CHAPTER SIX
TROOP SERGEANT
1940 - 1943
Receiving that cup of tea was such an English custom to me - a
symbol, Welcome back to England. It would be remiss
not to mention the hospitality that had been given by the
Plymouth citizens to the 70,000 French troops who had escaped at
Dunkirk. They had been given food, hot baths, and accommodation
before re-embarking for France. At that time, it was not realised
that France would capitulate.
The Lord Mayors Welfare Fund, with the help of volunteers,
distributed 100,000 cigarettes, buns and biscuits were ordered
daily in 5,000 lots, 3,000 oranges and apples were given away
daily plus much more. This had taken place, mainly, before our
arrival. Yet that cup of tea, to me, was all I needed to lift my
spirits. Well done, the people of the Hoe.
In contrast, during all our time in France, apart from the
officer in the French 155mm artillery battery, there had been no
hospitality or any form of friendship from the French people.
Perhaps they had too many war concerns to make us welcome. As it
was, we could have been aliens from another planet.
Now for me to have my feet on any part of this island will be a
very precious privilege. When the military transport officer at
Plymouth had sorted out the various army personnel who had made
it, we, the 209 component, were put on the train for Devizes army
barracks. It was a most comfortable journey, having only our own
personal kit to take with us.
Inwardly, we knew we were the lucky ones and had every reason to
be thankful and relax. We had time, also to give our thoughts to
those at home, who must be wondering what fate had befallen us.
What was causing concern to the families of our unit was that
certain personnel attached to our HQ had already returned home,
we were to learn later.
At Devizes, we were greeted by the barracks duty officer as we
alighted from the military transport which had met our train at
Devizes Station. We were shown our quarters and where we could
obtain food and refreshments; equally important we were shown
where we could have a shower to clean our bodies of sweat and
grime.
He told us that there would be an inspection parade next morning
and it was expected that we would be given 48 hours leave. We
were very tired and hungry, our only food on the ship had been
the usual dog biscuits and bully beef. Normally, I would have
phoned Gladys, but very few of us had English money.
Tomorrow hopefully, we would have news about when we might expect
to arrive home. In the meantime, like the others, a shower was
top priority.
I remember that my beard was quite soft and not bristly. I was
given a separate room to sleep in. I looked at the bed and, after
laying on it, I found that I could not get accustomed to the
softness of the springs. That night, I made my bed on the floor!
It is surprising how the body adjusts to its environment, in this
case the rough ground of France.
The commanding officer of the army training barracks addressed
the parade the following day and gave us a list of donts,
he did not want us to set a bad example to his recruits. This
went down badly with the lads and I have always remembered his
discourtesy. Once I had been dismissed, it was a matter of seeing
the paymaster and obtaining my travel warrant. I attempted to
phone Gladys but she had, I presumed, already left to go to
work at the Efandam, a battery firm which was part of the Ever
Ready Co., where she was employed as a wages clerk. By
coincidence, when I arrived at Wolverhampton, I caught the number
9 trolleybus. When this reached Park Village, Gladys, with others
leaving work, boarded this bus.
The bus was full, with people standing, so that she had not seen
me. I noticed that her face showed signs of stress, which was not
surprising in view of her lack of news regarding our unit. I now
regretted not attempting to phone her the night before and
dreaded revealing myself, lest the shock would be too much for
her. I decided that I would try and hide myself and get off at
the next bus stop after she had alighted to go to our house at
Old Fallings Lane. At the stop where I got off, there was a fish
and chip shop, so I was able to take this favourite take- away
food home as a welcoming present! But I would not have been in
such a happy state if Gladys had been larking about on the bus,
not caring a hoot about my absence. Gladys was living at Old
Fallings Lane and keeping father company, for mother was still
evacuated to Wales.
When I knocked on the door, my father opened it. We both gave a
smile. Where have you come from, we had almost thought the
worst had happened., said my father who, I thought, had
aged, loosing most of his hair during the last year. I replied,
I have come all the way from Epernay, the Champagne country
- starting on May 10th. Sorry I wasnt able to send you a
postcard. As I entered the hall, I noticed Gladys in the
kitchen, holding her hands to her face, with her fingers slightly
apart over her eyes. I called out, I can see you, look I
have brought you a present of fish and chips to celebrate the
prodigal sons return. As she took her hands off her
face, the tears could be seen pouring down her cheeks.
This was a very emotional moment for all of us. Dad retired to
his front room, where I took him a tray with his fish and chips.
It was a relief to see Gladys quickly recovering from the
surprise of my return. There was much to catch up with, as well
as meeting her family around the corner. This would have to wait
until the morrow, not forgetting that I was on a 48 hour leave.
