大象传媒

Now upon the other foot, the boot was surely placed,
A reverse of situations, the Jerry himself was faced,
I travelled on with the R.N.F鈥檚 until we got to Ghent,
Came the parting of the ways, and back to my unit I went.

It was nice to be back with my section and to do a job that I knew,
With the arrivals of ambulances and wounded, always plenty to do,
lame, the wounded and sickly,
Treated their wounds, gave them hot sweet teas and evacuated quickly.

Then Antwerp was taken, for which there was a hustle,
They got the docks open, and it was all hustle and bustle,
With supplies pouring in, it was a much shorter route,
So there was lots of ammunition for the next big shoot.

With supplies built up it was forward again,
Over the border to Holland land of flat terrain,
And here鈥檚 where the going got really nasty and tough,
Old Jerry was nearing home and thought he鈥檇 play it rough.

Place names like Maastricht and Sittard mean nothing to you,
And here鈥檚 where Jerry said 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not coming through鈥�,
The fighting was bitter, and the casualties were high,
And did not improve as the days went by.

They had a problem at Walcheron, where Commando鈥檚 were used,
For one thing I鈥檓 glad I wasn鈥檛 in their shoes,
Poor devils took a bashing, not their type of war,
And being used as Infantry was the very last straw.

Then came a day when the skies were full of planes,
Towing lots of Gliders like aerial trains,
That was the start of the Arnham Battle,
Where thousands of our Para鈥檚 were mown down like cattle.

The futility of Arnham and the awful loss of life,
Made us sick and sorry throughout their days of strife,
We were in the Dempsey corridor trying to come to their aid,
As day by day their hopes began to fade.

As they evacuated Arnham and this they did by night,
They bought back many wounded so we worked throughout and no respite,
We treated them and comforted as well as we could,
And did all the things that good Medics should.

Then on our way to Veghel and tragedy in store,
We opened up in a Convent when the guns began to roar,
As shells expoloded overhead, the very air was filled,
With shrapnel flying everywhere and Bill Piddington was killed.

I layed out Bill and we buried him beside a busy road,
And our carpenter made a wooden cross to mark his last abode,
We were glad to be on the road again, with Veghel out of sight,
And as long as I live, I鈥檒l not forget that night.

Christmas away from home again at a coal mine in Geleen.
With buzz bombs overhead, noisy and unseen,
We knew where they were going, as they rattled on their way,
And not the sort of present to be given Christmas Day.

Next then on to Weerts a rather charming place,
鈥楾was here that we got ready for the final race,
The next assault was on the Rhine, the final river to cross,
And fortunately the troops went over with very little loss.

Now at last the final phase, was well and truly started,
As Jerry licked their wounds and finally departed,
Nearer and nearer the Rats approached Berlin,
Then the 鈥淭op Brass鈥� turned us north and let the Russians in.

We came back from the North through Soltav and Bucholz
And saw the ruins of Hamburg and bodies burnt like dolls,
Retribution for the Germans they had bombed without any pity,
This is their repayment and the ruins of a city.

May the 8th and then the war was over and we were swanning free,
Elated and overjoyed with the sense of Victory,
No more wounded but routine sick parades,
And an end to all the shelling no more bombing raids.

We settled at last in Brunsweig, knowing not what was in store,
The Colonel said 鈥淧aint your belts and gaitors white鈥� and his word was law,
No unit in the Army has ever committed such a crime,
We were the laughing stock of the division it really was sublime.

He said 鈥淲e must impress the Germans, the Rats are off to Berlin鈥�,
We are taking the British Sector if the Russians will let us in,
Believe it or not as we entered the city the Germans were lining the streets,
They gave us quite a welcome despite their many defeats.

Thus we came to the end of our travels, thousands of miles we had been,
Journeying through many Countries, which I would never have seen,
I was sick and weary of war and wanting to return to my wife,
And what of my two children, they were part of my life.

Six months had been my enlistment, a Militia Boy was I,
Then war broke out so I had to do or die,
For six months then say six years I really had to serve,
Then they kindly let me go and put me on reserve.

Throughout this war I had buried the dead,
And put them safely away to bed,
No coffins or boxes a blanket their shroud,
And a few quiet prayers as we stood with heads bowed.

CHRONICLE

FRANCE
Southampton to Cherbourg
Aesmay sur Saithe
Moyencourt
Ligny sur Canche
Lille
Armentieres

BELGUIM
Courtrai
Oudenaarde

Retreat through Steen Weike, Poperinge,
1 Company returning through Dunkirk
onboard 鈥淗MS Vanquisher鈥� (Destroyer).

May 1942 AFRICA

May 31st to July 31st
SS Strathallan鈥�
Disembarked Egypt.

