大象传媒

Before the war began I was in the territorial army but once the conflict began I joined the 61st 242 Anti-Tank Royal Artillery Regiment.

When war was declared we only had 180,000 troops, a quarter of them territorials so we were all needed. I was stationed, along with my younger brother Kenny, near Lille in northern France for 6 months, digging trenches, although because not all of us were needed, some time was spent skiing.

The war began in May and we shot through from Lille to Tourne, arriving there to find the town destroyed with many casualties lying in the streets and people running around 鈥� it made it very difficult to get troops in there. Eventually we arrived outside Brussels where we took up gun positions on a bridge, our job being to hit tanks and vehicles coming through. It was fairly easy to get them providing you were able to hit them on the belly with the shell, so avoiding their thick armour. Occasionally though the shells would bounce off the tanks. After a while the Guards Brigade came through and said that our orders had changed and we were to return immediately to Lille 鈥� although we initially disagreed we eventually relented and returned to the city. From here we went to Vimy Ridge at Arras, where the Canadian Memorial was later erected. We were in action there but became overwhelmed by their firepower. The Germans troops outnumbered us by 5 to 1 and to make things worse we didn鈥檛 have any back-up and our RAF were back home protecting the skies of England. It was already a tough time when we received new orders commanding our `Y鈥� Division to fight its way to Dunkirk as a last line of defence. On the way there we were subjected to some heavy shelling and bombing, and were very tired through lack of sleep and shortage of food.

We had covered about twenty miles to Dunkirk when we were attacked again. That night my Sergeant Grover informed us that 鈥淚f a tank comes through with its guns facing forward then they鈥檙e Germans 鈥� if the guns are facing backwards then they鈥檙e British. At about four 鈥榦鈥檆lock in the morning we were ordered to stand-to as tanks were approaching and their guns were facing forward. We opened fire on them with our two-pounder guns but these had little effect on them. They then hit back at us with their 75mm guns, which had a lot more of an effect on us! After a while the tank commander realised that we were British and stopped firing at us. They were French tanks and after a great deal of apologising for causing our 16 casualties, and providing us with some food, they left us to lick our wounds and continue on our way to Dunkirk.

We eventually arrived at the canal outside Dunkirk where we held a fighting line for a while before being ordered to dump our guns and trucks, immobilising them so they couldn鈥檛 be re-used. The guns were all thrown into the canal, whilst the trucks were left running until they seized up. We then continued to Dunkirk Beach where there were thousands of troops without leaders.

My brother Kenny and my good friend Ebby Lee were both with me as we reached the beach. On the 30th May, between Newport and Dunkirk, there were half a million troops being shelled day and night, and continuously dive-bombed by Stuka 87Bs. For some reason Hitler had halted his troops twelve miles outside Dunkirk 鈥� had they come closer we would have been wiped out. As it was, 338,000 men escaped with their lives from the beach.

On our first day on the beach things were so chaotic that I decided we should dig a trench in the sand and keep as safe as possible. (In later years I was to find out that the place we鈥檇 dug our trench was almost the exact spot where the Memorial to the Dunkirk Veterans was built.) After a while both Kenny and my gunner Ebby said that we鈥檇 got to get food. We went out and shot a bullock and cooked steak over a spitfire. However, with the bombing being so shocking there was also no water available and that was our next task. I made my way up on to the roadway and spotted a wooden warehouse which was locked up. Using my rifle I put a couple of bullets through the lock and opened the door not knowing what I鈥檇 find inside. Well, we hit the jackpot because inside there was bully beef, biscuits, carnation milk, lots of Jamaican rum and some Norton and B.S.A Army motorbikes. I went back outside and collected five or six water bottles from poor lads who wouldn鈥檛 be needing them anymore, emptied them of any contents, and filled them up with the rum. While Ebby looked after the trench, my brother and I carried back about twelve tins of Carnation Milk, and biscuits, and left the door open for others to enjoy our treasures.

When we went to enjoy the rum we found it was neat and needed to be diluted. However, with a lack of water we realised we鈥檇 have to use something else鈥� so out came the Carnation Milk. After a couple of hours we were probably the bravest three men on the beach!

