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205180 LAC. Ernest Fox Greaves Royal Air Force My father, Ernest Greaves was a volunteer, transferred from barrage balloons when the women took over what was Air Stores Park RAF 2nd Taf and as a result of Mountbatton's orders, the 2nd Taf mobile units were formed. He was a tough old lad, not a young man, born 1907 he was about 35 in 1942. He impressed, always being enthusiastic and one of the hardest of workers and was promoted to corporal, he was a B-class driver of a 3 ton Crossley. he funniest part was Dad had been a consciencious objector, however i know from experience when push comes to shuve you will fight. He ended up in the D-Day landings at Arromanches,with the 2nd Taf ground forces. He told me some of his experiences. The 2ndTaf mobile units went through France, the one thing about the Crossleys was they were a state of the art vehicle at that time. They had four wheel drive and bullet proof type tyres, a double set of gears and was all double clutching. Dad had been weapons trained on stens and brens and he also acted as a medical orderly and saved them all when the cook was ill, they had to be very flexible men. There is a joke about cooks, they say that a lot of mens lives were saved when they shot the cook. They did not come home once there but followed the army and took their orders from them, they never knew what they might run into. They went through Belgium, then Holland with 30 Corps, then accross the Rhine, on a pontoon bridge with no room to spare. This was were the four wheeldrive really came in and was one of my fathers most dramatic accounts. The reason is he must have missed out on the swimming course and he could not swim so had a fear in that area. Still they got over safely and ended up in Buckeburgh, while he was there he ran the bar in the Malcolm club. This reminds me about the programme on tv regarding the 101st American Airborne, one of the officers wanted some spirits, but they only had bottled beer, Dad had the same problem but they had run out of beer but had plenty of spirits. He took a truck to Hamburgh to exchange some of the spirits for bottled beer with the Americans. He met my mother in Germany, she had been to school with Princess Dartmar of Schumbergh Iipper. My two sisters were born in Germany Dad was posted back to England but wrote to the Prime Minister of the day to get reposted back as he loved mum and would not abandon her with my sisters. He was reposted as a result. I was born when my father was back in England, he was stationed at RAF Syerston. There was heavy snow and my mother was taken by military ambulance, which got stuck in a ditch, they used the only blanket in the ambulence to put under the wheels, luckily a snow plough came along and got them out and I was eventually born in the Women's Hospital in Peel Street. His unit was on stand by to go to the middle east, so they evoked the kings year on him. I would like to finish by saying that you don't hear much about what the Mobile units did, but they played an important role in many ways that people don't realize and the men that served deserve credit for their courage and fortitude. Fortunately for some, there are good endings. |
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