Big ray

[Big ray]

Hi Ray

 

Ime a newbie as well and made to feel at home straight away, some very friendly helpfull guys on here

 

As we used to say in the Signals...we bend um you mend um

 

Paul

 

Hi Paul, Im afraid that we bent a few ourselves......... I would love to do it all again.

Regards Ray.:kissoncheek:

[Big ray]

Hi Paul, Im afraid that we bent a few ourselves......... I would love to do it all again.

Regards Ray.:kissoncheek:

 

We left the workshops for one of our many exercises, my friend L/cpl Ray W, a Yorkshire lad from Halifax was driving the ration truck, we encamped on some heathland. That evening he asked me would I like to walk down the road to a pub that we had passed on the way in, I said that I could not remember passing a pub, he said its only around the bend... so I agreed. Every bend that we went around I asked, where`s this pub, he would reply it must be the next bend. I think that we must have walked about five miles untill we reached the pub. On the walk back we passed a cottage type building in about one acre of land, he said that he had noticed lots of strawberries growing in the garden as we drove past earlier in the day, it was now quite dark. He sugested that I should go over the barbed wire fence and get some of these strawberries, I declined, he implied that I was afraid to go... I thought, what the hell, I fancy some strawberries..... I dont take to stealing anything normally, but I looked upon this as scrumping apples. So I climbed over the fence and felt my way accross the garden to where he had indicated that I would find the fruits. The garden was to the left side of the cottage, and he had indicated that I would find the srawberries roughly opposite the side door of the cottage. Once in that area of the garden I realised that the strawberries had been picked, so in a low voice I said, they have all gone, he said, what did you say, I repeated that the had all gone...... when he suddenly cried out... HE`S IN YOUR GARDEN, the occupants would of course not have understood what he had cried, but they came out to see what all of the noise was.... A shaft of light shot accross the garden, lighting me up like a christmas tree, I immediately bolted for the fence that I had crossed..... the bright light blinded me, and I ran straight into the barbed wire fence, I fell over the fence, ripping my trousers and lacerating my legs, all to the great delight and laughter of my "friend", I was sore in more ways than one for several days, and I am not very keen on strawberries to this day.......... he just had a wicked sense of humour, and we are still very good friends to this day, but I dont go looking for pubs with him any more. We were just young, mischievious and sometimes a bit stupid, particularly after partaking of a little Dutch courage.:kissoncheek:

[Big ray]

Hi Paul, Im afraid that we bent a few ourselves......... I would love to do it all again.

Regards Ray.:kissoncheek:

 

On another one of our many exercises we stopped for the night in a most gorgeous German village. The village was like something off a post card, it had a circular green with cottages bedecked with climbing plants and flowers, a stream that ran around one half of the green, alongside that area was a farm with a quite large water wheel that was fed by the stream. The weather was a lovely summers day, I could not imagine a more idylic place to spend the night. When in our own garrison town, on a night out, we would buy cold lamb cuttlet, cooked in bread crumbs and washed down with a beer... very nice. The kids in the village gathered in large numbers to watch what we were doing, the boys were dressed in traditional german clothing, short leather trousers with the leather straps (laderhossen) knee length socks and the Bavarian type hat, complete with feather, they were extremely well behaved kids. One of the boys had a bycycle, and one of our group had the bright idea of asking him if he could obtain some lamb cuttlets for us.... well he did not speak english, and our german was very limited, so most of the communicating was by gesticulation, it must have looked very comical to any outside observer. When we felt sure that we had conveyed our requirements, we had a collection of monies (German marks.) and handed the money to this boy who immediately raced off down the road and out of site....... we looked at each other and began to feel that maybe we had been a little too trusting.... when quite a considerable ammount of time had passed, it only reinforced our earlier doubts, when suddenly the same boy came racing back up the road with a paper parcel, on looking at the contents we were knocked aback to see that the cuttlets were raw meat. We thanked the boy and told him to keep the change for his trouble. We now just stood and looked at this meat, wondering what we were going to do with it, at that moment one of the cottage doors oppened and the lady of the cottage gestured us to approach. She took the meat from us and presented it back sometime later, cooked........ and we had all just descended onto that village, and disrupted the usual calm of the place..... peoples generosity never failed to surprise me, we did of course express our profound gratitude.:kissoncheek:

[Big ray]

