The CO attended an O FP at Brigade HQ and was told that two sections of 1 Field Company RCE and F Troop 51 Battery (A/Tank) were to be attached for all purposes to the unit. Unit acting as defence force for Syewell aerodome. The CO and two other officers went in a recce to the East Coast and the Wash area. No church parade held as large assemblies of troops forbidden. Everyone had an hour's notice to move. Monday the stand to was eased and we were allowed to go into Wellinboro on pass. Majors Southam and Ganong were held in custody during the course of a recce of the East Coast area. We had a practice move on Wednesday night. Drove in unit MT and back to battalion area on Thursday night at 0300hrs. Battalion back on one hour stand to. Received orders to move back to Aldershot at 1550hrs. Saturday, 8th of June was my 20th Birthday and on that day the King and Queen visited the unit in the afternoon. I was guard bugler with the guard from C Coy and sounded the Royal Salute. The pipe band played from its station at the the foot of the Barossa Road during the whole time the Royal party spent inspecting us. CO received word that the transport of the unit was to move on Sunday.
FRANCE
9-15 June 1940
Unit held church parade on Sunday in the form of a drum head service on the grass lawn North of the parade square. Unit MT left at 0800hrs for Falmouth and then France. Carrier platoon left Monday morning for Falmouth. Short intensive periods of training were instituted including one hour route march in full pack. Route march again on Tuesday-small draft of reinforcements received from holding unit. All OR's paid 10 shillings Wednesday and allowed out on pass till 1700hrs. Battalion started to entrain at 2200hrs Wednesday. A Coy went first and remainder of the battalion leaving at 2030hrs.
13 June 1940
We arrived at Millbay dock at Plymouth and were fed on the dock. Embarked at 0930hrs on the French ship El Mansour which normally ran between Algiers and Marseilles. Lord and Lady Astor came to the dock to watch us board the ship. Admiral Sir Charles Naismith VC also present and to the CO and Major Hendrie to lunch at Admiralty House at Plymouth. The Royal Marines Band played as we pulled away from the dock at 1430hrs. The 48th Highlanders were sharing accomendation on board wth the RCR, A/Tk Bty RCA and the 1 Fd Ambulance. Very crowded on board and the sanitary arrangements were quite apaling with two to three inches of water on the latrine floor and they were constantly in use. We were issued iron rations and that is all we received while on the ship. Hot water issued and we were able to make tea, which was only hot and had no resemblance to what is commonly known as tea. Convoy of one other Troop Ship and three destroyers left Plymouth harbour at 1930hrs.
Members of the Transport Platoon boarding S.S. El Monour .
http://dileas.mapleleafup.org/england.htm
14 June 1940
[note: on this day, Paris was captured by the Germans.]
The trip across the channel to Brest was quite uneventful except that we all got precious little sleep. No one was sick as the channel was perfectly calm. We docked in Brest at 0800hrs. We had already been fed breakfast of iron rations on board so we disembarked quickly to the ramparts above the dock area. The 48th Highlanders and the Royal Canadian Regiment were the first Canadian units to land in France. Rested under the trees on the ramparts until 1045hrs. We moved out to the Lower Station at 1045hrs and boarded our troop train. Left Brest at 1145hrs with the 1 Cdn Inf Bde Headquarters staff on the train with us. The CO was OC Train. Proceeded slowly through Laval and Rennes. The Rail Transport Officer at Brest advised the CO that there would be stops along the way for feeding but in fact no organized stops were made. Had a long stop at Rennes and quite a number of the men were able to get local inhabitants to purchase some bottles of local wine for us. Bloody awful stuff it was too. The only food available for us was iron rations. Many refugee trains passed us. At 2200hrs the CO called an Orders group and issued orders for holding of Sable. Advised the the Germans were in Paris and German armour could be expected any time. Some German Divisional troops and artillery were reported in the Sable area.
