Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Second World War on The Wartime Memories Project Website

Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Second World War on The Wartime Memories Project Website



Additions will be checked before being published on the website and where possible will be forwarded to the person who submitted the original entries. Your contact details will not be forwarded, but they can send a reply via this messaging system.


216809

Dvr. John Henry Parton

British Army 677 Artisan Works Coy. Royal Engineers

from:Hadley, Shropshire

In February 1941, at the age of 20, I received my 'calling up' papers and had to report to the Royal Engineers Training Camp at Gresford, Wales. After three months of training I passed out as a Driver.

From the training I had to report to a Bailey Bridge Company, the 247 Field Park Company in Crawley, Sussex, and soon after the Company moved to Billingshurst. Another move took us to Bournemouth, and here we were billeted in houses commandeered by the Army for their use. I was in Tower House in the Canford Cliffs area. One night at about ll.00 p.m. we heard the sirens and a single bomber dropped a time bomb in the garden. We were told to evacuate the house but before we could do so the bomber came round again, dropped a further bomb which again landed in the garden but nearer to the house destroying a large portion of it. Some of the soldiers sustained cuts and bruises but no one was killed. The next day three of us were told to locate the unexploded bomb to put a cordon around it. We searched for a while to no avail and came to the conclusion it was buried under the house rubble. As we were about to move the rubble the tea wagon arrived and we went to get a drink. As we sat on some grass to drink the tea suddenly there was a tremendous bang from the unexploded bomb – it must have been our lucky day! Had the tea wagon not arrived at that moment we would have been moving the rubble. That night we all dispersed to several different billets used by the other lads until a more suitable place was found for us near Branksome Park.

Whilst in Bournemouth the Banns were posted for my marriage to my fiancée Kathleen and we married in August 1942 in our home village of Hadley in Shropshire. We will celebrate our 72nd Anniversary this coming August 2014.

About a month after the move to Branksome Park another move took place, this time taking us to Shroton. As we were no longer known as a Bridging Company our wagons were left there for use by other companies.

Following this we went to Street, Somerset, where our task was to do maintenance work for other companies until we were shipped abroad. Before we moved from Street, I was downgraded because of an eye defect, and was posted to a holding unit at Halifax before being taken on by the 677 Artisan Works Company Royal Engineers who were stationed at Hull. I was put into H.Q. Platoon and there were four other platoons to make up the Company. I had an interview with Major Witton and one question he asked me was “What did you do in civvy life?” I replied that I was a barber. He asked me if I had any tools at home and if so to send for them. This I did, and from then on I was the Company barber and would be sent out to whichever platoon needed a trim.

From Hull we went to Seaview on the Isle of Wight to be trained for the kind of work that we would be carrying out once we moved abroad. This was construction of petrol installations, ship to shore lines, pipe lines and large tank farms. After our six weeks training here we were sent to Woodhouse Eaves, again for six weeks. Our next move was to Tenby and here the Company’s task was to carry out the same type of installations we practiced on the Isle of Wight. Another move was this time to Saundersfoot, where we slept in bivouacs. Here petrol was brought in by large barges, two of which grounded and cracked causing thousands of gallons of petrol to be lost; some we were able to save.

Our next move was to Tow Law, County Durham. This journey was to take two days as we were to stay at a staging camp in Shropshire for the night before leaving early next morning for the remainder of the journey. We had reached Bridgnorth (about 15 miles from my home) when the convoy was halted and someone came to tell me that the Major wanted to speak to me. He said “You live in Shropshire, do you know where Apley Park is?”, I replied “Yes Sir, it is near to where I live”. I then had to sit in the Staff car and lead the way for the rest of the convoy. On arrival I asked if I could go home for the night and he answered “Yes but be back here for 6.00 a.m. tomorrow morning."

We started on the rest of our journey and arrived at Tow Law in County Durham where the weather was terrible. We were under canvas once again and the water just ran through the tents but fortunately our stay here was a short one. We then moved to Staindrop, where we were to have three weeks physical training but after two days we had orders to go back to Tow Law and thankfully this was only for one week. Our next move was to Grimsby, quite a pleasant place, and from there to Chandlers Ford before going to Scarborough for further training on petrol pipe lines. Here we stayed with civilians in their homes.

Early in June 1944 we moved to Berrys Green near to Sevenoaks to prepare to go abroad and this is where we saw the first flying bombs. Our wagons were taken to the docks in London, and the rest of us moved to a tented park in Southampton awaiting orders. When these came through it was to go to the docks ready to sail for France. We boarded the Empire Spearhead on the 28th June, and dropped anchor a mile from the French coast. We then had to climb down netting thrown over the side of the ship to landing craft which were to land us on the beach near to Arromanches.

From there we walked to an area a short distance away where we stayed the night. We had no cover as our kitbags were left on the beach. Unfortunately there were two terrific thunderstorms that night and we were all drenched. Next morning, a wagon was sent out to search for us. Having located us the driver informed the R.A.S.C. who came to collect us to take us to Escures, where we met up with our own transport. Bivouacs were erected and the Company settled down to our first permanent location in Normandy. Here we could hear the gun fire at Caen which was still held by the Germans, and where fierce fighting was still ongoing. The following morning orders came to report to Port en Bessin to construct petrol installations and pipe lines for petrol that was to be brought into Cherbourg and Port en Bessen. Another pipe line was erected between Port en Bessen and Bayeux. Cherbourg was still in German hands.

