Home | To War With The Bays
And here sadly is the concluding chapter of Jack Merewood’s account of fighting through World War Two with the Bays regiment.
Jack’s story is well-worth reading and re-reading. To begin at the beginning please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/to_war_with_the_bays/
Fifty-one years after World War Two had ended Jack Merewood returned to Italy to seek out some of the people he met while in combat.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s wartime experiences please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/to_war_with_the_bays/
Years after the war Jack Merewood returns to Italy to visit the places where he and his Bays colleagues battled against the Germans.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s story please visit http://www.openwriting.com/archives/to_war_with_the_bays/
Jack Merewood remembers those he met during the war.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's wartime experiences please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/to_war_with_the_bays/
Jack Merewood receives his award for gallantry from the King at Buckingham Palace.
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...To be fair, it was a tremendous job to demobilise hundreds of thousands of troops, and in the meantime no one knew what to do with us. Then they decided to send 250 of us, including myself, Harold Balson and Ted Ryan, to Lincolnshire, to pick potatoes and sugar beet...
Jack Merewood, now eager to be demobbed, becomes an enforced farm labourer.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s vivid account of his wartime experiences please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/to_war_with_the_bays/
...I went dancing with Jessie. We gathered blackberries, something we used to do every year and take for granted. On Saturday I went to the rugby match with my parents...
After years of combat Jack Merewood enjoys to the full the delights of home.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s wartime experiences please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/to_war_with_the_bays/
...Major Rowlands had been replaced as our Squadron Leader by the recently promoted Captain (now Major) Crosbie Dawson, who was away at the time, so was unable to attend the dinner. But later we all received a letter from him. It was a typewritten duplicated letter thanking us for the help and support we had given him, and wishing us well. Across the bottom of mine he had written: 'P.S. We miss your cheerful face a lot. No one in this war has done a better job than you. Good luck.'...
After years of intensive warfare Jack Merewood is at last homeward bound.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s vivid account of his time in battle zones please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/to_war_with_the_bays/
...There was no doubt that this was the best billet we'd ever had. The door at the back of the house led into a large well-kept garden. The sisters, who besides Italian, spoke some English and French, were smart, gentle and intelligent, and ap¬peared to be quite wealthy...
Jack Merewood and his mates are now billeted with Italian families.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s account of his wartime experiences please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/to_war_with_the_bays/
...First of all Arthur Treacher, a well-known English actor, at the time working in films in the USA, came on the stage, did a bit of patter, then introduced the Andrews Sisters. They came out of a little tent onto the stage - and they were fantastic! The huge audience clapped and cheered as they sang all our favourites 'Rum and Coca-Cola', 'Apple Blossom Time', and many many more. We wouldn't let them go — encore after encore, but finally they had to say: 'This really is the last.'...
Jack Merewood begins to relax now the the war in Europe has ended.
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...One evening Sid and I went for a walk and talked about what we'd do when the war was over. It wasn't over yet. The Japanese were still fighting, but the end seemed inevitable. What would we do? After all these years living outside, all the time on the move - could we ever settle down to a normal life again?...
Jack Merewood, still serving in the Army in Italy though the fighting in Europe has ended, begins to think of life after combat.
...I had been on some slow trains but never one like this. We were travelling in cattle trucks, which was nothing new, and as we passed through an orchard, we jumped off the train, walked alongside it picking pears, then just climbed back aboard....
Returning from home leave Jack Merewood has a wearying four-day journey across Italy before rejoining his regiment.
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...20 June: 'The Med. this morning is the calmest I've ever seen it, I doubt if it could be calmer, for there's hardly a ripple, it's just like a great lake. Passed Capri about 1.30 p.m. Dropped anchor in Naples harbour in the afternoon. Not disembarking till tomorrow. Went to horse-racing [a game played on board ship], won three races with No. 6 —changed money into lire.'...
Although the war in Europe had ended, Jack Merewood was recalled from home leave in England to his regiment in Italy.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s book please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/to_war_with_the_bays/
Jack Merewood enjoys home leave, but then, even though the war is over, he has to return to Italy to rejoin his Regiment.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s wartime story please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/to_war_with_the_bays/
...4 May: 'At last land sighted first thing. I saw it at 6.15 a.m. Reckon it must be the south coast of Ireland, as we're heading due east. Told will be in tomorrow at 4.45 p.m. Sighted land to starboard - must be Blighty! Blighty, I can't believe it. What a feeling. Went to community singing in evening.'..