July 23rd to August 14th
Base Camp Khatatba.

August 15th to October 20th
Barrani Tomb
and Battle of Ruweisat Ridge.
Palm Beach. Himeimat.

October 23rd
Alamein Battle

November 14th to November 17th
Companies open Tobruk Hospital

December 1st
鈥淎鈥� Company Banghasi
H.Q. travelled 775 miles in 7 days via
Alamein, Mersa, Matruh, Bordia, Tobruk,
Bafoe to Banghasi.

December 9th
鈥淎鈥� Company Agedabia
鈥淏鈥� Company Air Evac Centre Benina

December 20th to December 31st
Marble Arch, Wadi Matratin Sirte.

January 1943 January 10th to January 25th
鈥淎鈥� Company via Bani Walid and Tarhunah
H.Q. and 鈥淏鈥� Company via Misratah

January 27th
H.Q. and 鈥淏鈥� Company
Azizia Hospital Tripoli.
鈥淎鈥� Company Medenine.

March 16th
Ben Guerdane.
Mareth Battle
1068 Cases in 7 days.

FLOG to TUNIS

April
Gabes, Sfax, Kairouan Djebibina

May 1st to May 3rd
Switched to 1st Army front at
Medjex el Bab

May 8th
鈥淏鈥� Company in Tunis

May 25th
Back at Home: combined ops training
and mountain warfare.

August 28th
Detachment with Marine Commandos.

September 11th to September 14th
Embarked Tripoli in L.C.Ts.

ITALY

September 15th
Salerno Beaches

September 22nd
Salerno, Pagani, Scoffati, Pompei,
Naples, Avema, Grazzianisi, Volturno,
Mandasgone, Castellamane, Seiano.

December 20th
Embarked 鈥淪S Boissevain at Naples for U.K.

June 1944 FRANCE

June 6th
鈥淒.Day鈥� Embarked Liberty Ship

June 11th to June 12th
Disembarkation Normandy.

June 13th
Villers Bocage

August 25th
N.E.Caen across River Orne, Soubles
Aumay sur Odon, Livarot, Lisieux, St.Aubin.

THE SWAN

August 29th to September 6th
Le Neubourg, Crossing the Seine, Gournay,
Tormerie, Lignieres, Poix, Amiens,
Doullens, Lens.

BELGUIM

September 6th to September 24th
Ghent, Malines, Tongerloo, Gheil.

HOLLAND

September 25th to November 9th
Dempsey Corridor, Eindhoven, Veghel,
Vorstenboch, Boxtel, Moelgestal, Udenhout.

BELGUIM

November 10th
Move to Maas Sector
Kintey, Bree, Rotham.

HOLLAND

December 10th
Crossed Maas, Sittard and Geleen,
Gangelt

January 1945 GERMANY SECTION

January 15th
Holtam, Dierteren, Echt.

February 5th
River Roer, Weert

March 27th to April 6th
Rhine Crossing, Bremen, Borken, Sudlohn,
W.Rheine, Ems Canal, N.E Osnabruck,
N.Sollingen 20 miles S.Bremen.

April 10th
Crossed River Weser at Nienburg
River Aller at Retham
Soltau, Buchholz.

May 3rd
Entry into Hamburg

May 8th
V.E.DAY

May 9th to June 17th
Ramstedt, Seeth, Lockstedter, Lager
Leezen.

June 18th
Brunsweig

July 4th
Berlin and 鈥淓nd of Axis鈥�.

ROLL OF HONOUR

Killed in Action

Private Harold. Driver Piddington.

Awards

D.S.O. Lt.Colonel L.T.Furnival

M.B.E. Lt.Colonel W.S.Harvey
Major A.K.Borland.

M.C. Captain W.Edwards
Captain D.McCrae
Captain J.J.McCall
Captain T.W.T.Pretsell
Captain J.Sheehan
Lieut S.W.Pleasants

M.M. Corporal D.C.Perry R.A.S.C. Private S Jones Ambulance Orderlies
Private J.S.Dunbar Ambulance Orderlies

M.I.D. Major P.H.Jobson
Captain J.H.Low R.A.S.C.

R.S.M. L.E.Mayger
C.S.M L.Williams R.A.S.C
S.Sgt T.Y.Brown
Sgt. F Acott
Sgt. C.F.Garland
Cpl. F.J.Payne R.A.S.C
L.Cpl W Hepton R.A.S.C.
L.Cpl G Cooke R.A.S.C.
Private W.P.Martin
Private S.Miller
Private T Betts.

C.I.N.C鈥檚 Captain W.A.Buckley
Certificate Q.M.

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