Dennis Raymond Osborne,  (1920 to 2005)

War Time Memories.  (to be completed)

. . In 1934 Jobs were hard to come by. When I saw an advertisement in the local newspaper for a lad to be trained as a wireless engineer (television was not to come for another 2 years) I applied for and got the job at the age of 14, whereupon I promptly left school. Battery sets and Crystal sets with cats whiskers and long aerials on poles at the bottom of the garden (120 ft of wire was the maximum allowed by law), were still in everyday use.

Our workshop was well known for sorting out problems and we did repairs for other shops as well as being the towns foremost Public Address engineers. My first work included rewinding headphone bobbins with 40 gauge wire, about the thickness of a hair, charging and cleaning out batteries, learning how to solder, fabricating metal chassis and repair or make any part of a wireless set. We hand built high quality radio sets and amplifiers to order, for many large estates around the county, also serviced cinemas, all the electronic equipment at the local greyhound track and started Wireless Relay, which later became Redifusion. For the next five years I stood on wooden slats (Against electrical shock) mending radio sets from 9am till 8pm every day except Sunday and Thursday afternoon when the shop was shut.

 All day I had to listen to several radio sets playing at the same time on soak test, every time I tuned in to a German station Hitler was becoming more strident and Lord Haw Haw. was spreading his lies and propaganda. The Spanish Civil war was on. I could not switch on a radio without hearing Hitler ranting and raving "ALL I WANT IS PEACE ! a piece of Poland, a piece of Austria a piece of Czechoslovakia!!". If you went to the cinema, there he was on the newsreel. Most of the cinemas in the town were ninepence or one shilling, then the posh ones put up the price to one and six. At the Savoy, Joseph Flitcroft came up from the bowels of the earth on the mighty Wurlitzer in a halo of flashing lights (only I think it was a Compton organ), I remember he once played the overture to "William Tell" for me, at my special request. I could only just pick up one of the massive GEC cinema cone speakers mounted on large wooden baffles for the best sound.

For me, the most interesting thing on the newsreel was the "Sneider Trophy" air race, it was nice to win some thing for a change, but you could not get away from the Spanish war or Hitler's latest invasion. Every week it was very frightening to see the 'Zeig Heiling' and masses of tanks, thousands of very smart marching soldiers, with their Luftwaffer practising bombing in Spain

What had we got! It was now 1938 and I had just built my first television set, I think they were just waking up in this country. I went to see a display of Army vehicles on a recruiting drive at the Drill Hall in Clare St., It was pitiful, dustbins on wheels (unfortunately this was proved to be only too correct, by the Germans some years later,) What chance do we stand after seeing the German hordes, marching on the newsreels,! "God help us! if they come near us".

In 1937 the Japanese started to invade China, we had a coalition government under Chamberlain and opened a Naval base at Singapore in Feb.1938. Hitler annexed Austria on March 14th and the British Navy was mobilised on Sept 28th. Chamberlain saw Hitler, Mussolini and Daladier and announced "Peace in our time". Hitler promptly invaded Lithuania and several other countries.

We were at Margate enjoying a family holiday when it came over the radio " Consequently we are at war with Germany". After all the years of listening to the build up, I thought it time I did something about it and as soon as we got home, volunteered to join the forces. Having seen our tanks at the Drill Hall but knowing that our planes had won the "Sneider Trophy", I settled for the R.A.F.

I trotted along to the emergency recruiting office in Duke St. where a long line of people in white coats poked about with all the important parts of me, said I would do and told me to report to Cardington air base. So of to Cardington with a  friend, Jack Parkinson another service engineer who worked at "Abel's", a high class radio shop on the market square,who also wanted to join up and went with me. Here they spent all day poking about with our brains. In the end they wanted me to be a wireless operator, there and then. We were given beds and told to get a meal at the cookhouse. There was a lot I didn't like and to crown it all, the tea had been boiled in the same container that they had used for onion soup at the previous meal. I sat on my bed thinking about things and said to Jack " why do they want me to be a 'Tail end Charlie', they must be very short of them". If it had not been for the tea I would have stayed there, but I suddenly made up my mind and told Jack I was going home. Jack said "you can't do that, they will have you for a deserter". Oh, no I will go and join the Army tomorrow and they can argue it out between them. I did not say a word to anyone I just sneaked out that night when the guard was not looking and got a lift home.
   