Jack Merewood returns home after three years and eight months of active army service and enjoys hectic, happy days.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s account of his wartime service please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/to_war_with_the_bays/
...As usual the train journey was uncomfortable. We stopped at Jesi and Asti for meals and spent the night trying, unsuccessfully, to sleep in the corridor, regularly being trodden on by other passengers and bitten by bugs. Next day we arrived in Naples and were taken by lorry to a transit camp about four miles out of the city....
After years of combat in North Africa and Italy Jack Merewood is at last heading home.
...Unexpectedly, in a field in the direction in which our guns were pointing, and about 300 yards away, six German soldiers who had been hiding in the grass stood up and waved a white flag. Some of our infantry went out to get them. I had my guns trained on the Germans, when suddenly they threw down the flag and opened fire on our men. This proved to be a fatal mistake, for it only needed the press of a button with my foot and they were dead men. Our soldiers were unhurt...
After a day of fierce combat in Italy Jack Merewood receives an unexpected message. To read the earlier chapters of Jack's wartime memories please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...On 9 April a massive attack was launched. Bailey bridges were laid across the river and troops poured over them. We crossed the river over a bridge near Granarolo; our friends must have been terrified by all the noisy activity, but for them it would soon pass. We now had the initiative and were sweeping forward. The north bank of the Senio 'certainly had some dug-out positions there. Right on through Lugo which the Kiwis took yesterday and where they captured 640 prisoners. Civvies all waving and shouting and clapping.'...
Allied troops are steadily driving the Germans out of Italy. Jack Merewood continues his account of his wartime experiences.
...Out on scheme across country. I (and many more) think it's a terrible thing to do, to go round mowing down vines and crops. Wilful destruction. Some tanks got bogged down. In afternoon watched a lot of twerps milling around.' Next day we found that some tanks had ploughed up our football pitch!..
Jack Merewood is less than impressed that good Italian farmland has to be destroyed when he and his colleagues carry out tank manouvres.
...24 February: 'Sunny but cold. Apart from machine-guns pretty quiet. Jerry 600 yards away on river. Then quite a bit of excitement. Jerry started it by throwing over a pretty big barrage, our artillery retaliated, and I reckon we got the best of it. We on the post were in the middle of it. Still, it could be much worse up here.'...
The war in Italy grinds on.
To read earlier chapters in Jack Merewood's well told account of his World War Two experiences please click on To War With The Bays.
...La Boheme was playing at the Rome Opera House. Topper was mad to see it, so, not wanting to be a spoilsport, I agreed to tag along. As the opera progressed I became more and more interested. I was thrilled by the brilliant singing and the scenery was fantastic. I think that evening I had one of the most marvellous experiences of my life. I had gone expecting to be disappointed and uninterested. I left with nothing but praise and enthusiasm for what I had seen...
Jack Merewood and his friend Topper make the very best use of their leave from the Italian battle front.
To read more of Jack's story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
Jack Merewood, engaged in combat in Italy, receives an unwelcomed letter from the girl he met in North Africa, telling him she is engaged to be married.
"I felt miserable for a long time and I couldn't get the thoughts out of my mind. But I had to put my mind to other things; tanks, mud, war, and above all, thoughts of home. I'd not seen home for almost four years. Surely this war must end soon, and some day, if I managed to continue dodging shells, I'd be back in England...''
...We lay in the ditch for a long time. It was dark, and very quiet - until we moved, and then the bullets whistled through the air again. It seemed the gunner would never relax....
Jack Merewood and his colleagues are often too close for comfort as they carry the battle against the Germans in Italy.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's wartime experiences please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Jerry dropped some of his blinkin' rockets last night and did they rock this house. Horrible weapon. Made meat pie and apple pie. This is about the easiest time we've had in action (touch wood). He's dropping some rather big shells fairly close, 300 to 400 yards away, but the main thing is we're sleeping in a house and have a fire. With this snow and cold we're thankful for it...
Jack Merewood and his commrades in the Bays continue to engage the Germans in the battle for Italy.
...That night the sergeants had a party at which the drink flowed freely. One sergeant (not from our troop) was throwing his weight about, boasting how much he could drink, and in a drunken stupor said he could drink a whole bottle of cherry brandy at one go. He did so, didn't feel well, stepped outside, and dropped dead...
Jack Merewood tells of a wartime Christmas in Italy.
…24 December: 'Christmas Eve, yet another one to be spent away from home and abroad. Surely we shall be home for the next. It makes me wonder. How things have changed since last Christmas, and oh that we could have back those boys we have lost since then.'…
Jack Merewood and his colleagues try to make the best of December 25th during the Italian campaign – but the day is filled with thoughts of fallen comrades.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s war memories please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
…Through the trees in the early morning mist we could see German soldiers moving about. The tank was facing away from the orchard. The driver and scatter-gunner could only see in front, but we in the turret could see all round.
