大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Georgina Jarvis of Norfolk Adult Education鈥檚 reminiscence team on behalf of Sidney John Stebbeds and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.
This is a true story of some of my memories, prior to and during World War II. Some of the dates and times may not be completely accurate, but are as near as I can remember at present.
I had joined the Territorial Army at the age of 19 years, when much unrest was being felt at the thought of a war looming in the near future. Hitler鈥檚 Regime was getting very hostile to near neighbouring countries and I with other friends thought that it was a good thing to be ready, in case of any hostilities commencing, remembering my scout motto: 鈥淏e Prepared鈥�.
I then belonged to a platoon of an infantry Regiment. 鈥楢鈥� Company, 5 Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment, and was mobilised for regular service in July 1939.
Our first assignment was to perform guard duties at Mildenhall R.A.F station. Planes attached to the station were at that time being deployed around the perimeter of the air field so as not to be too close to one another in case of disruption by enemy bombing, which could happen at any time. None of us had performed duties of this nature before and at times it was very lonely and frightening, especially at night-time and in the early hours of the morning; every unusual sound was thought to be of someone attacking us. We gradually got used to this and soon settled down to being on sound alert at all times.
On Sunday 3rd of September 1939, having been relieved of a night of guard duties, and having just finished a late breakfast in the mess hall, we listened to the state broadcast by the then prime minister Neville Chamberlain: That as the German armies had not retreated from entering and invading Poland by 11o鈥檆lock on the 3rd of Sept 1939, we are now declared to be in a state of war against Germany. I thought now the day has arrived when we are to fulfil our duties as a soldier to our King and country.

After a few weeks of these duties at Mildenhall we were all moved to do further guard duties at an internee camp that had been installed at Weeting Hall, near Brandon, Suffolk. A few more weeks passed when another move was made, this time to Bury St Edmunds, where we were to do company infantry training. Some of us were asked to go on to transport driving duties including myself and I am glad to say that I passed my test satisfactorily to be able to drive military vehicles. Once again another move was contemplated, this time to Norfolk, where we arrived at a holiday camp in Mundesley that had been taken over by the military. A few days passed and I was chosen to attend an N.C.O鈥檚 course, being held at the nearby town of North Walsham. Whilst on this course I was fortunate to meet a young lady who was later to become my wife.
After the completion of this course I was informed that I had passed and was duly promoted to the rank of L/CPL.
On my return to the Company at the holiday camp in Mundesley the weather had been getting very severe, with heavy snow and ice, and as there was no heating in the chalets, the company were allocated to private billets in Mundesley.
Before I was called to military service, I was training to be a butcher, and as the company was relying on its own personal for the cook house staff, my Commanding Officer knowing that I had been employed as a butcher, asked me if I would help out for a while by preparing the meat for the company meals. This I did, and in my spare time was available to take tea and snacks out to the troops on manoeuvres in the local area using a 15 cwt truck that was available to the company. As I was helping out in the kitchens with the preparation of meat issued to the company, I was allocated accommodation with other members of the kitchen staff in a room in the Grand Hotel. The dining hall of this hotel was then to be used as a mess hall to our company.
The captain of our company, Captain R.M. Oliver received information that before the outbreak of the war I was a member of an amateur dramatic society in Mildenhall. We used to perform plays and sketches and farces in aid of local charities. A band had been formed, which played for a number of dances in the area of Mildenhall, Thetford and Bury St Edmunds on a regular basis. He then asked if I would try to get together some instrumentalists to form a band to play for some dances that they were trying to arrange for some entertainment to the lads of the battalion. This I did, and I managed to get a trio going, and some successful dances were eventually held in the Coronation Hall and also the Grand Hotel. This was greatly appreciated by our lads and local personnel.
Military training and guard patrols were part of our duties being carried out in Norfolk. Bacton, Happisburgh and Winterton, were the areas around which our company were doing guard patrols, and in more restive times they were also doing duties a little inland from the coast.