Along to the recruiting place in Duke St., another medical, "So you want to do wireless, with your experience in servicing them, we shall have to put you in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps." (Never heard of them, but they sound all right). I thought they had forgotten me, or worse, no one wanted me, I had just finished building the television set (Reception was very difficult in Northampton) when they closed down the transmitter at Crystal Palace so the Germans could not home in their planes onto it.
The shops ran out of black material for curtains, I shored up the cellar at home (55 The Broadway) with massive baulks of timber. Trees and lamp posts were painted white, cars had little slits for headlights, traffic lights and signposts were covered up. Brick air raid shelters in the streets needed car batteries for lighting. Syd. Montgomery who was by now doing our battery work and got the contract for servicing them.

To prevent direction finding, several of our wireless stations were linked together on the same frequency, this made reception difficult for the ordinary listener, as they interfered with each other and kept fading. At work we had the bright idea of making frame loop aerials so that people could point them at the best station, I made dozens of these with copper wire wound on a simple wooden frame, they worked well and sold well. Torch batteries were in great demand and hard to come by. It is only the zinc outer case that wears out, I collected all the carbon rods and manganese di oxide depolarisers when people came into the shop for new batteries, made new cases by soldering zinc sheet round a broom stick as a former, filled them with a paste of flour and sal ammoniac and sold them again.
   
I thought the Army had forgotten about my generous offer to sort out Herr Hitler for them, when one day at 8am.whilst I am still in bed, Dad comes in with this ominous buff envelope, is it the RAF.? No it's the Army with the following message, documents and travel vouchers etc.

          "You are about to become a soldier This will be a big change in your life. You will find yourself
           performing unfamiliar duties in a new atmosphere. At first, naturally, you will feel strange to your
           surroundings: you will miss your home and your friends. But soon you will realise that your
           comrades are in the same position, and that you are all starting from the same mark. Later
           when you have grown more familiar with your duties, and the reasons at the back of these duties,
            you will realise something else - namely, the greatness of the service which you are today rendering
          to your country; a service which that country will always gratefully remember( without prejudice,
            no comment !) Here are a few words of advice. Learn to obey all orders smartly and without question.
          Acquaint yourself with the traditions of your corps or unit, and live up to them. An officers first duty
           is to his men, he not only leads them into action, he is responsible for their welfare and comfort at
           all times. He joins them in their games, he listens to their troubles. Therefor, do not hesitate to
           approach him (through your non commissioned officer) and tell him the story.
    Once again I welcome you to the Army. Fear God, Honour the King, and May Victory Soon Crown Our Arms."

 Report to Hillsea Barracks Portsmouth (transport voucher enclosed)
Not much trouble on the railway, through London and down to Portsmouth, never been so far on my own before, always went on holiday as a large family, uncles and aunts included. They were right, hundreds of others in the same boat (there would be at Portsmouth), why so far, perhaps they don't want us skiving off home. But these are Navy barracks, have I got the right place?, every one has a big kit bag on their shoulders. Find the office, sign in, OK. Go and have a meal at the cookhouse, then draw your kit at the QM's, all these strange words, I shall never remember them. Everything is in short supply, knives and forks but not any plates, talk to a fellow standing in the queue and we decide to share a plate, eating from opposite sides of the table, well what was wrong with the RAF after all and what's wrong with tea tasting of onions.
    You will salute an officer even if he is stark staring naked.

The only trouble with this, is, that we are in Portsmouth and I don't know the difference between a Naval Officer and a bus conductor, so I am saluting everybody, some look surprised, but its good practice. Longest way up shortest way down.
.
After the meal we went back to the medics, for some injections, supposed to protect us against all the horrible illnesses we may meet at that time, they have invented lots more since ,"Roll up your sleeve and stick your left arm out, hand on hip like this!", "what a pansy!" it did not effect me but the big black West Indian, built like a mountain and one mass of muscle standing in front of me ,just collapsed in a heap on the floor. No one took any notice of him laying there "Oh ! that often happens." The memory of this always came to mind, when later on in Normandy, the MO would come to me and say "Tiffy can you sharpen my needles for me," My reply was always "Yes if you will do me first.!" They were always blunt at the end of a long queue.

