大象传媒

I was called up on the first of September, 1939 and told to report for duty that afternoon, although war had not yet been declared. I was in the Territorial Army, training as a signaller in morse code, telephone and wireless. On September the 3rd when Chamberlain made his speech declaring war on Germany, I was on picket duty patrolling outside the drill hall armed with a stick. We had been in camp training for 2 weeks at Roedean, Brighton but the school girls from the school next door were all on holiday what bad luck we all thought at the time, being 18 or 19 years old oursleves. We were moved to Wootton-under-edge, Glos. in April 1940. From there we were supposed to go to France, but Dunkirk changed all that. Our guns and vehicles were already on board the ship at Avonmouth, the port of Bristol, so our drivers had to set up in the middle of the night and bring them back,to accommodate the soldiers being returned from Dunkirk, we were quickly moved to the football pitch at High Wycombe. The whole regiment, 700 in all, was moved as the East coast defence force, expecting a German invasion, we wer sent to Linto, Camb; then they moved us ack to a little place called Great Missenden near London fot the winter. The invasion didn't come and we were moved to the Hythe area in Kent. Then we came to Seton Oaks still in Kent inland I fitted up with tropical kit, shorts, pith helmet etc. The tropics we guessed.
On July 28th 1941, we were on our way destination unknown. We went by train (as uaual) to Avonmouth, where the drivers had retrieved our lorries back in June. Probably they then drove the lorries and guns down and we boarded the R.M. Rangitiki a New Sealand ship. After 14 weeks on board we landed Port Tufiki Egypt. We couldn't go through the mediterranean so we had gone North nearly to iceland, straight down the Atlantic Ocean to Freetown, Wests Africa. Then on to Durban, South Africa. Then we went up the East coast of Africa through the Red Sea. No wonder it took 14 weeks we had landed on Oct 4 1941.
We lost of of our chaps from meningitus, he became ill on the South African run about 2pm and he was dead at 4pm - we buried him at sea. On NOv 20th 1941 we moved up the desert (the eastern Sahara) to arrive at Mersa Matruh a few days later. We stayed there 2 weeks. On the 4th Dec. we moved to Sidi Barrani to the accompaniment of 25 pounders 6 inch Howitzers being fired at the enemy. Dec 16th we moved to Abu Shalif, Jan 5th we moved on to "Hellfire Pass" where we went into action for the first time.
The Germans packed it in on the 12th Jan 1942. We moved back to Mersa Matruh 6 days later for a rest period. Feb 1st leave was cancelled and we were given an hours noitice to move back into the desert. The next day we moved up to Gazala near Tobrak until May 28th. We played football every day but we had staka raids twice a day methodically at 11am - 4pm every day. May 28th the Germans started their attack on Gazala. We retreated to Tobruk being out on the perimeter until the 20th June, when at 7am the Germans attacked us with Stakas, JU52's, JO88's and Savoys - all bombers. From camp we could see them landing and taking off again at their base 6 miles away. I was on the telephone exchange when I received the order to pass onto all units, including ourselves, to blow everything up. At 3.15pm the German tanks started to machine-gun us and sent in their 88mm star-burst shells over us. I luckily got away, running through the shrapnal but not hit. Some poor chaps caught it, we waited. We were told to make our way on foot as we'd set fire to our lorries - to the beaches, probably about a mile away we got to the caves among the limestone rocks on the beach, no sand, just the rocks. The next day the Germans came in with guns and we were taken Prisoners of War. The Germans took us by lorries to Derna from wher on 6 August 1942 we were handed over to the Italians who took us to Benghazi in their lorries. We were put on a sugar-boat, the Ravello and next arrived in Tarenta, Italy from there by cattle-truck train to Brindisa the other side of the "heel" in Italy. Another transfer camp, under contrast and finally to a permanent camp in ex-army barracks at Sulmona, right in the middle of the Apennine Mountains running up and down the length of Italy. We were in Italy about a year when the Italians capitulated, the 3rd of September 1943 the whole camp roughly 400-500 POW's now under British officers swarmed up the mountain sto a monastery. Unfortunately the Germans came after us with machine guns and we were put back on cattle-trains about 70 men per truck. We were shipped North to Germany: Muklberg. From there about 25 of us were selected to go to Annanberg to work in the gas works, replacing 50 Russians ... who had probably been worked nearly to death,literally.The work was hard,very hard.We were locked in with other Germans,old men and disabled,into amonia tanks,about once a month for cleaning the layers of dirty oily gas,taking layer by layer down from the top.We could only stay fror 10 minutes at a time the fumes were so strong.Interestingly mothers bought their asthermatic children near the gas works to breath in the fumes,they swore that it helped the children.
After about 2 years a civilian at the gasworks,a man about 35 named Kurt,who had only one arm,told us he'd heard on the 大象传媒 9 o'clock news (verboten of course,the man was apparently turned in by his own son who was in hitlers youth)that the war was nearly over.Eventually the German guards agreed that it was time.They said that we were free to go.The Russians were to the east,the Americans to the west,a friend,Ray and I and some free French ex-prisoners from the gasworks.We scrounged food on the way.In a farmhouse where we were given some food I heard Churchills speech saying THE WAR WAS OVER. We came to the American lines where I saw an officer I thought was General Patten talking to other officers. Our story, Rays and mine apparently was told to the officer,who I still beleive was General Patten.We saw him giving an order to one of the officers and we were given a car with petrol to continue west,I couldn't drive but Ray could so off we went as far as our petrol would take us.We got to Weimar,the American barracks there.They couldn't let us have anymore petrol,but we sold the car to one of the American soldiers for 1000 cigarettes. Our clothing was a mixture of half uniform and half civvies and we had no military ID left. I helped write our 'certificates' saying we were ex - POW's with no ID.
Ray and I were flown to Brussels,then Lille,from there we got transport to the U.K.in Lancasters - we had to ride in the bomb bay(eating sweets to keep from being sick)As the weather was so bad the crew didn't want to take off at all.We landed at Billinghurst,were debriefed and sent home May 17th 1945. nine days after VE day.

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