[2002] SID’S WAR

0002 - Sidney Lane War Diary 13

[this is an extract of the war diary, 'An Ordinary War', by my uncle (Sid Lane, my mother's brother) with another diatribe about officers and unfairly favourable treatment of women in ‘mixed’ batteries]

14/12/41

Here we sit, four of us: ready to give dummy runs to the control room, for the personnel then to balls up ('Army phrase': Only one which adequately describes what really happens).

It is a big affair this; a daylight shoot over Liverpool Bay. All the big bugs are present from Brigadier downwards - Colonels, Majors, Captains, Lts - all .... scared, running around like ..... ....., well yes. The trouble is that at the moment we have on this site the most inefficient set of officers I have yet encountered. They seem to mess up everything and no doubt this afternoon's efforts will be a shambles.

3.55 p.m. Judging by the bursts, the efforts of the day don't seem too bright. The idea is to fire at an imaginary plane and observe the concentration of shell bursts. This should be a group of say 12 to 16 bursts. If they are close together the shooting is good.

- Nuff said -

7.00 p.m. The umpires evidently think the results are good because congratulations are being showered on us.

19/12.41

"I see the light of a village gleam through the rain and mist and a feeling of sadness comes o'er me that my soul cannot resist. A feeling of sadness and longing that is not akin to pain and resembles sorrow only as the mist resembles the rain."

Longfellow certainly succeeds in conveying that feeling of weariness and loneliness which occasionally descends on me - especially at nightfall. I feel that way now.

I've had a hard day as orderly Sgt. Parades, Fatigues, Guards, Rotas and the everlasting bickering with the officers. One of these days when everything goes wrong and you feel fed up and miserable - You wonder when it will all end and you feel you have been cheated. That you have lost something that can never be regained.

Oh. It's hopeless to put it into words - I have just had a bad day, that's all.

3/1/42

My. My. I guess I must write fast to bring this up to date. I came back from Tycroes on 1/12/41 and was very glad. The work was very interesting and amusing, but the camp itself gave me the willies. I met a lot of chaps who certainly gave me the low-down on this mixed Bty. racket. It appears that 80% of the men in a mixed Bty. apply for their transfer. This should be sufficient. Their grouse is not with the girls or how they handle the instruments. It's the organisation - starting at the top. The girls are dry nursed - kept in cotton wool so to speak. They are given so many privileges that the male personnel suffer and have to work twice as hard as they would in an all male battery. Organisation: How often do we hear that our organizing abilities fall short of those of the enemy.

Time and time again we have had the worst of it due to faulty staff work. I am not surprised: I have seen so much inefficiency in the army that I almost despair. To my mind the chief cause is the commission rank. There is (due to commissions) too great a gap between officers and men, and this gap allows the inefficiency of the officers to go unquestioned. It also prevents a good man (unless he possesses those attributes that go to make the "officer and gentleman") advancing and furthering the country's war effort as he should.

It's obvious that if the inefficiency of your juniors is great that so is that of your senior ranks, since you will be taking the best of the inefficient juniors to fill these places.

However, all this is getting beyond the point but I would say how I would remedy it. No-one should be allowed to apply to become an officer. The way would be by automatic promotion. This would prevent the man who could not rise above the rank of unpaid lance jack ever attaining such a position. As things are at the present such a man could apply and (having the elusive attributes of "Officer and gentleman") obtain a commission because the need for them is so great.

4/1/42

To carry on the good work of bringing this log up to date.

When I arrived back here I found that great changes had taken place. We had a new major, a new captain: a new Sgt/Major and two new Lts. In each case the change has been for the worse.

3/2/42

Brian is back with the 93rd. Cheers. I was damn glad to see him again. He is now Regt. T.I. and of course the first person he visited in his official capacity was myself. He didn't look too good, having had another spell in hospital. But easy living at R.H.Q. will soon put him right.

He has been very fortunate to get back near home, because he's married now and I understand he's trying to get a living out pass - I hope he succeeds. In any case it will only be for three months, for the Rgt. is going mobile. We are due to go on manoeuvres for three months and then - Who knows. At first I wasn't keen on the idea (for reasons I will enlarge on later) but if the old combine keeps together. Well let'em all come.

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