Our teeth had been examined, mine were O.K. but someone noticed that I wore glasses and my eyes were tested, a prescription for army glasses was made out, these being circular stainless steel rimmed things with flat sides to fit under a gas mask. They were good glasses and I still wear them today, after sixty years the lenses still suite me and I wear them for driving
"Next we are herded back to the long building they call the stores, inside are long trestle tables, as we file slowly and painfully along them, some rubbing their arms, kit is thrown at us. First a large blue kit bag and a piece of rope, "Ah. of course, the rope threads through the holes at the top of the bag." now it's easier to carry!.   Next, the clothing, the storeman takes one quick look, " Size 8 medium boots, size 6 ½. forage cap,( Oh look! the flaps undo at the sides and come down over your ears), one cap's comforter (that goes under your tin hat, sorry!, steel helmet!), "if things don't fit, see the tailor!," drawers woollen long, I had only seen these before in Laurel and Hardy films, like little Audrey, I laughed and laughed, not realising how glad I would be later on to have them, when sleeping in ditches on just a ground sheet and a couple of blankets. Wearing them for weeks on end, until we came across a mobile bath unit and could change them. Meanwhile, back at stores!, vests P.T. etc., a battle dress uniform, also and most important of all, a set of mess tins and eating irons, finally two dog tags one green lozenge shaped and the other a red disc. I had name, number and Methodist stamped on mine.

The tags were to identify our bodies if anything unfortunate should happen to us, one left on the body and the other tied to the rifle, which was usually stuck in the ground. Surely there is no fear of that happening in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps., we don't go anywhere near the fighting do we?. Strangely enough, in the years that followed, in all the battles, death and destruction that I took part in, bodies burned and mangled around me, I was never afraid, or even thought that it could happen to me, how could I do my job if I was killed, what would the Colonel say?.

    I am aware that St. Dennis, (the patron saint of France), after having his head chopped off, picked it up and walked down the road with it. This was rather comforting as I am his namesake!, I think it would be asking rather a lot of me to do the same, although nowadays they can stitch a lot of bits back on. I am sure , that Col. Clegg would expect me to do just that, he always had tremendous faith in my ability to perform miracles. At one stage he was so afraid of losing me that he gave strict orders that I was not to wander about amongst those nasty Germans so much, of course it made no difference, there was just no one else to do the job.

Having been issued with all the kit they could spare. We dragged it across the barrack square for our first ride in an army vehicle, what a scramble, up a little metal step into a three ton truck and heaving up the kit, then up the hill to Portsdown school, where we were billeted.

This was a hive of activity, being a modern school with a lot of glass windows, in the schoolrooms and corridors, no children of course. I think we were probably the first intake to be billeted there, everything seemed to be in a state of upheaval and not quite ready to receive us, although the playground was ideal for our first attempt at square bashing.

Given wooden camp beds in the various classrooms, we started to sort out our kit, wondering what it was all for and how it fitted together, there were a lot of men shouting about all over the place, they seemed to be happy to tell us what to do and all had one or two stripes on their arms, some had them upside down on the left arm, these we were told were "old sweats" who tried to help us by buying our shoes and any other civilian items which they said we would no longer be needing. Woken the next morning at a much earlier hour than I had been used to, by someone banging on the door and shouting "Wakey! wakey! the sun's scorching your eyeballs out," the first, but not the last time that I have been so awakened.
   

Portsdown School...................D.R.Osborne Far right front row

I was right! the place was not quite ready, the next day lorries dumped loads of sand on the playground and they had us filling sandbags all day, my hands were raw and blistered through shovelling, then we had to carry the bags up ladders onto the roof to make a machine gun nest This was my first sample of hard physical work, not enjoyable at all.

They shouted at us and tried really hard to get us all marching together, "You are a lot of pregnant Penguins!". There was to be some kind of passing out parade at the end of all this, but we mustn't take too long over it as there was a war on and the coal mines were desperately waiting for us if we didn't pass.
Class room tuition informed us of the components of the army, from the top brass down to patrol level, on the parade ground we were all chorus girls and I personally was a pregnant penguin, I have greatly admired the "Tiller Girls" ever since. The Ordnance Corps has the slowest march in the army (the Ordnance Amble), so we were Told, in the old days they had to carry cannon pieces on their shoulders, if you look closely at the cap badge and you will see that the three cannon balls are too big for the barrels, this actually happened long ago and they have worn the badge ever since.

