.

Shortly after, other troops coming in took over our unit's duties and the unit was taken to a hotel in the centre of Hamburg. The devastation on the way had to be seen to be believed. There were huge bombs that had burst open, not exploded, and the explosive was leaking out, highly dangerous. Whoever cleared that up had a horrendous job to do! The hotel we were taken to had no food but it did have soup and champagne which they gave us.

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