An Englishman at War

by James Holland

  Wednesday, 3–Tuesday, 23 April

  After the stampede they decided that C Squadron horses should be separated from the Regiment. Actually I think it is just likely that the cause of the trouble originated in HQ. However, it was decided that C Squadron would leave. We were sent off to a village called Hadgia about four miles from camp, and occupied the billets and covered standing that the Royals had when they were here. We could not have been more comfortable. The horses were under cover, each troop had two saddle rooms and racks, and the men slept in a block of disused flats. The officers had their mess next door in another block. We had a large room each, and three bathrooms between six of us, also a mess room downstairs. At first we had to have our meals with Brigade at BHQ, which was in the village. We could not very well refuse their invitation to eat with them. Miller, our brigadier, was very much more human and amusing when you got to know him. Our breakfast was cooked by the café underneath and sent up to us, and very excellent it was too. After a time Brigade went on manoeuvre, and we cooked all our meals in our mess. We got Picirini from the camp officers’ mess to come and cook. He really is excellent – but I rather dread our mess bill as we did a certain amount of entertainment, and a quantity of drink was consumed.

  Parade was usually at 6.15 a.m. and generally we used the ground near the sea for training, which was very excellent for that purpose. At that time of the morning it was lovely and parts of the ground near the sea were simply covered with wild flowers. The birds, too, are quite exceptionally lovely, many of them passing through to other countries. Stables and cleaning parade took up the remainder of the morning. No work on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons except for stables, and on the other weekdays stables followed by a lecture in the evening.

  The court of enquiry on the stampede was held at BHQ soon after we arrived there. Lord Grimthorpe was in the chair; Major Townsend from the veterinary hospital and another man were on the committee. I was one of the chief witnesses. We spent the whole day there from nine o’clock until six; while we were waiting we played bridge. The colonel was in much better form when we played bridge. In the end I was not called as a witness for the stampede, which rather annoyed me after having waited all that time. I feel quite certain that they will not be able to find the cause of the trouble. Townsend asked the most intelligent questions, and was quite the live wire of the enquiry.

  Karkur Camp, June

  During our stay here I have been most slack in keeping up this diary. In fact, except for my stay at the pumping station together with my troop, I have hardly written anything. On the whole it has been quite a pleasant time while we have been here. We finished troop training, squadron training, regimental training, and last week after a three days’ scheme we finished brigade training. Next week we move to Acre, in Palestine. When we get there I suppose we go back again to troop training, that is, if we are not sent to some kind of active service.

  Six of the officers have got their wives here; they managed to bring them out by the back door. They have all taken houses in the Jewish village across the field, which has been most convenient for them. They sleep out on Saturday night only and are supposed to dine in mess two nights a week. The wives are not recognized out here at all and therefore never appear in camp, which is quite right. In a way it is rather hard on the men when they see that officers have their wives out.

  There have been one or two changes in the command. Wilfrid Bennet has left and gone to Division at Haifa. Flash Kellett has taken over command of the Regiment. Basil Ringrose is squadron leader of C and Gerald Grosvenor of A. Dan Ranfurly has left the squadron and has been made machine-gun officer in HQ Squadron, Henry Trotter second-in-command of B Squadron, and Michael Laycock second-in-command of A. Another new addition: each squadron has had two donkeys attached, which have proved most useful in cleaning up the lines. Jack Abdy was fast asleep in the mess the other evening, so Donny Player collected one of these donkeys and brought it into the mess and placed it opposite the chair in which Jack was sleeping. Jack woke up with a start to find himself face to face with a donkey. He immediately waved his hands in front of his face, as if to clear the dreadful vision from before him. It was really a most amusing sight. He has had his leg pulled unmercifully.

  The officers’ mess was burned down one morning at 3 o’clock. A great deal of wine and food was destroyed, and the cause of the fire will never be discovered. It will make the mess bills rather high. We have since discovered that the mess accounts were in a dreadful state. Joss Abel-Smith has no idea where all the money has gone, and the mess sergeant has turned out a wronger. Donny Player has now taken on the role of PMC [president of the mess committee], and Joss, self and John Walters are on the committee. We have now got another contractor in, and are messing at 4s per day, which is considerable, especially for junior subalterns who are endeavouring to live on their pay. But still at the moment the food is good.

  The feeling among the men is not good. The food is rotten since we have been put on a wartime basis, and they are all getting very bored out here, doing comparatively nothing. Most of all, they miss their letters. We have had no mail for about three weeks.

  It was Lady Yarborough, the colonel’s wife, who led a group of the officers’ wives out to the Middle East, which included Dan Ranfurly’s wife, Hermione, and Henry Trotter’s wife, Rona, among others. This, of course, was not only entirely irregular, but highly inappropriate. They had obtained the destination of the Regiment from the War Office and decided that they would follow their men to war, rather than sitting it out without them back home in Nottinghamshire. ‘Rules were for the hoi-polloi,’ says John Semken, ‘but they weren’t the hoi-polloi, so those rules did not apply!’