We spent an hour with my father and listened to the evening news
on the wireless. Churchills famous speech to the House of
Commons on the 18th June was again repeated, to rally the people.
I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Let
us brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if
the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand
years, men will still say - this was their finest hour.
There can be no doubt, Churchills pugnacious attack on
Hitler and the Nazi movement, with his famous speeches and
stirring voice lifted the morale of the British people as no
other leader could have done.
My leave came to an end too quickly, again there is the sadness
in the parting of ones other half, particularly when there
is no knowledge of when or where one shall finally be posted. On
returning to Devizes barracks after our short leave, the 209 lads
read on the order board that their unit would be transferred to
Aberporth the following day after inspection at 9.30 am, using
military transport.
Laurie, standing by me as we read this order said, The
commanding officer here cannot get rid of us quick enough for
fear of corrupting his recruits.
They say a rolling stone gathers no moss. As far as Colin
Elwells unit is concerned, this must be true. I
responded.
All that could be gleaned about this army station is that it was
a firing range, used for testing rockets, in an isolated part of
South Wales, eight miles from Cardigan. We arrived to find to our
dismay that we were to be housed in bell tents. The command post
team occupied the same tent, enabling us to hold our war council
from time to time. Apart from a canteen and ablutions plus
toilets, we had no access to any other permanent buildings. Many
buildings were marked Special permit holders only. It
was agreed by the war council that we had been dumped out of
harms way. The unit had no equipment and I suppose this
exercise was being repeated over the whole country, having to
dispose of 400,000 troops who escaped back to England during and
after Dunkirk.
Our troop officer could tell us little about this move. He made
it quite clear that there would be no marching drill and that the
unit was to be considered as resting. Now the army
council decided to hold a meeting. Laurie started things off by
saying, Did you know that this was an experimental station
for firing 3 inch unrotating projectiles (UP) and that one of
their staff has had their head blown off? Maybe we are rocket
fodder; perhaps they will be calling for volunteers soon.
Eric said, What do you think of our set-up here,
Alan?
Well, as far as I am concerned, I shall explore the
coastline for a sandy beach and maybe get a swim. I
replied.
While we were billeted here, I discovered that the projectors
from which the rockets are fired have 2 pairs of guide rails,
which allows them to be fired singly or in pairs. This type of
projector, known as No. 2 Mark is operated by a gunner on the
left side, to the rear of the rails, who is responsible for
bearing, whilst the other gunner, on the right side is
responsible for elevation. Both use cross wires to aim onto the
target and when the fire officer gives the order to fire, both
press down their firing lever, which completes an electrical
circuit to the terminals of the rocket.
Later that evening, I made up a four at bridge with rocket
technical staff in the canteen. They gave me a background to the
development of this, until now unknown British rocket. Work
started on the rocket in 1934 at Woolwich Arsenal by a physicist,
Dr Crow. It was, at first a 2 inch rocket and then later, a 3
inch version was designed to match the warhead of the 3.7 shell,
in weight. It was hoped to introduce rocket batteries to
supplement the ack ack defences by 1940. These were
to be known as Z batteries. This information was to become very
helpful in the not-too-distant future.
Our morale was very low, knowing that we were to be put out to
pasture. Why could they not have sent us home until they had
decided what to do with us. I found a spot close by the range,
where I could swim with my underpants on, having no swim suit
with me. This became a routine for the few days we were here. It
was at the end of June, we were to hear that we were to be on the
move again. This time we were drafted to this beautiful coastline
of South Wales. It represented our third move in as many weeks.
Could it be at the war office that we were known as the
Nomad tribe? The only logic that we could see was
that we were moving closer to the base where our future would be
decided. In less than a week we had arrived and then said goodbye
to Blackpool, finally taking residence at Catterick transit camp.
At Blackpool, I had now readjusted to sleeping in a normal bed.
We were a strict military base and inspections and route marches
became the order of the day. On 16th July, my troop officer,
Colin Elwell sent a message that I was required to visit the
troop office after inspection parade. He held a piece of paper in
his hand and after a conversation of a personal nature, he said,
We are about to part company.
He then read from the letter. Lance Bombardier A C Rayment
will form part of a cadre in the formation of 106 X battery,
based at Marske-by-the-Sea, Cleveland, England. At first I
did not take in what would be the effect of this transfer. Why
me, I thought, so I asked him, Are there any others of the
209 unit also being transferred?
He replied, I only have this instruction from the Ack
ack Army Drafting Centre. In shaking hands and
smiling, I hope you have a successful move and that you are
not asked to take part in too many Christmas tree raiding
parties.
I learned later that the 209 unit served in Egypt during 1942 and
in the invasion of Sicily. The unit also served in Italy, both in
the ack ack role and in the field. It is sad that I
have not had the opportunity to meet former members of my
Wolverhampton TA unit, particularly as, a few years ago, a small
number of them revisited Paul Rogers shooting lodge at
Plivot in France.