Once Cherbourg had fallen we moved from Escures to Juvigny near to Tilly. This move came about because Caen had fallen and the Germans were in full retreat. Recent heavy fighting had taken place here, the smell of death was everywhere, dead cattle were lying in the fields and men had been buried in very shallow graves and the road had been heavily shelled. Our bivouac area was by the side of a church and large chateau; both had been heavily shelled. The weather was very hot and I remember having a parcel from home which, among other items, included insect repellent; we were plagued by flies and wasps which carried disease and we all had a form of dysentery. Our first job was to burn the carcasses of the dead cattle around the camp and unfortunately one of my mates was blown up by a booby trap and seriously injured.

At Juvigny we were to erect more petrol storage tanks and several miles of pipe line as well as felling trees which were in the path of the pipe lines. On completion of this task we moved again further up the line to Aunay, which was a terrible place as all the houses had been shelled and there were no people, only dogs, cats, and cows, and these were all starving. From here we moved further up the line to another village where we slept in the open, it was pouring with rain all night but we were given a rum ration to cheer us up. Our task here was to erect more storage tanks and on completion of this job all platoons were sent to various places, where I had to follow to keep the lads in “trim!”

At Escures we lost two of the lads as their vehicle was involved in an accident with a civilian truck. Moving from Escures further up the line to Rouen we passed abandoned German vehicles and other military equipment.The port of Ostend had now been opened and tankers were able to offload petrol there, so the company moved there to build further storage tanks. Unfortunately, a valve burst on one of the tanks and petrol was lost, some running into a small bunker. About two days later there was a loud explosion followed by a fire. After the fire had been put out, the body of a British sailor was found. We reckoned he had gone into the bunker to have a look around and had probably struck a match causing the explosion.

Work continued on various pipe lines and as it was late December it was bitterly cold. I was outside cutting hair because all the buildings had been booby trapped. A tanker was unloading petrol when I heard someone shout from the deck asking “Could you come on board to cut hair?” I answered “Yes, if I could get permission”. This was granted, so I went aboard and tidied them up before they sailed.

We had our Christmas dinner in Ostend, and in mid-January we moved to a village called Leke and here we were billeted in civilian homes. I was with a family named Del Rue. There was Mr & Mrs Del Rue, two sons and one daughter named Madeleine. They were very kind to us, and in the evenings invited us to sit around their kitchen fires with them. Whilst we were at Leke the whole village was covered with snow. It was here that some of us were to be sent on our first leave since D-Day and to decide who would be lucky enough to get a leave pass, all names were put into a hat and I was told that my name had been drawn out. I was to sail from Calais, but the weather was so bad that the ship was delayed for a day. When I did arrive home my wife presented me with a daughter, born on February 5th, the day I should have arrived had the boat not been delayed.

After my leave we moved to a place near Calais, and here the lads were sent to various sites to do a variety of jobs, one of which was to build a large Parcel Depot for the Army Post Office in the docks. As usual I followed, still cutting hair, and one of my sites was the Calais Lighthouse. We went from Calais to Bourg Leopold where we were erecting POW camps. It was here we received orders to “cease fire” but this did not affect our work.

We moved again to Eindhoven in Holland where the lads carried out some work on civilian properties that had been bombed. The Phillips Radio Factory was also situated in Eindhoven. We next heard that we were to move close to the German border to a place near to Venlo and from here to Bonn before going to our final destination of Mehlem on the River Rhine. Company Headquarters was in a large mansion which had belonged to a Baron and we were billeted in a smaller house in the grounds. The mansion fronted the River Rhine with magnificent views of the Drachenfels on the other side of the river. Someone cut down a large tree and the trunk was used as a flag pole on which the Union Jack was very quickly hoisted for the first time on German territory. It was at Mehlem where the Company split up and I was posted to Bad Oeynhausen to await my demobilisation in July 1946.

On arrival home my wife had secured a rented shop for me and I was able to start my own hairdressing business. In time another shop a few yards away was for sale and so I left the rented shop and bought a double fronted shop, remaining there for 40 years until I retired.

I could not end this article without saying that some ten years ago when my daughter and her husband were on holiday in York, they met a Belgian couple with whom they spent some time. They were telling them about me being stationed with the Del Rue family, and when they returned to their home they went to Leke to take a photo of the house to send to me. They discovered that daughter Madeleine was still living there with her husband and they welcomed them into their home. Unbelievably, they still had a photo of my wife and I that I had given them in 1945. Sadly Madeleine and her husband have passed away, but on the odd occasion and always around Christmas time we still correspond with Madeleine’s daughter Carine. Whilst our daughter and husband were on holiday in Belgium in 2008 they were able to meet up with Carine and talk of my time spent in Leke.I am now in my 94th year and I often wonder if any of the lads from 677 A.W. Company, Royal Engineers are still alive today?



Please type your message:     

We recommend you copy the text about this item and keep a copy on your own computer before pressing submit.
Your Name:            
Email Address:       @

**Please type the first part our your email in the first box (eg. john.smith) the @ sign is added automaticallly, please type the second part in the second box (eg. gmail.com). Do not enter your full email in each box or add an @ sign or random spaces.**

Please type in the code shown here: CAPTCHA Image   

If you are unable to read the code please click here.

If you have received an error message for incorrect code, please click to refresh the code before resending. This should overcome the error message.