大象传媒

CPL EY SMITH 976808 RAFVR

16th September 1916
to
8th February 2002

3rd Sept 1939

War declared on Germany

16thOctober 1939

Became engaged to Mary Nathan

December 1939

Christmas at home in Upton, I didn't know that this was to be my last in England until 1944.

2nd January 1940

I volunteered for RAF at the Central Hall Liverpool, there followed a Medical at the same location
I reported for duty at the Central Hall and became 976808 AC2 Smith EY RAFVR and sent to join thousands of other rookies at RAF Padgate near Warrington.
Fell into Air Raid trench during blackout and bruised ribs badly, after which I caught flu, but I managed to survive until the weekend when I struggled home and went sick at home for two weeks.
However there was no square bashing due to ice and snow lying on the Parade square.

On returning to Padgate I was put to work on attestation duties, dealing with the swearing in of new recruits.Then came the bad news, I was to be posted to the Middle East - but not to worry, they wanted me at Padgate and would get the posting cancelled. Even worse news, being an Air Ministry posting it couldn't be cancelled!. I'd not had any embarkation leave but I did manage two evenings at home.

29th February 1940

Left for Southampton en route for the Middle East.

1st March 1940

Overnight sailing to Cherbourg ,we entrained for Marseilles on SNCF train.
Overnight we found the two worst problems about French trains, the underfloor heating with the hot air coming up through metal grills on the floor making our feet very hot, and their toilets, how can one hold on and aim through a hole in the floor between two footholds (worse for women I would imagine!).At Marseilles emabarked on the troopship NEVASA (known to us at the Altmark - she had been sunk earlier in the war in a Norwegian fiord by the British) for Port Said in Egypt.After seven uneventful days at sea during which time we never saw land (presumably we must have passed Malta during the night) and through rough seas when we frequently could not see our escort.
Port Said

We arrived at Port Said where we saw a not to be forgotton sight - natives coaling a ship by hand. Two lines, one carrying baskets of Coal on their backs up a gangway, the other line coming down a different gangway carrying the empty baskets.
Another memorable sight was the loading of sides of Beef where two men would load a side of beef onto another waiting man, who would then stagger away with it.
We entrained at Port Said for Cairo and saw on the journey just how primitive life in Egypt really was.

Cairo

On arrival at Cairo we were taken by road on service transport to Heliopolis where we joined 216 Squadron, who at that time were equipped with Vickers Valentias, however they were later to re-equip with Bristol Bombays, 216 squadron currently based at Brize Norton flying Lockheed Tristars and Vickers VC10鈥檚.
The Valentias were so old and ungainly that often when flying up the Nile Valley against a headwind, the true ground speed was only 30 mph!.

At Heliopolis we were accomodated in what can only be described as modern, light and airy barracks with verandahs, showers and toilets. In summer we worked for an hour and a half before breakfast, sustained only by a mug of tea. After breakfast, we went off to work again until about noon after which we were off duty resting on our beds sleeping or relaxing.

As I mentioned before, we all had had no square bashing, due to the icy parade ground at Padgate, this had to be organised before we did our first Guard Duty. After just enough training to know which end of the rifle was which we did our first duty. Nobody was impailed on bayonets and we had no ammo for the rifles so nothing untoward happened!.

A number of us had a night flight over Cairo in one of the Bombays flown by the CO, you could see the Nile as a dark ribbon surrounded by the lights of Cairo.

If we weren't sleeping in the afternoon, we could go from Heliopolis to Cairo by metro tram and in due course we went to Giza and saw the pyramids and the Sphinx. During an eerie tour around a Pyramid, the guide lit a piece of Magnesium tape, so that we could see the walls of the chamber.

We could also go swimming at the local pool, although we had to be careful not to get sunburned.In the evening, being sub tropical it was dark by 8 pm, we had the open air cinema in Heliopolis. We became friendly with a civilian family and used to visit them in their home. We were very wicked and used to heat up Piastre pieces and then throw them to the natives whose antics had to be seen to be believed.

However all good things come to an end and I was posted to 208 Army Co-operation Squadron flying Lysanders at Qasaba near Mersah Matruh, being transported there by one of the 216 squadron Valentias.

It should be mentioned at this point that after the fall of France, the Italians came into the war with the Germans and the unmistakable sound of their S.79 bombers became familiar. During this period 208 squadron spotted for the artillery over Bardia.

Eventually the Italians were forced into retreat and we were moved up to into Libya where we saw long lines of Italian POWs being herded into captivity and enjoying it!.