It was a weird feeling I had as I arrived at a deserted hutted
encampment at Marske-by-the-Sea. Apart from one other soldier,
with three stripes on his arm, an officer sat at a desk in the
only visible occupied hut in this ghostly camp. This officer
greeted us, saying, I am the adjutant of this newly formed
Z battery and we are now to witness the build up of this
unit. I spoke to this sergeant, who informed me that his
name was Crawthorn and had served in the 1st World War. The
adjutant took us to a local army training centre, where we were
to use their canteen. Our hut encampment was part of this
establishment and was only occasionally used, when they had a
large intake.
I did not sleep a great deal in this isolated compound. I was
feeling the absence of a closely-knitted unit, which the Bedouin
style of living had brought. One such group was the command post
team, with its frequent army council discussions. There was Greg,
who sang Gracie Fields songs and the flamboyant Colin Elwell, who
always had a smile for everyone.
When arriving at this camp, the route took me through Redcar and
along the coast. At first I thought I was witnessing a scene from
a First World War film of the Western Front. The whole length of
the coastline had invasion defences, consisting of staked coiled
barbed wire and shore metal obstacles. Land mines had also been
planted in the sand dunes. There was no mistaking that
Hitlers threat to invade us in his famous Directive
No. 16 Operation Sea Lion on the 16th July was being taken
seriously.
It is interesting to note that Hitler tried a peace offering on
the 19th July and stated that he thought no useful purpose could
be obtained by continuing the conflict. He did not get any takers
for his olive branch. He now set plans to invade us on the 25th
August, using 41 divisions, six armoured, three motorised, seven
parachute divisions and two airborne divisions. There was a
problem outstanding apart from the Channel - mastery of the air,
which had yet to be achieved.
After a week, the 106 Z battery was reaching its full compliment.
From the nearby training centre, RA unit a squad of roughly one
hundred men were handed over. It was claimed that they were to
form a 25-pounder gun battery and be sent to Singapore. Perhaps
the powers that be had an idea that this part of our Empire would
fall to the Japs later on. And to my surprise, another member of
the 209 unit arrived - Bombardier Warrington, who joined us at
Newport before going to France. He was one of the Militia boys.
We had a mixed bag of officers. One, Lieutenant Little, had been
in charge of a team of elephant handlers in the Burma jungle.
Another was off the reserved list and was a practising solicitor,
whilst Captain Smith must have been in charge of some local
authority cleansing department. When our Major Fernough finally
arrive, we knew this was not to be an ordinary unit. He had been
in the war office, having a smart appearance, a tooth brush
moustache and seemed to have a sense of purpose.
Our new unit had the loan of a drill sergeant, Harvey, from the
training centre, who drilled us on the square. He was an artist
in his calling, who put his stamp on this unit. He stood
perfectly upright with his drill stick tucked under his arm and
the other arm folded behind his back. His movements were like
clockwork, and you just had to copy him. Our time at Marske had
now nearly come to an end, as our complement was almost
completed. Unfortunately there were no signs of rocket projectors
appearing, nor was there anyone who had knowledge or experience
of these weapons. I did not reveal at this stage that I had some
background knowledge since I had been at the rocket experimental
unit at Aberporth. The equipment could change from the last time
I saw it.
Before leaving Marske with the 106 unit, I was promoted to acting
bombardier, going up in the world. We were honoured to have
General Sir Frederick Pile, COC Ack Ack Command, to inspect this
newly formed 106 Z battery. He addressed the parade after the
inspection and told them that each gunner was of officer
potential and wished them a successful army career. Now the sting
in the tail, following his inspection was a directive issued by
army command, stating all ack ack gunners were
required elsewhere in the army. Lower grade men down to C3 would
be posted in. This took place before we left the camp. Major
Fernough was not pleased to see his new unit downgraded so soon.
To me, the formation of the 106 Z unit was premature, having no
projectors to train with. Each section now had to keep its men
occupied.
Our new posting was just a mile or two up the coast to Redcar. We
had no army living quarters and so were billeted in private
houses. Our parades took place outside the houses we were staying
in. Sergeant Crawthorn had so many C3 men that he formed what was
later to be known as the Disney Squad. He at first
gave instructions to any one who had a man marching out of step
in front of him to tread on his heels. After a few days there
were so many complaining of heel injuries that he had to withdraw
this instruction. The local residents were now referring to this
Disney leader as the Cruel Sergeant.
There were two in this squad who could only march with their arms
out of phase with their legs. In the end they were always asked
to fall out and make their own way to the destination where the
men were going to march to. Amongst those C3 men were some who
could not read or write, with others who had some minor physical
disability. Those who were fit took part in long-distance
marches, over the moors in the border country of Cleveland and
North Yorkshire.
