大象传媒

My memories of the Second World War really begin with the causes and effects of how I came to be in the army; how I came to be in the corps I joined; how the particular unit I joined; in brief, the times immediately before the war and their influences on me.

I therefore need to go back to the time I left school, which was in 1936. Strongly influenced by the glamour of flying in those days, my ambition was to join the RAF with a short service commission and, naturally, to be a pilot. A number of my school friends were like me in wishing to fly. However, my father, who had been in the RFC and RAF in the First World War until shot down in 1918, was not keen on this and did his best to persuade me to drop the idea. My parents also withdrew me from the school on the eve of sitting my Matriculation examination, as it was then known. Their reason will now never be known to me, but could it also have been connected with my ambitions? In any case it meant that any thoughts of university and joining the RAF were out. (I subsequently obtained BSc (Hons) and BA degrees, but much later in life.)

Even in 1936, it was clear that Hitler might be leading Germany into a situation which might precipitate a war. For example, more or less at the time I left school - Hitler in an address to the Nazi Party Congress, 鈥淚f our old enemies should once more dare to attack they will be felled to the ground鈥︹��.鈥� Reported in the Daily Mail 12 September 1936. Looking at newspaper reports of the time, we were also beginning to re-arm, but with nowhere near the speed and urgency, which, with hindsight, we should have done.

My story now jumps to 1937. One evening, I decided to go to a local cinema which was showing H.G. Wells鈥� film, 鈥淭hings To Come鈥�, I think. The foyer was empty when I went in, but when I came out, there was an exhibition by the local Territorial Army Searchlight unit who also had, of course, a recruiting drive. This was, I see from my army records, on 28 October 1937. Having looked over the exhibition and talked to some of the men, I thought, if I am not joining the RAF, why don鈥檛 I join an anti-aircraft unit? I thus found myself, completely without any fore-thought, a Sapper in 313th AA Coy RE (TA) of the 29th Battalion for 4 years with the colours, meeting at the Drill Hall in Pelham Road, Gravesend, Kent. In 1937 nothing like the proportion of people as nowadays could drive. Because of this, since I held a driving licence and because vehicles and driving were a great interest of mine, I was also a Driver. When we paraded, we used the old drill. That is, we formed two ranks, then formed fours from that. We wore pre-war (of course) Service Dress with puttees and had 1908 pattern webbing equipment.

Unbeknown to me, at the time I joined, was the fact that the RAF(VR) was being formed, which would have been ideal. I tried to transfer, when I became aware of this, but was unable to do so. A number of my school friends joined. Indeed, one, whose parents and my own parents were friends, was Bob Palmer. He was mobilised with the RAF(VR) as a pilot and during the course of the war completed more tours than most before being shot down in a Pathfinder Lancaster. He was awarded a posthumous VC for this action.

Half of the 313th met at the Drill Hall in Gravesend. The other half of the unit was at the Drill Hall at Gillingham. (Cut-backs after 1918 were so severe that not even a unit as small as a TA Company could meet in one place). Drills took place twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays and were usually of two hours duration. I believe there was an obligation to perform a certain number of hours or drills in the course of the year.

Just after I met my wife to be at a New Years Eve Ball in 1937 the WRNS was being re-formed so, as I was in the TA, she decided to join the WRNS. But that鈥檚 another story.

As well as the drills during the week, there were weekend camps. My function at most of these was as a driver. Some of the weekday drills involved taking a searchlight detachment by lorry to a site identified by a map reference and setting up the site. The weekend ones were similar but might involve an RAF aircraft flying over for practice. We were equipped with a Tilling Stevens Petrol Electric generator lorry designed for the purpose. This would be loaded with all the equipment for a searchlight site ie. very heavy cable on a drum at the back of the lorry, a sound locator, usually a 90cm searchlight (sometimes a 120cm converted) and all the lesser equipment, together with the personnel for the site. These numbered 10.

On arriving at a site, a position would be found for the lorry, usually amongst trees or tall bushes if possible, so that the sound of the generator would not mask sounds being picked up by the sound locator. The cable would then be laid out to its maximum length and attached to the searchlight. Finally the sound locator would be positioned beyond the searchlight and the two 鈥渟potters鈥�, armed with binoculars each side of the searchlight. Essentially the same thing was followed for the annual fortnightly camps, although the lorries, having unloaded, would usually continue to another site towing a Lister diesel generator and leaving it there before returning to their own site. There were more detachments than there were lorries.

During the whole of 1938 the international situation was deteriorating, although some good news concerned a prototype Hawker Hurricane, which achieved just over 408mph. During March, Germany invaded Austria, increasing the international tension.

My annual camp took place in August and was at a place called Redhouse Farm on the Isle of Grain, in Kent. A diary note made at the time reads 鈥�...miles away from anywhere and consists solely of mud.鈥� My role on this occasion was on the sound locator. It was usual to have practice in all the roles of a searchlight crew. An entry in the diary at that time read 鈥溾�onight we commence operations at 10.00pm and finish about 1.00am. It was noted that I was not far from the Power Petrol place鈥檚 entrance. A further note indicates that on 11th August I moved to Headquarters, which was at Kingshill nr Chattenden, Kent. Camp finished on 14 August 1938.

This was the period when Hitler had designs on the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia, and, about a month later, on 26 September 1938, I found myself mobilised for the Munich Crisis. Again assisting my memory with diary entries, I left the Drill Hall at 1.30am on the top deck of a Maidstone and District bus. We went to Wainscott Mobilisation Depot and were issued with equipment. Our final destination was a field at Chestnut Street, Key Street, nr Sittingbourne, Kent, where we set up our equipment.

We were known as Detachment DA3. We found that, literally, we had been dumped in a field, with no tents, bedding or similar items. We did find a shed, which provided shelter of a sort and which had quite a number of large bags of cattle cake. These provided 鈥渂eds鈥� with a 鈥渢in hat鈥� or kit bag for a pillow. As a further indication of how ill prepared we were despite half hearted attempts at re-arming, we had a complete searchlight site, with searchlight, sound locator, Lewis gun etc, but no generator.

We were thus completely non-operational and incapable of performing our role. We heard that all sites were short of some essential equipment 鈥� gun sites with no ammunition or with ammunition and guns but no breech blocks or with no predictors. We did find, however, that we had a nearby pub. This mobilisation lasted for 12 days until 7 October 1938.

My next mobilisation was on the 16 July 1939. It had been decided that approximately 1/3rd of anti-aircraft units would be mobilised for a month at a time. We left the Drill Hall Gravesend early in the morning by Maidstone and District bus bound for the Drill Hall at Gillingham. From there we went to the searchlight detachment at a place called Beaux Aires on a perimeter of Detling Airfield. I believe we must have been the second group to be mobilised, as I seem to remember that we took over from a detachment already there.

Training followed on site, at Gillingham Drill Hall (now the HQ for 313 Coy) and at a place called Borden. On various occasions, I was in charge of the site. We had blackouts, firing range practice etc, as well as night ops with aircraft co-operating. The sound locator equipment was naturally nothing like Radar in its efficiency. While in principal it was reasonably efficient, it was dependent on the operators. The operators - one for the vertical angle of the sound and the other for the horizontal - relied on their binaural sense to find the angle wearing headphones and by moving the arms of the locator. With good and experienced operators it was a reasonably efficient system for aircraft speeds of the time. The generator on this occasion was a Lister diesel mobile generator. On 13 August 1939 we packed ready for demobilisation and when our relief detachment arrived, handed over and left for HQ.

Eleven days later, I received my calling up papers again (on 24 August 1939). We left the Drill Hall at Gravesend and arrived at Beaux Aires once again, arriving at 01.30. We took over the site at dawn and had emergency night runs (night practice) nightly.

War was declared at 11.00hrs on 3 September and my next demobilisation would be in 1946. Misquoting Churchill鈥檚 words, this, for me was the end of the beginning.

For the second part of this story please go to: Phoney War? What Phoney War - A2720558

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