Tony's World War II

Tony Clarke's World War II

152945 Pte Edward Anthony Clarke
2BPFC, RASC

The photo was taken while on leave in 1946, after 6 years in uniform, in Bath, with the parents of his army mate Royston Wall

1 Sep 1939 - Nazis invade Poland
3 Sep 1939 - Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany
17 Dec 1939 - After a spree, the Graf Spee is cornered in Montevideo, and scuttled
22 Jan 1940 – Tony enlists, shortly after his 20th birthday, avoiding conscription and with it a likely early end to this story on HMS Hood or in the Hampshire Regiment
late Jan - ?10 Feb 1940 – Does basic training at Newport on the Isle of Wight, beside the prison (at Camp Hill NW of the town), to learn marching and the stripping of Boys rifles and Bren-guns. So cold the toilet-blocks freeze (on mild IOW?!) [They went to War, admittedly in what was then thought of as a service, not an arm, on 2 weeks' training, most of which would have been on the drill-square ...]
10 Feb 1940 – Is posted to the newly-formed 2 Base Petrol Filling Centre, Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) at Broadstairs in Kent
22 Feb 1940 – Has the first of a series of vaccinations (TAB – Typhoid Fever family, TT – Tetanus toxoid). [It's remarkable that his vaccinations were one of the few pieces of documentary evidence we had to work with in compiling this document!]
16 Mar 1940 - Germans bomb Scapa Flow naval base in the Orkneys
9 Apr 1940 - Nazis invade Denmark and Norway
c. 15 Apr 1940 – Tony goes with 2BPFC to near Lille
For Tony's description of this phase, see 'A DUNKIRK HERO(??) REMEMBERS' (October 2006)
For Roger's description and photos from a visit in 2017, see Lille to Dunkirk
10 May 1940 - Nazis invade France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands
10 May 1940 – Tony's site near the marshalling yards bombed
15 May 1940 - Holland surrenders to the Nazis
25 May 1940 – Tony is evacuated from Lille by truck in the evening, westwards via Armentieres, in the direction of Dunkerque
26 May 1940 – Tony's unit is holed up in a barn outside Armentieres during the day, as the Germans bombed it. And he wrenches his knee while taking refuge there. During the evening, they drive throught the burning town NW towards Dunkirk
26 May 1940 – Evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk begins
27 May 1940 – Tony reaches the dunes behind the beach at Dunkirk, the last few miles in a purloined car. He was presumably towards the western end of the beach within 1-2 miles of Dunkirk itself
27 May 1940 – Rommel takes Lille
28 May 1940 – Belgium surrenders to the Nazis (although the main German force, with the bulk of the armour, had already encircled the BEF, and was approaching the French coast to the south of Dunkirk)
28 May 1940 – Tony is on the beach and in the water, waiting for a small boat to ferry them to the larger vessels in deeper water. It doesn't happen, so they return to shore and sleep wet-through
29 May 1940 – Tony gets on a boat out of Dunkirk from the eastern breakwater/mole.
(Tony thought he got out on 31 May, and 30 May is also possible, but 29 May seems most likely).
The vessel was relatively large, because he boarded not from the water, nor from the duckboards across the chain of lifeboats, but from the mole. He didn't remember it as being a naval vessel. The larger civilian vessels were Canterbury, King George V, Lady of Mann, Maid of Orleans, Royal Daffodil, St. Helier, Tynwald (paddle-steamer – but he'd have noticed) and Whippingham. Here's an index of the vessels.
He says he landed at Ramsgate, whereas most went to Dover 20 miles to the south. Here are the routes used
The favourite is Royal Daffodil, which landed not at Ramsgate (the marshalling point for the small boats) but at Margate, on each of 28, 29 May and 2 Jun.
He got back. But so much for the 6-week holiday in France
4 Jun 1940 – Dunkirk Evacuation ends, as German land forces reach the beach
22 Jun 1940 – France surrenders

