大象传媒

THE WILTSHIRE REGIMENT

Edwin Ezra Parsons was born on 13th March 1924, and I shall begin his story from the time he left school in 1938.

Edwin鈥檚 father had successfully gained a position for him at the 鈥淏roadway Garage鈥�, near Dudley town centre. Unfortunately it was not on the workshop floor as Edwin would have liked, but in the stores. He also disliked having to arrive early to make the fire in the office, and on occasions the tea. He also resented the fact that his father had gotten him the job. As a result Edwin asked his father if he could join the army--- His fathers reply is reported to have been. 鈥淕oo 鈥� on then鈥�.. bugger off.鈥�

On the 18th October 1938 Edwin enlisted into the Wiltshire Regiment (Supplementary reserve). He was still only 14, and must have obviously lied about his age. The Supplementary Reserve was formed in the late 1930s as a way of training 鈥攗p a large number of men who could be called up for military service in the event of war (a war, which by then was realised as inevitable).

On Edwin鈥檚 arrival at Devizes in Wiltshire, two old men spoke to him as he left the bus and stood unsure as to where to go. He thought they spoke a foreign language but eventually realised they were asking him where he was going. They gave him directions to the camp.

On arrival at camp he found himself billeted in a large wooden hut, his bed next to the hut N.C.O.. He soon found himself cleaning and preparing all the N.C.O.s kit as well as his own. Edwin also experienced bullying from his fellow recruits 鈥� possibly due to his young age. On one occasion he was chased around the gym by a man who was threatening to beat him up. As Edwin climbed a wooden climbing frame he turned and kicked his pursuer hard in the teeth. Jumping to the floor Edwin ran outside and straight into the Corporals mess. A number of N.C.O.s were playing Billiards and they all stopped telling him to get out as he was not allowed in there. He refused saying that they (the bullies) were outside waiting for him. The N.C,O.s disappeared outside but as Edwin did not follow what occurred is not known. However the bullying stopped.

Edwin was not a forgiving person, he believed in getting even in any way he could. On the next occasion he found himself alone in the hut he went to the mans bed and pulled his suitcase from beneath it. He proceeded to stamp and jump all over it, smashing it to a pulp. The bully was not amused when he discovered his case, but he did not know who to blame, though he might have had his suspicions

The recruit training finished on 17th April 1939 and Edwin鈥檚 army number was 5570090. He returned home wearing civilian clothes that were too small for him. He had grown so much that his trousers were halfway up his legs and his jacket arms were at his elbows.

After a few weeks at home Edwin鈥檚 father took him to one side and told him that it was obvious that there was going to be a war. When it started Edwin would be called up immediately for the Wiltshire Regiment and as they were infantry he would have little chance of survival. He told Edwin that he would like him to join the cavalry as he had done himself in the Great War. He would also stand a better chance of coming through alive. What neither realised was that the cavalry was being mechanised as they spoke.

9th Lancers

Edwin enlisted into the R.A.C. (Royal Armoured Corps) on the 12th June 1939, three months prior to World War 2. The R.A.C. had recently come into being bringing all cavalry and tank regiments together in a single unified corps, thus began Edwin鈥檚 life as a tank man.

His trade on enlistment is given as machinist, and his date of birth as 13th March 1921. Again he falsified his age adding three years to his true age of 15. He enlisted at Birmingham for 6 years service, and was described as 6 ft tall with a fresh complexion, brown eyes and dark hair. Edwin did not enlist on his own, his cousin David Cole joined him, but they were soon split up after their training.

Edwin鈥檚 address during his training was 鈥�. A.C. 10. D Company, .52nd H.T.R. R.A.C. Depot, Bovington, Dorset. He recalled that although there were brand new brick barrack blocks they had to live in old wooden huts. This was because the new buildings were only used for inspections purposes by visiting V.I.P.s. He also recalled that the bars of soap in the ablutions had razor blades placed in them. This was to deter people from dirtying the washbasins.

After basic military training, which Edwin had already experienced in the infantry, he moved on to 鈥淒river Training鈥�. He remembered his Cadre had two vehicles, a small truck and a much larger one. The Cadre was split into two groups, each being allocated a truck. Edwin found himself learning to drive in the larger truck whilst his cousin David learnt in the smaller. One day the two groups exchanged vehicles and David Cole drove away in the large truck. However, the vehicle soon returned with its front end rearranged, as was the instructor Sergeants face鈥�. Blood was apparently flowing freely from his wounds. It appears that David had run straight into a stonewall as he had tried to turn at the first junction they had encountered. He had not come to terms with the different handling abilities of his new stead.

Tank driving came next and Edwin was not a natural His instructor eventually decided that Edwin needed to wear a different coloured ribbon on each wrist to help him differentiate between left and right. Tanks are turned in direction by pulling on levers, known as tillers, and Edwin Obviously had trouble moving in the direction required by his instructor. Unfortunately for Edwin it was later decided that he had to wear his ribbons at all times. This proved very embarrassing for Edwin and left him feeling very foolish. So much so that one day he dared to slip them off whilst queuing for dinner. He was spotted right away and reprimanded immediately鈥�. Much to everyone else鈥檚 amusement

Edwin ended up having extra lessons. Weekends were spent driving while his friends were relaxing or drinking. He finally clocked up twice the driving time of his fellow recruits. However it did pay off and he found himself driving the display tank at their 鈥減assing out parade鈥�. (A great honour).

The tank he learnt to drive in was a VICKERS MEDIUM.

When war was declared in September 1939 Edwin and his fellow soldiers were moved out of Bovington Camp and he well remembered the long walk laden down with bedding and kit to Lulworth and the gunnery range where they now had to stay. This was to make room for the reservists and Militia who were now being called up. He particularly remembered the large number of Welsh Militia as they only ever spoke Welsh and always wore blazer and trousers. (Ha thought these may have been army issue.).

He recalled the long days spent loading ammo belts 鈥� pushing each individual bullet into place in the cloth belts. He also recalled how tender it made the hands.

They eventually returned to Bovington and were slowly posted to their allocated regiments. Edwin was too young to go abroad so he had to wave his comrades and cousin Dave (who was 21) goodbye.

Edwin was given the job of looking after the camp pigs. He had to collect the swill bins from the different cookhouses within the garrison and feed the swill to the pigs. To do this he had an old pre 1914 lorry that had a wooden crate as a seat. Edwin loved this job and was very upset when he lost it. Edwin had gone home on a few days leave and on his return he had found someone else feeding the pigs. After all, the pigs still needed feeding in his absence.

He remembered the night the pig stye caught fire and the terrible noise the poor pigs made. He remembered the men trying to put out the flames with buckets of water and one pig running wild trying to smash his way out of his pen. The pig had a large gash on its rump.

On the 29 March 1940 a few days after his 16th birthday (army age 19) Edwin was posted to the 9th Lancers at Wimborne in Dorset. He found himself billeted with a family who lived above their own sweet shop. The regiment鈥檚 tanks were kept in a local council yard.

Edwin soon noticed that he was spending the weekends alone; it appeared that everyone went home. A corporal approached him stating just that fact and told him鈥︹�︹�︹�eeing as he never went anywhere, to fit some new batteries to a cruiser tank ready for Monday. Edwin spent the weekend trying to fit those batteries. He hadn鈥檛 a clue what he was doing and every time he touched something the spanner sent sparks flying. Eventually he mastered the task but was very weary of batteries after that.

Edwin recalled going home on leave around this period and taking a friend with him, and how the people refused to take money from them. Bus conductors refused fares and in every pub people bought their beer. Good times.

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