One of the chief benefits of being semi-permanently based at
Redcar was that 48 hours leave was granted once a fortnight to
allow us to go home regularly. This removed a great stress from
Gladys not having a place of her own - although there had been no
family disagreement. Remember, we have had no honeymoon since our
marriage on 4th September 1939. My troop officer, Lieutenant
Little, was very much out of touch with army routine, and in our
ad hoc accommodation there was not much opportunity to be
regimental.
On the 29th October 1940, I was granted war substantive rank of
bombardier, which meant that after war was over, I could lose
this rank. I did not think I would much sleep over this aspect of
the award.
Shortly afterwards, I was informed that I would be in charge of a
section within the grounds of Dorman and Long iron and steel
manufacturers, sited between the Tees and Redcar. With no firing
practice, I would be responsible for training the section
consisting of one lance bombardier and 10 men in firing 3-inch UP
rockets from Projector No. 2 Mark 1, and also in firing a Lewis
gun. We were to be sited on the vital point VP as we would have
to be an ack ack defence against dive bombers.
A Nissen hut was being erected to house us and a shelter for the
rocket ammunition was also in preparation. The projectors were to
be mounted on steel plates, bolted to the ground. I had been
handed firing instruction books, both for the projectors and the
Lewis gun. The equipment was expected to be delivered in two
weeks time. The troop HO was at Eston recreational ground,
a distance of roughly 4 miles further up the Tees. It is here we
familiarised ourselves with the equipment from the handbooks
supplied. The equipment was simplicity itself. Two men operated
the weapon. Each operator was responsible for placing a rocket on
the guide rails, pulling the rockets onto the rear contact knife
edges of the projector. The operator on the left inserted an
electrical battery, making the weapon live.
This operator was now responsible for aiming the projector in
bearing, using crosswire sights, whilst the operator on the right
took responsibility for laying on in elevation. When the firing
officer, in this case me, gave the order, Plane!,
pointing in the direction of the target and shouting,
Fire!, the operators pressed their firing levers as
soon as they had their target in their crosswires. For the Lewis
gun training, I had the weapon and ammunition to carry out the
instructions. I remember that I had the squad squatted on the
floor in a circle. I was demonstrating the loading procedure with
live ammunition, having no dummy rounds. I inadvertently released
the trigger, but it failed to fire. This was a lesson to last me
for the rest of my army service - never use live ammunition for
demonstration purposes.
There was a continuing downgrading of men. It was no secret that
all footballers, musicians and cooks were indispensable. Amongst
the footballers, we had was an international player from
Sheffield Wednesday, Jackie Robinson. He had played at Berlin
against Germany, when Hitler watched and they gave the Nazi
salute. Also, another professional footballer was Cliff Whitelum
from Sunderland FC. Each Saturday afternoon, the battery turned
out a team against local clubs, the police fixtures were the most
popular and were well supported by the locals.
It was early November when we became in operational at our vital
point in the centre of Dorman and Long. I gave my lance
bombardier responsibility for organising the manning rota for
spotting and Lewis gun operation. I also had a rota for projector
and ammunition maintenance. These rotas were always a problem
when dealing with small numbers. A very important piece of
information given to us was that flying by the RAF was not
permitted in our zone, so that any plane flying in this area was
to be regarded as hostile. The Civil Aviation Authority was also
notified of this flying restriction.
Amongst the recent intake was an all-in wrestler named Oakes. He
and an ex- Irish guardsman had formed a gang within the battery.
They were known to have caused trouble in local pubs, breaking
beer bottles and putting them close to peoples faces. It
came to my attention that Oakes had been put under arrest and
that he had been given seven days confined to barracks. I had a
discussion with my lance bombardier that if this was true, I
would put him on a charge for the least offence. His arrival with
the orderly sergeant came as no surprise. Having told me that
Oakes was to be regarded as a member of my manning team and that
he was confined to camp for seven days, this sergeant then said,
This is your baby from now on. I did not reply, if I
had expressed my thoughts, I too would have been on a charge.
I had not met Oakes, only heard of his reputation. It seems both
his troop sergeant and officer were scared of him. He was around
5ft 8 inch in height, broad shoulders and had a crooked nose. I
showed him where his bed was and told him that he would have to
do manning duties like the rest of the men. I told him that after
he had sorted himself out, he would be required for equipment
maintenance duties. I set him on cleaning the rocket terminals.
As was expected, he put a cigarette in his mouth. Immediately I
remonstrated and said to him, If you light that cigarette,
you will be on a charge for endangering life. There was a
reply of some sort, it could have been, Sod off.
