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Category: Community
Forum: Chat Room
Thread: On this Day |
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Thread Status: Locked Total posts in this thread: 716
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Usually, when we are just sitting around doing nothing else, most of us are smoking. Bundy is the one exception. He has not been able to buy pipe tobacco for weeks. Now nobody is smoking, not even the civilians, who try in vain to barter things for cigarettes; nobody has any.
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
There is still nothing to write home about, but Bundy feels it is a pity to waste a day with nothing else to do and no likelyhood of sudden disturbance. He writes his name, rank and number at the letterhead and, as if by magic, Mr. Coe appears. He has a job he needs to delegate and it is his turn to censor the outgoing mail, so guess who lands the job!
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Tuesday, 24th October (approx.), 1944
Now that the battle of the Electric Railways has slowed down, the 101st (American) Airborne is in action again, and has taken over the static position. 15th (Scottish) Division has gone back to Gemert via various other locations. Among the only ones large, enough to have recognisable names to remember is Grave, where we have a chance to visit a barber. Like most barbers, he is quite loquacious, and wonders why we have a chocolate filled pocket each, while the Dutch have no chocolate. Not knowing the Brabantsch for “iron rations”, we try to explain it is "voor nood eten". The conversation somehow turns to vitamins and we are informed that the Dutch had had no vitamins for three years. This may be an overstatement, but it seems reasonable, as the only farm produce we have seen consists of potatoes, hay (for the Frisian cattle) and tulips, but seeing the spare, weedy figure of the barber, Bundy cannot resist saying "Ya, en skeeken". Fortunately, Bundy has already had his haircut and is chewing on his empty pipe while waiting for Atkins. He has already been to the tobacconist, but after smelling the available "tobacco" has decided against buying any. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Wednesday, 25th October 1944
Bois-le-Duc (S'Hertogenbosch) is still in German hands. So are Turnhout (in Belgium) and Tilburg, which we have to capture in reverse order, before we can go forward to Bois-le-Duc. Today, in fact, is the day of the march of the prairie men, across the flooded polders of the Scheldt Estuary into South Beveland, using the canvas boats that we borrowed for the Escaut crossing, which was cancelled when, if not because, the bridge master was injured. Now, at last, we can creep forward towards Tilburg, the target of that September day, with the Glasgow Highlanders (HLI) in the lead, and some strange partners to back us up. As the noise of battle quietens down and the casualties go back, we bed down for the night. . . Thursday, 26th October 1944 Forward we go with the HLI, who are still in the lead, but not for long. While we set up C.C.P. in a village house, Artillery turns up from somewhere and through the cloud of smoke and dust comes a long, seemingly endless, procession of Churchill tanks without turrets. These are armoured infantry carriers, carrying the rest of 44 (Lowland) Bde, while the other two brigades (as we learn later) turn off to their objectives - S'Hertogenbosch and Turnhout. As the daylight ends and we are lighting the hurricane lamps for the night, someone calls out "I've found a diary out there". He brings it in for inspection under a lamp. On the flyleaf, it says "Gnr. A Bundy 6234 Royal Netherlands Bde, B.L.A." On the assumption that it belongs to Alec Bundy, who was a tank gunner, the finder hands it to him and Bundy promises to return it. For security reasons, he says nothing, but for him this explains why guns have suddenly turned up, months after we left ours behind in Normandy. The ranks of tank crewmembers are those of the cavalry, not the artillery, and Bundy was a Trooper, not a Gunner. We are now supported by a secret brigade, or, at least, part of one. As the noise of battle once more quietens down and we have evacuated the few casualties, we bed down again for the night... |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Friday, 27th October 1944
