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Category: Community
Forum: Chat Room
Thread: On this Day |
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Thread Status: Locked Total posts in this thread: 716
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Wednesday, 6th December, 1944
----------------------------------------Before leaving Liesel, Capt. Kilpack assembled all the N.O.3s (Nursing Orderlies class 3) in one house and conducted a viva voce examination, after which he advanced most of us in the trade. The infantry had gained ground, so we followed them to Meijerl, and occupied a schoolhouse. The stretcher bearers and the flying squad were together in one large, unfurnished, classroom. [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Dec 8, 2008 10:58:26 AM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Thursday, 7th December 1944
Angus made dumplings and told me they were kneidlach. He told nobody where he obtained the ingredients, but presumably he used flour, water, margarine and dried eggs, as there was no way he could have obtained matzo meal. December 1944 It was at Meijerl that we received a shelling one night. Tommy Fleming found himself a safe place to spend the night alone in secret, as he appeared not to want company. The shelling continued until midnight... |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
...or later
One or two others threatened company morale by complaining about the risk of death, and I had to counter that by telling them that if they were not prepared to follow Tommy's good example they might as well die comfortably in their sleep. Will Farmer sat up and remarked "He's right, you know", then lay down again and we all went to sleep. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
...that weekend...
Fortunately, there was no direct hit, and no resultant casualty, so we had a quiet weekend, reading two day old newspapers, catching up on our morale and corresponding with home. An M.P. had been enquiring into the question of my return to medical school after my release. He now wrote to ask me to type my letters to him, to ensure legibility! |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Monday, 11th December, 1944
As expected, there was no typewriter available in the schoolhouse, or anywhere else where I could have gone. Come to think of it, it must have been about 12 months since I had last seen one - in the laboratory office of Shaftesbury Military hospital. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Tuesday, 12th December 1944
Official recognition of the up gradings now reached us, and we handed in our pay books for updating and return. They now showed that our advancement in the trade took effect as from this day. The pay book is now part of my scrap book. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Wednesday, 13th December 1944
This day in Meijerl, Captain Guy Kilpack M.C. paraded us all outside our billets, thanked us for our support during his command of the company, and shook hands with each of us in turn, wishing us all well and hoping that I would in due course be able to return to my old medical school. That was the last any of us saw of him - presumably, he was due for promotion and as a rule, this means a change of unit. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Thursday, 14th December 1944
The ration truck came daily with nearly everything we needed, but it was months since we last saw a NAAFI. We could manage quite well without Blanco, and brass polish; soaps, including shaving soap were lasting well, but it was hard to shave with dull, well used blades. There seemed to be no shops where we could buy these things and little chance of staying in one place long enough to visit a town. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Maasbree, Friday, 15th December 1944
Now HQ Coy took over Meijerl and we, "B" Coy, moved a mile or two to Maasbree, in the Maas valley, near Blerick, which Percy Hobart's "funnies" had helped the infantry capture with a “text book” operation. For the first time since crossing the Channel, the whole company, including drivers, cooks and the barber, but not the officers and sergeant, was together in one large room, which was heated. It was some sort of community hall, with dusty, faded party decorations festooning its main room. The anteroom, which was our transport office and guardroom, had another room above part of it. Scotty and I adopted this as the company office and library. Space there was somewhat cramped, so we slept with the rest of the company, I nearest the stove, as I still had no greatcoat. The R.A.M.C. men, as usual, needed no organising. Some kept the stove burning, while others went out with Driver Dorfman to cut and fetch peat. There was no casualty, so no stretcher bearing, no digging and no burials, and there was plenty of time for morale, reading, eating, updating the Company records and sleeping. |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Saturday, 16th December, 1944
----------------------------------------With the Luftwaffe out in force over Belgium and Luxembourg, we wondered what was going to happen next. We had not seen any enemy planes since that P.E. class in Normandy. [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Dec 17, 2008 11:46:37 AM] |
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