It was Lofty's turn on guard, and he whispered that four of the Germans were slowly and cautiously coming towards the tank, through the trees. They were carrying a bazooka, a portable anti-tank gun, very deadly…
Jack Merewood is engaged in close combat in Italy.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s vivid account of his wartime experiences please click on To War With The Bays.
…About 200 yards up the field in front of us one of the A Squadron tanks was hiding from the Germans against the wall of a barn. Dave had gone up there the night before and relieved the tank commander. Tonight I had to go, taking three men with me to relieve the crew. My diary I think, puts it mildly, when it says that this was a 'pretty hair-raising experience'…
Jack Merewood continues his account of combat in Italy.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
…29 November: 'On guard with Sid and Jake, ground wet and muddy and boots wet through ... still no letter from Suzette, wrote to her again to say I was getting worried. Rumoured that we may stay here a while. Three hour standby cancelled. Jack and I made a cribbage board and played most of day. Ended up "straights"!' …
The war in Italy grinds on, but there is talk of special leave for fighting men. Jack Merewood continues his vivid account of his wartime experiences.
….One of their sergeants came and said they'd just found eight Italian men down a well, all with their hands tied behind their backs and shot through the head. As we pushed on we also came to a well and we found another seven men down there who had suffered a similar fate, a gruesome sight. What sort of men were these we were fighting to commit such atrocities as this?...
Jack Merewood was in the thick of the bitter battle for Italy.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s vivid story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
…We went in a pick-up to the hillside. It was peaceful there now, with newly made graves on a ridge on the brow of the hill, each marked with a simple cross and the man's name. One was Stan's, and I couldn't hold back the tears…
Jack Merewood tells of the aftermath of the terrible battle of Coriano Ridge.
Jack Merewood, after some time in hospital, returns to the battle front, there to receive terrible news.
Jack Merewood has to go into hospital. The M.O. tells him that his trouble has arisen because of having been in the desert too long.
To read earlier chapters of Jack’s account of his wartime experiences please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
…We continued north through Caserta and then Cassino. Never before had I seen such a scene of desolation and destruction. The monastery on the hill was just one big ruin. Even all the trees are dead, and every house for miles past Cassino had been hit.' It was nine months since the Battle of Cassino, and, as if a huge earthquake had hit the place, there were still no signs of life…
Jack Merewood and his Bays colleagues see an American show starring the great composer Irving Berlin – then head north past Cassino and a scene of desolation.
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…We brought the tanks to Matera and parked them on waste ground on the edge of the town in an area abounding with fireflies. On guard at night the tanks appeared to be trimmed with fairy lights…
Jack Merewood and his colleagues undergo further training in Italy – though there’s time for Jack to write letters in French for his colleagues who made friends with locals while they were in North Africa.
...Wherever we had been and whatever nationality they were, we always made friends with the children, and often I thought how tragic it was that they should be involved in this terrible war. They didn't want to fight us nor we them. We just wanted to be friends...
Jack Merewood, now in Italy with his Army unit, continues to make new friends.
To read early chapters of Jack's experiences please click on To War With The Bays.
...I would never have dreamed in a thousand years that on the day we left Algeria I would write in my diary 'Feeling miserable'. It wasn't because we were going to Italy, it was because I was leaving behind part of my life, and 'feeling miserable' was the understatement of the year. This terrible war - friends and loved ones torn apart — when would it end?...
Jack Merewood's unit sail off to Italy to rejoin the battle against the Germans.
...I wrote to M. Hugnit thanking him for the marvellous week I had spent with him and his family, but regretting that I would be unable to see them on the 28th.
A few days later I had a letter from Suzette. She had been looking forward so much to Whitsuntide, now I wouldn't be there ... she missed me ... I missed her too...
Jack Merewood says tearful goodbyes, then boards a troop ship bound for Italy.
To read earlier episodes of Jack's experiences please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Suzette played the piano, taught me French songs and wrote out the words for me. One I remember well was 'Le Bateau des lies'.
The evenings were spent playing cards, talking, singing, sipping anisette, and added to all this well-being was the excellent cooking of Mme Hugnit. One day, unbelievably, I suddenly realised that I was even thinking in French...
On a holiday break from warfare Jack Merewood stays with a local family and kisses the beautiful Suzette.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's memoirs please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
Jack Merewood is given leave to return to Aumale to stay with his friends on the farm.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's wartime story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
Jack Merewood and his colleagues in the Bays are still in North Africa, bored, waiting - for what they did not know.
But there are surprise meetings to brighten the days.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...We were in this area for over a fortnight, once out on a regimental scheme 'fighting' other regiments, on another occasion travelling 100 miles south as far as Bou Saada on the edge of the Sahara Desert. There had been a time when we couldn't touch the tanks because they were so hot, now we could hardly bear to touch them because they were so cold!...
