大象传媒

On the 7th September the Brigade returned to England, for training for invading the Japanese main land, except for 4 Commando and 45 Royal Marine Commando. No. 4 Commando were to attack Walcheren Island with 41, 47,48 and 46 Royal Marine Commando, whose losses had reduced them to 200 men. 45 Royal Marine Commando went on for the attack on Maastricht in Holland.

1 Brigade Signal Troop new drew lots for who was to stay, some went to 4 Commando, some to 45 Royal Marine Commando, and Mac and I went to Belgium under the Phantoms again because of our previous experience with them.

We were now in a place names Helmond in Holland. 大象传媒 with the Phantoms was so secret that even Mac and I didn鈥檛 know what was going on, but guessed something was in the wind. The war seemed to have come to a halt. We heard that the Commando鈥檚 had captured Walcheren but at the loss of 50% and had to be reinforced from England, a heavy price to pay.

The 1st Airborne Brigade dropped in Arnhem to secure bridges, we stood watching glider after glider being towed over, if successful it would have shortened the war but it all went horribly wrong. The Phantoms had dis-appeared so we guessed they were with them. We and the rest of the army dashed on but were halted at the Nijmegen Bridge. The 7th Armoured Brigade was there with tanks at the ready and there we stuck; only the Generals knew why.

When what was left of the Airborne came back over the river, they looked so dejected and exhausted, we all gave them a great cheer, wasn鈥檛 their faults, just bad planning.
We went back to Helmond and the rest of the Brigade arrived (so much for Japan).

In January 1945 we moved on to Asten-Heldon and then Echt and finished up at Maastricht. Bert and I were attached to 4 Commando for a raid on the German HQ and defence post on the Island of Schouwen. We landed ok but met a far superior force; we withdrew with 14 prisoners and quite a few losses. Bert and I rejoined Brigade HQ at Venray next day we went on to occupy the village of Joostburg, crossing over the ice on the river Maas with 6 Commando and 45 Royal Marine Commando. Corporal Harden of the Medical Corps went out on his own to tend wounded and was wounded himself in the side but still went out again with a stretcher party. On the third trip, carrying a wounded officer he was shot in the head and killed. He was later awarded the VC. We returned to Venray in preparation for the Rhine crossing at Wesel.

I was very interested one day to observe an American soldier with a bulldozer. The road was the only one to the river so the Jerries kept shelling it. Every time a shell fell, the Yankee brought up his bulldozer and filled the hole in, drove to the side of the road and waited for the next one. Suddenly there was an almighty explosion and I was blown off my feet.

A shell had landed close by me but luckily the main blast had gone the other way. I felt myself all over and appeared to be in one piece, but when got to my feet I had a terrible ringing in my ears and was stone deaf. I felt sick and my right ear was bleeding. After a while my hearing slowly returned. My section sergeant bathed my ear and asked I wanted to be sent back. I said no way at this stage as I preferred to stay with my mates.

We moved up to prepare for the Rhine crossing with our green berets inside out so the black showed hoping the Jerries would think we were tank corps. We were in a farmyard, the HQ radio vehicle was a large truck with a hole cut in the side, and enclosed a radio, with a ladder supplied to climb in, I hated it and felt trapped. The set broke down but our young officer sent Davies our electrician over to fix it, though I tried to explain that it wasn鈥檛 being used for the crossing. No sooner had Davies climbed in than the Germans started to shower us with mortar bombs. I dived under the truck and when the bombardment eased Davies was dead, his 21st birthday too.

That night there was a 1000 bomber raid on Wesel, a large city over the Rhine. No sooner had the last bomber gone we began the crossing in 鈥楤uffalo鈥檚鈥�. The leading troops again laid white tape through the minefield. The Signal Troop linesmen laid a phone line by swinging hand over hand across the girders of the bridge that had been blown up by the enemy. The headline in one paper read 鈥楥ommando鈥檚 do a Tarzan over the Rhine鈥�.

The city was laid to waste and once again the German medics worked side by side with their British counterparts. The German commander refused to surrender and shot dead our Brigadiers aide de camp, so Mills Roberts shot him dead. The 7th Airborne had joined with us again and we began to clear and secure the city.

By the middle of March we were in Paddanburg. We advanced quite rapidly so we had to borrow vehicles, some weasels from the Service Corps, private cars that the owners weren鈥檛 using and captured trucks with the swastika painted over and our white star substituted. When General Montgomery saw this lot he made us dump them. They wanted to move fast but wouldn鈥檛 supply us with transport.

