大象传媒

Intro cont.

One morning in the depth of winter my little group which was in a room over the stables awoke only fifteen minutes before parade because with all the windows closed and blacked out, to keep the warmth in and the light from being seen from outside, we had overslept in a big way. There was absolute panic for we had to shave, get dressed and put our kit tidy in the approved army fashion. We made it but only just and our slightly unkempt appearance was not discovered. On another occasion when there was a certain amount of ragging going on between us and some gunners in another room I witnessed one of our group being suddenly dragged in through an open doorway to reappear a few seconds later looking the worse for wear and clothed only in his vest and pants.

During the latter part of our stay at Bridge there was some coming and going among our officers. Some arrived I believe from the Territorial Reserve. They were very good in many ways and understood and knew how to deal with other ranks but had been away from the army so long that they were no longer familiar with some of the details of gunnery, and who could blame them. At the same time there were many misfits in the ranks and the personnel was to change drastically before we went abroad.

At this time the government was expanding the armed forces far too rapidly. Too many men had been drafted into the army and there was a shortage of most essentials. We were still using some civilian cars, we had antiquated rifles and had not yet received the new battledress or greatcoat. Nevertheless at that time morale was high and why not with Britain and France shoulder to shoulder once again we thought we could not possibly lose. Luckily we were totally unaware of the old fashioned thinking in some of the upper strata of both armies. In the spring of 1940 an officer was posted to our unit on a temporary basis from the army in France to get us up to date so far as the survey and command post functioning was concerned and he did put us right on one particular point. The basic trouble was that there seemed at that time to be constant changes so far as the make up of an artillery regiment was concerned. I suppose the Army was getting itself up to date!

Well the blow fell and France was overrun and at Dunkirk our Regiment was represented by a small group of about thirteen men who went as machine gunners on the small ships. They received two or three casualties and all told the Division suffered six deaths when the ships they were on sank.

Our regiment should have gone to Calais to give support to the Rifle Brigade but in the general confusion adequate shipping was not available or events moved too rapidly for the move to be carried out which was just as well because although the infantry put up a gallant fight they had no chance. However we all paraded in the Canterbury area and received a blessing from the church for the crossing of the English Channel that did not take place.

The infantry that did go, comprising three crack regiments numbering some 3000 men together with one tank regiment without most of its equipment and some dismounted artillery, held up two and a half German divisions with up to date weaponry for five vital days during the Dunkirk evacuation.

At about this time our guns were taken away for some unexplained reason and were ultimately replaced by ancient French 75鈥檚 and I can remember a pile of ammunition in a corner, away from everything else and which was highly suspect. Nobody wanting to have anything to do with it because of its rumoured great age.

Shortly afterwards we moved a little further south to Acrise Park where we had a grandstand view of the Battle of Britain. The summer was warm and sunny and each morning around breakfast time a huge fleet of enemy aircraft, fighters and bombers, came over from German airfields in France and droned across our camp on its way to London and then, later in the day scurried back hotly pursued by British fighters. There were several close shaves as the occasional bullet grounded in our area. One actually embedded itself in a closely folded greatcoat as its owner was moving it from one resting place to another inside a canvas roofed staff vehicle. During the battle forty four British and German aircraft crashed in an area of five miles radius from Acrise Park and 鈥渁ir raid warning red鈥� was in force all day every day which meant that we had to wear steel helmets and carry gas masks from breakfast time to late afternoon.

Despite all this activity we were able to obtain half day passes occasionally to visit Folkestone for a meal and change of scenery although the town was only partly inhabited as there was an evacuation order in force for all that strip of the coast facing France. Also we frequently went out on exercises and on one occasion while carrying out my usual survey in a field for occupation by our guns a German fighter suddenly hopped over the hedge, about ten feet from the ground and only a few yards away. Its nose was painted to look like a shark. All very unpleasant but luckily I wasn鈥檛 in its line of fire and anyhow I was probably small fry so far as the pilot was concerned.

