Chotie Darling

A Very Happy Leave - Monday 28th September 1942

Mortar Troop, HQ Squadron A

43rd Recce Regt, Recce Corps

HOME FORCES

 

Monday.

 

My Darlingest Chotie,

                                                            Sorry I haven't been able to write before, Precious, but I'm afraid this is the first opportunity I've had since getting back.

            Hope you also arrived home safely, and got my card, from Hastings.  Needless’ I carried it about for hours without seeing a post-box and of course as soon as I put it in my pocket, I forgot it, and couldn't post it until Sat.

            I should like to thank you, Darling, for a very happy leave, before I go any further. I hope I don't sound over formal... But seriously, Chotie, I wouldn't even think of leave now unless you were able to spend it with me. 

            Please don't think me too puerile - I'm really very sincere.  I know you must often think me ‘vacant’ - I realise it myself, but being in this Army has or rather does things to me.  I find it very difficult to act normally and think normally when home on leave, as I suppose all the time I realise that I have to come back to this existence, for no one could call it any more than that.

             However, that's quite enough of this trash.

             Thanks again, Darling.

             Ref. the Recce Badge, I have applied for a transfer to the Engineers, though I very much doubt whether it will ever come through.

            Did you see the Splash about the Recce in the last Sunday Pictorial?*  Tommy rot...

            There was a twelve page missive from Monica** waiting for me when I got back from leave.  What a homecoming!  Tells me the only reason she married was that when she heard about you, she gave up hope!  More rot...

             Well, Cho, there seems no news, as usual.

             Don't forget to advise me instanta of any change of ‘employment', will you?

                                        Bye, bye, my Precious

                                                                    all my love,

                                                                                    Dicker.

P. S. Be good...

(or reasonably so...)

 

*A feature entitled “The First Thrilling Story of Britain’s ‘Reccies’ – our Secret Army is Ready”:

            “The men of the Reconnaissance Corps have taken on one of the toughest jobs in the war – the spearhead of our attack on Germany. They are as elusive as guerrillas, fast as scouts, tough as commandos…..every one picked for brain as well as brawn…everything is improvised, time reducing, hazardous…an army which will roam behind enemy lines...their job, to spy on the enemy a close quarters…every scrap of information they get will be fought for” etc.

(From ‘Beaten Paths are Safest’  by Roy Howard, courtesy of the Sunday Pictorial, now the Sunday Mirror.)

**Dick’s former girlfriend.

 © Chotie Darling

 

On 28^th and 29^th September 1942 one squadron of 43rd Recce were involved in a Divisional Smoke Exercise.

(From the War Diary of the 43^rd Reconnaissance Regiment held by the Archive and Reference Library, the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.)

Postcard from Hastings

Postcard – The Old Town from West Hill, Hastings

(Posted from Dover on 26^th September 1942, written on Friday 25^th?)

Dear Chotie,

                               Have an hour to wait at Hastings so thought I'd send you a card.  Just going to have a cup of tea in Plummer’s.   

The sun's lovely here now but still quite chilly.  I must ‘do’ the town in an hour
so.

                                Cheerio

                                            love Richard.

PS  Hope you got back alright!

© Chotie Darling

Nine Days

Telegram – 12^th September 1942

 

LEAVE WEDNESDAY 16th LOVE = RICHARD + +

 

Dick had nine days Privilege leave from 17^th to 25^th September 1942

and met up with Chotie.

 

Copy of Record

SERVICE AND CASUALTY FORM

17.9.42         Priv. Leave    17-25.9.42 (9 days) 

Army Rank Trooper              Place Home Forces

 

 

12th September 1942 - a Japanese attack on Guadalcanal,'the Battle of Bloody Ridge', is defeated costing the Japanese half their forces on the Island.

12^th/13^th September 1942 – Major March-Phillips, the founder and leader of the Small Scale Raiding Force (insert link), based in Poole, was killed in a raid (Operation Aquatint) on the Normandy coast near St Honorine des Pertes (the beach later known as Omaha from the D Day landings). (From Combined Operations WW2 website.)

13th September 1942 - a major German assault in Stalingrad pushed Soviet forces back to the banks of the River Volga but was met with fierce resistance.  In the heavily bombed city the Russians became adept at street-fighting, or 'Rattenkrieg' ('the war of rats') as the Germans called it, with crack snipers hiding among the derelict buildings.  Women played important roles in the defence of the city, as bomber pilots, firing anti-aircraft guns and as medical orderlies, retrieving the wounded under fire.  (From ‘The Second World War’ by Antony Beevor, published by Weidenfield and Nicolson 2012)

 

18th September 1942 – British forces landed on the East Coast of Madagascar and by the 23rd occupied the capital Tananarive (now Antananarivo). The Vichy French government signed a peace treaty on 5th November 1942.