The Bays go on exercises in the North African mountains.
To read earlier chapters of Jack Merewood's vivid account of his wartime experiences please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...On 24 December we trimmed up the mess-hall and gave a party for the local children. They enjoyed themselves eating, drinking and singing (a mixture of French and Arabic), and all went home with a little present. They had a happy time and it was fun to entertain them....
The Bays are still in North Africa, awaiting a posting to a war front. Jack Merewood continues his war memoirs. To read earlier chapters please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...On 11 November, 1943, we had an Armistice Day parade in Blida. We marched along the decorated main streets with bands playing, to much hand-clapping, and flag-waving. It all went down very well with the local population...
After being engaged in historic battles, Jack Merewood and his colleagues are still in North Africa, awaiting further orders. While there Jack receives a surprising proposal.
...I would go into his workroom in the evenings and we'd talk for hours. He was completely ignorant of anything that was happening outside his own little world. 'M'sieur Jackie' he called me, and questioned me constantly about England, the outside world and particularly about the war. He couldn't read and could only write his name, and even this he did tongue between his teeth and with great difficulty...
Jack Merewood befriends an Arab saddler, Bachir, conversing with him in French.
To read more of Jack's vivid wartime experiences please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...We also built a stage and concerts were arranged. We still had a very good band, based at 'HQ', and they would come and play. Some of the more talented members of the Regiment sang songs or told jokes, not usually for the most sensitive of ears. Topper gave accordion solos, Jock Spence, a wild Scotsman, revelled in singing 'The Road to the Isles', and after a few glasses of wine could really let it rip...
Jack Merewood and his colleagues find ways of passing the time while being re-equipped with new Sherman ranks.
For earlier episodes of Jack's wartime experiences please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...No. 4 Troop still had their pig — which had now grown considerably — and they made a sty for it. Killer Wyatt was put in charge of it and took it for a daily walk. He guided it with a long stick. You could tell the pig liked him, it was like a faithful dog as it trotted alongside him, and I think Killer felt a certain affection for it..
Jack Merewood's tank squadron - after bitter fighting in the North African desert - is temporarily based on a farm some twenty miles from Algiers.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's wartime experiences please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...During his time in Tunis he had made friends with a French family by the name of Leautaud, and, having the use of a pick-up, he took me to meet them. They were nice friendly people and had a lovely daughter about twelve years old, called Lucienne.
They invited us to spend the coming Sunday with them. We went in the afternoon, took Lucienne swimming in the sea, then returned to their house for a meal. They had invited some of their friends, and after we had eaten we had a singsong - in French as no one spoke English. It was after midnight when we left. It had been a most enjoyable day...
John Merewood enjoyed some blissful times in North Africa after fierce combat and long dusty days of travel.
...Ben Gardane is in Tunisia, near the Libyan-Tunisian border. We stopped there for one night, and the only thing I remember about it is the flies. Flies were no novelty, but Ben Gardane's took the biscuit. As we ate, we had to keep waving our arms to fend them off. Ron Grist and I were standing one on each side of a jeep with our food on the bonnet. Ron put some jam on his bread. He turned to talk to me and in a split second his bread was a mass of flies — you couldn't see the jam for them....
Jack Merewood goes on another long journey through the heat and dust of North Africa.
For earlier chapters of Jack's vivid account of men called up to fight please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Oh it's great to be on leave, a bed, sheets and a pillow! We decided to buy presents today, and had a good morning's shopping. Colin and I sent telegrams home. Had our photographs taken. I bought an MM ribbon. Had dinner and tea, eggs, chips etc. Went to the pictures at night, then to the Bystander for supper and a drink.'...
Jack Merewood and three friends are allowed a short leave in Cairo.
To read earlier chapters in Jack's vivid account of his wartime experiences please visit To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Stan and I came back from a swim at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday 17 July to be met by SSM Strutt. He was waiting to congratulate me on the news that I had been awarded the Military Medal for saving the lives of our tank crew at El Hamma.
Next day Major Streeter, formerly our squadron leader but recently promoted to second-in-command of the Regiment, came over and said: 'Many congratulations on your award, it is something you deserve.' I felt proud and happy, and the rest of the troop were very generous with their congratulations...
Jack Merewood is honoured for his bravery in battle. To read earlier chapter's of Jack's vivid account of his wartime experiences please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...On the morning of 12 May the squadron was in an olive grove near Tunis. We were told that two men from each tank could go into the town. Buck and I were chosen and a truck took us in at 11 a.m., coming back to collect us at 5.30 p.m. My diary has little to say about those few hours: 'Big place, but could get nothing to eat there. Had some wine. Plenty girls!' There was much evidence of the fighting: the town had only been taken the day before...