We got as far as Barce, where we acquired an abandoned Fiat 500, complete with fuel for it, in which we ran around the airfield. We had hopes of driving it back to Cairo, but this plan had to be abandoned when rain waterlogged the airfield.We were recalled to Cairo to go over to Greece and we were once again parked in the North camp at Heliopolis.

We embarked at Alexandria just after the battle of Cape Matapan and we were not very amused when we heard the sound of depth charges exploding. After an otherwise uneventful trip we arrived in Piraeus and we were taken to Daphne a few miles away. Here we sampled the local Retzina, a pine resin flavoured white wine and Mavrodaphne a sweetish red wine, neither of which we paid for - it was not on the house however, one of our fellow drinkers had paid!.While there, the Clan Fraser was bombed in Piraeus harbour which blew up scattering pieces of steel plating and also unissued Greek Bank notes of various denominations far and wide.Eventually we got a movement order to move north to the airfield at Larissa in Thessaly and we could clearly see Mount Olympus. We entrained in Athens in railway trucks clearly marked 40 men or 8 horses, we had our own kitbags with us, however I cannot recall how our goods and chattels arrived.

When the Germans started to advance, we commenced withdrawing the way we had come. Everytime we stopped to refuel the vehicles, a group of Greek peasants would surround us, offering cream cheese for the empty 4 gallon cans.And so we retreated up the pass at Lamia, a lovely sight under better conditions. We continued over the Corinth Canal to Navplion where we were taken by boat to Crete, where we landed at Suda Bay.Somebody found some money and we bought a goat from a Cretan, it was duly despatched, however it was not allowed to hang for long enough and it therefore almost inedible.
We were eventually taken off Suda Bay on an armed Merchant Cruiser, aircrew were flown out on Sunderland flying boats which were so heavily loaded that they flew at 50 feet from Crete to Alexandria.

Whenever there was a raid alert, we popped down the nearest hole in the deck, on one such occasion, finding that we had taken refuge in the ships magazine, we were out of there far quicker than we had entered. I don't think we realised that what we thought were splashes, were in fact bombs that had missed us and landed in the sea!.

Eventually we landed back in Alexandria and we were taken to RAF Alexandria. Station orders to our amazement stated that if more than four men were seen descending from an aircraft by parachute, they should be regarded with suspicion, and that if we went out after duty into Alexandria, all ranks below Sargeant should take Steel helmets and Respirators (presumably higher ranks were considered indestructible!?).

From Alexandria we were moved into Palestine, to the RAF station at Aquir from where we we were later takesn to Ramleh. At Ramleh we were given the option of PE at 06:30am or Horse riding at the Remount? Squadron at Sarafand? for the equivalent of 10p per hour. I chose the riding lessons and was glad, we were taught to ride and to jump low fences.

My first stroke of luck came now, I was posted to AHQ Levant in Jerusalem and billeted in the Convent of Notre Dame at the top of the Damascus Road which is now used as a hostel by modern pilgrims, working in a hotel opposite the Damascus Gate. My luck continued to hold, three of us were on the Mount of Olives one afternoon, pointing out places we recognised, when a civilian spoke to us. He was John Whiting and he had been Allenby's geographer in the first war and we subsequently heard that that he had met HV Morton when he was researching for his book In the Steps of the Master. He was the Greek priest who had taken him some place, the Armenian who had taken him somewhere else and the Copt and Christian arab who had taken him somewhere else.

We learned a lot from him about the old city. At that time he was the Secretary of the American Colony where we were invited for dinner on several occasions.On Sunday afternoons we used to go by bus to Abu Gosh, on the way to Tel Aviv and walk along the crest of the ridge to a cafe run by an English lady who served afternoon teas to members of the forces. After which we would go down the hill to Ain Karim, the birth place of John the Baptist, whence we got the bus back to Jerusalem we would go to the London Mission to the Jews Christ Church for Evensong. The Revd Bill Martin? was quite low church as befitted his position

That winter we had a major snowfall, which happens from time to time. This was welcomed by the Arabs who rolled Oranges in the snow and made them into a substantial weapon.

I should mention that Jerusalem is 2,600 feet above sea level and that Jericho and the Dead Sea lie 1,300 feet below sea level and that half way down to the Dead Sea we pass the Inn of the Good Samaritan. A must is a dip in the Dead Sea, which is so saline that one just cannot sink, you must however have a shower before getting dressed again.