 

Our "Engagement" - Tuesday 8th September 1942

5731671 Tpr Williams R

A/TK Troop, HQ Squadron

43rd Recce Regt, Recce Corps, Armed Forces

Tuesday

My Darling Chotie,

                                        I'm in a lecture at the moment, so I'm writing this in my notebook under pretext of taking some notes…  I got your letter this morning - for which many thanks.   Hope you can read this scrawl but I never could write on my knee.  Glad to hear you celebrated your birthday in style - wish I could have been with you.

(The bloke here is a yawning on about internal combustion engines - very dull after six weeks of it.)

            By the way - in your last letter but one, you told me about your ‘change of employment ', but it was, if you remember, in the form of a postscript, which I missed of course, at the first reading.  When reading it again at a later date (a very sound habit of mine), I came across it, and needless to say, would have congratulated you in my last epistle. Anyhow - nice work.

            (I very much doubt whether you can make head or tail of this scrawl.  I've got a job to understand it myself - but persevere, Darling.)  I have to keep answering questions all the time to this wretched man - a Sergeant from the Ordnance Corps.  Up to now, I've managed to keep just one jump ahead of him.  He's not really very bright - typical of the R.A.O.C.*, but writing a letter as well has its snags.

            I've been enquiring about my leave, and may get it on the 16th i.e. next Wednesday (a week today), but it seems rather doubtful.  What can you manage if I do?  I'm afraid I can't say definitely, because the Squadron Office don't know themselves.

            I've been put on fire guard for a week (!) which means I work evenings as well.  I haven't been out since I've been here.  Not that there's anything of interest.  I went out on an exercise yesterday morning, and passed through some marvellous villages, would have delighted Frances B. Young**.  

            Glad to hear you met Jones.  Where is he stationed these days, or didn't he tell you?  Did I tell you that Brinner was on a course in North Devon?   

            Are the old Dorsets*** still with you?  It would mean that they've been there a year now.

            I've got a cross country to run this evening after tea, a Devil, isn't it, seeing that I haven't done PT of any sort for seven or eight weeks.

            My two Scotch friends have gone on leave to bra’ wee Ayr, and left me disconsolate, although they are both in ‘A’ Squadron, and I don't see much of them. 
(The lecture has at last ended, 1½ hrs, so I'll finish this tonight - maybe...)

            Well, Lulu, after the lecture I heard I'd been transferred from the Anti Tank Troop to the Mortar Troop****, and having seen the Troop Commander about my leave, feel more confident about the 16th - but remember it’s still not definite. 

            This mortar job appears cushy - driving - but not quite so cushy in action.

             Well, Darling, I must close here with all my love,

                                            always yours, Precious

                                                                    your loving

                                                                                    Dicker

 P.S.  I mentioned our “engagement” to the old folks at home in my last letter.  I haven't yet had a reply ... keep your chin up, Lulubelle..

 

*Royal Army Ordnance Corps – responsible for supplying weapons, ammunition and equipment to the Army.

**A Frances B. Young wrote a biography of Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke (an Elizabethan writer) but the origins of this reference are obscure.

***Dick’s original regiment (see Chotie Darling Part 1 ‘The Blue Cockade’) last heard of at Branksome in Poole.

****A Reconnaissance Regiment consisted of one HQ Squadron and three Reconnaissance Squadrons. Mortar Troop was one of the four Troops in HQ Squadron (with Signals, Armoured Tank and Admin) and used 6 x 3” mortars. Mortars are portable. Fixed to the ground they are used to fire small bombs in a slow high arc into the enemy at close range.

 © Chotie Darling

On 8^th and 10^th September 43^rd Recce were engaged in the 129 and 130 Infantry Brigade Exercise ‘Break In’ and on 15^th and 17^th in the Brigade Exercise ‘Break Out’.  Unarmed combat cadres for N.C.O.s were held from 14^th to 18^th September and on 14^th September Field officers attended a lecture on “Recent Operations in the Middle East”. The Commanding Officer attended an address by the new South East Army Commanders on 22^nd September. 43^rd Recce participated in a display for the visit of the Army Commander to the Field Firing range at Sandwich on 23^rd September.  A Regimental Exercise on 25^th and 26^th September “proved very valuable training in operating the regiment as a whole”. The exercise involved river crossings and cooking on vehicles with 4 man pack rations.

(From the War Diary of the 43^rd Reconnaissance Regiment held by the Archive and Reference Library, the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.)

Return to Dover - Thursday 3rd September 1942

The War in Dorset - September 1942

The Small Scale Raiding Force was involved in raids on Les Casquets lighthouse in the Channel Islands and St. Honorine near Bayeux, Normandy.  In Operation Dryad on 2nd/3rd Septembera the successful raid on Les Casquets lighthouse destroyed the ‘U’ boat wireless transmitting station, capturing seven German soldiers, as well as vital code books and Naval information.