Jack Merewood tells of relaxing days after epic battles in North Africa.
...Then during our rest period, when it was raining heavily and Buck and I were sleeping in the tank, we were awakened at 6.30 a.m. and told to be ready to move in fifteen minutes. Jerry was on the run!
We passed Kurnine. The Germans had been blasted off it. We only covered twelve miles that day but we felt we were at last on the move. We ran into pockets of resistance but overcame them without loss. In spite of being heavily shelled and temporarily held up by anti-tank guns, we still moved forward. Orders came for us to mop up anything in our way, and we proceeded to do so relentlessly.
There were hundreds of refugees now on the roads and they were suffering casualties too. We stopped at a farm, filled up our water cans and pushed on...
Jack Merewood tells of the fall of Tunis,
...On 23 April, Good Friday, I wrote: 'Reveille 4.30 a.m. Packed up and moved at 5 a.m. Now (8 a.m.) we're very near the front line and waiting to go in. May God see us through this day safely ...'
Our objective was to take a ridge three or four miles ahead of us. As we pressed forward we saw German soldiers laying mines....
British troops press on slowly across North Africa, fighting their way towards Tunis.
To read earlier chapters of Jack Merewood's vividly told account of his military experiences please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...In the moonlight a tank appeared about 300 yards ahead. 'Let him have it, Jackie,' yelled Nobby. I did, and it went up in flames. The noise was deafening.
We pushed on, right into the middle of the enemy encampment where there was utter confusion. Vehicles were running about not knowing which way to turn, some even coming towards us. We fired at everything in sight. We sent up more vehicles and tanks in flames and completely overran an anti-tank gun position. The crew ran past us to give themselves up. Tracer bullets raced across the sky. It was fierce, intense, yet, in the moonlight an eerie experience that left one with a feeling impossible to describe...
Jack Merewood conveys the drama and horrors of desert warfare.
To read earlier chapters of his story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
After a mad dash across North African, Jack Merewood and his companions prepare to go into battle on the Mareth Line.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's wartime story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Herschel was just the opposite to Jacobs, always bright and cheerful. Once when we came across a knocked-out German tank he got into it wearing a German helmet (there were a lot of them about) and Jacobs took a series of three photographs, one with Herschel looking out of the side of the tank giving the Nazi salute, one with Paddy Flanagan wearing an English helmet standing on top of the tank and hitting him on the head with a rifle butt, and the third, Colin, Ron Grist and myself dragging him out of the tank...
After the battle of El Alamain there was time for fun and games, as Jack Merewood recalls.
To read earlier chapter's of Jack's vivid narrative of his wartime experiences please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...We'd also occasionally listen to 'Axis Sally'. She was a young lady with a very sweet voice. Her English was perfect, and her broadcasts went something like this: 'Hello boys, how are you tonight - cold, miserable, homesick? How about a record to cheer you up? Let's hear Deanna Durbin singing "Beneath the Lights of Home".'
She played the record and then: 'Home, How long is it since you last saw home? A year, or two? Well don't worry, back in Blighty there are thousands of American and Canadian soldiers taking care of your wives and sweethearts. They've plenty of money, and gum for the children too. Let's have a Bing Crosby record now.'And so on...
Jack Merewood continues his account of warfare in the North African desert.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's engrossing story please click on Two War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Our squadrons were just a few minutes' walk from each other, so Ronnie and I would visit one another regularly, to talk and play cards. It was decided we should make a squadron football pitch (later we also made a regimental one). The desert took a bit of straightening out, but when finished the pitch wasn't too bad, just a few rough places...
After intense fighting in the North African desert there was time for football and other games, as Jack Merewood recalls.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's vivid war memoir please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...As we moved forward the desert was a scene of destruction and desolation - burned out trucks and tanks, dead German and Italian soldiers, guns and equipment strewn everywhere. Then came hundreds of soldiers, mostly Italians, streaming across the desert shouting and waving their arms. We moved through them urging them past us for the infantry to collect and put in POW camps...
Jack Merewood tells of days of combat in the North African desert.
....By 8 p.m. we were in position, and I wrote in my diary:There's a glorious sunset tonight. What a mad world. Who would think we're on the eve of a great battle - perhaps the fiercest we’ve been in yet. May it be God’s will that I come through these few days alive. If I have to die, I’m not afraid, but my heart aches for Jessie and my mother and dad. God comfort them. Above all I pray to God that He will bring Ronnie through this safely, so that he and Emily will be able to live happily together for many years. God give me courage...
