[2002] SID’S WAR

0094 - Sidney Lane War Diary 4

[this is an extract of the war diary, 'An Ordinary War', by my uncle (Sid Lane, my mother's brother) which covers Radar Training - 1939 (Oct/Nov)]

10.10.39.

We returned to Rock Ferry [on the banks of the Mersey upstream from Birkenhead] on Monday Oct. 2. after being relieved by the new guard, from section 3. It was good to get decent meals and to get home and see the folk again. We continue our digging of the trenches. (I'm getting so much like a mole in my habits I shall shortly go round with my eyes closed). Towards the end of the week it was announced that Section 2 would be going to Sutton Weaver for a fortnight. This was immediately cancelled and we were told the whole Bty. would be going to Blackburn to man machine gun posts. This was a blow and it appears we have sunk to the lowest form of artillery life. Two days of intensive Lewis gun training followed and when we were fairly conversant with the gun our section was ordered back to Divisional H.Q. Chester. My hat, what an army. This order does not concern Bob and I as we have been instructed to remain behind and attend a course of lectures - Very Hush Hush - which probably means we'll go to Blackburn after all.

I was on leave over the weekend - the first since being called up. Never had home been better or freedom more sweet, but Hey-Ho, 24 hours can be very short.

24.10.39.

It is now over two weeks since our section went to Chester, but I and Bob together with three others have remained at Rock Ferry. We have been attending lectures on wireless and after pick and shovel work it came as a pleasant relaxation. The lectures are of a secret nature and therefore cannot be referred to in this log [they were, in fact, being trained in the use of radar - which was ultra secret at the time], but the nice part about it all is the freedom they leave us.

Due to darkness we do not rise till 7.a.m. and have till 7.30 a.m. before roll call. We have breakfast and commence work at 9.a.m. We have a break of half an hour during the morning and 2 hrs. for dinner. The lectures cease at 4.p.m. and after tea at 4.30 p.m. (unless on guard or fire picket) we are free until 11.30 p.m. We have both gone Sissy and bought camp beds which we are permitted to use and taken all round (at the moment) we are having a cushy time.

7.11.39.

They certainly keep you on the move in the army. We remained at Rock Ferry for 4 weeks and then the Bty. had to reshuffle and our section which had been doing guard duty at H.Q. was pushed off to Ince, there to build a gun site. Other sections remained to start work at Storeton [a suburb of Birkenhead] and because the school could not accommodate us all it was decided to push out the R.D.F. men. 70 men of the 70th Regt. who had been taking the course were sent to "Weathersfield", a house in Oxton [another, neraby, suburb of Birkenhead]which has been vacated by the 290th Bty. We had great hopes of going there too, but that was not for us. We of the 288 and 290 Btys., numbering 34, were sent to H. gun site for billeting and had to march each day to R.H.Q. for the lectures which still proceed. The grub, accommodation and the company at Holm Lane are very good and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there. The fly in the ointment was the fact that being on a gun site we came under the commanders orders and were not allowed to leave the camp for more than 4hrs. every 5 days. This wasn't too bad, because we only remained there two weeks and then, much to our delight, were transferred to "Weathersfield". While we were at Holm Lane we were entertained one evening by the Birkenhead Police, who, together with the lads of 267 Bty. gave us a good show indeed.

We have now been at "Weathersfield" a week. The grub is poor, but the accommodation is good and we are free after 5.p.m. We received week-end leave last week and are to receive it again this week. Life here is very easy. There are only two fatigues, the cook house and the fire picquet which are not bad. We walk about the house all day in slippers. The lectures start at 9.00 a.m., break 10.30 to 11.00 a.m., lunch 12.30 till 2.00 p.m. and finish at four. In fact when we meet chaps from the battery we feel almost ashamed of ourselves when they ask how we are getting on.

And this makes us stress the point that we are suffering mentally, with the intricate formula of electricity and radio. This is true to some extent, for the lectures get more and more difficult to follow each day, but they certainly make the noddle work and so prevent us from getting stale. It was surprising to me to find how stale I was when we started this kind of thing and I imagine how hard it would have been to adjust ourselves to civil life again. I do hope that this business keeps me in good form until such time as I am demobbed [which wasn't, in fact, to be for another six years!].

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