On another one of our many exercises we stopped for the night in a most gorgeous German village. The village was like something off a post card, it had a circular green with cottages bedecked with climbing plants and flowers, a stream that ran around one half of the green, alongside that area was a farm with a quite large water wheel that was fed by the stream. The weather was a lovely summers day, I could not imagine a more idylic place to spend the night. When in our own garrison town, on a night out, we would buy cold lamb cuttlet, cooked in bread crumbs and washed down with a beer... very nice. The kids in the village gathered in large numbers to watch what we were doing, the boys were dressed in traditional german clothing, short leather trousers with the leather straps (laderhossen) knee length socks and the Bavarian type hat, complete with feather, they were extremely well behaved kids. One of the boys had a bycycle, and one of our group had the bright idea of asking him if he could obtain some lamb cuttlets for us.... well he did not speak english, and our german was very limited, so most of the communicating was by gesticulation, it must have looked very comical to any outside observer. When we felt sure that we had conveyed our requirements, we had a collection of monies (German marks.) and handed the money to this boy who immediately raced off down the road and out of site....... we looked at each other and began to feel that maybe we had been a little too trusting.... when quite a considerable ammount of time had passed, it only reinforced our earlier doubts, when suddenly the same boy came racing back up the road with a paper parcel, on looking at the contents we were knocked aback to see that the cuttlets were raw meat. We thanked the boy and told him to keep the change for his trouble. We now just stood and looked at this meat, wondering what we were going to do with it, at that moment one of the cottage doors oppened and the lady of the cottage gestured us to approach. She took the meat from us and presented it back sometime later, cooked........ and we had all just descended onto that village, and disrupted the usual calm of the place..... peoples generosity never failed to surprise me, we did of course express our profound gratitude.:kissoncheek:

Thats out of sight..... not site. its my age you know.

[Big ray]

Hi Paul, Im afraid that we bent a few ourselves......... I would love to do it all again.

Regards Ray.:kissoncheek:

 

We had regular visits into our workshops from Canadian troops, sometimes a D.R. would arrive on his brand new Triumph motorcycle, I never understood why, but they had quite a bit of chromework, handlebars and exhausts, but they certainly looked lovely bikes compared to our WW11 stuff. Sometimes they would appear in a GMC M135, the post war successor to the Jimmy, ( It was called a Deuce and a Half after the war) The GMC M135 never caught-on with the US military, they favoured the REO, but the Canadians took to the M135 in a big way and continued to use it for a long time. The M135 was the first truck that I saw with the exhaust stack running vertical up the back corner of the cab, whenever it drove through the camp the motor sounded fabulous, they were of course relatively new trucks, the gear change always sounded very sweet, what I did not know, and did not find out untill about 20 years ago, they have automatic gearboxes..... The Americans had experienced a good deal less trouble during the war with vehicles fitted with automatic boxes, so GMC went down that route with the M135...........happy days.:kissoncheek:

[Big ray]

Thats out of sight..... not site. its my age you know.

 

Of all the food that we had in the fifties, we could not stand the dehydrated potatoe that was served up to us...... today its sold in supermarkets under the brand name of Smash, and people buy buckets of the stuff. The thing wrong with the stuff dished up to us was the fact that the cooks only mixed water into the mix, it tasted like wallpaper paste..... it just required a little butter and milk to improve the texture. The cooks obviously had no imagination, and presumably no milk and butter either. When out on exercises we used to take great tins of the stuff to any local farmer and exchange it for eggs..... the German farmers wife obviously knew what to do with the stuff. Most of the remainder of the food was pretty good, I remember the tinned bacon and tinned rolly polly pudding was very nice. The rolly polly was a jam (Jelly for any U.S. friends) pudding and was extremely nice to eat cold straight from the tin. Whenever my buddy Ray W. was driving the ration truck we would climb into it late at night, open a couple of tins of the stuff... for a few minutes we were in heaven, then we had to sneak out of the truck with the empty cans, and bury them to hide the evidence..... it was quite a serious offence, but well worth the risk.:kissoncheek:

[Big ray]

Thats out of sight..... not site. its my age you know.

 

The workshops received a call to tell me to report with a motorcycle to HQ Bunde, that being the HQ for 6th Armoured Division, they were going on another NATO exercise and I was required to act as the COs personal D.R. I had performed this job on a few occasions previously and had always enjoyed the change. I drew my riding kit, then to the armoury for my pistol ( I was originally issued with a sten gun, but I complained vehomently that if I should come of the bike that thing could break my back, I am pleased to say that they agreed and henceforth I was issued with a pistol) Then down to the workshops to collect my bike, because I was the only D.R. in the workshop, and all of the bikes were booked to me, I could take my pick of any serviceable machine. I would pick the Matchless G3L, a bike that I always enjoyed riding, it was not just the plunger forks, but the fact that it was overhead valve and subsequently a little more lively than most of the other bikes

I grabbed my orders and set off to Bunde. The next day we left for the exercise, my job basically involved running up and down the convoy and report regularly up to the front Jeep which contained the Div C.O., his driver and any other officers that the C.O. needed to make plans with. Whilst the convoy was in motion I would just race up to the front Jeep, stick up my thumb and the driver would inform the C.O. that all was well, I woul then drop back to the rear of the convoy and repeat the whole procedure again. The only detraction from this procedure was at road junctions, when I would control the traffic. This convoy, like all Bunde convoys was made up from all of the Regiments and Corps within the Division.

