Chapter 9 - South Wales, England

We landed at Princess Landing, Liverpool, England on July 15th and went by train to a little camp at Llanmartin (Pronounced: Thlanmartin) in South Wales. The camp contained barracks made out of rocks and had tiny windows that were blackout proofed. (See Photo  Inset, Right) We settled in and began getting that Great English dish, mutton, about five times a week. I believe every man in the outfit hated that stuff with a passion.

The camp was surrounded by barbed wire entanglements in rolls around the entire area, but the soldiers there before had already made holes underneath the wire so that you could get out most anywhere without going through the main gate. This was indeed handy since the camp or Battalion Commander's rule was that only ten percent of the troops could be on pass at the same time. One night a bed check was pulled at C Battery and only about fifteen or twenty men could be found in camp, That proved that the holes under the fence was being used extensively. More and more thorough bed checks were started after that.

The nearest large town to camp was the city of Newport. Battalion would run trucks into Newport every night and then return in time for curfew, which I believe was eleven P.M. The trucks would haul in a load of happy soldiers and bring back a load of half drunks still happy but this time trying to sing. I'm not sure why but beer and singing always go together, and we were no exception. After getting back in camp on time a bunch of us would get together in the latrine and sing until the wee hours. England was not a bad place to be except for the mutton diet, and I personally enjoyed England very much.

Things really picked up when on a blind date I met this cute little English girl named Vera Jones. (see inset - Left) She was eighteen and I was twenty. She lived in a small village about four miles below camp. From the time I met her until I left England I walked the four miles each way almost every night, slipping out under the wire when necessary, and getting a pass when possible. She was a real sweet and moral young girl and I was rather fond of her, although I realized that was as far as it would go. She corresponded with me all the time I was in Europe and she and I would exchange long and newsy letters which really made what I was enduring a lot easier. She even exchanged letters with my sister back home, and they continued to write each other after Vera and I quit.

England was a very beautiful country at least where we were in South Wales. Very rural quiet and peaceful, the farming country and pasture lands were picture like. Most everyone lived in small villages and not scattered throughout the land as they were in America. At the particular time of year that we were there, the daylight hours were very long and true darkness or nighttime only lasted from about 11P.M. until about 4 A.M. The time from about 6 P.M. until 11 P.M. was called twilight by the British and was almost as light as real daytime. The same thing applied from about 4 A.M. until about 8 A.M. The time it was dark about four or five hours it was really dark, just like somebody upstairs had turned off all lights.

I would stay as long as possible at my girlfriend's house and head back to camp while it was still very light, but before walking the four miles usually by myself it would be so dark you could not see your hand before you. This distance was down a narrow winding paved road not wide enough for two cars to meet and pass, with trees on either side. How about that for a young man who had a problem earlier being afraid of the dark.

We were in England a few weeks before we received our equipment, so we went on forced marches and had study courses and close order drill as usual, starting every morning in that cold British air with calisthenics. When our equipment arrived all of it was brand new, smelling of new paint and Cosmoline. The vehicles and guns all had to be cleaned, all Cosmoline (this was a thick greasy protective coating used to prevent rust and corrosion) removed and everything put into working shape. There was a lot of work involved in this but it sure was nice to work with this brand new equipment.

My section had a new Jeep which Sgt. Hull, my section Sgt. at this time, named "Mine Bait" the small trailer that it pulled was named "Mine Bait Jr.". I don't remember the name of the halftrack that belonged to our section. The Battery Commander's halftrack was named "CHERCHEZ LA FEMME" which was French for Chasing the Girls. I'm not sure who named this vehicle but surely it wasn't Capt. Brundage.

It was nearly time for our move to the fighting area, fond good-byes were said to British friends and girlfriends, farewell parties were held, and on Aug. 31, 1944 we left in convoy, arriving the next day at Portlane-Dorset on the Southern coast of England. We boarded 3 LST's (landing ship tanks) and then waited around for better weather.