  Tuesday, 11– Friday, 14 June, Power Station, Karkur

  Last night we heard over the wireless that Italy had entered the war against the Allies. Mussolini has given as his reason that he had to look after his Mediterranean interests. Italy entering into the war might make all the difference to us out here, but still we shall have to wait and see.

  Saturday, 22 June–Thursday, 4 July

  The war has developed in a most amazing and unexpected way. Since war started, Germany has gradually annexed the whole of Europe: Czechoslovakia before war, then Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland and now finally we have just heard that France has accepted the crushing armistice terms imposed by Germany, which have been signed in the same railway carriage as the Versailles Treaty. She has done this without any consultation with England, her only ally. This wrong has been well commented on by Churchill. They had no right to accept without first consulting England, however desperate their plight might be. The Germans demand a complete domination of France and her colonies by Germany and Italy, and absolute dis armament. However the French navy and air force are still intact, especially the large French force in Syria. What will happen to them? Will they all come over to us or will they scuttle themselves before handing over all to Germany? Only time can tell. I understand that all British troops are out of France and that more Canadians and Australians have been landed in England to protect her. I do wish that we could see some activity out here but at the moment I don’t see it. The gunners attached to the division have been sent to Egypt, and they keep on taking men from this regiment for various other jobs, and as Donny Player and Basil Ringrose are going on courses, and taking their sergeant majors, I don’t see that they can call upon us to do anything very active.

  Italy’s entry into the war and France’s surrender changed Britain’s position dramatically. At the beginning of the month, the Mediterranean had still been open to the British. Suddenly the French and Italian shores on the northern Mediterranean were in enemy hands, and so, too, was much of the North African coastline to the south; Libya, for example, Egypt’s western neighbour, was an Italian colony, while Tunisia and Algeria were French, as was French Morocco. In the eastern Mediterranean, both Lebanon and Syria were also under French control. Not only would this make supplying Egypt and
the Middle East much harder for Britain, it also meant the short route to India and the Far East via the Suez Canal was now closed. Furthermore, with Britain still reeling from the loss of France, the last thing she needed was any attack by the Italians into Egypt. Britain’s pre-war plans had relied heavily on France’s large army, and British re-armament had focused on air power and the navy. With much of the army’s equipment left on the beaches at Dunkirk, Britain in June 1940 found herself woefully short of guns, tanks, rifles and other equipment. Meanwhile, in Egypt, British troops amounted to just two divisions of some 36,000 men, and only 27,500 men in Palestine. On paper, at any rate, it seemed some way short of what was needed. In Libya, for example, the Italians already had some 215,500 men.

  Tuesday, 25 June

  Rather a dull day. Donny has gone for a fortnight’s course to the cavalry school so Peter has taken over the squadron. We leave here next week for Acre, trekking all the way so we are giving the horses an easy time. In the evening I went to the camp cinema and saw quite an amusing show called Five Ways into Tonn.

  Wednesday, 26 June

  In the morning I took my section leaders out over the plain and we did some compass work. Renny, who at the moment is acting leader of 1 Troop, was quite easily the most intelligent. In the afternoon Lawrence Biddle, Basil Ringrose and I went for a swim, which was really enjoyable. We really are most fortunate being so near the sea and able to bathe under such perfect conditions at the government’s expense. When news comes through that England is being bombed one rather feels perturbed being here and so well out of the enemy’s way. But I suppose in some way we are doing good here.

  Thursday, 27 June

  At lunch today Lawrence Biddle and I decided that as we had not seen Caesarea and we are due to leave this camp on Tuesday we would make an evening trip there. I took Corporals Brittain and Gardener from my troop and Lawrence brought some of his men. We took beer and sandwiches with us. Without hurrying it took us about 1¼ hrs. We didn’t actually go across the desert but skirted the north side. There is no road to Caesarea and you can’t get there by car, only on foot and horseback. We arrived just before dark and had a most interesting time looking around. Now it is nothing more than an Arab village but the remains of Herod’s palace and St Paul’s prison can easily be seen. The palace was right on the sea, which flows over the remains that have fallen to the ground. The wall that the Crusaders built is most fascinating.

  We came back another way, i.e. along the seashore, until we struck the river and then turned eastwards. It was a longer way but more pleasant. The sand was hard and it was a lovely night so for the first mile we travelled at a split gallop, great fun. We had the beer and food on the way home and met a police patrol en route. The sergeant in charge told me that a strong current of bad feeling still existed underground between the Jews and Arabs.

  We arrived back in camp about 11.15 and found the place a perfect hive of activity. Orders had come through from Brigade that the Regiment should supply a colonel, adjutant, doctor, RQMS, some corporals and I think 40 other ranks. The party had to be ready to move at 6 o’clock the next day for some unknown destination, dismounted. Each squadron had to supply so many men and they took all from my troop and, what is more, they took four of my best men, Corporal Hill, Renny, Lacey and Large. There is a great deal of speculation about the cause of all this. It is pretty certain that Syria or the frontier is their destination but most improbable that they are forming an advance for this Regiment as Flash Kellett has been promoted to acting lieutenant colonel and various other members have been promoted. Nobody seems to know whether they will come back to the Regiment.