On the 1st April we were outside the city of Osnabruck. We went into a barn for a rest. Bruce was leading, a chap named Cox second and then me. Unknown to us two German troopers were hiding in the loft, one opened fire and shot Bruce in the thigh, as he went down he fired and hit this assailant. Without thinking I fired from the hip and shot the other one, pure luck with a Lea Enfield kick.

On the 4th April we attacked Osnabruck, it was very heavily defended. At one point I was sent with an officer to climb onto a factory roof via the outside fire escape ladder to pin point enemy strong points and radio down to TAC HQ. We got behind a large chimney and were sniped at continuously. I was wondering if I鈥檇 see my 24th birthday, when thankfully we were ordered down.

Eventually the Jerries gave up and we took 450 prisoners. The HQ of 3 Commando which Bert and I were attached to, took over a mansion owned by a paper mill manufacturer. His housekeeper was told to prepare breakfast for us and the protection troop. Believe it or not, bacon, eggs, strawberries, cream, champagne and brandy.

The River Weser was next at Uchte, we took over a V2 factory complete with rocket on the launcher ready. 45 Royal Marine Commando and 4 Commando crossed first and 6 Commando further down the river. TAC HQ was established and set up well concealed in deep trenches. A message came through that the Germans had infiltrated our lines and were advancing on TAC HQ, a German Marine Battalion. Bert sent a message to 6 Commando on our right and we waited. The German Sergeant Major was right in my sights when blood-curdling battle cries were heard and 6 Commando came charging through the trees. Fixed bayonets and their Major sounding his hunting horn, which scared the life out of me let alone the enemy, who stood petrified. I never fired a shot, I wasn鈥檛 sorry I was beginning to get sick of the whole war.

We took Leise 鈥� Stolezeman 鈥� Helsdorf and Schnerstedt in 3 days. We had to watch out all the time for mines and booby traps, the enemy were fighting a last ditch war. They knew they鈥檇 lost but tried to inflict as much damage on us as possible. Things like stretching a wire across the road at head height so anyone in a jeep with the screen down was in danger of decapitation, or the youngsters who would ask for food, then throw acid in your face.

We now had a few tanks of the 7th Armoured with us and they were a great comfort to get behind. On the 11th April we reached the Forest of Esselier. Up to now in Germany, the Signal Troop had sustained 4 dead, 13 wounded and 1 taken prisoner, as I said earlier we were a priority target. As we advanced through the forest we came under heavy mortar and anti personnel bombs. The latter exploded in the air and showered shrapnel downwards. I received a violent blow in my back, as I went down I thought this is it and called out to Mac. He crawled over to me and I asked it if looked bad as I was in agony and had a job to get my breath. He laughed and lifted a large branch off me. It took me a long time to live that down and for the bruises to fade.

On the 14th April we reached Luneburg at the River Elbe. On the 19th April the German Commander asked by loud hailer to speak to the Brigadier. He said he only had a few untrained troops and wanted to surrender. After a token visit, it was agreed and the crossing took place. Untrained troops my eye, two Battalions of SS troops, fanatics.

I didn鈥檛 cross with the main body, Corporal Lever and 6 of us were to relieve the Signallers at TAC HQ. We crossed the bridge, but on turning the bend came face to face with a German Schmeisser machine gun. Corporal Lever yelled out 鈥榬un like hell鈥�, we all dashed into the forest with a hail of bullets chasing us.

We found TAC HQ under heavy attack and had to crawl the last 100 yards with our chaps giving us covering fire with Bren guns until at last we fell into the trenches. Suddenly we all froze, we could hear tank caterpillars, but they were the 7th Armoured tanks. They made short work of the opposition, especially as they carried flamethrowers, horrible weapon if you鈥檙e on the wrong end of it.

1st May we were in Lubeck. The enemy were coming in droves to surrender; it was all quiet now, except for a few incidents.

On the 4th May we were in Neustadt a military town, complete with barracks. We were in a block of modern flats, no electricity but relative comfort, Bert, Peter Norwood and myself.

On the 6th May we moved to Oldenburg on the coast, billeted in a mans outfitters, empty of course. We swam, laid on the beach watching German U-boats coming in to surrender, were told not to fraternise, and the civilians were a bit wary of us. I reckoned they鈥檇 heard tales about us, but I for one was not used to people crawling to me in fear.

Next door to us was a German blacksmith, his wife offered to do my washing if I had the soap. Soap I had plenty of so I got a lovely pile of freshly washed and ironed clothes. The word went round and she had plenty of customers and plenty of soap, which was a very good bargaining product and unobtainable in Germany. It could be traded for other 鈥榖lack market鈥� goods.