Oakes then lit up and I told him to stop what he was doing and
consider what he was being charged with. I at once contacted my
troop officer that I wanted an escort to take Oakes back to troop
HQ to answer the charge placed on him. When charged, he was given
a further 7 days CB and returned to my unit. I was enraged that
the officer should again wash his hands of him by returning him
to me.
When Oakes returned, he was in a threatening mood. I reminded him
that he was on look-out duty at 5 pm and returned to my bed.
Oakes then took out of his pocket a broken bottle. There were
several gunners in the hut, including the lance bombardier. It
was very tense as he slowly approached me, uttering something
about what he would do to me if the money that he sent home to
his mother was stopped. I felt that one wrong movement or word,
and I could be seriously hurt. Just as he was almost touching my
face with the broken bottle, he caught sight of McKenzie, the
lance bombardier, staring at what was taking place. He then
withdrew from me and set about what he would do to him, if he
acted as witness, should he come to blows with me. Somehow, no
violence occurred and Oakes was reminded of his spotting duties.
As was to be expected, Oakes was nowhere to be seen during his
stint on the Lewis gun and look-out duties. Again, I got through
to troop HQ and demanded an escort to pick Oakes up and take him
back to HQ. This was done and Oakes was finally picked up at some
place of low repute. I think it was a miracle that we got away
without damage: it was a very irresponsible decision by the troop
officer to send Oakes here in the first place, ours being an
isolated unit.
While serving at this site, many Dorman and Long employees would
ask us what were the secret weapons we were equipped with. Many
thought we fired springs in the air to wrap around the
planes propellers. During the whole of the time we were at
this VP, we were not found wanting simply because there had been
no attacks. This was in contrast to what had been taking place in
the South of England, where the Battle of Britain had been taking
place. By October, the Luftwaffe had lost 1,733 fighters and
bombers to the RAFs 1,379 fighters, but the RAF had only
lost 414 pilots.
The battle of the air had been won and this meant that the Sea
Lion, the plan for the invasion of Britain was now cancelled
until the spring of the following year. Hitler had now resorted
to the night bombing of London and the main towns and ports. This
was the terror bombing that had been expected at the start of the
war, and which was now being applied in earnest.
The role of firing at a dive bomber from the vital
point was abandoned in 1941. More 3-inch UP projectors 2
mark 1 had become available and now I took charge of 8 at Eston
Recreation Ground. A through road from Redcar to Middlesborough
separated this ground from the Dorman and Long steel works, which
span along the upper reaches of the Tees. Less than one hundred
yards away, the steel works tallest and latest chimney
stack stood upright overlooking our site.
There were a number of comments, generally to the effect that
this could be the first target to be hit. The projectors formed a
right angle to two 4s. One 4 faced this road towards the
steel works whilst the other four faced Eston council offices
with a 4 feet high wall in between. By each weapon, a slit trench
had been dug to give protection for the manning teams. Now,
whenever the sirens went off, the steel workers came out to watch
us, even the smallsteam engine drivers would pull up along the
road, getting a better view of our site. Again, they believed
that these secret weapons sent up springs to foil the
enemys propellers.
After a few weeks here at this hutted encampment, we heard from a
long distance radar station that a daylight raider was flying in
our direction. Soon the sirens went off and the usual spectators
appeared across the road as we took up stations in the stand-by
state. This always involved the rockets being loaded on to the
guide rails in a horizontal position. As stated before, this was
a prohibited flying zone both for civilians and the RAF. Any
plane appearing must be regarded as hostile. Suddenly, from out
of the clouds this daylight raider, flying about 2,000 feet from
the Redcar direction, appeared, coming in our direction. I gave
the order, Plane!, pointing in the direction of the
target, followed by Fire! For a few moments it was
like a firework display for the bright flashes behind the rockets
can be quite lethal if standing directly rear of the rocket as it
fired. It took a few minutes to appreciate the effects of this
rocket salvo. The spectators across the road had all disappeared
and, to my horror, this tall chimney overlooking our rocket site
had been hit and now had a 6ft hole in it, half way up. The plane
had not been hit, but we did receive news that a machine gun had
been dropped by this raider. There was now to be an inquest
carried out and the rocket crew to be identified with their
account of the shoot causing this damage.
It appears the misfire drill had not been carried out in the
first instance, when the rocket failed to take off after the fire
levers had been depressed. The projector was later inspected by
REME, who discovered that there was a fault in the wiring,
causing a slight short in the circuit. It was claimed that these
weapons cost no more than 5 and sixpence, certainly all the
wiring was exposed to the weather effects. I believe that this
rocket shoot was one of the first to take place in anger.
