大象传媒

This story was submitted by Helen Hughes of the People's War team in Wales, on behalf of Sid Shorten and is added with his permission.

COLOMBIER鈥攕ur-SEULLES (Normandy) camp 27
June 28 to September 22, 1944

Now after 4 years of moving up and down the East of England and many rumours of overseas postings we had arrived on the Continent awaiting orders.
Colombier was a small village, only slightly damaged by the invasion; it was about 5 miles from Bayeux. We were in dug-outs made by the assault troops in an area of orchards. The first job was to improve and make water tight the dug-outs as they were to be our base for some time. Each platoon set up its own field cookhouse; this made it easier when we went on separate jobs. In the second week of July our platoon went on detachment to Luc-sur-Mer on a deception job to attract 88mm gun fire; for 3 weeks, we were dug in some distance away of course. While there I was able to go to Lion-sur-mer, Cruelly, Summervieu, Reviers, La Deliverande, Traillville and Villiers-le-Sec; this was to deliver meals and pick up supplies. On one run the driver took the wrong turning and on reaching a crossroads a Redcap stopped us and asked our destination the sergeant told him and he said turn back as we were only half a mile from the front line infantry. We saw the bombing of Caen from a few miles away at 10pm on July 7 and heard the follow up raid in the early hours of next morning.
During the night of August 1 鈥淩鈥� Formation replaced the 7th Armoured Brigade to the East of Caen while they moved to the west to prepare for another attack. During that night 148 dummy tanks were put in place with their normal support vehicles; during the next two days 17 were destroyed by enemy mortar and shell fire 3 by accident and 52 by allied bombers bombing short of target. Twenty-two were repairable and 54 survived.

One morning when all was quiet there was a sudden explosion about 200 yards across the field. It appeared a Canadian had stepped on a shuh mine in an area believed cleared; that ended his war, he lost his foot and damaged his other leg. The smell of death was the longest memory of the weeks in Normandy so we were not sorry to learn of our next move.

WESEMBEEK鈥擮PPEM (Belgium) camp 29
September 23, 1944 to February 27, 1945

We began our move east early on the morning of Thursday September 22, our designated route took us via Caen, Lisieux, Rouen, Amien, Arras, Cambrai, Mons and into Brussels from the south-west to Wesembeek; arriving in the early evening of the 23rd. The roads through Brussels were full of cheering people, it was a great welcome; it was the same in Wesembeek-Oppem. These were twin villages almost connected with houses. HQ platoon; B and C were billeted in Oppem while A platoon was in Wesembeek. A Hotel come pub was occupied by the platoon; there was a large room to the rear which held most of us, sleeping on the floor. As days went by there were less and less men in the room as the villagers took them into their homes. I set up the cookhouse in the garage opposite the pub, cooking on the driveway in the dry weather with the petrol burner stove and using the garage for stores.
The house belonged to James Vanden Berghe and he and his wife gave me a room to use. The petrol burner stove was our main means of cooking until the war ended and we could build more permanent oil and water ovens. It was a steel portable channel which could hold up to 6 Dixie pots with a glorified blow-torch in the form of a domed cylinder at the end. They could be lethal if over pressurised, we were told of one cook who lit it well above the red danger line and was killed in the explosion.
Wesembeek was on the electric railway line into Brussels about 8 miles to the Gare Leopold near the centre of the City. James Vandenberg spoke excellent English; he had retired from being a jockey and had ridden often in France and England. Margaret his wife spoke French and Flemish; we spent many an evening chatting with James translating for his wife. They had a daughter living in Brussels who also spoke English well. She took a small photograph of me and brought back a life size coloured enlargement which we still treasure. On a weekend leave from Germany after the war had ended James showed me a citation parchment presented to his wife and signed by Gen. Eisenhower for her work as an escort for escaped prisoners; she would pick them up at the Gare Leopold, Brussels and escorted them to Tervuren for the next leg of their escape.
We had been in Wesembeek for 2 or 3 weeks when our Officer was approached by the Priest and some villagers with a request to enter the long billet room to lift a part of the floor; buried below the floor was their prized and valuable church artefacts, they had just had time to bury them before the Germans moved in.
Ted Caves and I shared the cooking for 鈥淎鈥� platoon for many months, one evening he said there was an invitation for four of us to go to the Chateau de Grunne for the evening he said for me to make up the fourth one.