It was not long into this convoy that one of the three tonne trucks left the road, going into a muddy ditch. Convoys by their nature are relitively slow moving, as evidenced by the lack of structural damage, the thing must have stopped almost as soon has it hit the soft mud, it then just keeled over onto hits side to about 45 degrees or less. I raced up to the front, stopped the convoy and then went back to the scene, by which time the Scammell recovery truck was beginning to extracate the truck, by now covered in mud and a few scratches on the paintwork. On completion of the recovery we continued onto our first nights stop, a heathland area, adjacent to some woodland. We all parked up and applied our cammo nets. At this point the C.O. asked the driver of the 3 tonne truck what had happened, he replied that he had no idea, he had just found himself in the ditch. I later asked his co-driver what had happened and he said.....its simple, he cant drive, he just froze behind the wheel, that was not unusual with drivers when you consider that they were rushed through a basic driving course, anyhow that was his considered opinion. All of that would have been fine, but this unfortunate driver picked on some rather boggy ground to park his truck overnight, it required the services of the breakdown truck to extracate him the following morning, all to the great annoyance of the C.O. , who gave the driver a real dressing down............ after which the C.O. turned a full 180 degrees, and tried to conceal the fact that he was laughing......... the army did have its lighter moments.:kissoncheek:

[Big ray]

I did say that I had several part time jobs in the workshops, one day they posted a notice on part 1 orders saying that they needed volunteers to drive a German 52 seater bus and give instuction to potential coach drivers. People were being invited from within 6 Armoured Div (Quite a large catchment) to apply to be tested........ I decided to apply. All potential recruites were to assemble at our camp to be tested. I expected the 52 seater to arrive on the day of the test, but a 16 seater bus turned up, this was a brand new german manufactured Ford bus, fitted with a V8 petrol engine. About 14 of us climbed onto the bus, the examiner instructed one guy to get behind the wheel and start to drive us in the direction of Munster (30 miles or so distance.) Periodically the bus was stopped and the driver changed, once in Munster we continued to drive around changing drivers when instructed. I was the last to get behind the wheel, this bus turned out to be a dream to drive, V8 with a syncromesh gearbox, I just forgot about my passengers and just enjoyed my time behind the wheel. Eventually I was instructed to drive the bus back from Munster. On arrival at our camp we were told that the test on this particular bus was to select the people that would now be tested on the 52 seater.... those chosen would have their names published on part 1 orders along with the test time and date. The names were eventually published, and mine was not listed, I began to think that perhaps I had enjoyed myself a little to much behind the wheel. On the day of the test I decided to ask the examiner if I had done something wrong, and if so, what. I approached the coach and asked those questions, he replied, you can drive this thing, can`t you, I replied, of course, he said, good, you have got the job, I am after a relief driver today. The bus turned out to be a German Buzzing Nag, forward control, with a lot of overhang, making it swing out at the rear onto the other side of the road on tight turns..... otherwise a very nice machine to drive. It was of course left hand drive, with a leather covered engine cover extending down the middle allowing for a triple passenger seat to be fitted on the right side of the engine cover, and facing me, this made any conversation with those pasengers very easy, with the minimum of head turning by myself. I went on to give instruction on a part time basis, but the very fact that the coach was there led to increasing use for all kinds of trips. If not taking troops to various locations, then I would be asked by the officers if I would take them and their wives on shopping trips or maybe to the horse racing at Lippstadt etc. These trips for the officers and wives were not compulsory, I was asked if I would do them, the result of all of this meant inevitably that I would receive tips...... wow, I had always got money in my pocket, and of course lots of smiles from most of the officers and their wives.

The original theory behind this volunteering for things was that it would make time pass more quickly.... but of course the extra funds were very handy.......... I had far from finnishing with my volunteering as you will see in any future posts.

Regards to all. Ray.

 

I said that I had far from finished volunteering, when in the cookhouse one evening having our last meal of the day I overheard one of our number, a welsh lad, who looked after the stables and horses, complaining that he could not get a leave home because they (the officers) could not find someone to fulfil his duties in the stables. Well my family had used horses for years in their business, in fact they used horses for some considerable time even after they had started using trucks, my grandfather never did change over, he used horses almost untill his demise, mind you if you had seen his driving you would understand why. He never had passed a driving test, they were not introduced untill I think 1936, long after he had started driving. My grandfather knew absolutely nothing about the internal combustion engine..... utter zilch.. he used to have us all in fits of laughter over his antics. He once told me a story about him driving from Stoke-on-Trent to Newcastle-on-Tyne. He had to cross the moors and he stopped at an isolated garage with a hand operated petrol pump.. that was normal in those days, the hand operated pump I mean. He asked the garage proprieter if he had any engine oil, the man replied, I have some oil thats cheap but very expensive, or I have some oil thats expensive, but very cheap, my grandfather did not have a clue what he meant. He meant of course that the cheap oil would ruin his engine, and the dear oil would not.... once explained to him, my grandfather never forgot.... and always insisted on the expensive, but cheap oil........ Back to the welsh guy and the stables. Horses had been an integral part of my growing up, I dont even remember being taught to ride. So I jumped in with both feet again and offered to do his job for the 3 weeks that he would be on leave. The horses were for the specific use of the officers, their wives and children, the keenest horseman amongst the officers was the adjutant (second in command) and he took the keenest interest in the running of the stables. An interview was arranged for me with the adjutant, I was marched in, I stood at attention in front of his desk whilst he ascertained my competence with stable management. At the end of the interview the welsh guy was given his leave, and I went into the stables. Naturally the adjutant was very keen to make sure that all was well in the stables for the next 3 weeks, and he made regular visits. As you will see this move was to have a profound effect on the rest of my army service.:kissoncheek:

[Tony B]

Funy enough one of the displays at Sandhurst was a Polo match. The British Army have started using horses and mules agin for transport. They can't get trucks up the Afghan hills. Ah the joys of the RA hunt.

