大象传媒

Introduction

One of my uncles was Private Ronald Ritson, RAMC. At the outbreak of World War Two in September 1939, he lived with his parents and two brothers in the small village of Scilly Banks, Cumberland. At that time, he was working as a coal miner at Walkmill Colliery in the nearby village of Moresby Parks. Ronald assisted me with information about World War Two for my university research projects, agreeing that the information he provided could be released, donated to an Archive and used by others if they wished. Ronald signed a release note to this effect.

This is Ronald鈥檚 personal testimony of how he came to be called up by the Royal Army Medical Corps upon the outbreak of war and where he was posted during 1939 and 1940. He also explains about his first grim realisation of the cruelty of war that took place not at the battlefront in mainland Europe, but in Kent, the 鈥楪arden of England鈥�. Ronald鈥榮 own words are used, with only minor assistance from me. This personal account has been submitted so that others may know and understand a little about British life during the early years of the World War Two.

Village life before the war

鈥淚 was born at a small village, at Scilly Banks, near Moresby Parks which is a few miles from Whitehaven in what was then Cumberland. I was born on Thirteenth February Nineteen Twenty-one. I started school at the Infants School at Moresby Parks. But shortly after that, because Mother was a Catholic, we went to a Catholic school. They ran a private bus down into Whitehaven. So I left Moresby School and went on this bus to the Infants School 鈥� it was a Catholic School 鈥� in Quay Street, Whitehaven. And then when I left Quay Street, I went up to St. Begh鈥檚, Coach Road, Whitehaven. I stayed at St. Begh鈥檚 until I left school at fourteen.

At school you just learnt general things. If you wanted any higher education, obviously you would win a way into the other higher-up schools such as the Secondary School. I didn鈥檛 go to Grammar School or Secondary School. As a matter of fact, I didn鈥檛 like school. I hated school and I was longing for when I was fourteen to leave. And when that day came, I was delighted to leave school.

Working at the village pit

When I left school I got started in the pits, in what they called Walkmill Colliery which was at Moresby Parks. We used to walk to this pit every morning and you had to walk back. It was about a three miles round trip from Scilly Banks. This was 1935 before the Second World War started. I was fourteen then, when I started in the pits.

I started at the pit top sorting coal. Then as time went on, after about twelve months, we went on to the pit top, handling tubs, sending them down the pit and pulling them off the cage when they were loaded. And then, maybe after six months, I went down the pit shaft to the 鈥榩it bottom鈥�, below ground. Then, after a while, I went in what they called 鈥榠nbye鈥�. That job was taking the empty tubs in and sending the full ones out on a rope. And I stayed there until I went into the army in September 1939.

St John鈥檚 Ambulance and First Aid

But during that time, while I worked at Walkmill Colliery I was in the 鈥楢mbulance鈥�, which was the St. John鈥檚 Ambulance Association. This had always been in the coal pits and also in the iron ore mines. They used to compete with one another for a shield. However, after a while my older brother Tom, joined what they called the St. John鈥檚 Ambulance Brigade. So, along with him, I joined the St. John鈥檚 Ambulance Brigade. At that time, I would be about, maybe sixteen or seventeen. So this would have been about 1937 or 1938.

The St John Ambulance had what they called the Military Hospital Reserve. It meant that if you joined this Reserve you could go away on some training. While I was in the St. John鈥檚 Ambulance Brigade we went away to a Military Hospital in York to do some nursing training. When the War started, obviously with us being in a Military Hospital Reserve they called us up to join the Army. I think there would be about twenty or twenty鈥攆ive of us from the Whitehaven area who had done this training.

Leaving home and going to war

My elder brother Tom, he didn鈥檛 join the Reserve, so he didn鈥檛 get called up. He stayed in the pits. He didn鈥檛 give us any reason for not joining. He just didn鈥檛 join. However, I went to work on the Sunday, which was the Third of September 1939. I was at work when War broke out, at 11 a.m. on the Sunday morning. I went on the first shift on the Monday morning. When I came back at three o鈥� clock, Mother said to me that my papers had come and I鈥檇 to catch a train from Bransty Station, Whitehaven at seven o鈥� clock that night. I didn鈥檛 have to give my notice in to the pits. I just left and that was it! I don鈥檛 know how they got to know I鈥檇 finished at the mine. I didn鈥檛 tell them, obviously. Somebody must have told them.

However, we reported to a place at Coach Road, Whitehaven, which was the Headquarters of the St. John鈥檚 Ambulance Brigade. We went down to Bransty Station for the seven o鈥檆lock train. The person who was in charge of us was our Superintendent, a man called Dickie Coyles.

First postings

We all went to Warrington, to some army barracks. If my mind serves me right, I think it they called it the Prince of Wales Barracks. Now, I don鈥檛 know much about it, because we were only there a few days. We just sat about, waiting. Then, they split us all up. I got split up from all of the Whitehaven group. I was sent with three strangers, and we went to South Wales. We got as far as Cardiff, went to the Police Station, and they put us up in the Assizes, to sleep on the benches. And then we made our way to a small place, which if my mind serves me right, was a place called Broughton, in South Wales.

Now, at that time this place was a holiday resort for miners, and just then it was full of injured miners. However, they were going to leave. It was going to be developed into a Prisoner of War Camp, for any German Prisoners of War that came over. However, I didn鈥檛 see that bit. We were then sent to another place in South Wales, a place called Barry Island, which was in the Cardiff area. There was this First Aid Unit there, and we took it over.