In this camp we dug slit trenches, we lived in bell tents and Lewis guns were manned as a protection against an attack by enemy aircraft. Our latrines were in Bluebell Wood and a Prowling Guard was mounted but our stay here was marred by an accident on guard dismounting when a gunner was killed while 鈥渆asing springs鈥�.

At one period of our stay at Acrise Park working parties from the regiment were detailed to fill in craters caused by enemy bombing on Hawkings Airdrome some two or three miles away. Not a very pleasant job because at the time the Germans were concentrating on destroying the runways. As it happened all went well but in any case I was lucky enough to be away on a course at that time and only found out that my friends had been shifting earth, on my return. At another time we had to dig gun pits and a command post on some high ground overlooking the airfield so that we could occupy them in a hurry if the enemy decided to make an airborne attack to try and capture it.

From Acrise Park we moved nearly six miles north to Broome Park, Denton, once the home of Lord Kitchener. We were there only two months from September to November 1940 when we moved on once again some thirty three miles to the west. Our new home was only about two miles from Paddock Wood and we were billeted in the Oast Houses at Bellring Hop Farm. These were fine in the warm weather but very draughty when the wind blew. The tiled roofs were waterproof but I could not stay the same so far as snow was concerned and during the winter it was not unusual to wake up in the morning to find that everything within our sleeping quarters was covered in a fine film of white powder. I was very lucky because I had relatives living within half a mile and therefore it was my best wartime billet so far. I was able to visit them fairly regularly for tea and cakes and other goodies. We continued with our training sometimes going out on exercises around that very lovely part of Kent.

There was a fair amount of sport as well. An attempt was made to form a rugby team but despite several practice games nothing materialised. There were many inter-troop soccer matches and in one of them, which we played at nearby Paddock Wood I suffered a badly sprained ankle when I fell awkwardly and another man fell on top of me. Whilst at the Hop Farm we were able to get day passes home to London by train occasionally which helped to lighten the burden considerably although the return journey on a Sunday night, in the blackout was such that we were never sure as to whether we would reach our camp by midnight, when the pass expired.

In this particular position, apart from the Oast Houses into which the battery personnel was billeted there was a row of hoppickers sheds which were used for stores and so forth. Some were used as cells for prisoners and one set fire to his, then escaped, was chased down the road, recaptured and brought back securely handcuffed. The guardhouse had a valor oil stove which was useful for making toast but the operation usually took some two hours and tasted of paraffin!

From Beltring we moved to the south coast at New Romney. The idea being that the town would be held as a defended area if the Germans decided to invade and landed on the beaches at Littlestone. We had a troop of four guns in the town and other troops of guns in outlying areas close to local farms and sited so as to defend the area. We really enjoyed our time in New Romney. It was a very friendly place and the weather generally was kind, and at times very warm indeed. In this set-up the battery had three observation posts in buildings on the road going along parallel with the beach. They were numbered A9, A11 and A12 and were sandbagged on the flat roofs. 253 Battery had an observation post on top of the old lighthouse.

We took turn about at night during one period, standing on the roof dressed in greatcoat and two leather jerkins over our battledress and shivering in the cold night air, looking out to sea so that an early warning could be given if an invasion began. The whole coast in this area for several hundred yards inland was mined and the beach was lined with obstacles mainly constructed from steel scaffold poles. The London Irish Rifles put in a great deal of effort helping to construct these defences using only protective gloves and the necessary spanners. A job so efficiently carried out that when demolished after the war bulldozers had to assist in its removal.

When we came to New Romney, so far as can be remembered, 254 Battery was still suffering from a mixture of different types of artillery. We had 4.5 Howitzers in the town, French 75鈥檚 at Honeychild Manor Farm and 25 pounders on 18 pounder chassis at Brooklands Farm. Our signallers had 40 miles of cable connecting observation posts, Battery Headquarters, Command Posts and wireless sets at all stations plus connections with Regimental Headquarters at Owley near Appledore.

Because we were all split up into various sized groups as we would be when in action, and no doubt because there were no parades except for certain occasions such as going to church the whole atmosphere and I believe also morale perked up no end. This may also have been due to the fact that being part of the UK defences and helping to defend the shingle and sand beach that stretched for twelve miles from Dungenes Point to Hythe everybody knew they were doing something worthwhile at last.