After a few days, they deem we are fit to be seen in public and we are allowed out, but only down to the firing ranges, " This is a short Lee Enfield rifle but the barrel has been modified to fire a point 22 bullet, it will not kick so much, but press the butt hard into the shoulder. Now you have tried that, we will show you how to fit your gas mask, "Right, into the gas chamber you go, now take off the mask and see the difference it makes," (Gasp choke, outside quick). This is a Bren gun, strip it down, put it back together, (then blindfold). Does anyone know anything about batteries?, the CO's car won't start, I kept quiet, I had already learned not to volunteer for anything.

Much to my surprise I was not given a pick and shovel, a Davy lamp and a travel warrant to the Rhonda valley, but posted to Parsons barracks Aldershot. Report to the office, (that was a mistake) I have found out since how easy it is to get lost in a camp and yet still turn up for meals. Given a canvas bag about six foot long and told to fill it from a heap of straw in one of the sheds. Given a steel frame bed in a Spider hut, luxury of luxuries, the large bag now becomes a palliasse, quite comfortable if you fill it with fresh straw every week, three evil, hairy blankets, smelling of stale sweat, we never had any sheets or pyjamas but slept in our PT. shorts.

The ATS were in the next barracks to us, just over the fence, they had sheets and pyjamas, which we could see hanging on the washing lines together with their khaki "Passion killers", I was always afraid of ATS girls and of being dragged into their camp, this is one of the reasons I would not go on an AA. gun site. In fact for the next eight years I did not have much to do with them, until one of them dragged me into St. Matthews Church

 Back at the camp, Just got off to sleep when all hell breaks loose, sirens sounding, whistles blowing, shouting, "Turn out!, turn out!", bundled into trucks, one month in the army and I have to help unload a blazing ammunition train that has been bombed, down the line near Ash station. This being the main military town in the country and the few tanks that we had, being otherwise occupied, the only way to defend Aldershot was with Molotov cocktails. During the next few days, they had us making hundreds of them, Trucks were sent round every officers mess in Aldershot collecting empty bottles, as we had no high octane Vodka, we had to fill them with our own mixture of petrol, oil and anything else that would burn well. These were real "Hi-Tech". cocktails, we put a small piece of Phosphorus in each bottle, this was supposed to ignite when exposed to air, a little bit tricky to handle.
   
In those days we had to learn quickly, after only three days at Aldershot I was the senior soldier and marching squads about. Came the first week end, Saturday morning I look at the order board and see my name down for church parade the following day, into the office "I am a Methodist, not church of England!". "Well you will have to go on parade-tell them then!." Spend all afternoon "bullshitting up", it turns out to be a special, high up parade, my first and last church parade, anyway, the parade ground is packed out, all kinds of officers with red on their hats, inspect us. There was no way I could tell anyone I was not C of E. left turn,! march off!, outside the gates, the Royal Artillery mounted band is bashing away on their big white horses, they lead us down Queens Avenue with the garrison church at the end of it.

Pathetone. News" have a news reel camera mounted on a tripod on the roof of a van, running along at the side of us, filming our every move. Left, right,-left, right, the church gets nearer and nearer, I say to myself I am a Methodist, I am not going in that church, we are now right at the gates, I will not go a step further, I stop and mark time. As I am in the middle rank, the whole parade has to split up and pass either side of me. When they have all gone in, I stop marking time and stand properly to attention, they would have been quite proud of their training at Portsmouth. They were still filming when an officer called up two MPs. and had me escorted back to barracks. I would not have gone into that church, they could have shot me, such had been my upbringing, what was it all about? I was married later in St. Matthews's church and served on committees there.

First day in the workshops, the civilian instructor shows us how to solder, upon inspecting my work and finding out that I had been doing it for years he had me going round supervising the others. Now the first sight of the radio sets, horror of horrors, "Wireless sets No.1" beautifully made and a delight to work on. But with bright emitter valves that lit up like twenty-watt lamps. These were still being made under contract since the first world war, I had seen them before when working on sets made in the twenties, they were ideal for training purposes, as everything in them was very accessible, the electronic theories and circuitry being the same to this day.