She and her husband invited Bert and myself, together with a young frau and her mother-in-law who lived upstairs, to dinner. The girl鈥檚 husband was a prisoner of the Russians and the mother in laws husband had been Chief of Police in Hamburg, a prisoner of ours. I suspected she was a Nazi, she held the young frau in a grip of fear, dead scared to open her mouth.

Soon we moved back to Neustadt, although not before we learned that the beach we had been sunbathing on concealed the bodies of 200 displaced persons and apparently none of the German civilians knew anything about it.

When VE-Day came it was a relief, no more chance of being killed, then a quiet thought for all our mates who couldn鈥檛 join us for the celebration but had helped to achieve it. The Commando pipe band played in the town centre, the kids stood open mouthed, they had never heard bagpipes before or seen kilts.

At last we set off for an airdrome and after waiting about 6 hours our Captain cadged a flight on a Dakota returning to Gatwick, no seats, we all sat on the floor. We landed at Gatwick, not the huge modern airport of today but a fighter station, and were rushed through customs and our officer signed for all of us. We travelled from there by train to Lewes in East Sussex, a nice lively town full of history.

We were allocated civvy billets and given two weeks leave. It was nice to be home again; in fact I could get home any weekend. We had no passes but were on our honour to be on parade at 8am Monday morning. I usually took one or two of the chaps with me who lived up north and couldn鈥檛 get home so easy, and my Mum didn鈥檛 mind. The lads enjoyed it and we usually took mum and my step dad out to the pub.

In my billet I had my own room and the landlady even invited my mum and step dad down for a weekend. Her husband worked at Battersea Power Station and only came home every other weekend. They also had a young son in the Navy; he must have been stationed near because he was always home at weekends.

By now 2 Commando Signals had returned from Yugoslavia and joined us at 1 Brigade Signals and I met some old faces from training days.

We still had to do the odd speed march or night scheme, which consisted of being dropped in pairs, given a compass and a map reference and told to find our way back. Well in the dark, in the middle of the Sussex Downs this was no mean task. Mac and I set off and all went well until, in the dark, we fell down a hollow right in the middle of a herd of horses. They stampeded all over the place, it was lucky we weren鈥檛 trampled to death, imagine finishing up being squashed by a horse.

One VJ-Day had arrived I don鈥檛 think they knew what to do with us. We still kept a training program and some days a forced march would be dreamed up. One day we had one starting from Lewis to Newhaven, on to Rottingdean, then to Brighton and back to Lewes. On this particular march Les Richards fell out with a blister and was told to make his own way back. As soon as we were out of sight, he thumbed a lift back to Lewes, I wish I had thought of that.

We heard several rumours about our future, the most disturbing was that we were to be disbanded and sent back to the Royal Signals. Finally the bomb dropped, we were all paraded and told the bad news. The War Office brass hats had got their way at last and decided there was no place for the Commando鈥檚. They always hated the idea that we came under combined operations and that they had no control over us but now combined ops was no more. The Royal Marine Commando carried on the tradition but now came under Naval command.

We were split up and sent to different units. Bert, Les, Jimmy Wild, Jock Fogg, Kipper Herring and myself were sent to Northallerton in Yorkshire. The sergeant major lined us up and ordered us to hand in our green berets. That nearly caused a riot, we told him the berets were an award and he could phone General Sturgess at the War Office to confirm the fact. Whether this was done or not, it was not mentioned again but we had to wear the khaki cap inside the camp anyway, when outside we put the green berets on, childish perhaps but we were proud of having been Commandos.

We were told we would have to pay for great coats and we had to explain again that on becoming a Commando we had to hand out greatcoats in as we only wore combat clothing. They were begrudgingly issued and we needed them, it was cold on those moors. Then to crown it all, in the evening we went to the canteen for a drink and the bar was closed down in our faces. We weren鈥檛 used to being treated like children and opened it again. The staff flew, then the Duty Officer appeared and ordered that we be served. There had already been a riot at one camp where Commandos had been sent, so I expect they had been told to go a bit easy. All we wanted was to be treated like men and not morons but the Sergeant Major was still stroppy.

One evening we went into the town by truck for a quiet drink. As we waited for the truck to go back, we were singing 鈥淒on鈥檛 Fence Me In鈥�. The Sergeant Major came up and started abusing us, Les picked up a 鈥楥ome and join us鈥� board and hit him over the head with it. From then on he became a changed man, nothing was too good for us.

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