Wartime Memories

The recordings of The Squire's wartime memories are now on the web, ready to download. There is a link here, and also in the File Links section on the right. They are divided into four files.

1. Joining Up To Dunkirk
This part of the memoir describes how Tom Whatman joined the Army in 1940, and the barely nine days of training before he was off to La Rochelle and then a train to Lille and the Maginot Line ... all before his mum knew where he had gone!

2. From Dover to the H0spital 1940
This recording takes up the story again from the arrival of the Maid of Orleans in Dover after the evacuation from Dunkirk, and then the months afterwards stationed in Winchester. Then it describes the cheek infection that Tom came down with, and the efforts to operate. The hospital where Tom recovered turned out to be quite unusual...

3. Patrolling The Airfields
Fully recovered, Tom is posted to Chatham, under the North Downs, and sees the preparations for the war in the Middle East. Then, after a short leave, he is sent from airbase to airbase, making patrols and helping to fill in the craters created by Stuka bombers during the Battle of Britain...

4. Overseas
The order comes in for Tom's company to reform and head overseas, by boat to South Africa. They very nearly don't make it, and not just down to the submarines! From there, it is on to Egypt, Greece and Italy. This section is quite a quick summary of just some of the key moments in the next 3 years of the conflict. Come back here soon to find more stories and knowledge about those times...