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Thread: On this Day |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Monday, 15th January 1945
The ration trucks were bringing no interesting news. Their world was almost as circumscribed as ours. We had not seen any denomination’s padre since Tilburg and the officers’ wireless set, if they still had it, had been silent since Best as far as we were concerned. Apart from the letters from home, our only information was from the occasional, fortunately rare, dispatch. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Tuesday, 16th January, 1945
With all the clerical and other work completed, we had plenty of time to write home, but very little to write about. I had, however, made some crude star charts to include in my correspondence for someone to identify, so now I could gaze at Orion’s belt and know what it is. Betelgeuse, known to bomber navigators as “Beetle juice” was also familiar now. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Wednesday, 17th January, 1945
News was at last filtering through from the Ardennes. That offensive seemed to be over with no chance of resumption, as the enemy had gained no ground, but instead lost many men and much material. If we had been standing by to reinforce a counterattack, we no longer needed to do so. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Thursday, 18th January, 1945
One pastime we did have. This was the age old practice of sitting round the fire (in our case, stove), cracking jokes. Mostly, these were hoary old chestnuts, which we had heard on our last spell of embarkation leave, the previous year, but there was one new one that someone had received in the post: One night a couple of ATS (Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service) were out on the tiles when they realised it was getting near “lights out” and they had to return to barracks. On the way they heard distinctly masculine footsteps behind them, so they walked a little faster. So did the footsteps; every time their own shoes sounded faster, so did the boots. Eventually the boots caught up and they confronted a pair of MPs (not Members of Parliament but Military Police). As they stood panting one MP said, “Do you know you are out after hours?” With a sigh of relief, one of the girls replied, “Yes, but we thought you were after ours.” |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Friday, 19th January, 1945
The ration trucks brought a new delicacy to brighten our catering – something called “POM” i.e. powdered dehydrated potatoes, to tickle our palates. They also brought news of renewed military activity locally, especially from the sign writers and Don R’s. Some units seem to be preparing to move. So where would we be going? Not Belgium - that problem had been settled and the Americans would no longer be in need of reinforcements; reculons pour mieux avancer? Could we expect to take part in a new attack across the Maas, elsewhere? |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Saturday, 20th January 1945
There was no need for us at Maasbree. Thankfully, there had been no casualty since we arrived there. After supper, we put out the stoves, packed the trucks and were off in the January evening darkness - to our old billets at Leisel, where we laid down our bedrolls and watched our replacements yomping forward, the way we had come back. These were the men of the 25th Airborne Division, who were taking over from the entire British Second Army, and guarding the whole Maas front by themselves |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Sunday, 21st January 1945
The 25th were in position except for a platoon or two who marched past as we were having breakfast. Now we could retire all the way back to Tilburg without hampering our replacements. Did I say "back"? Just 50 days before, this had been the front line! Now it was Montgomery's advanced HQ, where we had a short rest while we removed our 15th Scottish emblems from our sleeves. The Second (British) Army now had only one Corps, which had only one Division, and we were now anonymous units of the (reinforced) First Canadian Army. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Monday, 22nd January 1945
----------------------------------------While we were in Tilburg, I noted a street named “Heuvel Straat”. This literally means “Hill Street”, but it did not seem to be a hilly street. However, this is merely from the British point of view, as we were in a country where real hills were rare. We took to the roads again, via S’Hertogenbosch, Graves and Nijmegen to Groot Berg en Dal, a small hillock and a shallow vale, with a hotel of the same name, meaning “Great Mount and Dale”. I had taken one of the hotel’s post cards from the rack as a memento. I could not send it home, as we had to censor our mails and might not mention any place near which we had been recently. It is now in my scrapbook. After a short recce and a meal or two, we laid our bed rolls down for the night, in a few vacant hotel rooms. [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Jan 22, 2008 11:47:15 AM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Tuesday, 23rd January 1945
On this day we crossed the Maas into Germany, along a low-lying tree lined road with bundles of “candles” tied to every tree. Evidently, the Germans had been expecting us and had prepared a fireworks reception for us. Fortunately, the “fireworks” were all duds and failed to go off. Now, however, we got down to business. As we proceeded along the road, we set up Casualty Collecting Posts at every stop. At the last stop, Kranenburg, a German stretcher-bearer arrived and joined us. Just before dark, somebody found a greatcoat that fitted me, so I could now work night duties if necessary. It seems the infantry were working 24/7. As it went dark, a battery of searchlights lit up the clouds above us – not looking for aircraft, merely providing artificial “moonlight” by which the army could work. I tried on my newly acquired greatcoat, stuck my hands in its pockets for warmth and received a pleasant surprise. I had acquired a pair of binoculars! |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Wednesday, 24th January 1945
That was a busy night; no time for letters home; no time to make notes on which to base this diary – I had to write it from memory years later, by which time I had forgotten all about it. In any case, we were not allowed to keep contemporary diaries, as there was a new regulation about three months before D-Day, for security reasons. Therefore, I must close this journal, for now. I have no personal record of the next 11 days. Saturday, 27th January 1945 The Americans liberated Auschwitz on this day |
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