大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Janine John of the Cumbria volunteers on behalf of David Scott and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions. David kindly met with me to share his memories of the war, both locally and with the army abroad and these form three stories that follow in chronological order. The second story follows:

Being Called Up

After my experiences in Grasmere, I got whipped off to the army. Because I鈥檇 been trained at school I didn鈥檛 have to go through the basic training when I was called up. I had also been running the Home Guard, drilling and showing people and I knew all about the modern weapons at the time 鈥� Bren guns and others. It was also almost unique in that age group to have a driving licence when I was called up - I passed my driving test in 1940 just at the time before they stopped doing tests. After that, during the war, if anybody wanted to drive they could buy a provisional licence. At the end of the war, because there had been such a backlog, it would have been too difficult to catch up with them, so everybody who had held a provisional licence for so long could automatically buy a driving licence. Even though there were driving tests going on, if you鈥檇 started as a young person then bought a provisional licence, you had to take your driving test at the end of the period. People who had had a provisional licence right through the war and had wanted to drive in the army or the air force or wherever they鈥檇 been, could buy a driving licence - that eliminated that side.

Because I had a driving licence, they got me teaching people to drive and because I had played rugby at school that was interesting to the commanding officers of our lot and they had me playing rugby as well! I suddenly thought I seemed to have got a nice job in the army now, training people how to drive and playing rugby, yet generally still being in the army. The next thing I knew, anybody who was A1 and fit and all the rest of it were going overseas.

The King鈥檚 Inspection

We went on troop trains up to Glasgow, got on a troop ship and sailed across to North Africa. King George VI inspected us on the Glasgow docks before we went out on the troop ship. I鈥檒l always remember that, because he came right past me and he talked to one of the boys that was stood next to me. We had twins in our unit and he asked how we told one from the other.

The King said, 鈥淥h, one of them wears a lanyard and the other one doesn鈥檛!鈥�

That was a thing that hung round your shoulder to keep your whistle on or something similar. One had got his on and one of them hadn鈥檛, so he got into trouble afterwards.

But when the King was there, talking to these people, I realized he was made up to heaven. His face was covered in pancake makeup and I realized what an ill man he was. You hear about him; he was a chain smoker and he鈥檇 got all the things that were bothering him. He was a very sick man. They realized that with the cameras and the film - which weren鈥檛 colour in those days - he was going to be photographed and illuminated by lights and things, so they had to have him looking well for political and morale reasons. The King had to appear OK. You could see that he wasn鈥檛, that his face was almost put on with a knife, as he was that close to us.

Going Abroad

After landing in North Africa we went on to Algiers, and then from Algiers to Tunisia. From Tunisia, through the North African campaign, I was with the 46th Infantry division, West Riding division - we had the oak tree sign. We had had a bit of a frightening crossing because there were German submarines about and one of the ships was attacked. We eventually got to Algiers - OK ourselves - but the ship that had been damaged had had our transport on it. We had to go from Algiers to Mercemetru which was a long hike in pretty warm weather. We hadn鈥檛 got our tropical kit and we were hot having to march. It was about thirty miles without transport. That was my first feeling about wartime, being overseas and away from home and away from family.

Because I鈥檇 learnt a bit of French at school I was able to talk to the people in Tunisia because Tunis was a French protectorate or the French were involved with Tunis, and all the locals spoke French. I did quite well out of that because I used to get some bottles of wine and things while we were on the march.

Witty Headlines

After that we finished up involved with the North African campaign because the 8th army were pushing the Germans down and we were pushing them up. They used to have amusing headlines in the paper that people had written; Montgomery was the main general there and he鈥檇 come back to England to have a talk about what they were going to do, the progress of the war and that. The headline in the newspaper was: 鈥楳ONTY FLIES BACK TO FRONT鈥�, the front being the front line.

When the 8th army were pushing the Germans from El Alamein and coming down through Tripoli and along there, we had landed in Tunisia, putting up that way. The headline read 鈥楤RITISH PUSH BOTTLES UP GERMAN鈥橲 REAR.鈥� They had wonderful headlines in the paper - that was at the end of the war in North Africa. Churchill came over at that point to talk to us en masse.

When Churchill came over we all shouted, 鈥淲hen are we going home sir?鈥�

He said, 鈥淵ou鈥檒l fight your way home.鈥�

He was right that we had to fight our way home. We had a lot of German prisoners that understood what was going on and they laughed and said, 鈥淗a Ha. We鈥檙e going to Canada.鈥�

A lot of the prisoners went to Canada. They were kept there because there were no bombings in Canada and so they were shipped there as Prisoners of War.

They said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e off to Canada. You鈥檙e off to where we come from and you鈥檙e going to have to fight your way there,鈥� and all this.