Jun 1940 – Tony's unit re-forms near Chipping Norton and then Marlborough
10 Jul 1940 - Battle of Britain begins
Jul-Sep 1940 – Tony's unit in a big camp under canvas at Wenvoe, 7 miles west of Cardiff, manning road-blocks and checking everybody's identity (why??), with Boer War Ross rifles and a Boyse Anti Tank Rifle 5ft long with a solid 1/2 inch bullet
13 Aug 1940 - German bombing offensive against airfields and factories in England
7 Sep 1940 - German Blitz against England begins
13 Sep 1940 - Italians invade Egypt
Oct 1940 – Tony's unit moves to winter quarters in Caerphilly
11-12 Nov 1940 – successful RN attack on the Italian fleet using torpedoes from 21 Swordfish biplanes (Battle of Taranto)
9 Dec 1940 - British begin a western desert offensive in North Africa against the Italians

13 Dec 1940 – Tony's unit was ordered abroad, so he skipped the cartilage operation he was waiting for in hospital, and rejoined his unit. (He did eventually have the operation on the knee – but not until 65 years later, in 2005)
16 Dec 1940 – Tony's unit leaves Avonmouth (near Bristol) aboard the Rangitiki, as part of convoy WS-5A, mirrored here. There were 26 vessels in the convoy, plus 7-10 escorts, but the photo that the publisher used was of Tony's vessel, the Rangitiki).
Convoy WS-5A sailed via the Irish Sea to the North Atlantic, then south to West Africa and round the Cape to the Red Sea – to avoid both the U-boats SW of Ireland and the Med. (Tony's notes corresponded almost exactly with the report on the Web, which was found 4 years after this page was first published).
17 Dec 1940 – the batman to Lt Baylis failed to get to the ship, so Tony accepted the posting as his batman. The Baylis family were in biscuits. Tony never really liked him
25 Dec 1940 – Tony's Christmas celebrations are interrupted by Admiral Hipper. Postscript: Tony passed away 70 years later to the day
29 Dec 1940 – Only just remembers to celebrate his 21st, in the North Atlantic.
For Tony's description of the voyage, see 'ALL AT SEA' (October 2005)
5-8 Jan 1941 – In Sierra Leone
10 Jan 1941 – a major air-raid on Portsmouth. Fratton Rd was ablaze both sides, including the Co-op where Enid worked, when she attempted to turn up on her birthday and all!! Fred's house was hit and not repaired until after the war
22 Jan 1941 – Rounded the Cape of Good Hope
25 Jan 1941 – sailed from Cape Town
29 Jan 1941 - In Durban
12 Feb 1941 - German General Erwin Rommel arrives in Tripoli, North Africa
16 Feb 1941 – Tony's unit arrives in North Africa, at Suez
20 Feb 1941 – Tony's unit arrives in El Kirsh / Ismailia, half-way along the west bank of the Suez Canal. The night before they arrived, the Aussies burnt the NAAFI tent down and there were no facilities, not even the infamous Rock Cakes to ease life. The reason? They ran out of beer of course
7 Mar 1941 - British forces arrive in Greece (another ridiculous Churchillian manoeuvre)
10 Mar 1941 – another big air-raid on Portsmouth
?28 Mar 1941 – Tony goes with half of his unit to Greece, first east of Athens, then on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth. The other half goes to Tobruk. (Neither venture turned out very well)
6 Apr 1941 - Nazis invade Greece and Yugoslavia
14 Apr 1941 - Rommel attacks Tobruk
18 Apr 1941 – Tony gets a day's leave, and stands in the Parthenon overlooking the smoke from the previous night's raid on Piraeus
20 Apr 1941 – Tony's unit sails from Piraeus on a cargo ship with no bridge or compass or normal steering, using an Army Pocket Compass
21 Apr 1941 – the Queen's (real) Birthday – arrives at Suda Bay, in the north-west of Crete, under air-attack, defended (?) by Gladiators, amidst sinking ships, including HMS York which rested on the bottom until the end of the war
22 Apr 1941 – Tony meets sailors who've run the gauntlet of the Mediterranean, and gets his first news from home since December, including the big raid of 10 Jan
27 Apr 1941 - Greece surrenders to the Nazis
15 May 1941 - Unsuccessful British counter-attack in Egypt (Operation Brevity)
18 May 1941 – Tony escapes Crete, again only just in time
20 May 1941 - German invasion of Crete begins
21 May 1941 – Tony's unit gets back to Egypt, except the rearguard under Capt. Windsor, who was killed by shrapnel
24 May 1941 - Sinking of HMS Hood by the Bismarck
27 May 1941 - Sinking of the Bismarck by the British Navy, again thanks to Swordfish torpedoes (the very first major allied success against the Germans of the entire War?)
1 Jun 1941 - Crete lost, remains in German hands until the end of the War

