大象传媒

I went into the army, when I was 20. I joined the Royal Scots Guards 8th Battalion 15th Scottish Division. The Ladies from Hell the Germans called us, because in the First World War they fought in kilts.

When we landed off the ship in France, they'd blown it open ahead of us. I was driving then and they put us on a big steel landing craft with a little engine. We were all lined up on this ramp and then that set off across to the beach and it got so far and it couldn鈥檛 go no further. I was driving a jeep across and mine was the one with the Regimental Sergeant Major in it. We were dropped off and the water came straight up to our necks straight away 鈥� then we were paddling and the wheels were going round and round, the RSM was panicking and shouting 鈥渒eep it going, keep it going - don鈥檛 drown鈥� 鈥� well we hit the beach and the wheels grabbed on the beach and the next thing we had to put some more stuff on and tighten some blots because they were rubberized. Then they were shelling at us, so the next thing we dived under the jeep for cover. Anyway then a lad came down and asked 鈥渄o they call you Ben Hardcastle?鈥� and I said 鈥測es鈥�. Then he said 鈥淚鈥檝e seen your brother, he鈥檚 two miles down the beach.鈥� I was really shocked, wasn鈥檛 it funny, he must have known him! He said 鈥測ou can鈥檛 go see him because it鈥檚 mined that heavy you鈥檇 get blown up.鈥� So I never saw him no more all the way through the war but then at the end of the war as I went into hospital he鈥檇 just come out!

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