15 June 1940
At 0300hrs the Battalion arrived in Sable. The CO was faced with two choices. If we were to be billeted in Sable then we would be responsible for positions North of the River and if we did not billet in the town then we would take up positions in the woods to the North with the river to the reat and to the right. The RTO at Sable advised the CO that he had orders to have the train returned to Brest. He told the CO that the War Council had been meeting all the previous day and he knew nothing further, which he did shortly after speaking to the CO. Using interpreters the CO spoke to the French Military Railway Authorities who told him that France was about to capitulate and the Brigadier, who was also on the train decided to go back to Brest. An LMG was mounted on the flat car attached to the rear of the train and PSM Laurie was brought to the engine to drive it if the French Engineer failed to do his job. Capt. W.G. Darling also rode in the cab with a supply of money and wine to keep the French Engineer happy. Armed guards rode in the coal tender and men were detailed to act as stokers for the engineer. We left Sable at 0500hrs after the Engineer had been fed a breakfast. The CO's orders were as follows:
1) At Laval all Company Commanders were to ride with their men in their respective coaches
2) All troops were to be advised of the situation
3) If attacked by air the train would go as far as possible
4) If attacked by armour we would detrain and fight and if possible get the train moving
5) If that proved impossible we were to scatter and move in platoon groups to either Nantes or St. Nazaire and hope for a boat
On recepit of the news some of the men discarded their heavy equipment and many windows on the train were broken out to prevent glass splintering in the event we were bombed. At Laval the move to Brest was confirmed and another flat car was added to the train and two more LMGs were mounted on it. At Rennes it was considered that the danger zone for mechanized columns had been passed and the officers returned to their car. The RTO at Brest confirmed that the BEF were evacuating France. After leaving Rennes it was noticed we were on a different route. At Dol Mjor Hendrie sent word back that the Engineer had orders to take the train to St. Malo. An English speaking RTO came aboard and told the CO that this was not the case and he would have the train switched to Brest via a second class line. Soon after leaving Dol it was apparent that this was not done and as a result we soon pulled into St. Malo. The RTO at St. Malo stated that we should have gone to Brest but he promised to try and find a boat. The train was divided at the siding and the AA guns mounted on each side. The RTO advised that a ship was available so we left the train and marched to the ship. We boarded HMT Biarritz at 1750hrs with the remnants of other British and Canadian units. The Royal Engineer Officer, who was OC ship, requested that the unit mount AA guns and this was done. Sailing delayed as 500 more men were embarked. We remained tied to the dock the rest of the day.
16-22 June 1940
[note: France signed an armistice with Germany this week.]
BACK TO ENGLAND
The ship sailed at 0400hrs from St. Malo with over 2000 men on board a ship licensed for a capacity of 800 with life boat spaces allotted accordingly. We were feed a good meal and the sanitary arrangements aboard ship were surprisingly good considering the circumstances. The sea was dead calm with lots of surface fog in the morning. Spotted a destroyer about 0800hrs and after identifying us it went on its way. An RAF flying boat circled us several times about 1100hrs and then flew off. Passed the Isle of Wright at 1300hrs and landed at Southampton docks at 1630hrs. We immediately left the ship and boarded a train for Farnborough. Arrived Farnborough at 1900hrs and were bussed to Corunna Barracks. We were fed a light meal and allowed out on pass until midnight.
Monday was spent in checking losses on equipment and in a general clean up. The CO addressed all ranks in the Stanhope Theatre on the lessons learned on the trip to France. The remainder of the other sub-units reported back during the week. The unit transport was all left in France and it was destoyed as there was no way to get it out. Unit training resumed. Unit on pass to Aldershot on Saturday.
23-30 June 1940
Church parades this Sunday and due to heavy rain we all paraded in steel helmets and gas capes. On pass the remainder of the day. Passive Air Defence messages received all week. Company training being held. Unit sports day on Wednesday. Thursday we went on a route march to Frensham Great Pond where we swam and had lunch. Returned to barracks at 1630hrs by transport. 3 days leave with warrant granted to 7% of the unit on rotating bases. Battalion paraded to St. Andrews for church service and then we were allowed out of barracks to midnight on pass. Lt. Trumbull Warren making a recce of Newham County area for bivouac purposes.
[What my Granddad was writing about during this time was codenamed Operation Ariel.
Operation Ariel, commanded by Admiral William Milbourne James C-inC, Portsmouth Command, began on June 14 being conducted from the ports of Cherbourg and St Malo, ending on June 25, 1940 in accordance with the armistice terms signed by the French government. During this time, further to the south in the Bay of Biscay region, evacuations were also being carried out from St Nazaire, Brest and Nantes led by Admiral Sir Martin Eric Nasmith C-inC, Western Approaches Command.
Over 215,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated, to be combined with the 11,000 men evacuated from Le Havre in Operation Cycle and the 338,226 men that were evacuated from Dunkirk (the "miracle of Dunkirk", as Winston Churchill called it). The British evacuation of Dunkirk through the English Channel was codenamed Operation Dynamo. Operation Ariel was less desperate in some ways, and less well known, than the earlier heavy fighting around Dunkirk during the German invasion in 1940 (when a lull in the fighting allowed an unexpectedly large number of French and British soldiers to escape to Britain). The only major loss during the evacuation from western France occurred off St Nazaire on 17 June, when the liner RMS Lancastria was bombed and sunk, by Junkers Ju 88s of Kampfgeschwader 30 killing some 5,800 personnel. On the final day of the evacuation, 25th June, Canadian destroyer HMCS Fraser was rammed and sunk by the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Calcutta in the Gironde estuary, leading into Bordeaux. About 4,000 were awaiting evacuation.]
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