Memories
Arthur Heartfield (aheart@MNSI.NET)
Tue, 17 Feb 1998 21:55:01 -0500
To: MEMORIES@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
From: Arthur G.Heartfield <aheart@mnsi.net>
In April 1939 I enlisted in the British Territorial Army in the 1/7
Batt. The Middlesex Regt.
This was a Mechanised Machine Gun Battalion equipped with Vickers .303
belt feed water cooled tripod mounted machine guns. Each gun required a
3man crew; one man carried the gun, another the tripod and another the
ammunition boxes and the condenser can which condensed the steam
generated in the water-jacket around the barrel and returned it as water
to the jacket, thus cooling the gun and enabling continuous fire at 500
rounds per minute, though normal procedure was to fire in bursts,
tapping the gun handles right or left as ordered for new targets. Gun,
crew, ammunition and supplies and kit were transported on Morris, Guy or
Commer 15cwt. trucks, as we were "Corps Troops" and
were allocated to Divisions as required. Many Territorial Regiments
incorporated such battalions.
In August 1939 we went as usual to annual summer camp at Wannock
Chase, near Eastbourne, on the South coast of England, for two weeks,
and at it's end were warned to hold ourselves in readiness for Active
Service.
On Sept.1st. everyone in the battalion received an Embodiment
Notice, which meant we were now regular soldiers, part of the British
Army and subject to King's Regulations.
We were ordered to report forthwith to our drill hall, where we trained,
drilled and dug trenches in the tennis court next door as Air Raid
Shelters. When war was formally declared on Sept.3rd. 1939, we were on a
route march and were passing a park when the air-raid sirens sounded
shortly afterwards. It turned out to be a false alarm, but we were
ordered to break ranks and take cover in the park - under the bushes!
As a qualified motor mechanic, I was shortly ordered to Aldershot
for a course on repair of military vehicles, and shortly after rejoining
the battalion was promoted Lance Corporal and put up Driver Mechanic
trade badges and was MTS.NETgiven charge of the operation of the
Battalion Medical Officer's three 15cwt. trucks which carried the
medical personnel, stretcher bearers and their kit and supplies.
In early Jan. 1940 we were ordered to join the British Expeditionary
Force (BEF) in France. We drove the trucks to Southampton, saw them
loaded on a ship, and took another small ship to Cherbourg. It was a
miserable trip; the Channel was rough, we were delayed because enemy
submarines were about, and the trip was about three times longer than it
should have been. We were all exhausted from sea-sickness when we
entered Cherbourg Harbour, but couldn't believe our eyes when we saw a
French Army "sentinel"
standing guard on the dock with his greatcoat flapping open, his rifle
leaning against the wall, and smoking a cigarette! Any one of these
would have brought one of us up in front of the C.O. to answer charges!
However, we collected our trucks and drove them to Le Mans, picked
up the battalion which had come by boat and train, and headed towards
our allotted positions near the Franco-Belgian frontier. This was the
coldest winter in Europe for 50 years, and the roads were in terrible
shape. Driving in open trucks we had to wear everything we had with us,
and still suffered a great deal during the trip, which took a week on
the bad roads and at slow convoy speeds. However, we finally arrived in
the Seclin and Houplin area, near Lille, which was to be our home during
the five months left of the "phoney war" period of 1939-40, until the
Germans invaded Belgium on May 10th. and we moved up to meet them and
try to hold them. But that's another story, and I'll continue another
time.