They knew all about it; there was a lot of propaganda floating about at that time. We had the prisoners to look after, to feed and things, being in the service core. We were transport, providing ammunition, providing petrol, providing food and that. It was the Royal Army Service Core in which they used to say there were five men behind the line to keep one man in the frontline.

Anyway, there were quite a few that were educated and spoke English very well and I remember we were looking at the Picture Post which was weekly 鈥� there were Picture Post and London News and various things that people used to buy. This German sergeant said, 鈥淎ha, the German blockade!鈥� He knew that the German submarines were stopping us from getting rubber in this country because we don鈥檛 grow rubber and it was a great commodity. It was very important for tyres. We had to bring it in and it had to come in on ships. That鈥檚 when the German blockade was causing us a problem with rubber as they were sinking the convoys and ships and things. Rubber was one of the most important imports we were looking for alongside petrol and oil as we obviously hadn鈥檛 got the North Sea oil field or anything then. There was no petrol in this country apart from what came in from wherever. We were fighting the war where the petrol was, in the Middle East. The rubber came from the Far East and also from South America.

That was interesting that the Germans pointed that out to me because Bulmers Cider were advertising rather an anti sort of advert 鈥� a big cider bottle with the little stopper. The advertisement said 鈥榶ou can replace the stopper, we can鈥檛鈥�. That was on the advertisement because they knew there was a shortage of rubber to make the stoppers to put back in the bottle again.

Everything was collectable, everything was always refilled. You could buy anything if you could bring an empty one. The RAF had their legs pulled about being the 鈥楤ryl Cream鈥� boys because the adverts for Bryl Cream used to be with Richard Green, one of the film stars of the time, always there with his RAF uniform and his slick, well done hair. If you had a jar of Bryl Cream you could often get it refilled when you couldn鈥檛 buy one. It was a big joke after the war, when you first saw bananas. People had never seen bananas during the war. The joke was that the young people who had never ever seen a banana before were wondering if they took the skins back to get them refilled! It was amazing the things you never saw and suddenly there they were. Pineapples you never ever saw, bananas you never saw. Things were short during the war.

The only thing that there seemed to be plenty of were green vegetables because they grew well in this country. Things that grew well here were fine. The bread was alright but it was never white and it was never brown. It was just half and half. You got white bread on board the troop ships but the basic standard loaf was a sort of grey-white colour 鈥� that was the flour that they produced. Getting white flour was an exercise which wasted a lot of flour, I think. I wasn鈥檛 into knowing about it. I just knew that the bread we had we got used to. Then when you went on the troop ship men were like 鈥� 鈥淲hite bread. Never seen white bread!鈥� White bread didn鈥檛 grow weevils. They had that on board ship because certain biscuits and things - because there鈥檚 a damp atmosphere wherever you are on a ship - grow weevils. Where they come from I don鈥檛 know but the weevils are there. It鈥檚 always a joke when I make a cup of tea or coffee now with the old Windermere kettle on the Windermere steamers with biscuits.

Fred Dibnah was on one of the boats with me and he said, 鈥淗ave you knocked all the weevils out of the biscuits?鈥� Memories go back to those days of weevils.

Meeting Bob Hope

After Churchill talked to us he was true to his word. We had to fight our way back and we had to go on to the invasion into Italy 鈥� I was on the seaborne invasion on Salerno landings and we were linked up with the Americans then. We were with the American 5th army.

Just before we went out there I was invited to go to a show at the hospital and it was the Bob Hope show. I met Bob Hope and he talked to me.

I鈥檇 been friendly with one or two of the GIs, the American lads there, and I鈥檇 always been very fond of American Jazz music so I used to sit in and listen to the American 5th army Jazz band playing. Because I鈥檇 been interested in it one said,

鈥淵ou know fellow, you鈥檙e the only English man I鈥檝e ever met who鈥檚 hip.鈥�

Because of that I went to this hospital do with the Bob Hope show there and Bob Hope spotted me. He said,

鈥淥h gee, we鈥檝e got a Limey here.鈥�

He came over and talked to me and we were wearing those glengarry caps at the time and Bob Hope said,

鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to ask you guys this but how do you keep your hat on if you get your ear shot off?鈥�

The caps tended to be stuck on to one side. You could unbutton them and put them on and put them on over your ears and they were great in cold weather. They were a utility type hat. Very few people ever opened them up but you could undo the buttons, turn them round and fasten them on. You were alright in a gale and if it was a strong wind you could keep your hat on! It amused Bob Hope.

He said, 鈥淚 was born in England and when I realized that I didn鈥檛 have the chance to become King, I went to America.鈥�

That was his patter, full of ad libbing all the time. It was interesting to feel you鈥檇 met him and talked to him.

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