  Friday, 28 June

  We have heard today that the French Army in Syria has had instructions from the Vichy government under Marshal Pétain to cease hostilities against Germany and Italy. This is very surprising after all the assurances we have seen in the press, that the French colonial empire, especially Syria, would fight on. Apparently this caused all the activity last night, and other regiments have done the same. They anticipated that there would be a great influx of French soldiers across the frontier to join up with us so the high command have founded these camps to receive them, taking a number of officers from the 5th Cavalry Brigade.

  I went out to dinner with Sydney Morse and his wife. She is a most eccentric and nervy woman, and most anxious to get home, but at the moment she has not got a hope. All the wives out here might find themselves in rather a mess if we should suddenly have to go off to fight. After dinner we were all sitting round having our coffee when the colonel’s car drew up driven by Michael Parish. We went to the door to meet him, and were told that the Regiment had to be ready to move at 4.30 next morning. That immediately sent Mrs Morse into a flat spin. I naturally wanted to get back to camp as soon as possible, but had to wait for Sydney to collect all his things and say goodbye to his wife. As it was he had had far too much to drink and our journey back to camp across the fields was most precarious.

  I found Stephen Mitchell still in bed as he had not been warned and he was acting squadron leader as Donny is on a course and Peter has taken adjutancy since Tony Holden had gone the night before. We called a conference of troop sergeants, had the men warned, then packed up everything so that we should be ready to move at 4.30 next morning. Reveille was at 2.30 and in the end we managed to get a couple of hours’ sleep. Orders then came through that we should not saddle up but that the Regiment, was on an hour’s notice. We waited the whole day ready to move at a moment’s notice, but of course nothing happened and we have not yet heard the cause of all the trouble, but I gather they wanted us to hold a line on the Syrian frontier. I hear that in order to prevent French soldiers from crossing the frontier, agents of the Vichy government have spread rumours that the British authorities would not receive any French soldiers or arms, and that some French soldiers who had crossed had been fired on. Personally I think there is a very good chance of us now walking into Syria, and I am quite certain that we should do that.

  Saturday, 29 June

  Today we stood ready to move at an hour’s notice. All the men were very weary as they had had practically no sleep for the last two nights. We did absolutely nothing for the whole day except stand by.

  Sunday, 30 June

  The order came through that we no longer need to stand to, so we proceeded to unpack again. We exercised the horses in the morning and this was followed by stables. After lunch, Lawrence Biddle and I went for a bathe, which was most enjoyable. After such excellent bathing out here, bathing in England will be a very poor second.

  2

  Mounted Cavalry No More

  Guarding the Pong Station.

  Tuesday, 2 July 1940

  WELL, TODAY WE have had quite the greatest day’s shock of the war, for this regiment, anyhow. We were all told that we were going to lose our horses immediately. The colonel gave out this news at an early regimental parade. The reaction was quite extraordinary; our future at the moment is a mystery. The colonel informed us that we should most likely be nearer the enemy and the front line but our future role is quite obscure. This morning we had our usual squadron parade, and it seemed most strange and very sad that in all probability this was the last time that we should parade as a mounted squadron. The horses of A and B Squadron left camp today for the remount depot at Nathaniya HQ and we ourselves go tomorrow.

  Wednesday, 3 July

  We spent the whole of today packing. The horses went off to Remounts at Nathaniya under Stephen, one man to two horses. It was very sad seeing them all going away. I shall miss Bob terribly. I didn’t ride over myself, but left Gardener to take my horses. Donny Player was perfectly miserable when he saw the squadron leave. Actually, he has arranged a home for both his chargers at the cavalry school. His sole interest in life is horses and now he says he feels like a ship without a rudder. He broke down, poor chap, as the last horse left camp. The whole thing happened so terribly suddenly that I cannot bring myself to understand the
full significance. In the afternoon the brigadier came and addressed NCOs and officers. What he said wasn’t too bad, but he was very ill at ease. He gave us no indication about our future job or destination.

  The old pre-war county regiment was rapidly beginning to shed its skin. They might still have been a yeomanry regiment in name, but they were now professional soldiers and would remain so until the war’s end. The British government and the Middle East command were being forced to adjust to rapidly changing circumstances. General de Gaulle, who had escaped France to London and assumed command of the Free French, had urged all French forces to continue the fight, a message that appeared to have been heard in Syria, but the new puppet Vichy government had sent General Weygand to Syria at the end of June to urge the army there to accept the terms of the armistice signed between Germany and France on 22 June. It was not clear whether British forces would soon be fighting Vichy French as well as Italian forces. One thing was for certain: that the Sherwood Rangers needed to be prepared for frontline duty rather than a colonial policing role. It was equally clear there could be no more highly damaging, not to mention expensive, stampedes: the horses had had to go. Even so, the Sherwood Rangers were left with a very uncertain future. With the collapse of France, there was an urgent need to rebuild the army, but this would take time – and especially as Britain’s priority was to defend herself at home against the inevitable onslaught from the Luftwaffe.