大象传媒

My name is FREDERICK MUTTON. When world war 2 started in September 1939 I was 13 years old and in the early part of 1940 I was evacuated to a place called MARKYATE about six miles from ST ALBANS. When we arrived at MARKYATE we were assembled in front of a school where the local residents walked around us and picked who they wanted. My brother and I were the last two and we were given to an elderly lady who really did not want us. She got rid of us in a few days and we were then placed with a grocers family which was very nice. We only stayed about six weeks then returned to LONDON. After returning to LONDON it was not long before the blitz started and every night for months the German bombers would come at the same time about 1800hrs and we would take to the air raid shelters and stay all night until the all clear sounded next morning. Then we would surface and check what damage had been done during the night. We could hear the bombs falling and depending on the amount of noise they made, we could tell how close they were, but we got used to it. Then one night after months of bombing there were no sirens, all was quiet and for the first time in months we all went to bed.

The blitz was over but still to come was the V1 flying bomb and the V2rockets. It was SEPTEMBER 1943 and I decided to join the NAVY, so I went to the recruitment centre to sign up. When I got there I saw three queues: NAVY, ARMY and AIR FORCE. I joined the queue for the Navy but as I got to the front I heard them asking for a birth certificate. As I was only 17 years 2months old and the minimum age was 17 years 6months, I took a couple of steps to the left and was in the Army queue as they did not want a birth certificate. And I that鈥檚 how I became 14497359 RFN F MUTTON and went to war.

I got called up a few weeks later and had to report to FULFORD BARRACKS YORK where I did six weeks training before being sent to STRENSAL CAMP YORK to do my final ten weeks training with the 10bn K.R.R.C. On completion of our training some of the lads were sent to other battalions and the fighting front. I was put in demonstration platoon where we demonstrated how to perform certain tasks after doing this job for some time. I was informed that I was going on a snipers course which I enjoyed very much. At the end of the course I was told that my results were very good and my qualification was entered in my army book 64.

When that course was over I went back to demonstration platoon it was December 1944 when I was sent to EUROPE to join the 12bn K.R.R.C. at GEILENKIRCHEN. When we arrived and got off our trucks I knew I was in the front line as all the buildings had been destroyed or damaged, and we could hear shells exploding all around. My first night in action was not too bad, but on the second night we were moved up to a village to guard some tanks and we were shelled all night. It was rough but after a few days you got so you did not care. My employment in the 12bn K.R.R.C. was sniper and rifleman in a motor section.

It is now Christmas day 1944 and I am in a line of riflemen passing shells to a line of Sherman tanks. This took all day and it was bitterly cold and my feet were numb. We were preparing for the final big push, and our objective was to destroy all German troops east of the ROER between Roermond, Geilenkirchen.and Sittard. The weather was atrocious, the ground was like iron and covered in snow, and when we were told to dig in we felt like sitting down and hoping that there would be no shelling but as soldiers we carried out orders.

On January 16th the thaw set in and everywhere was muddy, making it difficult for our tanks to move. On January 19th snow and frost returned, and the temperature dropped as low as -12掳 of frost but we pushed on and took village after village and finally took HEINSBERG. Then we moved on through NIJMEGEN up to the Reichwald forest, then onto Goch and Rees where we crossed the Rhine on a pontoon bridge. Our next objective was Hengeloo which is back in Holland. We met with little resistance, but at this point in my story I must point out that we were under heavy fire most of the time from German 88mm guns. Also other heavy artillery, mortars, light machine guns, rifle fire and panzer tanks. We also suffered heavy casualties in some battles though I was one of the lucky ones.

We now advanced onto Lingen which is back in Germany then onto Diepholz, Bassum, and Bremen. South of Bremen there was extensive flooding and after several days we captured all the ground south of the flooded area. We were soon to advance on Bremen but first the operation was preceded by very heavy bombing which we watched from the other side of the flooded area. Once we entered Bremen all resistance crumbled. We then pushed on to Bremervord but before we got there I was given 48hrs leave so I was sent back to Hengeloo for a rest.

My 48 hours turned into seven days as there was only one truck leaving every day for the front line and only so many could get on it, but eventually I got on and headed back to the front. I was back with my unit on May 4th. It was about 9 o鈥檆lock that night when we were told that the Germans had surrendered unconditionally at 1820hrs and all hostilities would cease at 0800hrs tomorrow. May 5th the war in Europe was over. There was some rejoicing but not a lot to shout about as it took a few days to sink in. We travelled around picking up stray German soldiers and on May 19th we took over Hannover from the United states army and settled down looking after German P.O.W.s.

It was July 1945 that men with a high age and service number were sent home to Crowborough in Kent to re form the 2nd Bn K.R.R.C.and then be sent to the far east to fight the Japs. To understand age and service numbers my number was 57 and I did not get demobbed until 20 Nov 1947. It is now August 1945 and I am on 14 days embarkation leave when the Atom bomb was dropped on Japan and World War 2 was over. I spent VJ in London with thousands and thousands of people celebrating with members of the armed forces and what a great time we all had until the early hours of the morning. Thanks to the atom bomb our trip to the Far East was cancelled. Instead we were sent to the Middle East where I served in Tripoli, Egypt, and Palestine. Then in August 1947 I was sent home to England and the end of my first part of my service career. In 1950 I signed up to serve in Korea but never got there but that鈥檚 another war story.

FOOTNOTE
This is a brief synopsis of what I went through in W.W.2 and to tell the whole story I would need to write a book

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