While at New Romney there was an internal reorganisation and the 64th Field Regiment emerged from it consisting of three batteries each of two troops. They were 253 Battery (A and B Troops) 254 Battery (C and D Troops) and a newly formed 444 Battery (E and F Troops). Each battery also had a Battery Headquarters troop and Regimental Headquarters continued in operation.

It is also essential to mention that running between New Romney and Hythe was the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, about one third full size and which at that time served at least two purposes. It took the troops on half day trips to Hythe from time to time but of far more importance it provided an armoured train mounting two Lewis and two anti-tank guns for defence of the area if needed.

I believe that nearly everybody was sorry to leave when in the autumn of 1941 we had to hand over to a relieving unit and move to Eastwell Park where we spent six weeks under canvas. Whilst there we had to go to Larkhill, Salisbury, to fire our guns and extend our training under the critical eyes of IG鈥檚 鈥� Instructors of Gunnery. I was detailed to ride a motorbike and all went well on the outward journey but sadly our Battery Sergeant Major was killed on the way back. It had been snowing, the roads were very slippery and he lost control of the motorbike he was on and fell into the path of an oncoming Bren carier.

He received a full military funeral and I believe it was at that time many of us were shown how to march to slow time. The accident happened at the approach to Newlands corner near Guildford.

From Eastwell Park we moved to Colchester in Essex. This was the first time we had occupied permanent barracks. They were named Le Cateau after the well known first world war battle. The buildings were Victorian in appearance, large, cold, draughty and generally uncivilised. However they gave the regiment the opportunity to knit together and for the only time during the war it gave me the chance when on duty as Regimental Orderly Sergeant, to mount the Regimental Guard on the very large parade ground which was surrounded on three sides by the barracks, the fourth side being framed by a very high wall. Each of the three batteries provided a part of the guard together with defaulters and orderlies. The job of the Regimental Orderly Sergeant was to mount and inspect them then hand the combined guard over to the Regimental Orderly Officer and to assist him up to the conclusion of the ceremony. At this time it was decided that the Regimental Orderly Sergeant should carry a 鈥渟tick鈥� or leather bound cane when on parade similar to that issued to officers and a special drill had to be learned for the handling of the stick.

We were within easy walking distance of the town of Colchester which was a cheerful place with a sufficient number of pubs and eating places and I believe everybody had a reasonably happy time during this posting. It was easy to reach London both by train and by road which enabled men to spend a short time home on a Sunday day pass. We guessed that we would shortly be going abroad and it was obvious from our training that we were being brought to a peak of fitness. We had stopped losing men and officers to overseas and other postings. Nevertheless there remained in the regiment I guess around 30% of the original territorials, NCO鈥檚 and men and losses had been made up with regular soldiers sent home from India and Egypt and conscripts in about equal numbers. These had all blended together to make a very strong team. Most of our territorial officers had left us for one reason or another and in fact, as already mentioned, only one actually served in the regiment throughout the whole war. From Colchester we went on embarkation leave and moved to nearby Wivenhoe. A few of us did an unarmed combat course that lasted a week and was the final topping up so far as fitness was concerned. Photographs were taken of the batteries and troops and we all paraded for an inspection by King George VI.

And so we came to the 25th August 1942 which was the last whole day that the 64th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery would spend on British soil during World War II. Indeed many of the personnel from the Colonel down to the most humble gunner would never return. Sadly they would find a final resting place in Iraq, in Tunisia, in the military cemeteries in Italy or at sea.

The regiment paraded in the evening dressed in 鈥渇ull service marching order鈥� with the addition of such items as topees, extra small arms ammunition, carrying kitbags and small arms in revolvers, rifles or Tommyguns. The order was that we should all march the two and a half miles to Colchester railway station. So off we went in columns of three and all was well for the first half mile or so but then the column began to straggle a little as men began to tire. Somewhere in the midst of it one of the more musically talented gunners was playing a violin and to an observer we may have looked a not very inspiring sight.

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