I was technically confined to barracks until the officer
commanding received an official report from the REME. Next day,
we again had an air raid warning. The steeplejack building his
ladder upwards towards the gap decided that this was not a
healthy place to be and in an instant had slid down the ladder.
There were now no spectators to be seen across the road, no
engine drivers shunted along the road to watch us. I was also
told that a crane operator in the factory boasted that he was not
coming down for the air raid alarm. He had now changed his mind.
There was a yet more serious misfire incident which occurred on
an air raid standby alert a week later. As the loader on No. 1
projector facing the Eston council offices placed the rocket on
to the guide rails and pulled it back on to the knife contacts of
the projector, the rocket took off. The gunner received the full
force of the rocket blast at the rear of the missile and was
blown into a slit trench, badly burned. The rocket fin touched
the top of the 4 feet dividing wall, as it was in the horizontal
standby position at the time of its take off. The effect of the
fin touching the wall caused it to deflect into a blast wall
protecting an assembly room full of people.
Again, I had difficulty coming to terms with a possible major
disaster. Immediately, I sent for an ambulance to take the badly
burned gunner to hospital. I took up courage to investigate the
damage done on the other side of the wall. First, I was relieved
not to seen anyone carried away on a stretcher. One could see
from the outside that the blast wall had taken the full impact of
the rocket, and had, no doubt, saved many lives of those present.
The follow-up to this accident proved that the loader had
inserted the battery before placing the rocket on the guide
rails. The loading procedure required that the battery be
inserted after the rocket had been loaded, to avoid being at the
back with the projected charged. For the contacts to be live
without both firing levers being depressed proved that there were
serious defects in the wiring circuit. REME immediately placed
the projectors out of bounds until a thorough examination of the
electrical system had taken place. These weapons had come off the
makers assembly lines without a proper trial period for
both men and equipment. I, for one, received no firing
instructions from any experienced person in this rocket field.
Those of us in the services and in civilian life based in the
North of Britain, had much to be thankful for. Night terror raids
had continued increasingly since the air Battle of Britain from
September 1940. Here were the British air raid casualty figures
for April 1941 - 6,065 killed, 6,926 injured during raids on
Bristol, Coventry, Birmingham, Belfast, London and Portsmouth.
Many of the civilians did a full days work and then
reported to the ARP, fire service or maybe home guard to do a
full nights stint during these raids. I always maintained
that I had been preserved in the services, compared to civilians
having additionally no ration books to manipulate.
On the 10th May, 1941, London suffered a massive air raid,
damaging Westminster Abbey, the House of Commons and the Mint.
During these raids, 1,436 people were killed. On this day, one of
Hitlers henchmen, Rudolf Hess, parachuted into Scotland.
Soon afterwards, in early June, Germany attacked Russia. This was
the first real hope that we would survive, for Hitler was now
fighting on two fronts.
During the late part of 1941, there were plans to deploy
projectors en masse at night to fire 64 weapons at enemy bombers
using radar information by the fire control officer to direct the
barrage. Control during the day by rocket batteries was as basic
as Indians firing arrows. Gun batteries used predictors to give
future positions for guns to fire at. No such devices existed for
rocket units. Major Duncan Sandys had now developed a plotting
table, using information from local radar equipment, now being
supplied to ack ack units. This was known as gun
laying equipment GL2. The plotting table operators traced the
course of a target being traced by the GL2 operators. To do this,
the slant range from the GL2 was converted to ground range, using
a predicted height. A separate arm, located on the stylus
mounting enabled the fire control officer to predict the future
position for the predictors to aim at. This information ensured a
much more accurate firing to be obtained.
I was required to accompany Lieutenant Hall on a visit to this
experimental rocket site near Cardiff. The purpose of the visit
was for me on return to reproduce this plotting table. My
officer, the former solicitor from Oldham, I found to be very
shrewd and seemed to pick up the gist of the information on the
plotting table on our visit. There were no drawings for me to
take back of this plotter, for it had been developed from trial
and error. Lieutenant Hall revealed that the future use of our
equipment would be in the en masse mode. This is why this visit
was laid on, so that we could have fairly accurate fire control
information,
rather than the firing officer just pointing in the direction
where he can hear the plane.
To make my plotting table, I used a projector circular base plate
and with the help of a chippy, built legs under this plate. This
enabled two operators to sit under the table, one to set ground
range (converted from the radar slant range, using a forecast
height), the other to set the bearing. A stylus on the carriate
responded to the ground range set. The arm upon which the
carriage sat rotated about the centre of the table. This arm then
moved to the radar bearing set by the operator. A future link
device pivoted about the stylus provided by the fire officer,
with fire direction data to predict a future position.