It was a very hairy, dangerous time and there was a lot of sadness. On the 2nd day we were dive bombed by a Stuka 鈥� we jumped into a trench but luckily the bomb just flew straight into the sand next to us and didn鈥檛 explode. This went on for two and a half days.

I had landed in France in 1939, shortly after which I was diagnosed with Pleuresy. I was hospitalised for 3 weeks while my regiment went up to Lille. When I was due to travel up to Lille I palled up with a guy called Jimmy James 鈥� he was off up to Lille as well. We had parted ways at a beautiful chateau and shortly afterwards the war started.

On the beach on the 3rd day some Royal Engineers were coming along the beach and, to my amazement, at the front was Jimmy James. They鈥檇 marched 30 miles and were exhausted so we gave him some of the carnation milk and rum. We told him to stay with us but he insisted on following orders and went off.

One afternoon we saw a destroyer coming into the Mole and so, each armed with their rum-filled water bottles, we ran to the Wolsey and climbed on. I鈥檒l never forget the sight of a 6 ft tall sailor shouting 鈥淐ome on you lads, next stop Dover鈥�.
The journey home was a traumatic scene with dozens of ships sunk or burning. We had a few near misses on the crossing but we made it. And I will never forget the emotions I felt at seeing the White Cliffs of Dover again. When the Wolsey docked in the harbour tears were shed and once on shore there was tea, sandwiches, chocolates, cigarettes and lots of kisses. This was when I really broke down 鈥� I was safe at last, at least for a while.

This was about the 3rd June - we were probably one of the last lot of troops back and we travelled all the way around the south of England on a train trying to find barracks with space for us. Eventually we found room at some barracks in Rugeley, in Staffordshire where the townspeople made us feel incredibly welcome, giving us cigarettes. I rang my wife, whom I鈥檇 married on April 2nd just before I left. We were both overwhelmed and I eventually got 7 days leave to go home. I took three weeks off though, I didn鈥檛 care 鈥� we鈥檇 been through so much, so `stuff them鈥�!

After a while I was then transferred to Broughty Ferry, Dundee, to join the 51st Highland Regiment, still with my brother Kenny, and with Ebby Lee. We had to wait a long time for our new guns and trucks and so we travelled around Scotland and at one point my wife was able to join me on what in effect became our honeymoon. It was lovely and we were so happy. One day we went into Perth and walking down the other side of the road was Jimmy James. We went for a lovely meal with him but after parting company I never saw him again. I always wonder what happened to him.

Eventually we were reequipped and this time sent to Egypt. We landed at Port Tufigu, which was a horrible place. From there we went up the line just as the Germans attacked Alamein for a breakthrough. I was in reserve so didn鈥檛 take part but the units involved knocked out many tanks. I was stationed at Meena, in the 2nd line of defence, and was only about 1 mile away from the pyramids 鈥� I never went to see them!

We were banked up and there were lots of things happening although we still found time to go into Heliopolis for swimming. We were then pushed up to Alamein. My brother was in a different troop as we weren鈥檛 allowed in the same one but I was a sergeant in the same troop as Ebby. I remember on the 24th October we got amongst 1000 guns and when the barrage started you couldn鈥檛 talk because of the vibrations. It was very frightening but we were overwhelming them. After that, as we had started to advance out of Alamein, we were told to halt because the minefields hadn鈥檛 been cleared. We had to wait a couple of days for this to be done. We then went through and took up a position on the front on 26th October 1942, a day which was to be one of the saddest of my war. I was on my gun with Ebby and we were shooting when all of a sudden a barrage came over and we had to dive into the trench. The bomb came right into the trench and poor Ebby ended up with a wound from the neck to the backside. I had been knocked out by the blast but when I came to I found Ebby lying there with everything hanging out. I called out to a stretcher party but they had so many wounded soldiers to tend to they were unable to come to Ebby鈥檚 aid. So I found a groundsheet, wrapped him up, and with the help of a colleague, put him on my back. I then crawled 80 yards, through the gun and shell fire, to the first aid post. They gave him a shot of morphine but said they couldn鈥檛 do anything. I crawled back to my post in tears knowing that my good friend was dead.