Advanced theoretical and mathematical tests were set every month, some people just could not manage them, every month I came top in the exams, I had never before, had any confidence in myself, but when others started asking me to help them with their Math's etc. and someone would say, "Ask that fellow on the end bed, he will explain the J notation to you", then I realised I had a brain after all.

We were always threatened to be made storemen if we failed the course, "Silly Billy", what an opportunity I missed. The fellow in the next bed said he could not stand the math's. any longer and would try the carpentry workshop, he did, but I don't think he was cut out for that either, as on the first day, he cut off his fingers on a circular saw.

Now, over the road to the tank and fire control workshops, lathe work, drilling, filing, engraving etc. this was a marvellous opportunity to make cigarette lighters and skeleton keys. I was taught about lock picking and skeleton keys by a Jock from Glasgow, there was not a lock he could not open, I must not suggest what his previous trade had been, and suffice it to say that he came back every night roaring drunk. In an attempt to cure him, one night, whilst he was snoring away, we hoisted his bed up the rafters, he fell to the floor, but was so drunk, he never even felt it. If you are familiar with spider huts, you will know that the rooms run off at right angles from a long corridor along which the walls are covered by cupboards. In our spider all these cupboards were permanently locked and no one had keys for them,(ah! ah! I see it now), yes Jock and I made keys for them, to hide our personal goodies, away from inspections.

One day in broad daylight, a "Dornier flying pencil" circled leisurely around Aldershot and dropped a bomb directly on the Canadian stores, only a couple of hundred yards or so from our huts, we all rushed over to help and salvage what we could out of the mess. Needless to say by that evening, all the cupboards in our spider, were over flowing with beautiful Canadian vests, shirts, ground sheets and anything else you can think of, manna from Heaven indeed!.

Came the final exam, the names were read out, first, top of the class Osborne, then Pinder and third George Sumner. The postings are read out, most of the draft are sent to the middle east, we hold our breath. Next, "The RAF are short of wireless personnel and so the following are being sent to them," I nearly faint as the names are read out, (They have got me after all!), then there were only three left. These three, Osborne, Pinder and Sumner, have done so well, that we are sending them on a senior NCO's. Course at the Royal Military College of Science!. "What me a raw recruit, a Warrant Officer"

George Pinder

"Well it's equivalent to a B.Sc. degree in electronics but condensed!" "I'll do that then," this covered, " Visual indicating equipment, "Radio Location"(later called RADAR). Math's with only a slide rule, log. tables, and a fountain pen, ( no Biro's then or calculators).and all army radio equipment, Thank you Mr. Cazerly I have not got time to write articles for your "Wireless World". "No I would not like to lecture in a classroom thank you." A local newspaper published pictures of us under the headline "The Soldier Scientists."

Bury (pictures of Bury)
The Royal Military College Of Science was at Bury, near Manchester and the three of us set off to travel by train from Aldershot. The journey was terrible, by now all the trains were absolutely choked up, no room to sit down in them all and running when the bombs would allow it. We arrived at Bury at about one o'clock in the morning, teeming with rain outside, no place to go, but to sleep as best we could on hard wooden benches in the waiting room. Came the dawn, we dragged our kitbags out into the pouring rain hoping there would be a Military vehicle or something to take us to Walmersly Rd. where our civilian billets were to be. Some bright local lad, standing outside, said in a foreign language which we gradually learned to understand as the native dialect, "Are you looking for the football ground", he was quite serious, they were absolutely mad about it up there in those days.

The Victorian house we were looking for was opposite the park and belonged to a kind hearted elderly couple, the husband still went out to work., the wife did her best to give us decent food, which was of course rationed, although she would have received extra for us.

175 Walmersly Rd, Bury

At Aldershot we had been used to good ordinary army food, but I am afraid her idea of a good meal consisted of black peas that we had never seen before and thought they had gone bad, cold tripe with jam on it and black pudding. I slept in a bedroom with my friend Pinder who was a church organist in his spare time, very clever and already engaged to be married. We had to work hard, as the course was very intensive, various lecturers had us peering into oscilloscopes, standard signal generators and head aching math's. that we did not need to know. We took it in turns to give little talks in front of the class, one of the lecturers was Cazerly the editor of the "Wireless World" and when he realised that I had worked out rather complicated math's for him and simplified some of them, together with my years of radio servicing, asked me to write a few articles for his magazine. We were already doing homework every night and helping each other with this.