[alan turner (RIP)]

or the RA steeplechase Woolwich to Abbey wood or Belvedere, just that Thamesmead is in the way now

[Tony B]

or the RA steeplechase Woolwich to Abbey wood or Belvedere, just that Thamesmead is in the way now

Good old Twezeldown course? and the cross country jumping course. Horse v CVR(T) , The horse won! :cool2:

[Big ray]

G'Day Ray

 

"assume the worst", ?? Is that Gordon Brown get's re-elected??

 

Sorry we Aussies have to start with a quip at every oppurtunity .

 

But seriously you are not bothering anyone, at 73 your a spring chicken and don't go getting crook on us.

 

To be honest I think all ex-military people get sentimental about their service days as you never have such cameradre "mates" outside the military world, something to do with facing a challenge and overcoming it as a team. Yes there was some imbeciles but on whole the ratio of good versus bad people was much better in the military (i.e. more enlisted than officers :-D:nut::cool2:).

 

Last week I was in an RSL in Townsville Australia and a Korean war veteran, won $180 dollars on keno so he bought a round of drinks for us. He insisted, as we kept telling him to kep his cash and we should be buying him a beer, not the other way round. After a few hours I finally managed to buy him back a pint as he wouldn't let us.

 

Hi Mike, thanks for enquiring about me, I am fine thank you. I should never complain, I have been extremely lucky, everyone should enjoy my good luck. I only made my condition known because if anything should happen.......... how could I let anyone know? When I think of all the grief in this world I find it very difficult to justify any self indulgence.

Regards. Ray.:thanx:

[Tony B]

Ray, you've earned a bit of indulgence. As for the stories, please don't stop. they make me laugh they make me think. Keep well my Friend.

[bizfreeq]

Hi Ray

I have just spent a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon reading all of your musings.....please please keep posting them.They have stirred every possible emotion.It is not very often that a person of my generation,and one who didn't serve,gets this kind of insight into someones life pre,during and post military service.

I really will be looking forward to the next installments!!

Hope you are well

All the best

Mark

[Big ray]

Hi Ray

I have just spent a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon reading all of your musings.....please please keep posting them.They have stirred every possible emotion.It is not very often that a person of my generation,and one who didn't serve,gets this kind of insight into someones life pre,during and post military service.

I really will be looking forward to the next installments!!

Hope you are well

All the best

Mark

 

Hi Mark, I am not just writing down my memories, I am actually reliving them. It`s amazing how memories come flooding back when you start to write, and in most cases with such clarity. Those guys that I served with, and of course I have never seen a lot of them since my discharge, are still very young men in my minds eye, but in reality they are for the most part rickety old men like me now.... time just stood still for them, I just hope that they have all had a good healthy life. There is no substitute for being young, our daughter acquired a pet dog about eighteen months ago, she wanted to go on holiday with her husband and children and asked us to care for the dog whilst they were away. Its a lovely little friendly dog, a King Charles Spaniel, not much more than a pup really. After we had had the dog for a couple of days my wife said.... oh:thanx:, look, he piddles all over his back feet when he has a wee........... I could not bring myself to tell my wife that I have been doing that for the last three years......... happy days.

[Big ray]

Hi Ray

I have just spent a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon reading all of your musings.....please please keep posting them.They have stirred every possible emotion.It is not very often that a person of my generation,and one who didn't serve,gets this kind of insight into someones life pre,during and post military service.

I really will be looking forward to the next installments!!

Hope you are well

All the best

Mark

 

