Early Days
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The Cambridgeshire Regiment
Joe was conscripted
in December 1939. On 15th January 1940 he was sent to Blandford in
Dorset for training in the Essex Regiment. After that he was
posted to the Cambridgeshire Regiment guarding the coast from a pill box
at Sea Palling on the Norfolk coast. He maintains that this was the worst period of his
life, the soldiers lived in atrocious conditions with no proper
facilities let alone adequate ammunition. During this time there
appeared in Orders a statement that anyone with the appropriate academic
qualifications (which fortunately he had) could apply for a course on
Radar. He applied but heard nothing. |
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| Above
- early shots at Blandford. you can always tell which was Joe as
he's the tallest in the pictures at over 6'4". Apparently
when he first joined up they couldn't find a uniform large enough for
him and paid him to wear his own clothes until they got one made.
Unfortunately this meant that he couldn't leave the barracks as soldiers
weren't allowed out in 'civvies'. |
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Handsome
young soldier in the Cambridgeshires. |
On
leave visiting his family in Maidstone. Easter Monday 1940 with his
Mum. |
Left
to right, brother in law Alf (sister Eileen's husband), Sister Nellie,
Joe and Ivy |
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| Exhausted
and useless after their stint guarding the coast they were all sent to
Brandon Hall in Suffolk - apparently a location used for the first ever
Dracula film. Here they were kitted out with tropical gear in
preparation for being sent to the Far East. They were then sent to
Galashiels in Scotland to prepare for their departure and spent
Christmas Day on parade in tropical kit in the snow. The next day
it appeared on Orders that he’d been transferred to Leicester for a
training course. The rest of his unit all went out to Singapore.
As they landed they were captured by the Japanese – only three
survived. |
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Training>>
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