There was general acceptance of this prototype plotting table by
Lieutenant Hall, who in turn said he would notify the commanding
officer. There was some urgency in equipping our HQ at Brambles
Farm, Middlesborough, for firing in the barrage mode, since we
now had our own radar GL set operational at Don site, a short
distance away from HQ. This plotting table, if successful, would
be of immense value to the firing officer. Several senior
officers, including a brigadier were given demonstrations. On the
27th May, 1941, I was promoted to lance sergeant and on 9th
September 1941, I was made acting sergeant. Rapid promotion
indeed!
This promotion saw a change in my role, having taken over a troop
with 4 sections under Lieutenant Roderick, based at Brambles
Farm. This took place in the Autumn of 1941. I had now become a
member of the august body of men who met in the sergeants
mess. The chairman of this mess, like all the others, was the
reigning sergeant major, who was a member of the London Bus
Transport. He was a cockney, small and thin and like all officers
and men who had late posting in this batter, could have served in
the last war. Apart from the troop which had replaced my unit at
Eston, the rest of the men were now concentrated at Brambles
Farm, where their weapons would be employed in the en masse role.
I now had duties of orderly sergeant. This was of particular
interest when on duty with Captain Smith. He would have a team of
gunners following him when inspecting the gun site. Any cigarette
end, or match or any other litter he spotted, he would point to
with his stick, which one of the trailing men would be expected
to pick up. The cook house staff feared his visits, nothing was
left without inspection. The pots and pans all shone and I doubt
if there was another army cook house up to the cleanliness
standard of this one.
My move to Middlesborough provided an opportunity for Gladys to
move there into digs. She found accommodation fairly centrally
place in the town. This turned out to be ideal, for I was
welcomed when not on duty. There were a few other boarders, such
as Mr Simpson, who became very fond of Gladys! The landlady, Mrs
Blackburn, was a good tennis player and having a tennis court
alongside the house, I was to have tennis games with her, when
she generally beat me!
Her husband had been a TT racer at the Isle of Man motorcycle
races. He was called up in the RAF as a mechanic and formed part
of the team servicing a Lancaster plane piloted by Jeff Bond, who
worked formerly in the efficiency department of Ever Ready at
Wolverhampton. Small world!
I need hardly remind the reader that this was the first time that
Gladys and I were able to be together frequently since we were
married on the second day of war, this was something of a delayed
honeymoon. This was to last into 1943. She was able to find a
wages clerk post at Richards, a local wire rope firm. This was a
change in her way of life, she was invited to a weekly social
evening at our sergeants mess. This was when each member
had to do a party piece, mine was from Rudyard Kiplings
poem, If. I must admit they got a different version
each time I recited it.
Whilst acting as sergeant major, a very serious crime had been
committed by members of the Oakes gang, now based at Eston. It
had already been rumoured that this gang had taken over their
troop. All the men in the Nissen hut did as Oakes commanded, such
as light my cigar, fetch me my tea, etc.
In the case of this crime, the gang chased their troop bombardier
through Grange Town, which was observed by a local policeman.
When the bombardier managed to escape and return to his Nissen
hut, they again went for him and caused serious head wounds.
There was an indentation in the side of the Nissen hut, where his
head had hit it. The military police were called in, and all but
Oakes were put under close arrest. Apparently he was not there
when the injury took place. When all those charged where allowed,
under escort, to exercise in the gun park, Oakes was seen to be
giving them advice. Eventually the military police were informed
by the policeman who had seen them chasing the bombardier in
Grange Town, that Oakes had been with them. Oakes was now charged
and joined the rest of the gang in clink.
It was several weeks before the trial could take place. The
injuries were so bad that the bombardier was almost too scared to
give evidence. I was to learn a lot from Kings Regulations
in dealing with procedures involved with men being charged. All
the men were sentenced to serve several months in the glass
house, this being the army prison where everything is carried out
at the double. The battery were wrong in the first instance to
send this troop to Eston, knowing that the gang had existed from
the time I had my experience with Oakes in Dorman and Long works.
I think that it was a case of out of sight, out of mind. As it
was, the military police regarded this case as one of the most
serious they had had to handle in the North East.
There was another crime committed just before Christmas. Someone
had taken home the sergeants mess turkey. The
sergeant major was not pleased!
During 1942, the ack ack command was being drained of
all its fit men and their replacement was now to be ATS and Home
Guard. It was when I had my first squad of home guard, I was sent
for by my troop officer, Roderick, and told I was to take charge
of Don Site, where the radar equipment and operators were
stationed. This was formerly a golf club, where the clubhouse was
used as a canteen with members of the WRVS helping to serve the
men. The unit was responsible for the financial running of the
canteen. I put Bombardier Sweeney in charge of this task.
