大象传媒

Part 2 of 3 parts

Continued from www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/A8118867

Come September I was suddenly told by the Sergeant Major, something鈥檚 come through, 鈥漎ou鈥檝e got to report to Boscombe as an Officer Cadet in early October鈥� (1940), which I did, having had a farewell party with good fellow Corporals and other lads and friends. There was three month鈥檚 training, partly Officer Cadets and partly people who were already commissioned; Reserve Officers that needed to go to the same course. They were known as Student Princes; they didn鈥檛 dine with us, they didn鈥檛 live with us, but we didn鈥檛 treat them with any respect, they knew less than we did about the army, and they were 鈥淪tudent Princes鈥�! None of them were ever made Squad Commanders, they weren鈥檛 up to that but one or two, one ex-Guardsman and I were the only others that were, and I got a distinction, which goes on your records. I thought I鈥檇 get away at Christmas but no, Christmas Day is when you have a feast here, and you鈥檙e commissioned on Boxing Day, and that鈥檚 when you鈥檙e a Second Lieutenant.

The first unit I was with was an old Territorial Division that was obviously destined just for Home Service, the 45th West Country Division, then based in Yorkshire, a bit of a rest off, they had had a bad time on the coast when facing all the bombing and the Battle of Britain in 1940. I was with the Supply Company then. Then they were sent to Suffolk in East Anglia and I was on detachment. Eventually I was made a Captain in August while we were in Colchester and then I was transferred to the Petrol Company of our Division, which was going to be a unit of the Guards Armoured Division. They were just forming in Weston-super-mare and Wiltshire.

I went down there, I was meeting new people I hadn鈥檛 met before, and new officers, and soldiered on there for some time in a defensive role partly but, of course, training to be the Guards Armoured Division ready for action when we could get 鈥渙ver there鈥� again. And the particular incident that did intrigue me I must say when I was in charge of administration and I saw that there was some exercise that was on without troops, and that was a TEWT (Tactical Exercise Without Troops).

It pretended there was an invasion by the Germans coming into Devon and Cornwall, and we had to defend it. It was all without troops. Just headquarters operations, so it didn鈥檛 concern me, and my boss was away on it. In anything that started with an exercise, to make sure it was only an exercise, if the exercise was called 鈥楥rackers鈥�, (I can鈥檛 remember what this one was, but say it was 鈥楥RACKERS鈥�) you鈥檇 say 鈥淏locks On鈥�, in capitals 鈥淐RACKERS, Blocks Off鈥�. They ended with that as well so that you didn鈥檛 think this was a genuine message. And this happened to be about the thirteenth of February. I remember it clearly because the following day I was nipping off to London with a girl friend for a weekend. That date is burned in my mind because it was on that date that the Scharnhorst and the Gnieseneau escaped from Brest, and the funny thing was that in the Legend, which is the sort of lead-up to this imaginary exercise, it said, 鈥淪charnhorst and Gnieseneau escape from Brest on the 13th of something or other, and steamed up the Channel in support of the German invasion Forces鈥�.

We were then posted to the North; we were with the 15th Scottish Division. Because Monty, who was coming back, didn鈥檛 like the idea of Model Divisions, that didn鈥檛 last long. What they called a Model Division was to have two Infantry Battalions and one Heavy Tank Brigade; and our Brigade was already going into heavy tanks, so they called it a Tank Brigade instead of an Armoured Brigade. Monty had given warning, and sure enough it happened and the Scottish Division although we鈥檇 practiced with them, exercises and everything else, a damned good lot of chaps, we never stayed with them because Monty arrived and said, no, I want Tank Brigades separate from these infantry Corps Troops I can use as I like when I need them. So that meant that we were an independent Tank Brigade in the 8th Armoured Corps.

Come the early January of the next year, 1944, which is when I expected things to happen, we were then down in Worksop, Derbyshire, and I was then the second-in-command, and the Brigadier for some reason or other thought there should be a change and my boss, the Officer Commanding, who鈥檇 become a friend of mine by then, was going to be made second in command of some RASC for another Division. I thought, 鈥淭his was bad news鈥� and said, 鈥淲ho the hell is going to take over?鈥� He said, 鈥淵ou are鈥�.

It鈥檚 one thing to take over a unit when you鈥檙e moved, promoted, and as a new chap with a rank up already there, but here are people, there are about six Captains under me and as many Subalterns, and they鈥檇 been calling me Tony for a year or two by then, we were all pals together. But hence on, they鈥檇 got to call me Sir and stand up whenever I went into a room or into the Mess even. But they took it very well and I said, 鈥淭his is not the way to do it. It needs somebody coming in fresh鈥�. He said, 鈥淣o, they were bloody relieved when I told them that. You鈥檙e very popular, you may not know it鈥�. All except about two of the Subalterns might have been junior to me but they were older than me, much older than me. I was still only twenty-six. But anyway it worked. The only trouble is I reckoned there were going to be some crossings of the channel by the late spring or summer.

We still had a lot to do. We hadn鈥檛 got equipment or training for all our vehicles that could go under up to 4 feet 6 of water. I took over a pond and made sure we鈥檇 got a hard channel through the middle I could drive through it. It took a bit of doing, and we then built a ramp, since when you鈥檙e getting vehicles onto landing craft, there are no drive-on, drive-off situations, and you don鈥檛 want to back off, so everybody鈥檚 got to learn to back up. So that was quite a tricky operation. But it was all done. In the end it didn鈥檛 prove to be necessary because just about by the time we landed they were able to take us up close to the shore. That was the theory.