On one of our exercises we travelled through very hilly wooded country, the convoy stopped at one point when we were descending into a valley. The truck that I was driving was towing a four wheel trailer. I found myself on this occasion being tail-end charlie, that position would normally be occupied by the wrecker truck, I cant remember why he was not there in that position. I had stopped behind the truck in front of me, only to realize that I was only just around the bend in the road, and the road was wet and covered in fallen leaves. I looked down the line of trucks and I could see no reason for the halt, I jumped from my truck and walked down the hill where I could see the transport officer talking with some of our N.C.O.s. I approached him and enquired why we had stopped, he informed me that the C.O. had called a break, I immediately informed him that I was parked, in my opinion, in a very dangerous position on the bend, he responded by asking me if I was questioning the C.O.s decission, I replied yes I am, if you look down the hill into the valley you will see a perfectly straight and flat road, ideal for parking. He told me in no uncertain terms, get back to your truck and wait for the order to move. I was walking back up the hill when I saw a Scammell Pioneer Recovery truck rounding the bend with another truck on suspended tow. The recovery driver saw my trailer and jammed on his breaks, anyone who knows anything about the pioneer truck will know that it is not fitted with breaks on the front axle, not that that would have made much difference on this occassion, when a Pioneer is in suspended tow there is very little purchase on the road with the front wheels. The road was covered in wet leaves and this truck just skidded with considerable impact into the rear of my trailer, at that precise moment two things were taking place, one, my co-driver was a Maltese Staff Sergeant, who spoke with a strong Maltese accent, he was urinating at the front of my truck, second, I knew that two guys were in the back of my truck. Because the "A" frame on my trailer was running down to the tow jaw on my truck that caused the trailer to catapult up into the back of my truck, lifted there by the "A" frame, the whole rig was then pushed forward over the Staff Sergeant. I could see all of these things from my position, the people now standing around the truck were completely unaware of the S/S lying underneath the truck, as I ran up the road I was shouting to tell them to look underneath, obviously they could not hear me, I reached the truck and dived under to see how he was, he was in a very bad way with a very serious injury to the back of his head. The two guys in the back of the truck were just in a state of shock, they thought for a moment that the trailer was going to go right into the rear of the truck where they were. The driver of the Scammell, a REME corporal (Not from our workshops) was arrested and taken away. The driver of the Scammell was courts marshalled, and I was called as a key witness, I had to travel to his trial with officers conducting the trial, I was asked what my testimony would be, I replied by telling them basically what I have just told you, they insisted that I should ommit any reference that I had made to the transport officer about the decission to park on that hill, and that I had declared my parked position to be extremely dangerous, I was not to lie, but just ommit what I felt was the drivers only hope of a fair trial......... in usual military fashion, they closed ranks and made sure that I ommitted those vital bits of information from my testimony. The driver was found guilty and sentenced........ one bit of my otherwise enjoyable army service that I am not very proud of.:nono:

[abn deuce]

What a dirty deal they pressured you to save them selves , No one should be put in that place .Guess that only applies in a perfect world and not the one We live in .

[bizfreeq]

Hi Ray

That was disgraceful on their part,but certainly not on yours.I hope the Staff Sergeant made a full recovery from his injuries??

Looking forward to the next installment.

Cheers

Mark

[Big ray]

Hi Ray

I have just spent a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon reading all of your musings.....please please keep posting them.They have stirred every possible emotion.It is not very often that a person of my generation,and one who didn't serve,gets this kind of insight into someones life pre,during and post military service.

I really will be looking forward to the next installments!!

Hope you are well

All the best

Mark

 

The summer of 1958 was the year of my 21st birthday, I had booked a home leave that would have seen me at home with my family to celebrate my 21st. Just a few weeks before I was due to go on leave, it was cancelled, I was not very pleased to say the least. At that time I was courting an officers daughter....... its a bit of a long story, it would be very unusual for a junior NCO to involve himself with an officers daughter in the British army of the 1950s. I had by that time taken over the running of the stables, one of the duties expected of me was to give instructions in horse riding. This officers daughter came along to the stables to arrange some tuition, she was to say the least something of a stunner, however I knew my place in the system and I refrained from making any attempt to impose my attentions on her, but in the end she made all of the running in that department. I became the envy of all my buddies. I used to spend some evenings around at her home in the officers married quarters, I got along extremely well with both her and her mother, however her father would bury his face in a newspaper or book whenever we were in the same room, I suppose that it was very difficult for him to maintain any kind of friendly relationship with me without compromising his position. On the day of my 21st birthday I decided in stead of having my afternoon meal in the cookhouse, I would walk around to her home and have coffee with her and her mother, on the way around I bumped into her walking towards the camp, I spent a few moments chatting with her, asked where she was going, and said that I would see her when she returned home. She immediately became very dissagreeable and started to argue with me. I had originally arranged to go to her home some two hours later, and she was annoyed that I was going around so early..... I turned on my heels and returned to the camp, wondering what the blazes was the matter with her. I duly went around to her home at the originally arranged time some two hours later.......... I was flabbergasted when they opened the door, several people were already there, all in party mood, and they popped the cork on a bottle of bubbly, I still have the cork. I had a fantastic party, certainly better than I could have expected had I gone home. She had obviously been surprised to see me making my way to her home so early, that would have spoilt the surprise completely..... they certainly went to a great deal of trouble to see that my 21st was a memorable one, and it was.:thumbsup:

[Big ray]

Hi Mark, I am not just writing down my memories, I am actually reliving them. It`s amazing how memories come flooding back when you start to write, and in most cases with such clarity. Those guys that I served with, and of course I have never seen a lot of them since my discharge, are still very young men in my minds eye, but in reality they are for the most part rickety old men like me now.... time just stood still for them, I just hope that they have all had a good healthy life. There is no substitute for being young, our daughter acquired a pet dog about eighteen months ago, she wanted to go on holiday with her husband and children and asked us to care for the dog whilst they were away. Its a lovely little friendly dog, a King Charles Spaniel, not much more than a pup really. After we had had the dog for a couple of days my wife said.... oh:thanx:, look, he piddles all over his back feet when he has a wee........... I could not bring myself to tell my wife that I have been doing that for the last three years......... happy days.

