'Stretcher-bearers': (38) With the East Surreys

With the East Surreys

Stayed at Castel del Rio with the 217 Field Ambulance where we dried out and next day washed our clothes.. Had an open air bath at the Mobile Bath Unit, which had been set up in a field.
One visit to the pictures to see a Wild West film in a small tent where we stood the whole time. (10.11.44)
It snowed last night and, leave over, we moved up in lorries to join the ES (East Surrey Infantry).. The road was bad, but had been much worse a week ago. We branched off after about 3 miles from our Advanced Dressing Station and followed the course of a stream in torrent, which we crossed several times by Bailey Bridges. Here we saw for the first time a second Bailey Bridge erected on top of the first which had been too low for the stream in spate.
After this we skirted another hill and found ourselves on a greatly improved road for a short time. This led down to the stream again, where our smoke screen was blowing. A shell came over. We drove through a ford at increased speed and then up to an Advanced Dressing Station, where we received further orders to march on foot to the ES Regimental Aid Post which had just been relieved by the Northants.
Upon arrival we were told that there would be no meal for us that evening, but eventually the cook gave us tinned herrings, army biscuits, and half a mug of tea each. We settled in the garret of a straw thatched barn, which was swiftly disintegrating. The beams were worm eaten, the dusky thatch rat-ridden and generously ventilated by shrapnel, the walls cracked and draughty, the one window was sagging unhinged. The floor was littered with maize, tins, bottles, baskets, a boot, and holed sacks..
Five of us spent the night here, lying on a blanket spread over the maize, with two blankets and a greatcoat draped over us.
We did not undress. I took off my boots. The rest stretched out fully clothed, taking the precaution of covering their heads as protection from the rats..
Our candle had not been out five minutes before we heard them scampering about the beams, rustling paper, munching and squeaking.
We all slept fitfully and some of us were wide awake at c. 4.a.m. to hear Corporal MacKenzie shout "Get out, you bloody bastard! Get out!" as a rat crept into bed beside him.
At about 8 a.m., since no signs of life were issuing from the cookhouse, I washed and shaved in shell hole water and began to feel hungry.
As is quite usual when on detachment to infantry units, we were refused food by two company cookhouses. Eventually we received six broken biscuits, a small dried egg cake, marmalade and a mug of tea each. We were still hungry in the wintry weather. (Mid - November, '44).
We were all sitting quietly reading or writing in our garret when suddenly Davies pointed to a foot-long rat calmly walking down the wall behind Allenby. The latter, a peace-time farmer, with equal calmness turned round and dealt it a blow with his book "The Case of the Lucky Legs". It fell to earth I know not where. Nobody seemed to find the incident unusual, and all resumed their studies without comment.
Before lunch Jerry sent over about ten mortars which wounded two of our mortar men situated between the Regimental Aid Post and Advanced Dressing Station. There was one stretcher case. We found the man about 75 yards from the Regimental Aid Post, wounded in the right wrist and left leg. He was very young and courageous. He hoped that the wound would give him a "Blighty", he said. Earlier he had been taken prisoner of war. After carrying him from the Regimental Aid Post to the Advanced Dressing Station we returned to the RAP for bread, tinned salmon and cold tea. Still, we made toast and felt much better for a meal. We then left for 24 hours in the trenches with the infantry..
Mortars fell near. It turned cold and searchlights shone behind our lines to provide artificial light for the mule trains carrying up our supplies. There was no moon, but stars came out. Was glad that D had sent me the small book on stars.
A short "stonk" came over, after which we made preparations for the night. We had three blankets between the two of us, a greatcoat and a gas cape each and one ground sheet, quite a reasonable ration.
The two of us in one of the slit trenches, placed the ground sheet under our feet so that half of it would fold back over our boots, set one blanket over a petrol tin seat, wrapped our feet again in the gas cape and sat back, side by side.
At first our feet began to warm, but the chief trouble went to the bottom, where cramp and soreness set in. A shifting of positions followed until the early hours of the morning when a coughing competition started. Then our feet grew numb, until I could not feel mine below the ankles.
We dozed, during which I had several fleeting dreams, the chief being about a persistently recurrent lame dog that I was trying to send to hospital. Another concerned travelling over a waterfall in a liner. The crash of a mortar was probably responsible for this.
When dawn broke we climbed out of our slit trench and stamped briskly to restore circulation. After about 15 minutes our feet were glowing again.
Carried about 6 wounded from RAP to ADS today. They had been hit on the mountain track, with the exception of one man injured in his slit trench. It is possible that he was standing up in it, since these slit trenches are fairly safe against mortars.
13.11.44. More wounded today.
Found some AL63 powder (anti lice) and had a good night's sleep.
Cl... has been lousy, Cpl. D..... is so, but I have been lucky so far.
More New Statesmen arrived today and also John Buchan's "Julius Caesar". Every effort is made to get mail through to the forward troops, a great morale booster.

A hellish night in the slit trenches.
We took over there as usual at 2 p.m. and the afternoon passed uneventfully. Was cold, but not too cold for reading, so embarked upon Buchan's "Julius Caesar" until tea time, when the mule train supplied us with a good, adequate meal.
After 7 p.m. Jerry sent over his first stonk in the immediate vicinity . As the battalions were switching over that night we did not want trouble, but sure enough Jerry must have known all about the change-over, possibly from a Northants prisoner he had taken the night before.
About half an hour later Jerry let loose another stonk, and mortars came scudding over the hills, sounding like hornets in flight, before crashing to earth. The ES (1st Battalion, East Surreys) infantry started taking up their positions -none too quietly - and this time the stonk was straight at us.
We heard no whistle - merely a split-second infuriated swish and shattering explosion. A distinct tremor shook the ground, followed by the gyrating of shrapnel and plops of clay which landed on our bivvy roof.
Inside, some few feet below ground level, we huddled together and tried to conceal from each other the trembling that took hold upon us.
Jerry had showered down ten in quick succession when our bivvy roof caved in and a panting, shaking figure collapsed in on us. For seconds he could not find breath for speech, but at last panted "Phew! Nearly took me 'ead off- less than four yards away.!" His comments were was cut short by another salvo of mortars that seemed to make their way towards us like a underground trains entering stations.
More debris landed on the damaged roof and more shrapnel whanged over.
Somehow, I felt safer with the painful weight of the stranger on my right leg.
(How easy it is now, writing some two hours afterwards, to argue logically, "If shrapnel comes, he'll get it and, if a mortar hits us direct, we shan't have to worry", but in plain truth we were scared to the marrow, crouching there, shaking with fright.)

At last matters grew more settled. Our own mortars and Lewis machine guns were working overtime. The ES man said he would look for his right trench and we started to tidy the damage.
I put my hand outside the trench to tighten the tent flap, but a zing of shrapnel came out of the blue, so I withdrew it hastily.
Soon Jerry started again and a second crash heralded the return of our lodger.
We remained silent this time as Jerry dropped mortar after mortar towards us,
leaving a shaking trio thanking heaven for safety at the end.
Young --- in the trench next to ours was bomb happy, so his 'mate' Clements, during the next lull, took him back to the RAP.
Our lodger left us again and did not return for the next stonk about half an hour later. This time Jerry was hitting the ridge behind us.
After that we tried to mend the torn bivvy and prepared for bed. I used an empty 2 gallon tin and a stone in an effort to recline in a very small space. The result was a stiff neck, periodical cramp in the left knee flex and numbness in a shoulder, but it was an interesting experiment.
After lunch six men relieved us, including Jimmy Boulding. We returned to the ADS to find that D... had gone sick - he was accused, without firm proof, of swinging the lead - and that Y---... had been sent down the line suffering from nervous exaustion
Took two grains of aspirin, the usual dose for a headache, and bedded down.

We left (the line) with the mules at about 6.30 p.m., walking over the skyline along a very muddy track. Since two mules had been killed and six injured that morning, ( we were glad to evacuate in complete safety. Page.)319 in diary Stayed at Castel del Rio with the 217 (Field Ambulance. Dried ourselves. Washed clothes . Had bath in open air.
One visit to see a wild west film. Stood all the time. Show in a small tent.
10.11.44. Snowed last night.
Moved up to join E.S. Infantry (East Surreys) after the 12.30 tiffin meal. The road was bad, but had been much worse a week ago.
We branched off the usual road about three miles from our Advanced Dressing Station and followed the course e of a torrent which we had crossed numerous time before by Bailey Bridge. Here for the first time I saw a Bailey Bridge erected directly over another,, which had been too low for the stream swollen by recent rains

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