My future wife used to visit me, and I her, as much as we possibly could. Visits to each other were difficult to arrange as she was performing long hours in a food factory, and the times we were off duty did not always fall at the same time. But as time progressed, we did manage to arrange a date for us to get married, which was the 6th July 1940. By the way my future wife鈥檚 name was Babs. She was the one who did most of the arranging of our marriage. I did manage to see our own Padre, Capt Nestling, who agreed to marry us with the assistance of the vicar of North Walsham, the Rev Chase. Great thanks to Babs for all the hard work she put in arranging our wedding.
I did manage to get special leave granted for this, our great occasion, and was due to go on leave at 18.00hrs on the 5th July. However. due to the fact that we were still on boating manoeuvres on Filby Broads at this precise time, I did not arrive back into camp, (which at that time was under canvas in the grounds of Filby Hall, ) until 20.00 hrs. Once back in camp all my colleagues helped me to get away for my special leave. Capt Oliver arranged transport to get me to Acle station and I did eventually arrive at Babs鈥� mother鈥檚 home approx. 4 hrs late. 4 hrs admittedly is not long, but when one has only 2 days leave, and you are not able to contact each other as one is today, every minute is precious.
Saturday July 6th arrived and we were duly married at North Walsham church by the Padre and Rev Chase. A day that will always be remembered greatly by both of us.
I was 6 hrs late in returning from leave after our marriage, and was declared AWOL; I did not receive any consideration that I was late in starting my leave. Result was: Loss of well earned L/cpl stripe.
Soon after our wedding the Battalion moved to the Cambridge area, where we found it more difficult to see each other as our duties clashed. This meant our main connection was by letter.
We were not in the Cambridge area long before another move was on the cards. This time, we get further apart as the move is to Scotland .I was allotted to drive with the advance party. After two night stops and a journey of snow and ice to contend with, we arrive in the town of Hawick, Scotland.
There the advance party and I were billeted in a disused cotton mill. And as we lay on our palliasses to sleep we could hear the rush of water below us. We lay about 2 feet from the flow of water. Apparently the mill was built over the river ran it.
Our stay in Scotland was taken up mostly of manoeuvres and training. Wherever we go we seem to be on training for different types of warfare. Three months pass by and another move is in the pipe line. This time back to England to Knowsly Park, Prescot, near Liverpool, This time we are back under canvas again.
Most of the time in the Liverpool area was spent performing fire watch duties at night. During the day we helped to move and clear rubble after the nightly bombing raids, and recovered people still trapped. Removing the dead bodies will always remain in my mind. The smell of death in my nostrils is something I will never be able to forget. The horror of this is truly unforgettable. To hear people calling for help and not being able to get to them without disturbing more rubble onto them was very frightening. These are scenes that are not easily erased from my mind. I was, like others, quite terrified of what we were experiencing at this time. After about a 12 hr shift we were taken back to our camp.
This went on for about 3 months when another move was forthcoming: this time to Herefordshire, to a town called Leominster, where we were billeted in Nissan huts in the town. Often whilst we were here the troops were called upon to help with harvesting. My job was to take the lads to the respective farms requiring the help. Also whilst at this town, preparation for embarkation was forthcoming, with the issue of tropical kit. But to where? No-one knew.
An inspection of the battalion was carried out by His Majesty King George VI, at the town railway station.
During the next few days after a short embarkation leave, we were transported to the port of Liverpool to embark on a troopship. It is now October, and as soon as the embarkation was complete the ship moved out to midstream of the river Mersey so as to be away from the dock area in case of possible enemy bombing. Next morning the ship set sail on a course north of Ireland where we were joined by other ships carrying the remainder of the 18th Div. Also joining the convoy were the escort ships of the Royal Navy. After entering the Atlantic Ocean the convoy seemed to head in a southerly direction, I thought 鈥淢editerranean, or Africa鈥�. But not long after this manoeuvre the convoy turned to a northerly direction. This was when we realised that the convoy was travelling on a zig zag course so as not to be such a direct target for Enemy 鈥淯-boats鈥� in the area. After two days sailing we were met by another convoy of transport ships taking food , stores, and equipment to U K. The escort travelling with this convoy was U.S.A. navy. An aircraft carrier, Battleship , Cruisers and destroyers and a fuel tanker, I had heard that the Americans did things in a big way, and the size of this escort proved that what I had heard was right.
