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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Saturday, 9th September 1944
We completed the river crossing in the dark of the night, then tried and proved it by the light of the last quarter of the moon. The road to the next crossing was even shorter than yesterday's and we arrived in time for the cooks to set up for a proper mid-day meal in a house in Oudenaard. The back garden had apple trees, which had been left unattended, so there was a multitude of windfalls on the ground. When we cleared these, the rest of the day was for settling in, and I chose a woodshed for my "bedroom". While I was with the Royal Scots, 194 Field Ambulance had been trailing just behind and a shell hit one of B Coy's trucks while it was on the move, so "Scotty" Barnett reorganised the squad. He had now received the M.M. for this. Rubernek and I now mingled with the local population. I learnt a few more Flemish phrases, and added a visiting card or two to my collection before suppertime. After this, there was no more daylight and nothing more to do, so we went to sleep in the dark of the night until the rising moon would reveal yet another completed bridgehead. The Canadians were now on the outskirts of Dunkirk. We wondered if this meant we would soon have a port of our own, and stop trying to rely on long distance supplies via the congested American lines of communication. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Sunday, 10th September 1944
----------------------------------------In the words of the song "One More River . . . “ No, not the Jordan - never found out its name - just another tributary of the Scheldt. Until this week it had been the general rule that the lead division of 2nd Army was either 15th Scottish, 11th Armoured Division or a group of brigades from both, collaboratively, depending upon which was more suited to the type of country over which we were advancing. Now the lead division seemed to be the 79th Armoured (“Hobo’s funnies.”) or the Guards' Armoured ("They died with their boots clean."), which took big cities like Brussels, that we had to bypass. [Edit 2 times, last edit by Former Member at Sep 10, 2008 8:47:33 AM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Monday, 11th September 1944
No point in getting up at dawn; the next river was even closer - just the other side of Aalst where we passed the next night. Only “Hobo’s funnies” could have got us across quickly. No casualties; no P.O.W.s; no rush; the only thing worth noting or remembering was the finding of a harmonica in one of the abandoned houses we used as our stations; little progress; almost nothing, Ho, hum. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Tuesday, 12th September 1944
Nobody seemed to know how to use the harmonica. Ignoring hygiene, the men passed it from one to another until all were agreed that I was to take charge of it. Thursday, 12th September, 1946 Now, on the way home for my final discharge leave, I found myself in a transit camp in Port Fouad. The queue for breakfast stretched all round the camp and was not moving. Word passed along the queue that there was no food left, the sergeant cook seems to be responsible and they say he had committed suicide. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Wednesday, 13th September 1944
----------------------------------------One day was much like another - another few miles and to creep, another river to cross, or maybe a canal; another barn in which to eat or sleep, or both. Meanwhile my comrades and I spent each morning in a short, sharp, journey to the next water jump. In the afternoon we had time to write home, but nothing to write about but our thoughts. I got out my bottle of "pink ink with the Quink stink" and my writing compendium and started composing a letter. I had plenty of time to write and the officers had plenty of time to censor the mail, but all there was to write home about was a little comment on the variety of French spoken in the southern suburbs of Brussels. Seventy, eighty and ninety were settant, ottant and nonant, whereas in France they were soissant-dix, quatre-vingts and quatre-vingts-dix. [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Sep 13, 2008 9:18:16 AM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Thursday, 14th September 1944
Somebody had heard on the padre’s car radio or read in a newspaper that the 2nd Army was fighting a battle on the Albert Canal, but this seemed to be at Hechtel, which we had already passed. When Dr. Kilpack told us what he knew of future plans, we expected to meet no real trouble until we had passed Gheel and Mol, and tried to cross the Meuse-Escaut junction canal at Aare. Incidentally, the War Office had banned civilian car radios ever since war broke out, so the padre’s form of contact with home was very popular whenever he visited us. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Friday 15th September 1944
----------------------------------------On this day we arrived in Gheel and started to recce for a C.C.P. somewhere nearer the canal, while Capt. Kilpack formed the flying squad on the banks of that canal at Aare, employing one or two stretcher bearers as replacements for the men, including Farmer and me, whom Capt. Coe had taken for his C.C.P. recce, which was unsuccessful. I went off to rejoin the flying squad. Farmer would have gone too, but Atkins had taken his place, and I now joined Atkins on a local recce. Our house was one of three whose basements had access to the canal-side railway and across it to the canal. The flying squad, a signals squad and a bridge master’s squad of engineers now occupied these three houses. This last was attempting to build a class 5 raft for ferrying Bren Carriers, which the infantry on the other side needed. These were the 8th Royal Scots, whose R.A.P., manned by Capt. Hooper was in the basement of a cement works, or maybe a flourmill. The hopper tower of the same mill was an enemy O.P. (observation post). There was also a German sniper in the same tower, but he was inactive - presumably, to avoid becoming pinpointed by our meagre artillery, which was within range. This consisted of one Bofors (40mm, rapid fire, anti-aircraft) gun. There were a number of collapsible canvas boats slung on ropes, which crossed the canal at several points. I had used one of these to visit Dr. Hooper, who was pleased to see me and hoped I could stay. This was inadvisable, as I had not yet reported to Dr. Kilpack. [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Sep 15, 2008 10:01:21 AM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Saturday 16th September 1944
The next day the Bofors went into action. I saw three shots, flying in single file. The first hit the tower, making a dent. The second converted the dent into a hole and the third went through the hole and exploded inside. Judging by the accuracy of the shots, the gun was not far back and was firing over open sights. [There is a photograph of the cement factory on page 152 of Patrick Delaforce’s book “Monty’s Northern Legions”. Among other damage, the hole in the tower is clearly visible.] This appeared to have made the enemy post inoperable. Later in the day, however, the bridge master appeared on a stretcher, having become a casualty. There were more casualties to follow and I was sent back to accompany one of them to the CCP. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Sunday, 17th September 1944
----------------------------------------I rose early this morning to the sound of hundreds of aircraft engines and the sight of hundreds of low flying bombers, many of them towing two gliders each. These formed the upper layer ("Market") of Operation Market Garden. [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Sep 21, 2008 10:00:14 AM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Sunday, 17th September 1944
----------------------------------------Later that day, Dorfman and I went back to the main Synagogue in Rue Royale, Brussels for a civilian Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) service. We only got as far as the street outside the Temple. Neighbours and friends had saved about two thirds of the Jewish population of Belgium, and all of those who could had come together for this, the only Holy Day service this day in the whole country centred on a consecrated venue. Most of the congregants spoke French. I engaged in conversation and soon found myself talking with Brenda Adler, a 15 year old local girl, who took me to a book shop to buy a pocket Flemish dictionary, and then home to meet her parents for Holyday lunch. I remarked on the title of the dictionary, which seemed to indicate that it was a Dutch dictionary and discovered that the two languages use the same words - only the pronunciation differs. Roman Catholic neighbours had been hiding the Adlers throughout the German occupation, and they had interesting but harrowing tales to tell. All too soon, Harry Dorfman and I were on the way back to Gheel where the unit was packing up for the next move. An advance party had already left, led by Cpl. Farrier, who had reserved parking places for the rest of the unit's vehicles in the queue to cross a Bridge into Eindhoven. As we approached the bridge into the Netherlands, there was more airborne activity. [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Sep 21, 2008 10:02:16 AM] |
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