Jack Merewood readies himself for one of the most famous battles of World War Two.
...I was issued with some new kit accompanied by much grumbling from the QM at my not having brought my kit with me when I baled out of the tank. He moaned particularly about having to give me a new gas-mask because I hadn't 'bothered' to take my other one with me. This really upset me.
The people like him, back at the Cairo base we referred to rather contemptuously as 'base wallahs'. In their cosy Cairo offices they had no idea what it was like to be fighting in the desert. If you ever came across one somewhere else, he usually was telling everybody what the war was like...
Having recovered from his battle wounds Jack Merewood has some days of respite in Cairo before returning to combat.
...There were a lot of chameleons on some bushes nearby. We brought some into the tent, put them on our beds, and they entertained us by flicking out their long tongues to catch flies. We tied a string between two poles and they would walk along it, clinging with their 'hands' and tails. They were olive green in colour, but if you picked one up and put it on something red, it would take on a red tinge: move it to something yellow and it changed to yellow...
Jack Merewood finds unsual "entertainments'' as he continues to recover from wounds received in a tank battle.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's vivid story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...I was going to have to learn to walk again. Seven weeks after being wounded I gingerly got my feet on the ground for the first time - just for a few minutes. A note in my diary says: 'I'll be walking in two or three days.' That, to say the least, was over-optimistic. A week later, after daily testing, I walked a few yards with a crutch, then graduated to a stick, and eventually was going under my own steam...
Jack Merewood slowly recovers from his wounds received in a battle in the North African desert.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's war memoirs please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on his page.
...I will never forget the day I was wheeled on a stretcher into that ward. The 'ward' was a big marquee, and to me it looked like heaven. Bright, cheerful, flowers on the tables, and the sister was the nearest thing to an angel that one could imagine. Her name was Sister Furnival. How old she was I don't know. I was twenty-three and at that age anyone over thirty is old, but I would guess she was somewhere around forty. She was one of the most wonderful people I have ever met...
Having been badly wounded when a shell hit his tank during a battle in the North African desert, Jack Merewood is taken to a hospital 70 miles east of Cairo.
For earlier chapters of Jack's engrossing story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...It was scorching hot and soon we could see German vehicles in front of us shimmering in the heat. We shelled them and really wreaked havoc among them. All hell was let loose as we exchanged fire; the noise was deafening and the dust rose in clouds. It was an exciting experience, but also very frightening.
We were fighting with the best tanks we'd had so far, and had confidence in them, but our confidence was soon shattered. Through my periscope I saw a spurt of sand from the ground in front of us. Within seconds the next shell hit us. It was certainly an A.P./H.E. because it came straight through the front of the tank and exploded inside.
I looked at Jim; he had taken the full blast of the shell in his face and was dead. I had blood on my face and arms but what was hurting most was my leg. It felt as if it had been hit with a sledgehammer. On looking at it I saw a hole in my thigh an inch or more across...
Jack Merewood tells of excitement and fear as his tank squadron leads an attack in the North African desert.
For earlier chapters of Jack's vivid and unforgettable account of his wartime experiences please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Water was a very precious commodity. The water wagon came every day and our four pints each had to suffice for drinking, washing and shaving. To try and keep the water cool, we'd dig a hole in the sand, bury the can there, and sometimes park the tank over it...
Jack Merewood's unit get new American Grant tanks as they ready themelves for a desperate battle in the North African desert.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's wartime story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...We had not seen bread for about three months. Instead we had packets of biscuits, very much like dog biscuits, extremely hard, and wearing on the gums. One day there was great excitement; the ration wagon had located a bakery in Tobruk and arrived with some bread. This was shared out between us. We had seen better bread. When sliced, it was found to be grey in colour, and we had to dig the weevils out before eating it. It was bread, though, a welcome change from biscuits, and this treat was repeated occasionally....
Jack Merewood tells of life in the desert for British troops during the North Africa campaign. To read earlier chapters of Jack's vivid war memoirs please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
Heidi Kirsch, in a letter to her brother Hans, recalls the night bombs fell on Leipzing.
For more stories of civillian suffering in wartime please visit timewitnesses.org/
...Although during the fighting we had seen a considerable amount of aircraft activity, we had never been attacked ourselves. We saw many more German planes than our own. Our aircraft support was very limited, though the pilots were very brave when overwhelmingly outnumbered. We saw a few dogfights and would raise a cheer if one of our Spitfires or Hurricanes brought down a German. We had machine-guns mounted on top of the tanks, and when we weren't moving, one of us was always on ack-ack duty...
Jack Merewood continues his vivid account of warfare in the North African desert. To read earlier chapters of Jack's story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Then our tank was hit.
