Coming of Age: 1939-1946

Excerpt

RUMOURS OF WAR

            It was 1938 and the Spanish civil war was still in progress; Germany was flexing her muscles having effected an Anschluss with Austria and having out-manoeuvred Britain and France over the matter of Czechoslovakia.  It was obvious that a war was coming but Britain had allowed her forces and armaments to run down and was in no position to engage in one.   At that time I was 20 years old and was working as a draughtsman in an engineering firm; I believe conscription had started though I'm not certain exactly when and there was always a possibility that my job would be classified as a reserved occupation.   To this day I dont know whether or not I would have been called up because together with my school friend I joined the Territorial Army.

            With war looming closer and closer new units were being formed everywhere and No. 2 Company of the 5 AA Divisional Signals was born at The Wayfarers Club on Worral Road near the top of Blackboy Hill in Bristol.   My friend and I had been very interested in radio or wireless as it was called in those days and it seemed to us that a signal unit would fit in well with our hobby, we might even be of some use to the army. Many others had the same idea especially employees of the Post Office which was at that time the sole legal agency in Britain for all communications, so the recruiting hall was full of potential soldiers on the night we went to sound things out.   Among the dozens there we found many of our old school friends and some of the members of our church.   We didnt join up that night but thought things over for a day or two saying nothing to our parents who might have raised objections then made a second trip to enlist.

            Some lads we knew were already commissioned and were to interview us before we signed on the dotted line.   Our commitment to the force obliged us to attend for drill on two nights a week and to spend two weeks at camp each year; our employers were compelled by law to give us the two weeks off from work with no penalties   To start with it was a case of the myopes leading the blind, true there were a few ex-WWI veterans and others who had been members of their school Cadet Corps but we could hardly be called a highly disciplined group.   We didnt enquire too deeply into the nature of our duties or what exactly we were getting ourselves into but were content to let life unfold in its own way.

            After answering a few perfunctory questions the swearing-in followed with our right hands on a bible; some jokers later told us that we were not really soldiers because we had been sworn-in on a dictionary but that was a tale I heard many many times.   Then came the issue of equipment, this was rather sparse, all of it being of WWI vintage or earlier, khaki tunics with brass buttons, drainpipe trousers, second-hand boots and what seemed quite remarkable brown leather bandoliers for the 50 rounds of .303 ammunition with which we were never issued.   Were we then to be cavalry?    A tin hat, forage cap, webbing belt with bayonet frog, bayonet and scabbard completed our equipment though later on we were given collar badges and brass letters to affix to our epaulets proclaiming us to be Royal Signals....