There were two of us and a Medical Officer detailed to this job. A Royal Army Service Corps unit was loading food and everything to go on board so the troops could go abroad. We were there as a First Aid Post for any of the soldiers in case they took sick. There was a First Aid or a Sick Parade every morning where any soldier that was sick used to report it. The soldier was then examined by the Medical Officer. He gave whatever Medical treatment was required. This was early in the war, in Nineteen thirty-nine, well before Dunkirk.

Hygiene Section work

However, a little later, it was in December, nearly Christmas time, and my papers came through and sent me elsewhere. They sent me on my own, to report to a place near Aldershot, called Ash Vale. It was the Headquarters of the Royal Army Medical Corps and had a brand new barracks. I had to travel on my own from South Wales right down to Aldershot. I had never been through London on my own, and it was the blackout. So, I did have some problem finding my way there, however, I did manage to get there. The Military Police were waiting for everybody and they directed us where we had to go.

It was at this place, Aldershot, where we did our training. I think we were there for about three months doing training on the hygiene side of the Medical Corps. They just more or less drafted me into these Hygiene Sections. I think there would be about, approximately a hundred plus that were in this Group. Then we were all split up and posted into these Sections that were brought in. Now, I got on really well, very well with a chap called Mr Clifford English. We got on very well together, and were good pals.

Cliff came from London, South Norwood, near Crystal Palace Football Club. He had been in the Territorial Army but his outlook in life was a bit different than mine. So although we got on very well, and used to go out together, at other times if he wanted to go somewhere which I didn鈥檛 like going we just split up. We used to go to the cinema, but he used to go dancing which I didn鈥檛 like. It was through Cliff English that I was put in touch with my future wife, firstly just as 鈥楶en Friends鈥�. She was called Marie Cranfield and she also came from London in South Norwood, near Croydon and Crystal Palace.

Then I think we went into Somerset. We were with a lot of infantry soldiers there. It seemed to be disorganised in some way and there didn鈥檛 seem to be very much discipline. However, when we did leave that group, I think it was just that time in 1940 when the Battle of Britain was on. We used to go out in the mornings, about four o鈥檆lock or five o鈥檆lock in the morning, marching along the country roads, looking for any paratroopers that might have landed because they were frightened of an invasion.

Appointment as the Major鈥檚 batman

When Dunkirk had happened, this was when I got on with the Commanding Officer, at that time it was Major Wright. He had a batman and I think he had done something wrong and he was put on a charge. If that happens in the army to a batman, he just loses his job. He kind of 鈥榣oses his stripes鈥� although he didn鈥檛 have any. However, I was asked would I do the job. I wasn鈥檛 too keen really, because being a country lad, never been anywhere, and not mixing with anybody, I just didn鈥檛 think I could manage it, which I told them. However, Major Wright said, 鈥淛ust give it a try and see how things go.鈥�

He kept me on and I got to like the job, so I remained his batman. It meant that I looked after him and gave him his meals, if he wasn鈥檛 in an Officer鈥檚 Mess. If he was, then he got the meals there, but if we were on our own, then I used to serve him his meals. I used to clean all his equipment, and look after him in general, wash and iron his clothes and so on.

Major Wright was with us quite a while and I got on with him very well. However, what was lurking in people鈥檚 minds at that time was that the pattern of warfare was going to be the same as the First World War, sunk trench warfare. Major Wright had got it into his mind that he would dig trenches so he had me digging trenches with him, just about the time of Dunkirk. Because I was a miner, he thought I could use a pick. I never did use a pick, but of course I didn鈥檛 tell him that! Anyway, we did a smashing job, in laying out a set of trenches. Obviously they had them in the First World War, but we found out later that it wasn鈥檛 going to be trench warfare.

It wasn鈥檛 very long until Major Wright left, but I don鈥檛 know where he went. You don鈥檛 get to know where people go to after they leave you. There had been another officer, a captain, who had previously come for some training with Major Wright,. He had been promoted to Major and took over the Section. He was called Major Hargreaves.

The cruelty of war

Unfortunately, we had moved to a place in Kent, Ashford, where there was a large locomotive works and I think the main line runs through it between Dover and London. Now, we were in a large house there that was in an orchard. Not long afterwards, it was early one morning and we hadn鈥檛 been up very long, there was this German bomber that came over the house tops and dropped a bomb.

We then went up to the place that had been bombed to see what we could do. When we went up, all the houses were flat. The bomb had killed everybody in the houses. So, we got some baskets and we went round just picking pieces of people up. And what struck me most was when I picked up the little kneecap of a baby. It was very upsetting at the time, very disturbing However, that was war, it鈥檚 cruel. The Blitz was on then but we weren鈥檛 in London, we were in Kent. I think we were there for some months. Then we had a billet in a big house just outside Stevenage, north of London鈥�.

Conclusion

Ronald Ritson, RAMC, took part in the Normandy landings, coming ashore at 鈥楽word Beach鈥� on 8 June. In February 1945, Ronald married his fianc茅e Marie Cranfield at South Norwood, London. In the above testimony, Ronald mentions that Marie was the cousin of one of his RAMC colleagues Cliff English, who by that time was attached to a different Hygiene Section and was serving with British troops in Italy. After the war, Ronald initially returned to working as a miner in Cumberland and eventually became an Ambulance man.

Ronald passed away in July 2000, only a few weeks after making the above testimony. It was the only time after the war that he had talked to anyone about the bombing incident in Kent. It was not that it bothered him to talk about this and other painful experiences of war. Rather, it was more a case that no-one had ever really asked him about it before.

For those who have not lived through the experience of war it is difficult for them to comprehend the grim realty. For those who have lived through that experience, there is a shared understanding that does not require to be talked about. Just like almost everyone who lived through World War Two, Ronald had good and painful experiences, some of which are included in this personal testimony.

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