Come the March or April we were moved down into Kent. There was one incident, which I thought was rather amusing in a way; it showed the cynical use of everything including religion to defeat the enemy. I鈥檇 made one or two journeys to Canterbury when we got down in Kent and I could just lay on a bus fairly easily. I like Canterbury and had been there before. Our padre had been posted to us to stay with us for a time instead of being with the Coldstream Battalion. He said to me, 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a jolly good idea Tony if, and I鈥檓 tackling the Brigadier today, I鈥檓 going to see him, to see if we can get the Dean of Canterbury to show our troops round the Cathedral. I thought I鈥檇 better mention it to him鈥�. The Brigadier said, 鈥淵es, we鈥檒l do more than that, we鈥檒l have a service before battle鈥�. And so he did organise a Service Before Battle, 30th May 1944, planned about a month before, but it was only a few days before D-Day. Only later did I realise that the Brigadier knew something I didn鈥檛, and he wanted to do it.

I thought there was something strange when every soldier had one of these Printed Order of Service and the Brigadier sent a note round to us saying, 鈥淭ell your troops they can send these programmes home to their families. They might like to see it鈥�. A bit odd that, security being as tight as it is. And then one morning I was summoned by the Brigadier to report along with other Battalion commanders, there was only about six of us, on the beach by Deal. When we got there he said, 鈥淲hat I鈥檓 about to say to you is absolutely Top Security and it is not to be passed in any hint or any other way. You can invent your own stories, it鈥檚 your responsibility. You don鈥檛 even tell your second-in command, but there is an operation going on at the moment to persuade (this was after the invasion had started I might add) the Germans, and Hitler in particular who had always said, 鈥淚f I were doing it I鈥檇 take the shortest distance鈥�. I could persuade him that鈥檚 what鈥檚 going on.

In theory they鈥檇 got Patten a great Tank Commander the Germans feared, they鈥檇 got him theoretically posted to Corps that were non-existent up in the East Anglia. Part of the bluff, they鈥檇 got radio communication going, exactly like the real thing. Part of the thing was that we were standing on the beach at Deal. You could see troops looking at us through binoculars from the Calais Town Hall. And that night they were bringing up Landing Craft made of rubber to blow them up and leave them blowing about on the waves. He turned to me and said, 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to do one or two things. You鈥檝e got to get all your vehicles out and down on here with lights on as fast as you can and put notices up 鈥楨mbarkation Point鈥� and so on in large letters at every occasion you can, and do it immediately. And also immediately I want you to take over the barracks鈥�. All the troops had gone from there, and were crossing into France now you see, and the barracks, there was nobody in them and they鈥檙e all lining the road round Ashford, as it was then. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to fill 鈥榚m all, fill 鈥榚m. Spread yourselves, vehicles all over the place鈥�.

So I sucked my lucky rabbit鈥檚 foot on the way back, trying to stay in the back of the vehicle trying to think how I can explain this to a lot of hard-headed officers who expected me to tell them the truth. I told them what they鈥檇 got to do and I got the workshops people to paint notices and everything else, get lorries going, and I invented exercises. We decided to try and see how fast they could get there, keeping still safe speeds for bombing distances and so on, and then give me the times on the way back. I pretended to consult these. The Platoon commanders came up to me. They thought I was mad. 鈥淵ou mean lights on all the time?鈥� I said, 鈥淵es, but not coming back. Turn those off then. They鈥檝e got to be only with the special lights we have. You could see the white on the axle of the one in front of you鈥�.

Then I said, 鈥淣ow, there鈥檚 the prisoner of war cage鈥�. (That had been built by us to house German prisoners of war if they鈥檇 invaded the Kent area). 鈥淟et鈥檚 carve that up鈥�. There were a couple of Nissen huts there, with thick barbed wire round there to a hell of a height, two towers, one on each corner for machine guns and so forth and searchlights, and naturally they鈥檇 never been used and weren鈥檛 going to be used. But they鈥檇 got two Nissen huts. Short of accommodation, I had to put a couple of platoons in there so I鈥檇 got about seventy men there.

Now we鈥檇 already had one disaster in the brigade. Quite a few of my men and certainly my head office and one or two officers were staying in an old Manor House, Surrenden Deering (it鈥檚 been demolished now) in Kent, near Pluckley.

It so happened that one day I鈥檇 just come back to have a cup of tea in my mess, which was a charming little house by a farmhouse. Some other officers had drifted in, we鈥檇 finished for the day really, and we heard a buzz-bomb going over, nothing new, and we heard it cut out and I saw this flying bomb dive and then suddenly whoosh - crump and there was a great plume of smoke going up. I said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 about half a mile from here, it could be a farmhouse, we鈥檇 better go and see if anybody needs some help鈥�. So I nipped straight across into my Command car and three officers came with me. I drove round there and as we got nearer and nearer I realised what is was. It was the prisoner of war cage that I鈥檇 put in two platoons of men, and I鈥檇 cleared them out that morning. At this time they would have just been going back shaving or sprucing up, going out with their girl friends or going to have a pint in a pub. I could have had seventy men of mine disappear like that; it didn鈥檛 bear thinking about. That was horrific.

2210 words

End of part 2 of 3 parts

For part 3 see www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/A8118948

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