As the troopships and the transports passed each other the escorts to each convoy turned around, so now our troop ships were being escorted westwards by the U.S.A. navy, who at this time were not yet involved in world warfare.
Some very rough seas were encountered during the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. At times the destroyers would be out of sight because of the size of the frighteningly big waves. Also thick fog, and even icebergs were spotted. Not big ones, but they did remind me of the 鈥淭itanic鈥�
Eventually our arrival at a destination not yet known. Three big Liners were lying at anchor in the bay that we were now about to enter. With no blackout restrictions being enforced it seemed that we must be in neutral area. We did find out later that we had arrived at Nova Scotia, New Foundland.
The ships that we were on, docked and we all disembarked, and all troops were ferried out to the liners lying at anchor in the bay. These liners were U.S A. ships. The Miss America, the Manhattan and the Wakefield, they had been converted to troop carriers, and were now going to transport the 18th Div. to what I still think at that time was an unknown destination. We left the bay with the same big escort that we arrived with, in a southerly direction, travelled through the Caribbean, and anchored in the bay at Porto Rico. Some V.I.P.s were allowed shore leave, and after a stay of a few days, we moved on again, still heading south.
When we crossed the Equator, the ceremony of crossing the line was performed, with Father Neptune on hand to help with this ceremony. (I still have the certificate issued to me for this ceremonial event, issued from the S.S.Wakefield.)
The convoy still sailed south. It seemed to me that no one had any idea where we were heading. No one had made a decision of what was to happen to a Division of men travelling on the high seas.
Eventually arrival at Cape Town was provisionally recognised, as one could not disguise Table Mountain. We also new that the bombing of Pearl Harbour had officially brought America in to the war.
Our stay at Cape Town was 4 days during which route marches were the main thing we went on. Here I was able to get a letter card off to my wife, who by this time must have been worried stiff as to my whereabouts, as we had not been able to post any mail since our departure from England. Four days passed and the convoy resumed its journey, this time in an easterly direction. After travelling one day, the S.S. Manhattan left the convoy; later we learned that it had gone on to Mombassa. The Brigade on that ship spent Christmas there; the remainder of the division spent theirs in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
Next port of call was Bombay. I disembarked with the remainder of the division and we were then transported to a military camp about 200 miles inland from Bombay, which was named Ahmed Nugger. (I think I have spelt its name correctly). Another two weeks passed by, and back we all travel to Bombay, to embark once more on to the same ships that we had disembarked from two weeks previously. We sail this time in a southerly direction. After a lot of sailing close to a number of islands, which later turned out to be Java and Sumatra, we finished up at the port of Singapore. We are ordered to disembark as quickly as possible. I was with the remainder of our Division arriving at an area of war, each man equipped with a rifle and 5 rounds of ammunition. No other back up seemed to be available. As I left the ship I did see that RAF personnel and a great number of civilians were boarding the ship that we were leaving. The only allied plane I saw was in a crate on dockside.
I realised that I was with a doomed division of men before even arriving at our destination, 鈥渋f ever there was one鈥�. None of the division鈥檚 equipment ever arrived at Singapore with us, it was rumoured that it was all diverted to the Island of Java. How was one expected to fight a well equipped army with only a rifle and 5 rounds of ammunition? I, like many of our comrades could never understand why an army of men was sacrificed in such a way as this. Often I wonder who was responsible. Was it a political situation so as to save face with another country?
I was on Singapore island for about 2 weeks, during which time I drove a breakdown lorry, pulling and rescuing other lorries that had got into difficulties in the many swamped areas. Orders were given that as the Malayan campaign was now declared over, we were to lay down arms and wait to be declared P.O.W.s of the Japanese. We were also informed not to immobilise any weapons, but I do think that most rifles had somehow got the firing pins bent or broken, which then made the weapon useless. My own rifle had been splintered in two by an enemy bomb that dropped near me.

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