大象传媒

In 1940 my Grandfather, Benjamin was working in Dover harbour for a consruction company. This was at the time when the battle of Britain was really hotting up.
Not only were many battles being fought in the air but also against all shipping using the Dover straits, and all docks around the south-east coast.
In one such attack a naval supply ship called the Sandhurst was hit off Dover and just managed to reach the relative safety of the Eastern Docks, before being attacked again.
The determination with which the Germans attacked, suggested that they must have realised what they were onto, for the Sandhurst was loaded with ammunition.
The Naval authorities, aware of the catastrophe that occurred when an ammunition ship blew uo in the harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada, destroying half the town and killing thousands, immediately called for help to remove the ammunition.
no-one would go near the ship until my Grandfather jumped onto the only dumper truck big enough to do the job. He was immediately ordered to get off the dumper by his foreman, and leave company proprty alone, or face the sack. Granddad ignored the order and drove out along the breakwaters Estern Arm to where the burning Sandhurst was anchored. There, with the help of a mate called Mr Harle, and members of the Sandhurst's crew, he succeeded in unloading all the ammunition, making many trips and offloading the ammunition in caves at the foot of the East Cliff.
They wanted to give my Granddad the George Medal, but somewhere there was a mix-up, and it went to the the wrong person. It caused a bit of bother at the time, not by my Granddad, he never talked about it except to Gran and his kids. I think he got some kind of medal, and with the King's approval had his name mentioned in the London Gazette, whatever that is
At another time during this period he had another very sad task to do. There used to be a kind of ski-lift that brought coal ten miles overland from Tilmastone Colliery to Dover Docks, where the coal could be loaded onto boats. The cables of this ski-lift passed over steel pylons or towers at regular intervals, finally going down the cliff-face to the last tower inside the Dockyard. At the foot of this last tower a shelter made from brick had been built. It was out of bounds however as it was thought to be too dangerous to use, but during one bad raid four or five soldiers dived in there for cover. The shelter received a direct hit and the poor soldiers were blown to pieces. My Granddad had to help to remove the remains. What an awful job!
My Grandfather Benjamin, joined the R.A.F. in 1941 and drove what was called a "Queen Mary", a sixty foot long aircraft carrier, all over England, digging out and picking up crashed planes. He saw many sad sights. At the site of one crashed German bomber on the Yorkshire Moors, he arrived to find all the crew had had their heads cut off. It was believed they had baled out in the night thinking they were higher than they actally were. At this site they found one other strange thing. A womans hand wearing a wedding ring, but they never found the rest of the lady.
Granddad later got posted to Egypt, and later still when war ended, had to help to shut down many R.A.F. Stations.
Hope you receive this story O.K.
If you would like to E-mail me about any of tis my E-mail address is dave1232@hotmail.co.uk.
Yours Sincerely,
David Abbott.
P.S. We have letters about the sandhurst attack, and a copy of a photograph of the ship burning

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