Another interesting person we met was a locally enlisted Armenian and through him we were introduced to the Armenian Patriarch, who showed us a number of priceless illuminated manuscripts and also the Armenian pottery kiln which was sunk in the ground and its workings a secret.We were also present at the Maundy Thursday ceremony of the Washing of the feet.The knowledge I had acquired about the old city was most useful and I was on a number of occasions detailed to take visiting RAF Officers on a conducted tour.

We formed a male voice choir and at Christmas we sang carols at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.The tensions in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre were quite strong. If one sect started to sweep its section, the other sects made quite sure that none of their floor was swept, if it had been it could have been claimed by the sweepers!.We visited the Church of all Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane, the upper room and also Bethany.

Eventually, with the increasing German threat to Turkey, Air HQ Levant moved up to the Lebanon and we were accomodated at Beit Meri, a small place in the hills about two miles above Beirut. On the way we saw the ruins of Baalbek.We stayed there for a couple of weeks and then we moved into the Syrian desert, a few miles from Homs, we were camped in tents. Finally we moved back to Jerusalem, there my luck ran out and I was posted to a Balloon squadron at Haifa, after only three weeks when I was posted to Cairo to RAF HQ Middle East.

CAIRO

We travelled from Haifa to Cairo by rail, there we were accomodated in tents at Kubri on Gezira Island in the middle of the Nile.
It was quite comfortable there and we were marched in a working parade over the Kazr-el-Nil Bridge to Grey Pillars in Cairo Garden City which was our HQ.

The first person I met there was Gilbert Twist, seated at his desk beneath a Liverpool Echo picture of Liverpool Cathedral. Gilbert was a member of the Cairo Cathderal choir, whose organist was a well known English cathedral organist in civilian life. I was co-opted into the choir and also into a forces choir, which after rehearsals gave a number of concerts. From time to time General Montgomery used to visit and give informal talks on the state of the war on Sunday evenings in the Cathedral Hall.

大象传媒 was administration , planning the invasion of Sicily and Italy and also North Africa. At this time consideration was given to trying to get Turkey into the war and it was arranged that a party of civilians should be sent, we would have accompanied AM Sholto-Douglas. We were kitted out with civvies, so alike it was farcical, we were also given passports, but we never went. At this time too there were airmen and officers on the staff of the Air Attache in Ankhara. They wore civilian clothes and frequented the local bars also visited by Nazis.

The battle of El Alamein was the turning point in October 1941. General Montgomery refused to open the offensive until air superiority had been assured.

The invasions of Sicily, Italy and North Africa duly took place with great success and then it came time to return to the UK.
Obviously we could not send a cable announcing this. We could however send three numbers. I sent happy birthday and happy christmas (actually Gilbert sent it off for me). We duly set off for Alexandria to embark on the SS Cameronia.
We sailed on the 7th April and after two weeks passed the Straits of Gibralter during the night. After an uneventful passage we sailed up the Clyde to Glasgow on the 22nd.

MARRIAGE

From Glasgow we travelled by train to Morecombe from where I rang Mary. She had received the cable and gathered its import, so had got a marriage licence. I arrived at Exchange Station at 8pm on the Thursday evening, I dont know why we went to bed at all. We did have to be up early nex morning to get my best blue uniform completely re-made by a Russian Jew in three hours (where could you get that nowadays except maybe in Hong Kong) and we were married at Woodchurch at 1 pm on Saturday 29th April.

The first night of our honeymoon was spent in a hotel in Morcombe, I had left my respirator and steel helmet in a billet and I could be charged the costs of replacement.
From there we moved to Ambleside and spent the next two weeks there in a small hotel. Forces on leave from overseas could get petrol and we had coupons for 15 gallons.

2nd TAF RAF Uxbridge

As my month's disembarkation leave was rapidly drawing to a close amd no news of a new posting had arrived, something had to be done. I've never been clear about what happened, but I am reminded that I went to Central Hall in Renshaw Street who made enquiries by phone. They told me that my next posting was to 2nd Tactical Air Force Headquarters at RAF Uxbridge and they gave me a travel warrant.

We both caught the overnight train to Euston and hardly had any sleep in the overcrowded conditions and arrived in London exhausted.Now we come to the difficult part, I had accomodation on the camp and I could get a pass to sleep out if I had an address. We were given a possible name and address of an RAF regular,a bandsman, but they couldn't do anything for us, the hotels were full of Americans and the Police Station couldn't help either. Mary and I arranged to meet at the gate of the camp or somewhere else. In the meantime she started knocking a doors and finally found a mattress on the floor in Hillingdon Road right opposite the camp. The occupier was kindness itself, Mrs Wingrove, her husband worked at the HMSO. We played Rummy at night and Mr Wingrove would fiddle the cards and then show us how he'd done it.

