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Eighth Army Veterans City of Manchester |
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Arthur ARTHUR
was born in March 1922 in St. Helens, Lancashire. When a year
old he went with his father to try their luck in Montreal, Canada, where
he lived until he was twelve.
After
working in several warehouse jobs he was eventually 'called up' in
October 1941 al the age of nineteen.
His training was done at Hadrian's Camp, Carlisle before moving
on to Oswestry. Then to a Driver Training Regiment in Rhyl where, a few
weeks later, he passed the course as a driver. It was in March 1942
that. Arthur was posted to the 17 RAA Regiment at Boston in Lincolnshire
as a Gunner/Driver. On to Castle Douglas, and the firing camp at. Cork
for further training.
This included landing from a ship, with the water over head high,
and very difficult, to say the least, for those who could not swim.
'Their objective, the Island of Bute, was not achieved and five rifles
were lost. Arthur
war given a three ton Austin truck which was virtually, his home for
three years. The
Regiment was in New Galloway, Scotland when they received the orders to
prepare for overseas.
The Bofors (anti aircraft guns) was increased in number to 18 per
Battery. Although the main
force of the Regiment sailed for Algiers in November 1942 as part of the
1st Army initial landings, Arthur did not sail until Christmas Day 1942
from Gourock, Scotland. (The Convoy happened to be the same convoy in
which your Editor sailed on Christmas Day from Liverpool in the
troopship 'Derbyshire') Arthur's ship was the Hellas and
reached Algiers on the same day as the 'Derbyshire: being the January
1943. Picking up their
vehicles they drove up to Souk el Khemis where the Regiment's guns wore
already defending the airfields, or should we say airstrips, for that's
all they were. They were given names like Euston, Marylebone and such
like. Stand to periods wore dawn and dusk which were the likely times
for an attack. They were only 5 minutes flying time from the enemy
airfields. Arthur
was ordered to drive a party of Pioneers with paint spraying.equipment
to Sfax, but his companion for the journey was a non driver.
Starting at 5 am they arrived at midnight; a total of 19 hours, with no
lights during the dark hours. It must have seemed like a test of
endurance. It illustrates how fit the drivers had to be as well as
being proficient in their skills, both in driving and also map reading. The
surrender in N.Africa saw Arthur in Cap Bon where abandoned equipment littered the area. After spells in Kairollan, Monastir and
Sousse they drove up to Bizerta during November 1943 and embarked on an
L.S.T., sailing for Naples where the Regiment now formed part of the
American 5th Army. Arthur says he spent most of that trip in the back of
his Austin, which was chained to the dome, with a bucket close by. Some
of the guns were deployed around the airfield at Pomiglinno D'arco, with
the rest around the bay of Naples. During the lull at Cassino the spare
drivers were employed in ferrying goods from the docks to Nola and
Cancello, with trips also to Foggia and Taranto. As
the front moved beyond Rome Arthur spent 3 month driving Daimler and
Humber scout cars up to Florence or Rimini which was then the 'front
line'. Rest periods were
taken at Ravello and at Salerno. In. February 1945 it was, decided that
some of the Anti-aircraft units in Naples were surplus to requirements. Therefore
Arthur's Regiment was broken up, and he joined the 934 Company RASC.
When the war ended Arthur found himself in Rome as part of the Allied
Commission for Austria and he was given a Canadian Ford taxi. After the
long drive to Klagenfurt, where they had a short stay, the unit carried
on to their final destination, Vienna. Arthur's duties were driving
officers who were requisitioning buildings. Arthur
was sent back to Milan, and from there he went overland by train to
eventual demob and home. Athur was a warehouseman most of his, working
life and spent five years at 61 MU. RAF, Cheadle Hulme as a civilian
worker until it closed. His last 25 working years were spent with
'Griffin & George' who were laboratory furnishers at Wythenshawe.
They closed down in 1994. Arthur
now lives in Didsbury with wife, Jean, whom he married in 1960 and his
daughter, Helen. He likes photography, football (we assume now as
a spectator and armchair critic), gardening and DIY in the house. Arthur
must have driven many thousands of miles in all kinds of conditions.
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