大象传媒

Memories of Joseph Harridge, Leamington Spa

I was conscripted to the Royal Naval Special Reserve on 22 June 1939. On 10 October I was actually called up to Eastleigh Barracks, Portsmouth.

Pom-poms and Morse code

After training I was sent to North Shields to erect guns (pom-poms) on either side of the Tyne. I thought this was a good wartime job.

We put up the guns in Yeoman Street to test them. When we did so they blew out all the door fanlights, damaging doorframes and windows. While I was posted at North Tyne we had to practise Morse code in preparation for active service.

One night on guard duty, while practising how to send a message to my friend across the Tyne, the police and military police appeared. Had we seen any signals? they asked.

On the 'Flamingo' to Norway

In the middle of the night we were told that we were leaving. We caught a sloop (the Flamingo) at Rosyth. It was in April, at the time of high tides, and I was very sea sick.

We went up the Rodale fjord in Norway. I was billeted at Aandalsnes. My job was to put guns up in the town and either side of the fjord. The Germans were not very scared of our pom-poms. For three weeks they dropped flares, even in daytime. We could practically see their pilots' faces as they went past.

Down the fjords

We were told to abandon our guns and head to the mountains to await a signal from the cruiser York. Its guns covered us while we got back to the sloops. I returned on the Black Swan. We had to be very quiet going down the fjord, because of the German submarines.

We landed at Scapa Flow then took the train from Thurso to London, where we had a meal before going on to Portsmouth. There I was trained to be as a member of the Landing Basin Maintenance Unit.

At sea for three months

Then it was up to Gourock, where we boarded a Norwegian liner the Berganfjord, which was packed with troops. I was at sea for three months. Water was scarce. There was a cup of water in the morning and a cup of water at night, and all washing to be done with sea water.

The Germans were chasing our pack. At Newfoundland, we managed to get a bigger escort with the battleships Rodney and Renowned.

Wooden guns

Eventually, we landed in Egypt, where we did further training at an airfield at Moascar. There were wooden guns all around the perimeter of the airfield to give the impression it was heavily armed. We were waiting for our rifles to arrive on a Canadian ship, which in any case held only five rounds of ammunition.

I then went to Crete, where we were heavily bombed. After two to three weeks we had to leave. The City of Paris took us back to Egypt.

A fighting brigade

We went next by the Red Sea to Durban, where we had a week off. The people of Durban were good to us. They were waiting at the port and took us out to dinner and generally looked after us. We ate as much as we could.

Then off again to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where we landed at Colombo. We were posted to Trincomalee, with its very large natural harbour. Our unit joined a battalion and became the 5th Brigade, Royal Marines. A fighting brigade, we left the coast and went to the jungle, where, thank goodness, the Japanese did not come.

A bout of malaria

I came down with malaria and ended up in Trincomalee Hospital. I was sent to the hills, where the climate was lovely, like a nice summer's day in England.

I then went to India, where we caught the train from its southern tip to Bombay. I was on that train for a week. When I arrived in Bombay, I had a relapse - the malaria had returned. I went to Poona for three weeks to convalesce.

Buying a wedding present in Madras

I was then sent to a clearing station, where an army officer told me I was to accompany Lieutenant General Christason, I was to be his shadow.

We were on an unnamed Australian headquarters ship to Burma. I never saw the Japanese, but I did hear a lot of firing. I was despatched to a clearing station in Madras. While I was there I bought my brother some towels as a wedding present. Surprisingly, they did reach home.

It took the authorities four weeks to find my old battalion, which was under Mountbatten in northern India. It was withdrawn from the 33rd Indian Corps. We felt we might be going home. Our ship broke down, and we landed at Malta, just when it was being bombed daily. We boarded another ship to Gibraltar and then Gourock.

Seventy pounds pay-off

I was sent home for six weeks' leave but recalled after only three. I had to report to Butlin's Holiday Camp, Clacton, to do a course on 88mm guns, now hi-tech and remote control.

In Antwerp, where I went next, the Germans were using doodle-bugs on the city. Quite a lot of marines lost their lives when one dropped on a cinema. In Ostend, my next stop, I patrolled the streets while the Belgians dealt with their 5th columnists.

At the end of the war, I was given 拢70 16s (拢70.80p).

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