By the time the battle had finished we were all badly shaken by the loss of so many of our dear friends. But that is war.

The war went on, and I covered 2000 miles in 7 months, from Alamein to Tunis. Most of the time we were more involved in consolidating positions and weren鈥檛 exposed to as much gunfire as we could have been.

One day we were in Sousse, all dug in, waiting for the RAF to fly overhead to carry out a bombing raid ahead of us. However, when the 24 bombers came over, they had miscalculated their drop by five minutes and instead of targeting the enemy, were instead targeting their own troops! Fortunately no-one was killed but 12 people were injured. Our General Wembley went mad.

Sfax in Tunisia was where we went to next, to prepare with the biggest invasion fleet of the war for the invasion of Sicily. Before the sailing my brother and I took two or three sea-sick pills which turned out to be a very good idea. The Mediterranean that day was incredibly rough and our flat bottomed Landing Craft Tanks (LCT) were slapping up and down. We eventually got to the bottom of Sicily where, thanks to a mist, our landing was relatively easy. The German observation posts were at the top of Mount Etna from where they could see the whole island.

From here we fought our way up to Catania and then had to dig in waiting for the counter attack. However, because of the hardness of the land and the lava we had to `build-up鈥� around us, rather than dig a trench. The gunfire was absolute hell and it was here that my best friend, Sergeant Joe Kelly, was killed. I went over to where he had been and could find no part larger than a penny. He was a grand chap but war is war and you don鈥檛 know when your time will come.

We carried on up to Catania, chasing the Germans although there wasn鈥檛 a great deal of fighting. By the time we got to Messina at the top of the island the war was over and many of the German soldiers had escaped to the toe of Italy. I was then given the job of taking twenty vehicles, by LCT, to Taranto on the Adriatic side of Italy. After docking we were told our next destination was Naples where we had to hand over to the 78th Division. And what a journey we had! Many of the bridges had been blown up and much of the time was spent on side roads not meant for large lorries. Eventually we arrived in Naples and handed the trucks over.

After a brief rest we left for Via Reggio at the toe of Italy, again quite a hard ride with bridges and obstructions, but a beautiful coast with houses dotted around the mountainous countryside. We got to within twenty miles of Reggio when one of my gunners shouted, 鈥淟ook out Sarge there鈥檚 a fighter coming at us!鈥� We stopped and jumped out, diving into a ditch at the side of the road, just as cannon shells from the Messerschmitt slammed into our truck. A few were wounded, nothing serious, but the same could not be said for the old Bedford, which had been completely destroyed. I lost all my letters from my dear wife, photos of my son, and my loot, Lugers, Berreti pistols and two beautiful shotguns.
Fortunately we were able to get a lift to Via Reggio and from there there were plenty of vehicles on their way to the port at Messina.

That was pretty much the end of my war. Once back in the UK I contracted Sycosis Barbae, more commonly known as Barber鈥檚 Rash. Doctor鈥檚 said they wanted me to help with trials using penicillin and so off I went to an asylum where I grew a beard and was sprayed in the face every fours hours, day and night, with a scented spray. Eventually I was cured. It was whilst I was there and unable to sleep that I went for a night time walk and bumped into someone I recognised. He asked me who I was to which I replied 鈥淗arry Garrett. Why, who are you?鈥� 鈥淧eter Ustinov鈥�, came the response. He was an amazing man with incredible wit.

My time as a soldier eventually came to an end when I crashed out on the parade ground and was taken to a hospital in Middlesborough. There I was told I had a duodenal ulcer and, shortly afterwards, that I would not be needed anymore.

Every year we go to France, to a place where 98 members of the Royal Norfolk Regiment of the Scots Guards and one member of the Royal Artillery were captured by the German army. They were put in a barn which was then machine-gunned for hours. Two of the soliders, Callaghan and Pooley, stayed under the bodies of their colleagues and, once the massacre had finished and the commanding officer had left, crawled out. They were sent off to a prison and survived to tell the story. We didn鈥檛 find out until 1945.

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