When your tank is hit you have two options: one is to sit tight, the other to bale out. Both are dangerous. The tank is liable to catch fire and, with all the petrol and ammunition on board, could blow up. To bale out is to risk being machine-gunned, something the Germans often did.
We didn't stop to think. We baled out, ran and dived behind a small ridge, held our breath and laid low...
Jack Merewood sees his first action in the North African desert against the Germans - and is quickly made aware of the grim realities of war.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's vividly-remembered story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Soon after Christmas the tank units left the rest of the Regiment and headed west, travelling around sixty to seventy miles a day. We crossed the border into Libya and headed for an area south of Benghazi, in the region of Agedabia and El Agheila, about another 350 miles west of the border, where the fighting was taking place...
Jack Merewood and The Bays' tank units head westward toward the battle zone.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's vivid memories of fateful days during World War Two please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Once we moved away with the tanks we were on our own, and sometimes wouldn't see the cookhouse for weeks or months. We had to make our own meals. The tanks looked like travelling hardware shops, with tin cans and a frying pan hanging from the rear.
To make tea we half filled a can with sand, poured on petrol, then placed another can holding water on top. A lighted match dropped on the petrol gave a good fire. A wooden matchstick dropped in the water helped to stop it from tasting smoky. When the water boiled, in went the tea, and we had 'brewed up'. All the pots and pans were black with fumes from the fire...
Jack Merewood's Regiment arrives in Egypt and begins serious training for battle.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Once on shore, we found the good people of Cape Town waiting to greet us, sitting at tables just two or three hundred yards from the docks. Soldiers were standing in a queue and as their turn came they were taken off to be entertained...
After five weeks on the troop ship Empire Pride Jack Merewood is delighted to arrive in South Africa.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's vividly-told wartime experiences please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
Jack Merewood tells of life at sea on a troop carrier as he sails off to war.
For earlier chapters of Jack's story of his wartime service please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on his page.
...Then on 30 September, 1941, we sailed in earnest - having already been on board a week. It was 9.15 p.m., and a lovely moonlit night. The Bays had a band (they were in 'HQ' Squadron), and as we sailed down the Clyde everyone was up on deck, the band played, and we sang 'Abide with Me', 'There'll Always Be an England', 'Just a Song at Twilight', 'Land of Hope and Glory'...
Jack Merewood and his commrades sail off to war in The Empire Pride.
For earlier chapters of Jack's account of his experiences during Woirld War Two please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Farnham itself was a pleasant town, with two cinemas and several good shops. One Saturday afternoon I was in one of the cinemas when a message was flashed on the screen ordering all soldiers to return immediately to their regiments. I hurried out, as did others, stopped a civilian car, which we were allowed to do, and told the driver to take me to our squadron.
We assembled in the main road, certain that the Germans were about to invade. However, after a short while the panic was off and we were dismissed. We never knew if there had been an attempted invasion or not...
Jack Merewood and the fellow members of his regiment, The Bays, found ways to keep themselves entertained as they waited to be called into action.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's account of his World War Two soldiering days please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...Our water supply was a big barrel outside the door that collected rainwater. At the other side of the door was a table, so when we wanted a wash, we dipped a bowl in the barrel, then stood it on the table. In the winter this meant breaking the ice on top of the barrel, so a morning wash soon had you feeling fresh ¾ or frozen! One morning Bob Buckland came in and said: 'Brrr ... that was a good wash.' I pointed out that he still had a cigarette behind his ear...
After being evacuated from France, Jack Merewood and his fellow Bays lived under canvas - but Jack enjoyed the hospitality offered at a nearby country house.
To read earlier chapters of Jack's story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...One night there was a heavy air raid on the city of Bristol, and next day we were sent to help clear up. Bombs had fallen in an area of shops and offices. Now they were piles of rubble. We searched for any victims who might be trapped, but found no one, and we helped to load the debris into lorries to be taken away. Something there left a lasting impression on me. In the middle of the ruins the Salvation Army had set up a table and were handing out free cups of tea. It was heartening to see the determined spirit of everyone there. That incident endeared the Salvation Army to me for the rest of my life...
Jack Merewood was granted home leave after being miraculously evacuated as German troops swept relentlessly into France. He was then sent to Salisbury plain for tank training. But the war was coming closer and closer to home...
...One night we were sleeping in a barn near a small town on the outskirts of Le Mans. At about 4 a.m. we heard banging and shouting: 'Get up, get up! Get your kit together and get in a wagon!'
In the dark I hastily stuffed some belongings into my kitbag, climbed aboard a truck, and then we were off, heading west all day. We finally stopped in some fields outside the port of Brest on the north-west coast in the early evening. It suddenly struck me that, far from winning the war, we must be losing. The Germans had us on the run...
