大象传媒

'This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Alan Shippam of the 大象传媒 Radio Sheffield Action Desk on behalf of John Gaughan and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

The beginning of the end of WW2 May 1945

As the war in Europe was drawing to a close, in the British sector, the ravages of the war in North West Germany were very evident. Bridges were destroyed; telegraph wires were trailing dangerously across rubble-strewn roads. Towns and Cities were devastated and very few civilians ventured away from what was left of their homes. The transport system, roads and rail were non-existent. As we crossed over the River Elbe bridge from Harburg to Hamburg, attempts to blow the bridge were very evident by the large cracks in the roadway.
In Hamburg itself, progress was both difficult and dangerous through the rubble-strewn dusty streets, burnt out shells of building with hardly one intact from one end of the city to the other, many appearing to be in danger of collapsing. As our convoy progressed, clouds of dust arose from every vehicle creating a fog like atmosphere, which added a ghostly look to the surroundings. There were piles of rubble with black crosses daubed across them, for reasons that we could only guess at the time. Our destination was a suburb of Hamburg, Wansbek, where we took over the Herman Goerine Caserna (Barracks).
Over the last few weeks, time and dates had meant little as one day had run into the next and it was very difficult to say what day of the week it was. The fast changes in mind, direction and atmosphere had suddenly come to a stop. The hyped up feeling of danger, excitement and alertness had come to an end.

Pr-BR

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