?Jun 1941 – Tony in Cairo briefly on leave, then back to Ismailia
?Jul 1941 – The unit moves to Amrya, 20 miles from Alexandria
25 Dec 1941 – Christmas in Alexandria, still a batman at that stage
21 Jan 1942 - Rommel's counter-offensive from El Agheila begins
Jan-Jun 1942 - a 6 month battle along the length of the Libyan coast
?Mar 1942 – The unit took over the night shift at the Shell production site. (The natives quit because of the nightly bombing that had started). This continued up to Alemein ("about time we did something worthwhile", Tony reckoned). Tony re-joined the ranks after 15 months as a batman, and did his stint on the night shift. He was later asked to resume as batman, but declined
21 Jun 1942 - Rommel captures Tobruk, at the eastern end of Libya
30 Jun 1942 - Rommel reaches El Alamein, 40 miles west of Alexandria and 150 miles north-west of Cairo
Jul 1942- First Battle of El Alamein results in stalemate
?Aug 1942 – A week's leave west of Alex. on the bay overlooking the lighthouse site
7 Aug 1942 - Montgomery takes command of Eighth Army in North Africa
2 Sep 1942 - Battle of Alam Halfa, near El Alamein
23 Oct 1942 - Second Battle of El Alamein commences
?24 Oct 1942 – Twenty miles behind the lines at El Alamein, the sappers wired the petrol dump, and Tony guarded them against the locals, and prepared to withdraw to ... nowhere in particular
3 Nov 1942 - Battle of El Alamein won (the second and critical allied success)
25 Dec 1942 – Spends Christmas in a camp to the east of Alexandria
23 Jan 1943 - Montgomery's Eighth Army takes Tripoli, at the western end of Libya
2 Feb 1943 - Germans surrender at Stalingrad (the third major allied success)
?Early 1943 – Tony's unit in Benghazi. He remembers that they were in awe of the 'jerry-cans' used by the Germans, which were far superior to the weak, throwaway packaging used by the British Army at the time
?Mid-1943 – Tony's unit in Tripoli
7 May 1943 - Allies take Tunisia
13 May 1943 - German and Italian troops surrender in North Africa
3-9 July 1943 – Still (or again?) in Benghazi, takes leave in Alexandria
9 July 1943 - Allies land in Sicily

9 Sep 1943 - Allied landings at Salerno and Taranto
1 Oct 1943 - Allies enter Naples
25 Dec 1943 – Spends Christmas in Beghazi
22 Jan 1944 - Allies land at Anzio, just south of Rome
?Early 1944– Tony's unit moved back to a different camp, just west of Alexandria
6-12 May 1944 – Tony takes leave in Cairo
5 Jun 1944 - Allies enter Rome
6 Jun 1944 - D-Day landings in Normandy
20-26 Oct 1944 – Tony takes leave, somewhere in Egypt
25 Dec 1944 – Spends Christmas just west of Alexandria
A year of slow advances from Normandy to Berlin, in a desperate race against the Russian forces converging from the East, with slow progress also from Rome to Bologna
2 May 1945 - German troops in Italy surrender
7 May 1945 - Unconditional surrender of all German forces to Allies
8 May 1945 - V-E (Victory in Europe) Day
?Mid-1945 – Tony's unit is moved back to the U.K.
2 Sep 1945 - V-J (Victory over Japan) Day
?Tony 4 months where??
?Nov 1945 – Posted to a unit in the Channel Islands
?22 Dec 1945 – 'Negotiates' leave
25 Dec 1945 – Spends his first Christmas and Birthday at home since 1939
?Tony 8 months in various places, including Ascot, Taunton and Aldershot?
21 Aug 1946 – Tony is de-mobbed after 6 years and 7 months in uniform, from the age of just 20 to nearly 27, into an economy that was to be subject to rationing for another 7-8 years and that was to suffer economically for another quarter-century
His Record of Service, Discharge Document and Release Leave Certificate bear mute testimony to the schemozzle that was post-WWII England.

This a page within Roger Clarke's Family Web-Site

Contact: Roger Clarke

Created: 29 Dec 2006 (Tony's 87th Birthday); Last Amended: 31 Dec 2014, 4 Feb 2017 (refinements re Dunkirk), 1 Jun 2021 (Royal Daffodil)