The people of Bury were very kind to us and put on amateur concerts in church halls for us. We used to go to the cinema in Bolton some weekends, one day Pinder and I sneaked off to a cinema in Manchester, this was out of bounds. I think there was some kind of electric railway then from Bury, there was a lot of noise and banging from outside the cinema towards the end.
We went out and the whole of Manchester was on fire around us, that was the night the Germans destroyed it with thousands of firebombs. How we got back to Bury, I can't remember and shall never know. We could not stand the food we were being given, not wishing to upset our landlady, we invented some excuse like pressure of work and were given a "chitty" to have all our meals at a very good Co-op. Restaurant. Yes it was hard work at Bury but we learned a lot and enjoyed it.
The next part was at Leicester where the course dealt with. recovery work ,grade resistance , rolling resistance, pulleys, winches, map reading, driving vehicles and drilling men, from the other side of the parade ground. We were given one man each, way across the square and had to shout and make our man hear our orders alone, against the other NCO's who had been doing it for years.

"The order should be given as the right foot is passing the left!." The pause between "Quick" and "March" gives the timing for the step!, the pause for infantry therefore will be much shorter than the pause for ordnance then!". "Do you understand that!." "Yes Sir, thank you Sir!".
Squad will move to the right! "LEFT" turn!, "No there's no mistake, orders are always given, with your back to the guard room, facing the enemy, the right is the right flank, so the men may have to turn left to face the right flank." Thank you Sir.

Stirling (Picture Post Cards of Stirling 1941)
"Now first of all you had better get some workshop experience, where can we send you,? the furthest place from where you live must be Scotland, so to The Royal Army Ordnance Depot in Stirling. Given a railway pass for two weeks leave at home. Then a travel warrant to Stirling. The trains are really bad now, corridors blocked with bodies sleeping everywhere, hopeless to get a seat in a compartment, rifles laying about on the floor, people too tired to care. The train stopping every so often miles from anywhere, due to some little technical hitch such as a bombs on the line.I find that I have to change stations at Glasgow and stagger out of the first station with rifle and kit bag on my shoulders. Outside the station is a rough looking Scotty obviously waiting for a sucker like me, he offers to carry my kitbag across to the other station, he looks too much like old Jock at Aldershot to trust him and so I politely refuse his kind offer. I arrived at the Depot late at night and reported to the reception office, dumping my 2 ton kitbag on the porch glad to get out of the rain. An ATS girl was on duty as clerk. She said "Yes who are you". I replied 7630376 Osborne D.R. Wireless Mechanic. She wrote in her book 7630376 Osborne D.R. "Y" listed meckanic reported here at 10.30pm, and said O.K. go and find a bed somewhere. I had a quick recke and decided a hut not to far from what appeared to be the cook house. I went in out of the rain and found a vacant bed right at the back but still quite near the tortoise slow burning coke stove. The next morning I went to breakfast which was quite good the rain had stopped a little, there seemed to be no restrictions on leaving the camp so I decided to go for a little walk round Stirling, having found out what time dinner was. This went on for some time, every morning and evening I went to the guard room and on the board outside read part 2 orders to see if there was anything to effect me. The only thing that effected me was the constant rain as day by day I got on the local buses and toured the local places of interest such as the Wallace Monument. This went on for 3 weeks or so and no one seemed to be interested in me, of course little did I know that the ATS girl had made the little mistake of putting me down as a "Y" listed Meckinic. I often wonder where or what I would have finished up as if she had not made this little error and how it would have changed my war. One day I was sitting on my bed when the door burst open and some noise Serjeant started shouting "Any one here named Osborne" "Yes Serjeant" very meekly I replied, he seemed to be upset over something. "What the *-*  are you doing here/" was his question. "just waiting here as I was instructed to do by the office" "what? was it that *---* little ATS  so and so again. you should have been sent to the Radio workshops at the other side of the camp - go and report to them there". "Oh! my God" I thought surely it is not my destiny to spend the rest of the war in this God forsaken place, in the constant rain and hundreds of mile from home. They stuck me in in a "Faraday Cage" a little cubicle made of wire mesh to reduce static, interference etc, fitted out with Dummy Aerials, Oscilloscopes, Marconi Standard Signal Generators and other test gear, and wheeled in one field radio set after another to be brought up to spec. To add insult to injury one or two of them were FM VHF sets for search light Ack/Ack communication which had been marked B.L.R (beyond local repair) {I think he was offered the chance to go to an Ack Ack site or Stirling}.

