231179 Pte. Benjamin Armitage British Army Kings Own Royal Regiment from:Wallasey The great war was of no significant to me; only later did I realise how many thousands of lives were lost just to take a trench. My earliest recollection of poverty was 1926 General Strike. Miners went on strike for better conditions and Prime Minister Baldwin locked them out long enough to make them return for less cash. You wonder what this has to do with the present. Wallasey always had three tier populous - the rich, the poor and the people in the centre who are not either. They were the worst type to deal with. A large majority went to Liverpool to work others went labouring in factories mills and dock working others in shop.
At the age of 12 I did a newspaper round for half a crown a week. Life today is easier than the thirties. The means test then was very hard if you applied for help you would get a visitor who would look around and if you had a dog he suggests that you get rid of it. Even gramophones or pianos were a luxury which could be got rid of and thus your hardship continues. The unemployment was around three million and around twenty people waiting to take the same job. At fourteen I got a job at a tailors learning the trade. I had a bit of an argument with the Boss, ending with slinging the iron and Rule at him. I was fortunate then to get a job at the Co-op as a milk rounds man.
I was called up for army service June 1940 reporting to Lancaster in the King's Own Royal regt. We had our orientations and were excused duties for 24 hours. To fill the time we were given a lecture by the officer commanding and the reference to the W.A.A.F.S. came up by a stupid remark by him so I asked to be excused because his remarks were derogatory. Penalty being I was put on guard duty. Nothing batter to do, I picked up about one hundred and fifty cig ends. The company sergeant major sneaked up on me and accused me of smoking on duty - sent me to company officer at nine o'clock the following morning. The case was stated against me and the O.C. asked me if I would accept his punishment. I said no I would go before the C.O. He asked why, so I pulled this packet of cig ends out and asked them which one I was smoking. He said that it was immaterial which one. I still I still insisted on C.O. orders. I went in and he asked me if I was smoking. I replied that I was a non-smoker and you will find no stains on my hands; there was no further action. I was chuffed at the expression on their faces.
After initial training, Swansea was my next place guarding the docks and bridges. The Salvation Army came round about ten o'clock with tea and cakes. Coming off the docks in the morning an official came to our bus and said someone had nicked four large fish. We pleaded ignorance but the fish was already on board our bus wrapped up in a groundsheet. We were stationed at Lewton Parish hall at the back on a concrete floor. It was Saturday morning and I had just dropped off to sleep when someone knocked me and asked if I wanted to be a best man at a wedding. There was a soldier from the North Staff reg. whose best man had not arrived. Someone polished my boots, brushed my uniform, got shaving water and within ten minutes I was best man to a couple I never knew.
We left Mumbles and returned to Lancaster and from there to Glasgow. The Glaswegians are not mean, they are very friendly. From there we went to Greenock and on to a heavy cruise ship and joined a big convoy with ten warships, six cruisers, four battleships, one aircraft carrier and sixteen merchant ships. We were informed that we were to be the first convoy through the Mediterranean since the fall of Crete. Every other country from Gibralter to Alex[andria] was in Jerry's hands. That only left Malta. We had 9 merchantmen and five destroyers up to the Spatillia{?] straits when the battleships and the aircraft carrier left us to other jobs. We were attacked on all sides and we were torpedoed and had to leave the convoy to fight our way back to Gibralter. We even had a big burial service: ninety lives, soldiers and sailors. We eventually arrived at Gib[ralter] and put into a room lousy with bugs. 2 days later we were transferred to the French liner 'Hous Pastine'[?]. We thought we were going back to Blighty for a rekit. But then we were taken off there and went on a cruiser, the 'Hermone', and set sail at night. It was funny really. Gib[ralter] in darkness and Spain all lit up about 2 in the morning. The skipper on the tannoy said 'get ready for a run'. Then we suddenly stopped and we had cut an Italian sub in two. We did not stop for survivors but went off full steam.
We arrived in Malta and hundreds of people were on the battlements waving us in. Things got very bad then for an island 17 miles by nine, had 6,636 tons of bombs. There was a food crisis and there were 300,000 Maltees and 30,000 troops to feed. I lost nearly four stone myself. Farmers were not allowed to dig their produce without supervision. There was only food for eleven weeks and ammunition was low. The barrels for the guns was at the bottom of the harbour on the Leominster amd Irish boat.
One great feature was the old tanker 'The 0140' which had a destroyer either side of it keeping it afloat. You could drive three double decker buses through the hole at the rear of it and we needed that oil. 311 spitfires took off from aircraft carrier 'The Wasp', but they were shot up before landing. Hitler had 11 divisions waiting to invade but he decided they should go to other places and we were up and out.
We moved out on a cruiser sailing for a port in Egypt, then to attack Leros but we caught up in a convoy with Capt. Potato Jones. He hated convoys which was good for us as the first batallion took our place and they were nearly wiped out [Battle of Leros 16 November 1943]. The merchants joined us and we became the first batallion. We moved out to Hapthanya for five days.
Outside the camp was a palmist. We had this had Jack with us. He was a corker, played the one-man band. Wash his shirt and guide the sun rays to it. 'Aunt' he says (that's what he called me) 'can I come with you?', 'alright Jack, no problem'. He had mail in his hand, 2 letters. 'Which shall I open first' he said. 'That one', I said. He smiled, he saw it is a letter from Betty in Sidmouth, a Valentine. It says 'you've got the key to my heart, keep it safe'. 'How's that?' says Jack and open the other. 'Dear Jack, by the time you read this I will be married'. 'What' he says 'is unpainlable[?]'. So we suggest he goes into the palmist fellow, in he goes comes out beaming. He has been told that he is illiterate. 'What does that mean "Aunt"?'. I said 'It means great learning' but then my Welsh mate says 'it means you are a big idiot'.
That night there was to be a carol service in the field of the shepherds. We marched through the streets of Jerusalem. There was the shepherd, sheep and forty thousand troops, the fire and the wisemen - it was amazing the clocks did not chime when they played carols. The following morning we visited the Dead Sea. It truly is salty. One of our chaps lost his false teeth on a pallette, he never found them. I walked around and got as far as the fourth slargs of the brons[?] and the sister was from Liverpool - she had been there many years.
Time to get back as we were on the move to Italy. Taranto was our base. We fought our way up the coast through the Apennines to a place called Umbertent[?] that took] us 4 days to capture. We advanced on the Mountellon. The Sikhs tried to take the lake and were repulsed with heavy casualties. It was then our turn. Mountellon was two hundred feet up. We marched fifteen miles behind it, took Jerry by surprise and captured it with eight killed. Forty-three thousand bonlieruing[?] to forty in Paphar[?] the enemy we were engaging were the Waron Regt. There was no damage done, minor casualties. We were standing around larking at the bridge when a light aircraft flew over and dropped a bomb in the middle of the bridge. Trienze was our next place, the Canadians on our left and we on the right. This was where I met my Waterloo. I was fixing a German who had a shattered leg when this shell hit the back of the wall and sliced the top of my head. That finished me in the battle lines. I took a long time for me to get to a casualty station.
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