. . . NEXT morning we are up early making ready for the big battle. Too late - the Royals are already at the edge of town and soon we evacuate the one and only remaining casualty - a shell-shocked (we now say "battle-fatigued") “German” colonel, who insisted on staying in town with all his troops. His men, and possibly he, too, were Dutchmen, forcibly conscripted into the German army. An M.P. directs us to our billet, the Voltwerke, an empty factory belonging to Philips of Eindhoven. By the time the cooks have set up a cookhouse and started to prepare our next meal, the ration truck arrives with the latest news. Our Brigade (#44) has gone right through the town and linked up with the Canadians, so the Germans in Turnhout are cut off and the town should fall to 46 Brigade at any time. 227 Brigade has already taken S'Hertogenbosch. The southern (Belgian) half of the Scheldt Estuary is clear enough for ships to use Antwerp harbour, so the R.A.S.C. has three weeks back rations of toiletry, beer, confectionery and cigarettes for us to claim. In addition, thinks Bundy, we are now able to land a Netherlands Brigade, complete with bicycles and guns. Soon, the factory manager is receiving more spare cigarettes than he can smoke, and he is handing out hand-powered torches to all the lads. Soon, too, he has more than he knows how to handle and despite his head shaking and muttering of "Tsk, tsk", the avalanche continues. In the afternoon, the company, having no other work to do, breaks up into pairs and small groups for recce purposes to get to know the local population and establish good relations. The streets are strangely quiet owing to the lack of any form of transport. We hear that the "Rotmof" (the local name for Nazis) left in a hurry and took every bicycle, handcart and cart they could lay their hands on. Bundy goes into a shop to buy tobacco for his empty pipe. He is amused to see a two-year-old boy crawling along the counter. The shopkeeper says, "He always does this. One day a perfectly innocent young German walked in, and he pointed to the German and said 'Wotmof'" |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
(imported from Team Shield/Bundy's Board/Bundy's War)
Saturday, 28th October 1944 Today there is a postal collection, so the men are queuing up to have their letters passed and sent off, including Bundy with his letter and returned diary to Gunner Bundy. News comes in that 46 Brigade has taken Turnhout, so supplies will now presumably be able to use a shorter route from Antwerp, and there will be some relief for the bottleneck through Eindhoven. This also means that 15th (Scottish) is, for the time being anyhow, a flanking division, rather than the spearhead, which is now the role of the airborne divisions. This sets Bundy thinking. If we had taken Turnhout from the south on 17th September, instead of from the north on 28th October, would we have arrived at Arnhem in time to relieve the airborne? The 101st Airborne dropped very close to the route we would have taken. Is one German sniper responsible for our failure there, or was the attempted crossing of the Meuse/Escaut Canal at Aare just a diversionary tactic? |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Sunday, 29th October 1944
Today, the weather is beginning to become a little chilly, and Sandy (previously known by the pseudonym "Bundy") wonders if his greatcoat will be replaced before it becomes too cold to be without it. On his discharge, he will take its replacement, if any, with him as it is not Army issue, but a gift from the British people. Now how many people knew that? |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Monday, 30th October 1944
The 30th of October sees S.Beveland completely cleared. Perhaps those supplies will come in a bit faster now, but we can forget about Arnhem for the rest of the year. The road we took through the 101 airborne positions is now known as Hell's Highway |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Tuesday, 31st October 1944
“Meanwhile”, says Sandy, “I continue my perambulations through town. They are now too informal for anyone to call them recces. One such walk brings me in contact with a batman serving three padres of different religions, two of whom, the Jewish and the R.C., we meet on the friendliest terms, such as they have with each other and their C of E brother.” |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Wednesday, 1st November 1944
“Doodlebugs” (V1’s) keep coming over, their ramjet, pulsate, engines put-putting and sometimes stopping. We soon learn to duck into cover when this happens, as an explosion follows. Apart from this, Tilburg is very peaceful, and Sandy continues roaming, while the weather is still mild. Thursday, 2nd November 1944 When the V1’s first came over, they were aimed at London and were flying high over us. Those coming over yesterday and today are low flying and definitely aimed at us. Intelligence reports suggest that they are being phased out in favour of a more reliable V weapon, but the remaining stocks are being used to avoid their capture. |
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