The men who operated the radar GL2 set and electrical generator
were supposed to be of a higher IQ than the norm and all had to
be trade tested. I was not involved with their day to day
operational duties. My role was purely administrative and
discipline. However, being the person I am, I could not resist
watching in the cabin how the equipment was operated. I learned
the drill and was able to get some technical background from the
GL2 handbook supplied. The visiting radar officer agreed to trade
test me as an operator fire control, OFC. When this was done, he
then said, You have just passed on your belly. This
was not to be the last time this comment would be made to me,
when passing altered the course of my career.
In this case, I was now classified as a tradesman and could not
be used by the sergeant major for general duties such as guard
duties or as orderly sergeant. What I had not realised, being a
different animal from the rest of the unit, I was to be deployed
according to the needs of the radar services as regards manning
demands. The most positive benefit was that I received 5
shillings a day extra pay.
I was required to call on the duty officer at Brambles Farm. When
I arrived, he informed me that I was to attend an OFC radar
course the following week. I said to him, My wife will not
like this, if it means that I have to be resident at the radar
training centre near Newcastle.
He replied, I am afraid that it is residential, your travel
warrant and joining instructions will be sent to you at Don
Site. Well, as expected, Gladys was not pleased, but it was
only for two weeks, and no doubt that I should be able to get the
weekend off to go back to Middlesborough.
When I arrived at this radar training unit and the duty sergeant
examined my papers, he could not find any reference to my having
done a preliminary radar course. He told me that I could not
attend. He then referred to ATS attending this course and said
they could not allow a male sergeant to fail the course should
the ATS pass. When I returned to report to the office, giving
details of why I had been rejected, there was sudden silence. The
duty officer asked me to stand outside his office, while he spoke
to the sergeant major privately. When I was called in again, I
was charged with working my immediate return, to be back with my
wife.
It was now war between HQ office and myself, for they refused to
accept what I had told them, even though I asked them to verify
what I had said with the training centre.
The first effect from this declaration of war, was that the
battery band would not be allowed to play at the social evening
to be held at the weekend in the golf clubhouse canteen, on Don
Site. This action was followed by a series of checks late at
night, to see whether those who had received leave passes for the
following morning had left the night before, as was the
unofficial custom. There were frequent inspections of the site by
the sergeant major. I was kept on my toes.
Finally, I was caught out on the canteen finances. Bombardier
Sweeney had failed to balance the books, and this was a breach of
army regulations. This was further compounded by the fact that it
was the duty of an officer to oversee the accounts. Up to a few
weeks previously, there had been no resident officer on site. But
the units designated major had been billeted at this site
with no duties. Being the only officer on site, he should have
vetted the books.
While my fate on this matter was in the balance, the reigning
major and the designated major took a trip out somewhere, its
purpose was thought to be how they could resolve this matter
without being implicated themselves. No further action was taken
in this matter. As regards this major who was resident on Don
Site, it was the continuing process of replacing fit personnel
with older and less fit men.
Shortly, it was anticipated that the 106 Z unit would be
classified as a Home Guard manned battery; also the radar team
would be manned by ATS. As part of this manning process, it came
as no surprise that I received my marching orders to join the 229
M ack ack battery on the 2nd June 1943.
Before my transfer took place, I had several weeks to hand over
Don Site radar duties to the ATS, who had been given separate hut
accommodation on Don Site. The only duty that they were
physically incapable to handle was the manual starting of the
power generator for the GL2 radar set.
I was now beginning to realise that Gladys would not be able to
come with me until I had established a new base. Sadly, our
honeymoon was coming to an end, hopefully only for the time
being. Compared to my first 9 months in the army, this present
tour of duty had lasted almost 3 years, and could be classed as a
cushy number. No tents, no real enemy action and a honeymoon as
icing on the cake.
But fate can be cruel and kind. Take Alf Nixon, he lived and
worked in Middlesborough. He joined the army and trained in the
same area. He then joined the 106 Z unit, also in the same area.
He became sergeant major of this unit after I left, where he
served the rest of the war in the same area. For most of us in
the army, when we joined it was goodbye, hope to see you
soon.
At home, mother had returned from Dyserth, North Wales, where she
was evacuated at the start of the war. It so happened that this
area in North Wales was used to light decoy fires to divert
German planes from bombing Liverpool. One night, this turned out
to be a most frightening experience for her, as bombs were being
dropped close by her residence. Gladys move back home
turned out to be a bonus for mother.
Forward | ||
Introduction | ||
1/1 | 1915-1929 | |
1/2 | 1930-1932 | |
1/3 | 1932-1935 | |
1/4 | 1935-1939 | |
1/5 | 1939-1940 | |
1/6 | 1940-1943 | this page |
1/7 | 1943-1945 | |
1946-1997 | to follow | |
Home Page | ||
© 1998 Alan Rayment
Last revised: February 28, 1998.