213132 Pte. Frank "Sparks" Farmer British Army 580 Company Royal Army Service Corps from:Bedford After initial trainingg at Blenheim Camp, Bury St. Edmunds I was put in the Royal Signals at Catterick and completed a course to be an Operator Keyboard and Line [morse & teleprinter] but on completion after about 6 months I was sent to Colchester to 578 Company RASC at Reed Hall Camp.
Apparently not wanted there I was sent to The Hutted Camp, Halfway Avenue between Luton and Dunstable but I was not wanted there either. My next move, believe or not, was to The Drill Hall in Ashburnham Road, Bedford. This was 580 Company RASC and CSM Weekes promptly unregaled me of my Royal Signals badge and shoulder ribbons stating I was a driver now. I asked for a sleeping out pass and promptly denied with the usual expletives. After showing me where I was to sleep he departed and a scruffy corporal came in and asked if I was the new "sparks" and if so let's get out of here quick. We loaded my kit onto a lorry and proceeded to my intended billet in the High St. over Grimbly Hughes Grocery Shop. At the bottom of the stairs was a note book and the corporal told me sign in when going out and sign out when going in, which I did not query. On informing the corp. that my home was in Bedford he said well go home at nights and report for duty at The Swan Hotel where workshops had bays for different tradesmen.
I had 2 bays, one for repairs and one for battery charging. We marched over The Town Bridge to our cookhouse for meals [double rations]. These old buildings have now been replaced by The Park Inn, Hotel a very high building. After 3 months I found we had detachments at Old Welwyn and Cambridge. The workshop officer, Captain Walliker, sent me to Cambridge together with the newly promoted corporal. As he had a girlfriend in Bedford he used to drive in what vehicle was available to Bedford every evening and was kind enough to have me on board. Our billet in Cambridge was The House of Mercy, Home for Wayward Girls. Our workshop was a large depot at the end of Fitzroy St. After a few months the detachments were called in together with the Bedford Headquarters to a camp near St. Neots. Duloe Hill Camp, Eaton Ford to be precise. I still used to get home with a weekly bus ticket by leaving the camp via a farm yard in the corner of our main car park.
The new workshop officer, Captain Harvey, got wheeze of this and when he could get a car he would go into Bedford where his lady friend was and on occasions his corporal driver would give me a lift as well. When a car was not available he would travel on the bus with me. Some time towards the end of 1947 577 company was amalgamated with 580 and another chap was from Bedford, Private Max Irwin.
Another Driver was Dai Jones and he lived within a stones throw of my home and I never knew him before, he lived at 46 Cavendish St. and I lived at 43 Canning St. He returned to Bridgend when demobbed.
All good things come to an end and I was demobbed in May 1948. Although I was very lucky there were times when I was away for long periods like when we had to collect rifles from Weedon, Northants to deliver to a ship in Southampton [The Queen Mary!] which went to Greece [Greek Uprising],and Operation King Coal when that awful winter of 1946-47 prevented coal getting out of the mines and we had to go to the rescue, billeted in freezing conditions at Wollaton Hall near Nottingham.
Soldiers I can remember are:-
- Capt.Walliker,
- Capt.Harvey,
- CSM Weekes,
- Sergeant Noller,
- Corporal Dick Bishop [married a St.Neots girl, worked for local electrical firm but died before I could contact him],
- L/Cpl "Darkie" Roe,
- L/Cpl Brown,
- Drver "Lofty" Farr [lived at Shooters Hill, London],
- Sergeant Percy Froud [a wonderful man on the breakdown lorry and piano-accordionist which he surprised me with when we called into a Kent Hop Camp on one of our "tours".
- ATS Girl Doris Tofield later married Sergt.Ray Lane but they divorced and she went to the States
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