Tarrant Rushton airfield was constructed between Blandford and Wimborne, near Badbury Rings in Dorset. The aircraft was to field the first arrivals on French soil on D Day and 1st British Airborne set off for 'the Bridge Too Far' that was Arnhem from here.
 

Whirlwind aircraft from Warmwell in Dorset sank two armed trawlers in the Channel on 9th September.

On 11^thSeptember five people were killed by a single German bomb dropped on the Bournemouth Road in Parkstone, Poole; near where Chotie and her family lived.

A Poole flying-boat, the Clare, came down in the Channel after a fire, killing six crew and thirteen passengers on 14^th September.

(From 'Dorset’s War Diary - Battle of Britain to D Day’ by Rodney Legg, Dorset Publishing Company 2004 and ‘Poole and World War II’ written by Derek Beamish, Harold Bennett and John Hillier and published by Poole Historical Trust in 1980)

 

During September 1942 43^rdReconnaissance Regiment was still based in Dover, although that month they received orders to mobilise, complete with first line reinforcements. All reinforcements, including Dick, arrived during the month.

Inter-Squadron Exercises were held at the beginning of the month “bringing out many useful lessons in Section and Troop tactics and instituting considerable enthusiasm.”

Intensive First Aid training commenced early in the month, designed to train all ranks during the winter.

(From the War Diary of the 43^rd Reconnaissance Regiment held by the Archive and Reference Library, the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.)

 

 

On 2^ndSeptember 1942 Dick passed his Trade Test as a Driver Mechanic

 

Copy of Record

TRADE TRAINING REPORT FORM

REPORT ON STUDENT          c) End of course

TRAINING ESTABLISHMENT  ADDRESS:    

THE DREADNOUGHT GARAGE AND MOTOR ENGINEERING WORKS (HOVE) LTD

STUDENT’S REGTL.  No 5731671     RANK Trooper          NAME  Williams R.K.

ORIGINAL UNIT        43^rd Recce. Regt.                COURSE (Trade)  D.M.

Duration of course    From 23^rd July 1942           To 2^nd September 1942.

SUITABILITY FOR TRADE - Very suitable                       

CONDUCT AND INTEREST - Good

PRACTICAl ABILITY -  Very Good

THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE - Good                                                                    

SUMMARY      Passed Complete Class 2 Test in Army Trade of DM*

REMARKS:

Will make an excellent D.M. Requires plenty of work.

Date   2/9/42                              S.F.Webb. Lieut O.M.E.

*DM = Driver Mechanic. Reconnaissance called for many more drivers and mechanics than standard infantry to successfully reconnoiter the battlefield. (From ‘The British Reconnaissance Corps in World War II’ by Richard Doherty, Osprey Publishing 2007.)

Copy of Record:

SERVICE AND CASUALTY FORM

Passed trade test and qualified for appointment as Drv. Mech. Tp. ‘D’ Cl.II                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3^rd September 1942 – a National Day of Prayer was held for the third Anniversary of the Declaration of War.

 

 

Letter - Thursday 3rd September 1942

5731671 Tpr Williams 

HQ Squadron, 43rd Recce Regt. Recce Corps

Home Forces 

Thursday

 

My Darlingest,

                                                                                    By the time you get this letter, I shall be back at Dover, but remember not to mention please or put anything but the address above.

            I hope this will reach you before the 6^th* – and so will wish you a very happy Birthday, and only wish I could be with you.  I have sent something – or rather it’s being sent – nothing much I’m afraid, but I wish you every happiness, with it.

            I went to the opera three times during the last week, the only nights I could get off and saw ‘Bohème’, ‘Trovatore’ &  ‘the Barber’**.  It was the Carl Rosa of course with Joan Hammond and Parry Jones.  Very good.  I met an Italian there (naturalised) and spent a very enjoyable night.

            Well, Darling, I’ll write again when I get to the other end, so all the very best, Precious

                                                                        Your loving

                                                                                    Dicker

                                                                                    Xxxx

PS. Have just started to run for the train…

 

*Chotie’s 19^th Birthday on 6^th September 1942.

**All famous Italian operas - Giacomo Puccini’s 'La Bohème’, Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Il Trovatore’ (The Troubadour) and Gioachino Rossini’s ‘Barber of Seville’. The Carl Rosa were a touring opera company.  Parry Jones was a Welsh tenor. Joan Hammond,
an Australian soprano, became internationally famous after the war.

***Benetti – mentioned again in letter sent in February 1943.

© Chotie Darling

 

On 7^th September 43^rd Recce had a demonstration of the Army Cadet sign system for all wireless operators, Dvr Ops (driver operators?) and officers.  (From the War Diary of the 43^rd Reconnaissance Regiment held by the Archive and Reference Library, the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.)  Dick mentions being on exercise on the 7^th in his next letter.

 

 

7th September 1942 - Rommel withdraws from his attack on the El Alamein line at Alam Halfa Ridge in Egypt.