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Name: Peter Morley Brown

Born: 24th May (then celebrated as Empire Day) 1921

May 1940: Volunteered for ��ѿ��ý Guard (attached to Hampshire Regiment)

March 1941: Volunteered for RAF. Enlisted as Trainee Radio/ Wireless Mechanic.

1941/1942: “Square Bashing” Boscombe. Technical Training Northern Polytechnic, London and RAF Cranwell. After “passing out” posted to number 3 Bomber O.T.U. Harwell. Worked on Wellington Bombers on which the Officers were trained. Took my first flight in an aeroplane as part of the job.

March 1943: Volunteered (for what was described as a “special unit”). It turned out to be the RAF Servicing Commandos which were then being formed and trained for the prospective invasion of Europe — shows what long term planning there was! Adhoc units had been formed in North Africa and for the invasion of Italy. Simply explained their task was to follow up the army as close to the front line as possible. A temporary airstrip would be laid down and we would refuel, rearm and service the aircraft attacking the enemy. It enabled the aircraft to continue operations without having to return to their bases which might be 25/50/100 miles back. We also had, if needs be, to help defend the airfield.

1943/1944: We were incorporated in “Combined Operations” and intensively trained. We all had to swim, to drive trucks, to attend assault courses, e.g. Commando Training School Inverary, Scotland, Beaches of South Wales, gas drills etc. Instead of RAF Blue we were kitted out with khaki battle dress on which were sown red and black combined ops badges, blue RAF Eagles, trade insignia and “stripes”. When asked what we belonged to, we replied “NAAFI Managers!!” Training also involved work experience on a wide variety of aircraft, Hurricanes, Spitfires, Mustangs, Mosquitos etc. To do so we travelled far and wide in the UK visiting aerodromes and airstrips. In all 31 different sites in 14 months.

3rd June 1944: Moved to “holding” site Old Sarum (Salisbury) along with thousands of others bound for Normandy.

8 a.m. 6th June 1944: Embarked (with transport) on LCT (Landing Craft Tanks) at Gosport and set sail. We were in line three abreast. In mid channel, the LCT to our immediate left was attacked by German Torpedo boats and set on fire. One member of our unit died, others were injured. They were left floating in the channel until being rescued by a US Destroyer. We arrived off the coast during the hours of darkness on the 6th June 1944 and hove to, to await dawn and land on Gold Beach. Around 4.30 am on the 7th June 1944, the landing craft were beached, the ramps lowered and we drove ashore. Not all did, for in at least one case the ramp hit an underwater obstruction and there was a 6ft drop into which the truck plunged. Apart from men getting soaked and some equipment lost, no harm was done. The army was a few miles in land but all credit to those who, a few hours before, had lifted the mines so we were able to drive along white taped paths to a field a mile or so from the beach. It had been occupied by Germans who had been overcome. There were dead bodies about and what I remember particularly were their tents where inside the porridge was still in bowls on the trestle tables and a radio was still playing. We “commandeered” the battery radio for our own use. There were also battery operated miniature tanks with explosive charges which they had not had time to use. We disarmed them. That first night ashore, we had to “defend” our area. I spent my first night in Normandy in a ditch with a 303 rifle. Along side me was a dead German who had been split in half by a shell and whose face was looking up at me between his legs. I didn’t envisage this when I had joined the RAF three years earlier. Next morning German Prisoners were brought in to remove their dead. We also found out that the entrance to the field had been mined. Our trucks had driven over them but thankfully they had not detonated. The Royal Engineers came in and made them safe and lifted them.

A “recognition” problem arose which could have been serious but luckily wasn’t. Before leaving England we had to give up our khaki and been put back in RAF “blue”. In Normandy the dust everywhere coated our blue uniforms turning them into a shade of field grey — not unlike the German uniforms. There were some “awkward” encounters with the army and use of strong language. We overcame the problem by wearing a bright yellow neckerchief which in fact was the gauze from the field dressing which we all carried. I guess no-one expected to encounter the RAF in the early days of the invasion. Rumour had it that someone “high up” had said that as the army and navy had said at Dunkirk “where is the RAF” it was a question of morale that RAF units should be seen and identified. So much for bureaucracy!!

We helped with loading and unloading on the beaches until the strips were laid and within a week we were operational and doing the job we had trained for. Actually the first aircraft to land on my strip was an Anson which had brought urgently needed medical supplies for the front.

All six units were now doing their jobs at the strips which had been laid down. Because we had almost complete air superiority we were able to work almost unhindered but there was the odd ME109 on a strafing mission. There were accidents and mishaps, after all the strips were rather rough and ready and the pilots found them rather difficult sometimes. There were some casualties but luckily no fatalities.

Bayeux was captured early on and we visited, were made welcome by the town’s folk, and enjoyed tastes of camembert cheese and calvados (apple brandy). Talking of Bayeux we were invited by the mayor to attend the Bastille Day celebrations (14th July), which we did and also arranged a football match between our unit and the towns folk. Of all the aircrafts serviced, I was most impressed by the Typhoons which were carrying out their tank busting operations ahead, particularly in the Caen area.

So day followed day with all the ups and downs of active service. As historians of WWII have demonstrated, the hoped for early “breakout” didn’t happen as planned. The sticking point was Caen which was being pounded by bombers of which we had a grand stand view as they flew in.

Our job as mentioned earlier was to follow hot on the heels of the army as they advanced rapidly but at this stage they weren’t. We were still doing a useful job but during July, ground crew from the individual squadrons were arriving from the UK and we were put in reserve until a breakthrough was made and the airstrips could be advanced again.

At the end of July the “ grapevine” had news of the American breakout into Brittany. Our CO returned from an HQ briefing with instructions for the unit to make preparations to move off in 24 hours. Was this the “great leap forward”? We were disappointed; we were in fact to be returned to the UK. We went back to Arromanches, then on a US navy LCT via the newly completed Mulberry harbour to Portsmouth and on to Bognor Regis on 7th August 1944.

We were thanked for our contribution to the undertaking. The breakout did happen soon afterwards but our job had been done. What we didn’t know was that the “powers that be” had other plans for us. Two months later we were on embarkation leave, then on to a troop ship to Bombay. From there to Burma where we took part in the re-conquest of that country and down to Rangoon. There we were training for the assault on Singapore, which, thank God, never took place, because of the atomic bomb and the end of the war in the Far East.

But that’s another story…

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