This became our home from home, one weekend Mary came down on the 5:30 from Liverpool and I'd meet her at Euston and the other I would go back to Liverpool. On the Thursday Mary took the bus to Luton to visit the Young (as in Youngs Modulus) family, related to the Nathans and arranged for us to go for lunch on the Sunday. Their son, Arthur (who worked on the design of Napier Aero engines) visited us a number of times after the war.

INTO EUROPE - FRANCE

Came D Day and the V bombs, one of which crashed not far from the camp. On the 14th of August (D Day+59) we were taken to RAF Northolt whence we were taken by Dakota to Normandy to Cardington, one of the first British post invasion airfields . We lived in tents in an orchard at Le Tronquay, not far from Bayeux where we subsisted on American rations. All this of course was secret and our address was HQ 2nd Tactical Air Force BAOR. We did return in 1981 and found the orchard where we were camped, we also visited the tapestry

As Europe was cleared we moved on to Amiens, where we were able to visit the Cathedral.

As the war progressed we moved to Brussels where we were accomodated in the Caserne Baldouin and taken to our work in a hotel by lorry. During this time we were working on plans for the crossing of the Rhine and I remember doing a stint of three three complete days, each separated by a normal day.

GERMANY

After the Rhine had been crossed we moved into Germany and lived in what had been before the war a lunatic asylum at Suchteln. There in the dead of night, I heard for the first and only time a Nightingale sing.

Finally we moved to Bad Eilsen in Westphalia and we were put up in comandeered houses whose occupiers were forced to take in lodgers. At this time I was working closely with Group Captain Ian Morgan and I had the pleasure of a flight in an Auster aircraft piloted by him over the flattened and burnt out ruins of the Ruhr, it was a tribute to the bomber crews.

When the war was over we managed to get down to Brussels where we went to the Burgermasters Victory Ball, low flying aircraft were plentiful!.

Through one of my friends we met Charles Romelaere who before the war had been the owner of the Grand Hotel Majestic at Blankenberg. With him was his wife and daughter Liliane, they lived in the Scaarbeek area of Brussels and we took them to a performance of Lehar's Merry Widow. I took back from my Christmas leave a bar of Lifebuoy toilet soap, for which they were extremely grateful, they didn't use it though, they put amongst their clean laundry to perfume it. We were shown some of the the soap they had to use during the occupation, it was like Pumice stone.

In December I put in for compassionate Christmas leave, not having had a Christmas at home since 1939. The Group Captain promised to organise this and we were supposed to fly home but the weather was too bad. So we drove to Calais, driven by Air Commodore Atcherley of Schneider Trophy fame. We crossed the Channel in a mine sweeping trawler and arrived in Dover at 5am, in time to get the first train to London and thence to Liverpool.
For my toils in Brussels I was mentioned in despatches and awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre with palme.
I had my first official leave in July 1945, which we spent at Church Stretton, returning to Germany via Gatwick on a service aircraft.

In Germany we occupied our time gainfully, we had taken over the HQ of the Focke Wulf aircraft company and had access to their film labs which had unlimited supplies of chemicals and printing and enlarging papers which we made full use of!.
I had hardly got back from my leave when I heard that a Squadron Leader was flying home for his brother's wedding and would be landing at Hooton Park. I was on it, an Anson from B.151 in Brussels to Carew Cheriton and then to Hooton Park. With me sitting on the bulkhead with a map on my knee and a good view of the ground. From there I went to Rock Ferry station from where I phoned Mary. To say that she was surprised would be an understatement!.

DEMOB

By this time demobilisation was the main topic of conversation, we knew by now our demob group numbers. When I knew that Jan 2nd 1946 was my date, I had a few quiet words with the orderly room, to the effect that if I could get cleared by them I needn't go back to Germany. This in fact did happen and here I was in England with a leave pass and travel permits. And so on 5th January 1946 I presented myself at RAF Stapleford Downey for release. This was not without its own piece of humour, a typical cockney was extolling the virtues of the electric razor, to which another cockney replied "yes but it won't work off an oil lamp in the desert will it!".
And so next day we received our civvy suit, shirt and the rest plus a cheap suitcase and a rail warrant home. So after six years and six days I was released from the RAF.

Sic transit gloria mundi!.