I joined them and we met the Comptesse de Grunne and her staff in the staff lounge, we must have pleased her for she told us we were welcome any evening when off duty. Shortly after this she received news of the death of her husband in a German prison camp; she then withdrew to her private wing of the chateau and was seldom seen. One evening I met Alex Polak he was there to see his fianc茅e Elly Jaeger who was the private secretary to the Comptesse; the three of us got along very well, they both spoke good English, he gave me an open invitation to go to his home on the Rue Emil Claus when Elly was going there. Alex was a Jew and had been released from Malines prison by bribing an official. His family were well connected; one cousin was the top eye surgeon at the main Brussels hospital. I met his cousin and family when I went with Alex and Elly for afternoon tea; they had a lovely home much of the decoration and furnishing being of Belgian Congo style, he had worked there for several years. One evening they said we are going to see 鈥淒esert Victory鈥� at the cinema the film of El Alamein and I was invited too, at the end the audience stood and cheered and were taking the troops who were there out for drinks and meals. Another afternoon I went into the City with Elly to buy Jean a watch, we went to the Rue Royal and got a very nice watch, it still keeps good time after all these years, we then went to Alex鈥檚 place for the evening. On one occasion an off course doodle-bug came down near to the HQ at Oppem doing some damage but no casualties. The Officers billet was in a luxury bungalow that had belonged to a local Quisling and on two occasions I had to go there to cook for them. The kitchen was equipped with every modern item for its day.

Wesembeek-Oppem area was made the base for operations by 鈥淩鈥� formation so the billets were available on our return from jobs on or near the forward areas. Our first job came on October 14th.

DEN HAAN (Belgium) camp 30
October 14 to October 27, 1944

This was a village midway between Ostende and Zeebrugge; it was occupied by Marine Commandos. The village was badly damaged, and our job was to assist in reconstruction and mine clearing on the beach. We were billeted in a large but damaged hotel on the sea front, on completion we next moved to Blankenberghe.

BLANKENBERGHE (Belgium) camp 31
October 27 to November 1, 1944
A popular seaside resort 5 miles from Zeebrugge here again the job was clearing the beach area of mines and booby traps, some were anti tank mines linked to anti personnel mines 鈥淪huh鈥� mines. Our billet was in the Grand Hotel just off the sea front; we had full use of the well equipped kitchen and lived like guests with our own rooms with real beds. There were 71 bedrooms and my souvenir card states the price of 7 shillings & sixpence per day en pension. The town had not received much damage when taken by the Canadians; on two occasions some of us were invited out for supper by town鈥檚 folk. The front & beach were declared safe by the first so we returned to base.
On the Saturday after our return I was leaning over the cooker when a tap in the rear from a boot made me turn, it was my brother-in-law 鈥淒ouggie鈥� my sister had told him I was in the Brussels area so on his first break from the front he came to look me up. He was a Sergeant gunner on 25 pounders and this was his first weekend leave since 鈥淒鈥� day. His first words after the hello were 鈥渨hat sort of outfit is this鈥�. He had enquired at the Provost Centre and was told it was restricted information. He then went in a pub for a drink and asked some service men, a civilian heard him and gave him directions to the station and to go to Wesembeek. After the meal was over Doug asked about going into the City as he hoped to buy Helen a souvenir present; so I took him to the Chateau to see if Elly was going to Alex鈥檚 because she would know the best place to go to. She left us in the main shopping area to make our own way around.
Elly and Alex kept in touch with us for some years after the war and sent an invite to their wedding but in those early days it was not easy to travel and we were working hard to set up our first home, in the moving we finally lost touch. My next move was on the 12th. to Laeken.

LAEKEN (Brussels) camp 32
November 12to November 14 1944

This was a temporary relief job at Brigade HQ in a very large house in the Laeken district of Brussels and about 15 minute tram ride from the centre. I was recalled on the 14th. because the whole of 鈥淩鈥� force were going on a special assignment.

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