 

When you put lots of young men and machinery together you are destined to have accidents, and we had many, some minor, some very serious or even fatal. I recall one call-out that we had to attend an accident on the Autobahn, the Autobahn passed quite close by our workshops. The accident involved two guys in a Jeep, the passenger, who was not a licenced driver, but who had presumably had some driving experience driving within the confines of the camp parking area, had asked his buddy to let him drive on the Autobahn..... he obviously thought that his passenger would probably be O.K. on a straight road like the Autobahn.... how wrong that proved to be. The unlicenced driver became mesmarised, not uncommon with inexperienced drivers, he drove into the side embankment of the highway and flipped the Jeep upside down. The licenced driver was thrown clear, but the guy behind the wheel hung onto the steering wheel and slid along upside down with his face in contact with the concrete road. His injuries were very extensive, in fact a British army doctor who just happened to be travelling behind this accident in his private car stopped to administer first aid, the guys facial injuries were so extensive that he had to perform a trackiotomy (insert a breathing tube into his throat.) The injured "driver" was delivered to our medical centre, the nearest point to the accident. I would drive our medical officer when his own driver was on leave, so I went into the medical centre to ask how this young man was doing, the medical officer said that he did not think that he would survive that night. However, I discovered the following morning that he had been transfered during the night to BMH Munster, our nearest major hospital. The injured mans parents were immediately flown out to Germany to be by his side, I learned later that he had survived, but he would face years of facial reconstruction, such a tragedy for a few moments of missplaced judgement between two young friends. There were many such accidents, fortunately not always with such catostrophic injuries.:kissoncheek:

[Tony B]

Not a lot changes Ray. My son has just joined the TA. They are already drumming into him, the biggest cause of death and injuries to squadies? Motor vehicle Incidents, often 70% proof.

[Big ray]

Hi Ray

I have just spent a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon reading all of your musings.....please please keep posting them.They have stirred every possible emotion.It is not very often that a person of my generation,and one who didn't serve,gets this kind of insight into someones life pre,during and post military service.

I really will be looking forward to the next installments!!

Hope you are well

All the best

Mark

 

One of my buddies whilst serving in Germany was a young man from the Stanstead area,nr London. His name was Brian, he was an extremely good looking guy, full of confidence and very street wise. After Brians discharge from the army he took up speedway riding with the London team of Hackney Wick, he was very successfull and featured his photograph as the centrefold in the speedway magazine of the day, his skill on the track along with his good looks assured him of a very rosey future. It was however not destined to be, he was struck down with a genetic heart complaint that apparently only affected the males in his family line, and even then it would apparently skip some of the males, Brian was unlucky. We got all of this information from his sister when we eventually met with her a few years later.

The first attack that Brian suffered affected him down one side of his body, very distressing to see in such a young man, he lost the use of one arm and one leg, necessatating the use of a metal calipre on the affected leg, he was still able to attend our annual meetings. It seemed like only a short time later that he suffered another much more devastating attack which this time took his speech also. By this time he was being cared for by his mother, his father had not been on the scene for many years, I am not sure if his father had died or simply left the family home. His sister had by this time been living and working in the U.S. for a number of years. We telephoned his mother on occasions to enquire about his condition and to find out how his mother was coping with him..... it appeared that he was giving his mother quite a bit of grief, his inability to communicate verbally was making him very irritable, and making life for her rather difficult. Our next reunion was going to be staged in Sheffield, Yorkshire. We told his mother that we were sending his train fare, and that she was to put him on the Sheffield train, and to pin a card onto his jacket saying, "Please put me off at Sheffield" and that we would be lining the platform in order to make sure that we could not miss him. He duly arrived at the station and a kind member of the public had taken charge of him, and delivered him to us on the station. Although his speech was very badly impaired, it was possible to converse with him in a fashion. His face was a picture to see when we all met...... his mother had told us just how excited that he had become when she gave him the news that he was going to Sheffield. Our stay in Sheffield was from the Friday evening untill the Sunday afternoon, when we all departed for home.

At that time it was quite normal for me to get out of bed early...ish, on the Sunday morning and walk to the nearest newsagent and purchase several Sunday papers. Brian was awake and I suggested that he might want to walk slowly with myself for the papers, he agreed and we set off. I was supporting Brian on this walk, I was holding him on the side with the weak leg, because he had to wear a calipre on that leg, he could not bend the knee, subsequently he moved the leg in a somewhat swinging fashion, the inevitable happened, the calipre caught my ankle a glancing blow (not hard) I immediately said jokingly, if you are going to kick me, I shall kick you back.......... he immediately stopped, swung me around to face him, he had the most stern of looks on his face, he began to wag his finger at me and blurted out something that I could not understand, I insisted that he should calm down, and that I had only been joking. Once that I had managed to calm him down, I could begin to understand what he was saying...... he was telling me that he had spent most of his army service thinking that I was going to give him a good thrashing. I have never been a violent man and I was flabbergasted at this revelation, I could not believe that he had spent all of those years with that on his mind......... I simply put my arms around him and gave him one big hug, I was glad that I had been able to resolve that little missunderstanding, it took on considerably more significance because not long after that Brian died, six of us including myself carried Brians coffin at his funeral, his sister had travelled from the U.S. and we met her for the first and only time, it was at this time that she provided us with all the information that Brians problem ran in the family. That one incident taught me that this world must be full of missunderstandings between people that never get resolved simply because they remain missunderstandings.:kissoncheek:

[Big ray]

Hi Mark, I am not just writing down my memories, I am actually reliving them. It`s amazing how memories come flooding back when you start to write, and in most cases with such clarity. Those guys that I served with, and of course I have never seen a lot of them since my discharge, are still very young men in my minds eye, but in reality they are for the most part rickety old men like me now.... time just stood still for them, I just hope that they have all had a good healthy life. There is no substitute for being young, our daughter acquired a pet dog about eighteen months ago, she wanted to go on holiday with her husband and children and asked us to care for the dog whilst they were away. Its a lovely little friendly dog, a King Charles Spaniel, not much more than a pup really. After we had had the dog for a couple of days my wife said.... oh:thanx:, look, he piddles all over his back feet when he has a wee........... I could not bring myself to tell my wife that I have been doing that for the last three years......... happy days.

 

In 1990 we all managed to make the trip back to our workshops in Germany. All of this was made possible because our German friend Hubbert Frollick, who lived only a couple of miles from the workshops, organized everything at the German end. My wife and myself approached our local bus company to arrange for a coach to take us on this trip. We told the manager of the bus co. that we would like the services of a bus driver who would be allowed to join with us in everything that we did (minus the booze) so find an outgoing guy if possible. The departure day arrived and all of our buddies and wives had gathered at our home, the bus arrived and it became very obvious that the driver was just the man for the job, outgoing and friendly. We left for the ferry crossing and the drive into Germany. Hubbert (Bob to us) was waiting with his wife on the exit slip road of the motorway, it was in the early hours of the morning, and he escorted the coach to our hotel, making things a little easier for the coach driver. "Bob" had arranged the daily itinery, on the first day we all went to a local pub and played indoor bowls, we had lunch in the pub and then we were taken on a tour of local attractions that had been built since we had last been in Germany. Another day we were guests of the local council and received by the local town mayor, and given a civic reception, many photographs were taken and our group photo was displayed in the local press, along with a story telling of our involvement in the town some 34 years earlier..... by this time the workshops had been closed for many years, but still complete, just like the day that we had left, and still protected by a REME guard. The camp was however about to be altered considerably, it had been handed back to the German government, and they were making it ready to receive lots of east Germans who had moved west after reunification. I clearly remember telling my wife that I was now soaked in nostalgia, and she should ignore myself and my buddies whilst we soaked up the attmosphere. We were of course escorted at all times by the then manager of the project, he did ask if we knew the rooms that we had occupied during our army service, we said yes and were taken to them rooms. Six of us stood in the now empty room that we had occupied for so long as young men, the feeling was overwhelming, we had occupied a room on the third floor, which had a good elevated view through the two large sash sliding windows. I remembered the many times that I had popped my head out of the window to shout to one of my buddies as he exited the building to ask him to bring something back from the NAAFI. It was all very emotional. Another day "Bob" had organized a B-B-Q at his home, his son doing all of the catering, he had an enormouse rear garden that contained amongst other things a log cabin, you could have lived in the thing, it was completely fitted out with everything that you might need, we had an unforgettable day, even the weather was on our side. Hubbert was older than we, he had served during the second world war, and been wounded on the Russian front. Maybe it was his experiences in Russia, but he was a pacifist and a lovely,lovely man, Hubbert is no longer with us, he died a few years ago...we miss him. We returned from Germany, we thanked our driver, who had attended all that we did, he told us that he had never had such a good time. The following year my door bell rang, standing on the step was our coach driver......... he said, I have called to see if we are going again this year.......... fantastic.:goodidea:

[Big ray]

In 1990 we all managed to make the trip back to our workshops in Germany. All of this was made possible because our German friend Hubbert Frollick, who lived only a couple of miles from the workshops, organized everything at the German end. My wife and myself approached our local bus company to arrange for a coach to take us on this trip. We told the manager of the bus co. that we would like the services of a bus driver who would be allowed to join with us in everything that we did (minus the booze) so find an outgoing guy if possible. The departure day arrived and all of our buddies and wives had gathered at our home, the bus arrived and it became very obvious that the driver was just the man for the job, outgoing and friendly. We left for the ferry crossing and the drive into Germany. Hubbert (Bob to us) was waiting with his wife on the exit slip road of the motorway, it was in the early hours of the morning, and he escorted the coach to our hotel, making things a little easier for the coach driver. "Bob" had arranged the daily itinery, on the first day we all went to a local pub and played indoor bowls, we had lunch in the pub and then we were taken on a tour of local attractions that had been built since we had last been in Germany. Another day we were guests of the local council and received by the local town mayor, and given a civic reception, many photographs were taken and our group photo was displayed in the local press, along with a story telling of our involvement in the town some 34 years earlier..... by this time the workshops had been closed for many years, but still complete, just like the day that we had left, and still protected by a REME guard. The camp was however about to be altered considerably, it had been handed back to the German government, and they were making it ready to receive lots of east Germans who had moved west after reunification. I clearly remember telling my wife that I was now soaked in nostalgia, and she should ignore myself and my buddies whilst we soaked up the attmosphere. We were of course escorted at all times by the then manager of the project, he did ask if we knew the rooms that we had occupied during our army service, we said yes and were taken to them rooms. Six of us stood in the now empty room that we had occupied for so long as young men, the feeling was overwhelming, we had occupied a room on the third floor, which had a good elevated view through the two large sash sliding windows. I remembered the many times that I had popped my head out of the window to shout to one of my buddies as he exited the building to ask him to bring something back from the NAAFI. It was all very emotional. Another day "Bob" had organized a B-B-Q at his home, his son doing all of the catering, he had an enormouse rear garden that contained amongst other things a log cabin, you could have lived in the thing, it was completely fitted out with everything that you might need, we had an unforgettable day, even the weather was on our side. Hubbert was older than we, he had served during the second world war, and been wounded on the Russian front. Maybe it was his experiences in Russia, but he was a pacifist and a lovely,lovely man, Hubbert is no longer with us, he died a few years ago...we miss him. We returned from Germany, we thanked our driver, who had attended all that we did, he told us that he had never had such a good time. The following year my door bell rang, standing on the step was our coach driver......... he said, I have called to see if we are going again this year.......... fantastic.:goodidea:

