大象传媒

THE WORCESTERSHIRE REGIMENT

Geoffrey Palmer 5250982
1937-1946

I enlisted in the Worcestershire Regiment at Worcester in February 1937 and did my 6 months training at Norton Barracks, Worcester before joining the 1st Battalion at Aldershot and became batman driver to Billie Burke who was the Transport Officer at Battalion HQ.

In February 1938 we took over guard duties at the Tower of London for 3 months then returned to Aldershot whilst there I was in the Young Soldiers Firing team and the Cross Country Running team.

Whilst on leave in July we were called back to be told we were off to Palestine. As part of the advance party we went down to Southampton Docks and a few days later sailed on the troopship Neurelia to Haifa which took 11 days. After collecting our transport we went to Jerusalem stopping at Sarafand on the way.

In November we moved to the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem spending Xmas there it was quite an experience and during that time we were able to go swimming in the Dead Sea a few times, after some four months we moved to Hebron where we had a lot of trouble from the Arabs.

At the beginning of August we began to get ready for a move to the Sudan travelling with our transport by train and boat down the River Nile disembarking at Whadi Alfa the day war was declared.

We then continued by train to a place called Gebeit which was right out in the wilds. Whilst there as part of the transport company we did a lot of driving mostly mapping the area. In December my officer was posted to Port Sudan so spent Xmas 1939 at the Red Sea Hotel whilst he was working on contraband control.

Shortly after returning to Gebeit the battalion moved to Port Sudan from where we began the advance into Eritrea against the Italians, it was during that time that I contracted Malaria and travelled to hospital in Khartoum.

Whilst there my officer Billie Burke was posted away to Middle East HQ so that on returning to the Company I was given my first stripe and took charge of a section followed shortly afterwards by a second stripe, during this time we were slowly advancing towards Keren, a hilly area where the Italians had prepared heavily defended defences which included a large road block. As one of the transport sections we were kept very busy taking up supplies and men to the front line, it could be quite hairy as there was heavy shelling going on most of the time .

After Keren was taken we continued to advance towards the capital Asmara where the Italians withdrew to a mountainous area. My section was dropped off at a small village called Decamara which was an Italian settlement containing a caf茅, garage, and about a hundred or so houses.

When the attack on Ambo Alagi started we rejoined the company having plenty of work to do before the Duke of Aosta surrendered and the campaign was over. It was at this time I was promoted to Sergeant. After a couple of quiet weeks the battalion was posted to Egypt, embarking at Port Masawa for a trip up the Red Sea to the Egyptian delta and then on to a Camp very close to the pyramids at Mena which is a couple of miles from Cairo where I spent a weeks leave in the January.

A little later we moved up to the Western Desert or as we called it up the blue stopping at Mersa Matru and Fort Capuzzo before arriving at Burgh al Arab, our next move was to an oasis called Siwa. It was there as part of the 29th Indian Brigade, we set out across the desert to capture an oasis called Jalo held by the Italians well behind the German front line - this took nearly three days to get there as we were crossing soft sand areas and salt pans which made driving quite interesting to say the least and using a sun compass which was fitted on the nearside wing of the truck. After its capture we stayed there for a few days before returning to our base at Siwa during this time we were bombed causing a few casualties.

Soon we were on the move again up and down the desert as the fighting hotted up, finally ending up at Box 167 which was the name given to an area of desert surrounded by barbed wire and a mine field with just one entrance at the rear this was the last defence box guarding Tobruk and with us we had a troop of 25 pounder guns and some heavy mortars.

After been there for a few days we were attacked early in the morning by heavy shelling and mortar fire, as the day wore on the guns and mortars were getting knocked out and we were taking casualties with the Germans getting ever closer we received the order to retreat every man for himself and make for Tobruk. Later in the evening we reformed at the Tobruk outer defences with a lot of men missing most having been taken prisoner. We took up new positions and had a few days respite before the Germans attacked again after some fairly heavy fighting we were forced to retreat into Tobruck, this was on the Saturday 20th June. During the night there was some bombing followed the next morning by the Germans slowly advancing with support from Stuka dive bombing so that by the Sunday afternoon we were told to stop fighting and to destroy as many of our vehicles that we could as Tobruck had been surrendered, so life as a POW began.

A couple of days later we were handed over to the Italians and finished up at a POW camp at Benghazi where we stayed for a couple of weeks before being transported by road to Tripoli and then by boat to the Island of Sicily and then onto the Italian Mainland to the POW camp at Capua before moving on again to PG 70 at Porto St Georgia which was on the Adriatic coast staying there till the Italians surrendered.

With a couple of my mates we went out of the camp to try to get back to our front line which was advancing up Italy but got picked up by a German patrol and was back in the bag again as were most of the others who tried to get back. A little while later we were on the move again this time to Germany travelling in cattle trucks this wasn鈥檛 1st class travel I can tell you. During the journey we were shunted into sidings at Verona while a couple of air raids took place - not a very nice time for us and then off again stopping at the Brenner Pass where we were counted and given some German black bread and sausage, then on again stopping at Leipzig before finally arriving at Stalag 4B at Mhulberg on Elbe in East Germany.

After spending the third Xmas in captivity the Allies were advancing on all fronts and we all began thinking about getting home again and so the day came after some fighting near the camp during the night, next morning a few Russian soldiers came into the camp and we were no longer POW鈥檚. After being told to walk to a place called Rhesia we stayed at a German barracks while plans were made for our onward journey home. Eventually the Americans came to pick us up and took us to Leipzig where we had our first real meal for a long time.

By this time we were still pretty scruffy we were able to have a shower but had to still keep the clothes we were wearing when released. On the Saturday we were flown from Leipzig to Brussels in a Dakota where we were able to throw away the clothes we were wearing, have a bath and receive new kit - it was a wonderful feeling. This was followed by a walk to the bank to receive an advance of pay followed by some sight seeing and a drink.

The following day we were flown home in Halifax Bombers landing at Wool where we given a great reception by the RAF before going on to Chalfont St Giles. Here we were debriefed and all the red tape gone through but we were well looked after and the canteen was open all night for us. Late Monday evening we received some more pay and railway warrant home so Tuesday morning saw every thing in place for our journey home first to Marleybone then by coach to Paddington arriving at Malvern Link about five o鈥檆lock to be met by Ida and Doris and the family. During my six weeks leave Ida and I got married and moved down to Winchester.

At the end of my leave I reported back to an holding camp at Berkhampstead and after a few weeks there was attached to the Hampshires who were based near Aylesbury - this was followed by a move to Blandford Camp in Dorset awaiting demob. I was demobbed at Reading and started civilian life again in Winchester and so ended my time as a regular soldier

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