My War in Two Armies: Part 9 of 10 - Call-up to the British Army

February and March 1942 were spent contacting members of my family and friends, including colleagues from the French National Railways offices in London. The first thing I had to do after arriving home was to obtain ration cards and a gas mask. I also had to register for National Service on the 26th February 1942 and until such time as I was called up I found temporary employment with the “Service de Liquidation des Missions Françaises en Grande Bretagne” whose offices were at the French Embassy, 58 Knightsbridge, London SW1. My job was in the accounting department of the “Mission des Transports Maritimes” where I remained from the 30th March 1942 until March 1943. My commencing salary was £4 a week which was increased to £5 5s 0d a week in January 1943.

On the 17th April 1942 I successfully passed a medical examination in Hounslow for National Service and on the 18th September that year I attended an army interview selection test also in Hounslow. I finally received my call-up to the British Army on the 22nd February 1943 with instructions to report on the 4th March to the General Service Corps, Chichester Barracks, Sussex, where I was enlisted and became Private Vila No 14549494 of No 9 Squad, No 2 Coy, No 10 Primary Training Centre.

While I was undergoing military training at Chichester I made an application for service in the Intelligence Corps as I thought this would give me the opportunity of serving in a unit where a knowledge of languages was a useful qualification. My stay at Chichester barracks was only to last until the 14th March 1943 when I was posted to the Royal Engineers’ Transport Depot at Longmoor, near Liss, Hampshire. This posting was the result of my civilian occupation as a railway employee. A few of my fellow trainees from Chichester were with me at Longmoor where we received four weeks’ training in field works and demolitions. Here the work was interesting and varied. I also met one of my colleagues from the French National Railways office in Piccadilly, Cornellius Cahill, an Irishman, who was in the depot while I was there. Many of us were given the opportunity of trying for a commission in the Royal Engineers, but I preferred to wait for the result of my application for a transfer into the Intelligence Corps. This entailed remaining at Longmoor longer than I would have wished and in the meantime I was given a six weeks’ course as a storeman in the TT Wing.

My posting to the Intelligence Corps finally arrived and I left Longmoor Camp on the 13th July 1943. On my way I spent the night at my home in London (then still at 112 Edith Road, West Kensington, W14) and left the following day for my new training depot of the Intelligence Corps at Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, in the No 2 Company. During training at Wentworth, all soldiers retained their previous regiment’s denomination (in my case a sapper) and as a result there was a wide variety of service personnel from different units. The training there was more intensive and strenuous than anything I had done before; it included a three weeks’ course at Smedley’s Hydro at Matlock, Derbyshire, where we attended lectures on all aspects of security.

I completed my training at the Wentworth Depot in October 1943. The training included motor cycle maintenance, as these machines were to be our normal method of transport. I was then posted to No 49 Field Security Section which was stationed at Fort William, Inverness-shire, on the 6th October with the rank of Lance Corporal in the Intelligence Corps.

The long train journey from London to Glasgow and on to Fort William was an interesting experience and was my first visit to Scotland, apart from my passing through after landing at Gourock on the way back from Gibraltar. On arrival at Fort William station I was met and made very welcome by L/Corporal Cyril Appleby, who took me to the section’s billets at Granite House, a small grey building and former guesthouse in the main street of Fort William.

Here I met the rest of the members of 49 Section, namely:

the CO, Captain Morrison, who was soon to leave our section for another posting to be replaced by Lt Frank Rudd; Company Sgt Major John Mills from Edinburgh; Sgt Charles Smith from London, who at the time was on detachment on the Isle of Tiree; Cpl Dennis Burns from Glasgow; Sgt Ward on detachment at Mallaig; Cpl Ronnie Wilson; L/Cpl Charles Lewis from Cheshire; L/Cpl W (Bob) Smith from Hull; L/Cpl David Smart from Liverpool on detachment at Arisaig; and Pte W (Bill) Jenkin of the Royal Army Service Corps (our vehicle driver) from St Austell, Cornwall.

I soon settled down to life in the section which was very different from that at Wentworth Depot, and a welcome change. I was also very glad of the opportunity of seeing some of the finest scenery in the Highlands of Scotland and meeting many of the local people who were very friendly and helpful. I was soon to have a new Matchless 350cc motorcycle which I was able to enjoy riding along many of the beautiful loch-side roads in all directions from Fort William. Our duties were a combination of our own training in preparation for the invasion of Europe and the security of the prohibited areas in which we were situated, particularly those areas where special naval and military training were in progress. I was given a wide range of tasks, but all the time a requirement was that our small team of a dozen men should work and get on well together.

I had one week’s leave at the end of November 1943 to attend my sister Ann’s wedding to Johnnie Mugliston in London on 3rd December. I returned to Fort William and shortly after was sent on detachment to Mallaig with Sgt Ward who was soon to leave the section. I returned to Fort William on 10th January 1944 with Ronnie Wilson.

My next leave was on 20th February and I found on arrival in London that West Kensington had suffered the effects of an air raid on the previous night. The bombing had affected the area around St Paul’s School which, at that time, was the headquarters of General Montgomery. I hurried home and fortunately our house at 112 Edith Road had not been badly damaged, although several houses in that and neighbouring streets had been hit, causing several casualties. The raid had been a terrifying experience for Mother and Barbara who were in the house at the time. The effect of the blast had broken windows and caused structural damage to the house which was severe enough as to make it uninhabitable without repairs. We found that a piece of curbing stone from the street had actually penetrated the roof of the three storey house and landed in one of the bedrooms.

I was able to obtain an extension of my leave to help clear up some of the mess and we decided that the house was now unsafe, especially in view of the frequent blitz over London. We concluded that the best solution was for Mother and Barbara to leave London and live in Huddersfield, where Mother’s sister, Aunt Theresa and her daughter Henny had lived for some time. A quick move was organised for 5th March 1944. Mother left first while Barbara and I stayed on a few days to arrange the removal of our furniture. This was to be the end of many years spent by various members of our family in what had become regarded as the family home. Mother and Barbara lived for a few weeks with a friend, Mrs Halstead, whose house was at Lindley, Huddersfield, a temporary arrangement until a more permanent home was set up in a house recently purchased by cousin Henny at 79 New North Road, Huddersfield.

As soon as the family had left London I returned to Fort William only to find a few days later I had to come back again to attend a course in Highgate. While I was there a long-neglected bad cold turned into pleurisy and I reported sick on 14th March. I was sent to a local hospital at Mill Hill for a few days and was discharged on 27th March when I travelled north again and arrived at Fort William on 29th March. On my return to the section it was my turn to spend a few days at Inverness where we had a security office. During one of my turns of duty in this town I was pleased to meet my cousin Helen Harley who was in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force at the time.

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