大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Bill Ross of the 鈥楢ction Desk 鈥� Sheffield鈥� Team on behalf of Arnold Stone, and has been added to the site with his permission. Mr. Stone fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

Other parts to this story can be found at:
Part One: A7748238

Part Two: A7748382

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The rate of exchange was about 18.6 guilders to the pound, so that one can visualise that the process of going from Belgian Francs to Dutch Guilders was a new one. Again, I hardly seemed to have completed the task before we were back into Belgium, for the winter, and after I had done the job for some months, I did indicate that it was time someone else took their turn. The decision was accentuated by the fact that the audit of the accounts showed us to be one shilling out and there was controversy as to why this happened, after all, with all the calculations, I thought I鈥檇 done fairly well, but others seemed to be of a different opinion. As I鈥檝e said, we kept on moving forward, but eventually, things ground to a halt as the winter of 44/45 approached. We were moved to semi permanent quarters in a German built barracks in Belgium.

It was pleasing to be under canvass in the colder climate, although there were some disadvantages. We did have a winter fairly well, as we got the opportunity of the football pitch etc., and we were able to indulge in some sporting activities. One thing that stands out in my mind about this particular winter is a particular task I was given about the liberation front about this time. It was decided to open a rest centre in the French Alps to which fighter pilots could go for a week or so to relax after their more strenuous life. It was decide that Megeve in the French Alps was a very suitable location. I was sent down to Lyons to pick up three vehicles, and the first party of twelve officers who would take part in this course. It was an interesting time, in the first instance, I had to gather the vehicles and officers together and we were given a page torn out of the Michelin Guide to indicate the route that we should take; as there were no signposts or other indications, it was quite a perilous journey. Fortunately, my navigational skills prevailed although at one time, we almost found ourselves over the border into Switzerland and on reflection, we could have ended the war there, being interred and spending a more comfortable existence, but we decided that we鈥檇 better take the right route.

Megeve itself was a wonderful place and after months of wartime blackout etc. it was amazing to reach a little village that was sparkling with lights, and with horse drawn sleighs moving about the streets. If ever there was a venture into a fairyland, this was it. Unfortunately, the idea of the week at Megeve, acting as a tonic to the fighter pilots, didn鈥檛 work out quite so well as expected. During this time, they鈥檇 received a skiing instruction and I did some work on the mountains. By the end of the week, the 12 people involved, should have been fit and alert, we found that we鈥檇 one broken ankle, two with sprained wrists and a few others with aches and pains. It wasn鈥檛 all that it should have been but I continued. I left there after a week with the first batch and I had to make my way back into Belgium. It was an interesting journey; a flight with the United States troops back to Paris in an aircraft, which ran off the runway and then a night train, a service from Paris to Brussels that had just been re-introduced.

Winter in Belgium was not an unpleasant experience, although we did get moved about a bit when the Germans tried to break out into the Ardennes, but we were busy with 鈥淥peration Market Garden鈥� which involved taking the bridges at Nijmegen and Arnhem. As is well known, the latter target was not achieved, but we did manage the Rhine crossing later in the year and in the spring of 45, after crossing the Rhine, our progress forward was a mad dash and we finished up at Lunenburg Heath. I remember that whilst Montgomery was accepting the surrender of the German Generals, I was laid on a camp bed suffering from a badly strained ankle caused by falling down a caravan steps. I can鈥檛 complain because this as the only injury I sustained during the whole campaign. After Lunenburg, we moved on quite quickly to a town called Plon and the second army headquarters established itself there.

It was a delightful spot in the centre of some five lakes and it provided all the facilities that we needed, either through the local yacht club or the other sporting pitches. Then as one could imagine, there was not a great deal to do as it was mostly a question of leaving with the German prisoners, being moved into this particular area and to making sure that the German railways were restored and working properly. We were able to devote a fair amount of our time to our recreational activities and with the persuasion of several officers, we managed to form from our particular section, quite a good football team based on several people who had semi professional experience in some of the better leagues. This team was named Remove United, the RE coming from the regiment to which all the movement staff were tied.

We were extremely successful and I think I can claim that I was of the only army football team which ever had an RAF officer as its ???

My stay in Plon was not entirely a professional one as my employers in Leeds were most anxious that I should come back to them, so that they could carry on with the reorganisation of the transport system which was necessary after the rigours of the war years. They got me released under the scheme for getting back quickly. Those people who had what they regarded as an essential job to do, and I did not have to wait for demobilisation under the normal process.

In the early part of 1946, I got my instructions to report and to go through the necessary procedures of demobilisation, and the final act in which Flight Lieutenant Stilton was involved was the visit to Wembley to receive his civilian outfit. I should mention that I鈥檇 been promoted to Flight Lieutenant in the earlier part of the Normandy campaign and very soon after, I had been seconded to the second Army. I must confess that I left Wembley Stadium with a feeling of semi relief and the anticipation of getting back to join my wife and to resume my life which had been disrupted from a fairly early stage of the war. At the same time, I did feel that I had perhaps at last been able to make some contribution to the war effort and had found myself a job, which took into account my experience and perhaps helped to expedite in some small way, the work of moving people and goods around.

My war was in no way a sensational one. A lot of it consisted of hard work and steady progress. There was nothing spectacular about this job, but I feel that I should place the details on record, particularly as so many people are not aware of what the movement鈥檚 organisations in the army and the Royal Air Force actually did. This was another of the essential jobs that one carried out. My career is perhaps unusual insofar as I was an RAF officer who never served on an RAF operational station. In fact, apart from a few weeks in recruit training, and officer training, I spent most of my time with the army and the vast majority of my friends and acquaintances were involved with this side of the war, and I would like to pay tribute to all the movement鈥檚 staff. We had many happy hours together.

There were sad occasions; there were moments that were tinged with regret. There were times that we want to forget, but the five years of war provided me with an experience which will never be forgotten and perhaps it鈥檚 only right that it鈥檚 put down. I returned to Leeds City Transport to carry on with the task of moving half a million people each day and I was employed in this capacity for more than thirty years. It鈥檚 been an interesting life and the fact that I was involved with the war helped me considerably to deal with people and problems in the after years. I hope that those who read this particular presentation are not unduly bored, but it does cover a topic that has not been widely spoken or written of.
That鈥檚 the end of my story.

Part One is at:
A7748238

Pr-BR

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