Given all this equipment and spec figures in manuals to work from, repair and bringing them up to spec was child's play, any school girl could have done it. I felt my skill and experience was being wasted so I complained I wanted to do Radio work in the Field - not just Field Radio. I was not there long only 2 to 3 weeks. One day a movement order came for me something new which I seemed cut out for, something that would suite me better. No one knew what it was. Only that it was in Kent something to do with "Hell Fire Corner". "Hell Fire Corner" meant Dover and that's what my movement order said. There was a railway pass and instructions which said go to Dover, no one knows where this unit is based. When you get to Dover phone and ask for the Supervisor, don't ask anyone else, just give your name and number and ask to be put through to the 1st Independent Sound Ranging Battery RA. They will send some one to collect you.

I recall arriving by train at Dover Station in the spring of 1941 from Stirling. The first thing I spotted was an ordinary schoolroom type blackboard with the ominous words "Shelling Warning in Progress" scrawled across it. A stark warning as to why this area was known as  Hell Fire Corner. Being the target of shell fire is a most terrifying experience very different from heavy bombing by aeroplanes, which   is bad enough, at least with aerial bombing you usually have some form of warning of planes approaching and can take cover. With a shell there is no warning at all, if you hear it burst you know you are still alive, but it is usually followed quickly by three more. Dover and the coast where constantly being shelled by German Rail Gun.
After making the telephone call as instructed, I was duly collected by a driver and taken to the 1st Independent Sound Ranging Battery at Sellenge.

Appledore (pictures of Appledore 1941)

I was a field engineer and did not want to be in workshops or stuck with RADAR on an Ack Ack site. Sound Ranging seemed to offer all the things I had always been used to since leaving school and the equipment was just my cup of tea.

The 1st Independent Sound ranging battery RA had recently returned from Dunkirk evacuation to be re-grouped and fitted when I joined them, and so far as I know were the only group with any battle experience. From HQ's at "Hags Nook" (Sellinge) and Appledore, they had the task of setting up SR bases along the coast from Margate through the Cinque ports, Hythe, Dymchurch etc to Brighton, with outposts on such places as Dungeness point.

So here I was at Appledore next to the grand military canal built to keep out Napoleon, it was a real dads army place. With very basic equipment at first. I was given an old Canadian Ross rifle (which I think had been issued to David Crockett), it was my ambition at the time to posses a short Lee Enfield at half the weight. Four years latter I found it much easier to use a lighter  German rifle and then throw it away rather than clean my own.

Sound Ranging HQ Appledore

I had just got used to the Appledore area with the Battle of Britain dog fights overhead, the Bren gun in the garden with which we took turns to rattle off a few rounds

D.R.Osborne. Appledore

And planes crashing in fields around us. None of our own doing, as I never saw anyone hit anything, a Bren gun is only small and what could you expect when search lights and electronically controlled big Ack Ack guns belted away at them all the way from the coast to London and never hit them. I came to the conclusion that the guns were only there to give a little hope and comfort to families hiding in Anderson shelters dug in their back gardens. I only had a kitchen table for a workshop at Appledore in a back bedroom with basic hand tools such as a blow lamp, drill etc.

D.R.Osborne, Appledore work bench

I had decided that it may be an advantage to make a nice shiny model of a Spitfire or Hurricane on a stand to place at the side of my bed. This I thought would distract the attention of the inspecting officer from the sorry state of my brasses, kit and webbing. I hunted amongst a couple of crashed planes and with a hacksaw salvaged a few pieces of Perspex and Duralumin. Duralumin was an extremely light metal very strong but easy to work. Unfortunately I needed to weld two pieces together, to get the shape I wanted and attempted to do this. Up to this moment I wondered why planes burnt so fiercely. I had forgotten that Duralumin is a mixture of Aluminium and Magnesium, just after it got red hot it went 'woof'! if you have ever seen a camera flash bulb go off with just a few strands of magnesium wire in it, try and imagine what and 8" x 2" block of it in a vice would be like, it is lucky it was watered down by its Aluminium content, but the effect was still very dramatic. When I could get back in the room again and my eyes had stopped watering I found the whole place covered in white ash. Its lucky the whole HQ wasn't burnt down, funnily I was able to clear it up before anyone else knew about it. It happened to be Saturday and all those lucky enough to wheedle a pass had either dashed home for a day or gone into Ashford to the Pictures.
It was just after this incident that I was posted to another unit. Having completed basic training on rather out dated equipment.