 

In the summer of 1957 I was walking down the workshops along with a Staff Sergeant when we walked past one of the german civilian technicians, the Staff Sergeant did a double take of this guy then stopped dead in his tracks. He called the german guy over and started to converse with him in german, that in itself surprised me, I did not realize that he could speak the language. After a few moments conversation they both began to smile and appeared to be quite excited about something. After their conversation he told me that he had been a prisoner of war and the guy that he was talking to had been one of the guards at the pow camp. I asked what sort of treatment he had received in the pow camp, he replied that the german technician had been one of the better guards.... it`s a small world really. I used to wonder what sort of camp it might have been when occupied originally by german troops, if only the walls could talk. I feel thats why it is so important to put things into print, all of those experiences are lost to the wider world. I got on well with the local german civilians, I used to ask many questions about what life had been like under Hitler, I was very surprised at a lot of the answers that I received, after I had made it quite clear that I was being none judgemental. I was after all only 19 / 20 years old, and I was the product of a lot of indoctrination. ( I am not defended the Hitlerists, but I do like to draw my own conclusions.) I do realize of course that they were also seriously indoctrinated, the truth must lye somewhere in the middle???:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Big ray]

In the summer of 1957 I was walking down the workshops along with a Staff Sergeant when we walked past one of the german civilian technicians, the Staff Sergeant did a double take of this guy then stopped dead in his tracks. He called the german guy over and started to converse with him in german, that in itself surprised me, I did not realize that he could speak the language. After a few moments conversation they both began to smile and appeared to be quite excited about something. After their conversation he told me that he had been a prisoner of war and the guy that he was talking to had been one of the guards at the pow camp. I asked what sort of treatment he had received in the pow camp, he replied that the german technician had been one of the better guards.... it`s a small world really. I used to wonder what sort of camp it might have been when occupied originally by german troops, if only the walls could talk. I feel thats why it is so important to put things into print, all of those experiences are lost to the wider world. I got on well with the local german civilians, I used to ask many questions about what life had been like under Hitler, I was very surprised at a lot of the answers that I received, after I had made it quite clear that I was being none judgemental. I was after all only 19 / 20 years old, and I was the product of a lot of indoctrination. ( I am not defended the Hitlerists, but I do like to draw my own conclusions.) I do realize of course that they were also seriously indoctrinated, the truth must lye somewhere in the middle???:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

In the summer of 1956 life in Germany ticked along at a steady pace, our only cocerns being what you might have to be doing regarding the likes of guard duties, or courses for upgrading. However all of that was to change very dramatically when on the 26/7/56 when the US president withdrew their offer of financial assistance constructing the Aswan High Dam. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal, in order to finance that project. The British, French and Israelies were determined to regain control of the canal, and decided on a military solution to acheive that aim. However US President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent two personal messages to Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion in an attempt to stop any military action against Egypt. The Israelies ignored the pleas and attacked Egypt on 29/10/56. The following day Britain and France launched their attack on Egypt. The same day the US 6th fleet assisted in the evacuation of US nationals from Egypt and Israel. The anglo French attack began at dusk on 31/10/56, hostilities soon ceased on the 6/11/56, all at the insistance of the Americans, the Russians had threatened to intervene, so the US strengthened their presence in the area untill the Russian threat subsided. All of this activity sparked a massive increase in workload for the REME technicians, we worked twentyfour hours a day to ready the armoured units, who were destined for service in the Middle East. We payed little attention to our dress code, the emphasis being on production, I noticed many times when officers or senior NCOs from the armoured units would be approaching us, particularly during hours of darkness, in order to chellenge us about our casual dress, only to turn away when they realised that we were REME.... that filled us with a great deal of personal satisfaction. Life soon returned to some normality, but we did now know just what we were capable of acheiving at very short notice.:kissoncheek: