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Makes me smile Tom. It has a familiar ring about it. In one case we were moved by our CRE right up under the noses of the German Paras, on the side of the hill facing them. Give them their fair due. They waited until we were all sittings ducks before opening a barrage like the end of the world. Our Colonel wanted us to stay right up the front at all times, so that we could get into action faster. Silly prat.
One of the lads told him. OK if you can tolerate the casualties. While on that hill we came under fire from railway gun at VIre. You could hear the bloody shell wobbling through the air long before it hit us, each time the the shell landed on that bloody hill great big lumps of it erupted.
After a few hours we were withdrawn/
By the way the man that invented your hip joints was my Surgeon, and and I helped to make his equipment, while he was at Shaftesbury Military hospital as a Major in the Medical. Eccentric... saved me from amputation. He did a bone graft on a goat
It worked, so they did it on me on VE day. Only trouble, I have no hips, so my bloody trousers fall down unless I grab them....I am also a very funny shape...Very funny.
Major John Charnley. later Sir John. Lady Jill Charnley sent me an autographed book on his life. The Major gave me photos from an old camera of gear we made Lost them... Ah Tom and Ron the days of our youth. What we had of it? In passing, I have to say that in recent years the war pensions have improved. being very severely war disabled I am looked after quite well.
sapper
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