  The office Walla who had a type writer on a table covered by the universal blanket, an in tray in one side and an out tray on the other, worked out our pay, having deducted barrack room damages and any small we may have purchased from the stores, from our 14/- per week. As he had the type writer he also had to make out daily orders, pin them on the notice board to be read by everybody and type any movement orders. One day he handed me a slip of paper which in effect said Goodbye, you have been posted to D-Troop 7th Survey Regt RA at Sutton Veny near Warmington in Whiltshire the "Moon Rakers" county, herewith movement order and railway travel warrant; catch the train tomorrow morning at Ashford, make your own way there.

Next day the duty driver took me in a Morris 15cwt together with full kit to Ashford station. The train was just pulling in when a dispatch rider on a motorbike comes dashing up shouting "Don't get on it"! Luckily the 15cwt was still in the station fore court and I returned to Appledore. It turned out that 7th Survey was travelling in convoy having left Sutton Veny for Lingfield Surrey. Next day a new travel warrant was issued for Lingfield. Arriving at East Grinstead I was again met by a 15cwt for transport to 7th Survey, at this time there was no such thing as a jeep. 7th Survey had found a lovely place along narrow lanes about 3 miles from East Grinstead and set up camp in a variety of farm buildings etc.

D.R.Osborne at Lingfield

Having reported to the office I was told another Royal Army Ordnance Corps man had joined them just before leaving Sutton Veny where the regiment had been assembled and he was about somewhere. It was then that I met someone not from the "Royal Military College of Science" but someone who trained at an army radio school and then sent to 1st Independent at Appledore, he must have left there and joined 7th Survey at Sutton Veny just as I arrived at Appledore. His name was Dennis Craig and we have been friends from that moment. I write this in 1966 like myself before joining up worked in a radio repair shop, in his case Bedford. We were both together in 7th Survey until after VE day.

'Jimmy ' Craig

7^th Survey Regiment which had only just been formed with the same old fashioned and outdated radio sets etc. Again I was in my element with these temperamental old sets and could always. Make them work to the envy of everyone else.I soon had the reputation of being the "Tiffy" to send for when no one else could succeed. We now moved to Goudhurst and Hawkhurst in Kent .

Montgomery was now our Commander and as he was a fitness fanatic , everyone including the cooks had to take part in regular cross country runs through the hop fields. Up and down scramble nets, PT with telephone poles, swimming in full kit at Maidstone swimming baths.  I quite enjoyed cross country runs through the hop fields and oust houses. We had a smashing time when all the Londoners came down for hop picking, singing all night at the village pubs, cockle and whelk stalls set up in the village streets. Apart from knees up mother Brown, I learnt several interesting songs from them, unrepeatable in this book, concerning Clarke Gable, Old Monks, etc

Exercise after exercise with the guns and Royal Engineers. Convoys with all our special equipment to Tilshead on Salisbury Plain where we worked out big gun barrages such as used at El Alamein and regularly right down to Sennybridge and the Brecon Beacons in Wales where it was always raining and we became used to dealing with and working knee deep in mud, This was stand us in good stead later on as we met the same conditions around Arnhem, xxx xxxxx own convoy moved off at first light after haversack rations i.e. sandwiches etc had been issued.

One day in 1943 I was approached by Col Clegg and  asked if it was possible to link two S.R. recorders together, I said quite a simple thing with a condenser and a suitable resistor. They said O.K. make up a little box that will do this. A synchronising impulse was given which could be over a land line or in the same room, to give an instantaneous time impulse to as many machines as you wanted. The box worked and to my surprise a R.A.R.E scheme was organised and the device tested.

The gates on the right entrance to house in which we are billeted, Nissan huts higher up on left hand side of lane. Have been here since about October, dated 4 May 1944 signed D.R.Osborne.

It was here in May that the Troop photographs were taken.