In May, 1940, Jack Merewood was posted with the Queen's Bays to France, but he was not there for long. The mass evacuation of British troops was soon under way.
For earlier chapters of Jack's vivid account of his war years please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...We 'rookies' had been sent from training corps to increase the strength of these old regiments, and at first the regulars were a little resentful of us. We weren't too keen on some of them either, particularly the NCOs, who were forever telling us what it was like 'when we had horses'. This wore a bit thin after a while so we all began saying 'Oh yes, but when we had horses.' However, we got used to each other, and eventually we integrated...
Jack Wareham joins the Queen's Bays, a cavalry regiment formed in 1865 whose horses had been replaced by tanks.
During his Army training days at Catterick during World War Two Jack Merewood was one of a party of men detailed to move a piano from the NAAFI to a gym where a sergeants' dance was being held. The day after the dance the piano had to be returned to the NAFFI.
"We got it down from the stage but had to take it the length of the gym to load it onto a wagon. Once we got it moving, we really began to pick up speed, and were soon travelling at a pretty good lick. Then disaster!...''
For earlier chapters of Jack's enthralling story please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...If I could get away early and get a good lift, and if I was in time, and Huddersfield Rugby League team were playing at home, I'd go straight to Fartown to the match. I knew my father would always be there. I'd find him, and after the match was over, we'd come home together. Oh, it was heaven to be home. There was always a dance on somewhere in town on Saturday nights, and that is where I generally went...
Jack Merewood recalls the lighter side of his early wartime service in the Army. Jack would hitch a lift from his training camp at Catterick to his home town, Huddersfield in Yorkshire. He went on to serve as a combat soldier in North Africa and Europe throughout the war. His story will appear week by week in Open Writing.
...It was a bitterly cold winter that year, and mothers, sisters, and girlfriends were busy knitting as many comforts for us as they could. Ronnie used to go to bed wearing a balaclava, scarf and socks! It was cold too, drilling with guns, especially pistols, and though we wore mittens when we could, at pistol drill our fingers used to be freezing. We learned to fire just about every gun there was: .38 pistols, .45 pistols (heavy pistols those were), tommy-guns, rifles, machine-guns. There was one gun we feared; it was an anti-tank rifle. You lay on the ground to fire it, and it was essential to hold it tight into your shoulder because of the recoil. Even held correctly the recoil could knock you back a foot. Not held tightly, and your shoulder got a nasty shock....
Jack Merewood recalls his early army training in North Yorkshire. Jack was in combat in North Africa, Italy and Germany in World War Two. His vivid accounts of front-line action are being serialised in Open Writing. To read earlier chapters please click on To War With The Bays in the menu on this page.
...We had a troop sergeant, 'Chesty' Morris, who put the fear of God up us every time we heard his gravel voice. He was what one would imagine a real tough Regular Army sergeant to be like, stocky, of average height, and back as stiff and straight as a ramrod. He had a ruddy face, as though he had lived outdoors for years. The rough red complexion would turn a slight shade of purple if he got mad at us, which was fairly regularly. He carried a short cane or baton tucked tightly under his arm, and every morning he rapped on the barrack-room door with it and rasped out 'On parade'. And if it was perhaps a morning after the night before for him he would add 'at the double', which meant we then ran everywhere until he decided we'd had enough....
Jack Merewood recalls his miserable early days in uniform.
Jack saw action throughout the North African campaign in World War Two and was awarded the military medal. He also fought in France and Italy.
Jack's vivid account of his life as a fighting soldier will be serialised week by week in Open Writing. A new episode will appear every Saturday.
...At 11 o'clock on that fateful Sunday morning, 3 September 1939, I was still at home. We listened to Neville Chamberlain on the wireless. When he said we were now in a state of war with Germany, my mother burst into tears...
Jack Merewood is called up and finds out that he is to serve in the Royal Armoured Corps.
This is the first episode of Jack's vivid account of his time as a combat soldier. Watch out for further chapters every Saturday in Open Writing.
Open Writing is honoured to be allowed to bring you the wartime story of Jack Merewood, a Yorkshireman who served as a tank gunner in the Queen's Bays.
Jack saw action throughout the North African campaign in World War Two and was awarded the military medal. He also fought in France and Italy.
Jack's vivid account of his life as a fighting soldier will be serialised week by week in Open Writing. A new episode will appear every Saturday. Look out for the first episode next week.
Today we present an introduction by Bishop Michael Mann to Jack's vivid account of men in battle.
Continue reading "An Introduction To a Tank Gunner's Story" »
