Chotie Darling
Dedicated to the memory of my mother
and all those who hold the forever young of war in their hearts.
Part 4 Only the Enemy in Front
Chapter 14 Belgium and the Ardennes
Sandy Handley starts this story:
“In December 1944 we heard that 50 Division was being broke up. We went back to Izegem to hand in all our equipment, vehicles, ammunition guns and radios. On the brighter side it looked as though we were to be in Izegem for Christmas.” (From Ex Trooper S Handley’s ‘61 Recce - Memories of Normandy 1944 – 1945’, unpublished)
Anthony Rampling remembers Izegem with great fondness:
“When we left ‘the Island’ in in Holland we were sent to Izegem to disband - because there were so many casualties they were going to disband the 50 Division and the 61st Recce. In the meantime they sent us to Izegem and we had a marvellous time. Everybody found a Belgian belle. I found a girl called Georgette – she was the first love of my life I suppose.”
Izegem was about the best time we had in the war. When we got to Izegem everyone did what they wanted. You did your own thing there – sitting about in cafés and going to dances.
“Nothing happened, no discipline, we just did what we liked. Most of us walked around all day from one café to another. That was about it.”
“My driver and myself stayed in a bakery in Izegem. Most of the other chaps got billeted in private houses, which was much better actually. They gave us a breakfast which consisted of stale iced cakes and very strong black coffee, which we weren’t used to.”
From Anthony Rampling’s account of 61st Recce (pers comm).
Dick had found himself rather better quarters (letter written in mid-December 1944):
61st Recce
RAC BLA.
Chotie Darling,
Sorry I haven’t been able to write you before but I’ve only just finished quite a considerable amount of work. I received your letter telling me of the birth of Margaret’s baby today – the first letter I’ve had for weeks (almost). Our mail has all gone astray again.
I’m back to the town I went to some month ago – the neighbouring town to the one where Madeleine lives.
For once in a while I’m living in luxury – I had all the billeting to do in this place so naturally I picked myself a first-class place. The family – (father, mother, four daughters and three sons) do everything possible to make me feel at home.
Being people of considerable intelligence they all speak English, French, Flemish and German, so life here is quite an education in itself.
They have also a very fine collection of records – all the piano concertos and several operatic records so Ronnie comes round pretty often to get a grip on them. The oldest daughter (20) plays Chopin rather well – but she’s engaged to a bloke in the Belgian Embassy….
They’re all very interested to hear about your work – they’ve all just seen their first ATS (they’re in Ostend in their hundreds) but they’ve never actually met any.
We’re having a real holiday while we may – and the old beer certainly flows here.
Is Margaret pleased it’s a boy? I’ll bet you’re more thrilled than she is. Send her my best wishes and congratulations when next you write, won’t you?
I should have some news when next I write, but I can’t tell you anything at present.
All my love, Chotie Darling,
Dicker
P.S. I’m enclosing something for Xmas. I’ll write you again to reach you by then.
R.
*Presumably the family of Monsieur and Madame Octave Sintobin-Anne, who Dick visited again later in the war.
One of the cards in Dick's 1945 diary.
© Chotie Darling
Eric Postles was also quite comfortable:
"We were ordered to Iseghem in Belgium to disband. All the regiment were billeted with families, each troop more or less in the same street.
Corporal Martindale and I were put with the Deschermaker family at Hondstrat 10. They were shoemakers doing the cutting and stitching at home and had a factory for assembly work. There was mother and father, Andre, who had been in the Belgian Army during the 1940 fighting; Simone, Paula and Jeanne (the three girls) and Renee who was about ten. We slept for the first time in a proper bed, drew our rations and handed them to the family, who we ate with. After an initial day or so we became accepted members of the family. No guard duties, no ‘stand to’, peace and quiet.
We reluctantly handed in our vehicles and our equipment to the Quartermaster staff and prepared for Christmas. We went to the barbers in the town square for a shave and had coffee and cakes in the cafés. As the Deschermaker radio had been confiscated I gave them one of the Phillips sets purloined in Holland. We did not seem to have any problem communicating with a mixture of French and English and helped out with cutting shoe tops." (Extract from ‘My War Years’ by John Eric Postles ISO used by kind permission of the author.)
Max Murphy of B Squadron’s Anti-tank troop wrote of a post-war return to Izegem in the newsletter of the Old Comrades Association:
“In Iseghem, although I could no longer remember the name or the address of our hostess during the period when we were in ‘civvy billets’ there, I managed to find the house and to my surprise the same dear old lady was still in occupation. We had lunch with her and reminisced as best we could through the language barrier.”
Colonel Brownrigg was lamenting the demise of 61st Recce:
“We handed in all our fighting vehicles, ammunition and petrol to various dumps. All wireless sets were removed from their vehicles, and the Quartermaster had all stores in a barn for checking. And so we were all preparing to drown our sorrows in Christmas feasting.”
(From ‘A Reconnaissance Regiment in the B.L.A.’ by Lieutenant-Colonel P.H.A.Brownrigg D.S.O.)
Prematurely perhaps?
Don Aiken continues the tale:
“At this point it was decided to consolidate and regroup. Part of this regrouping meant that 50th. Division, which had been badly reduced in strength, would be disbanded and broken up to make up losses in other Divisions.
With this in mind we, 61st. Reconnaissance Regt., were sent back to a small town called Iseghem (Izegem), which is situated in Belgium, close to the French border. We were billeted in various houses, cafés and so on, and our H.Q. and cook-house was situated in the railway goods yard. All our vehicles and equipment were taken to a dump somewhere on the road to Antwerp. We had a few days of wonderful bliss. Nothing to do but have a few drinks in the cafés and idle our time away.
We hadn't reckoned on the Germans. They had realised that the defensive strength of the US Army in the Belgian Ardennes forest was not good, with only 4 Divisions holding a front of 80 miles long….”
(Extract republished from From the Breakout to the Rhine by kind permission of Don Aiken)
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