238772 Bdr. Jack Pickett British Army 4th Medium Regiment, 14/16 Battery Royal Artillery First and foremost of course it's number, rank and name time, so, I am 5495550 Sgt Jack Pickett of 14/16 Battery of the 4th Medium Regiment Royal Artillery. I served in this Battery and Regiment through the whole of the 2nd World War from start to finish.
In 1940 having survived Dunkirk, of which every one of us who was there have our memories of that horrific epic, and how we got back etc, I find myself turning to another theatre of war which is really the story I am about to relate.
We had finished in North Africa having beaten the Axis forces and had been shipped across to Italy and travelled up the Adriatic coast to Anacona.
On arrival we were informed that we had to proceed to the Anzio Bridgehead, as they needed big guns. Our battery was equipped with 8 5.5-inch Guns. These had a range of 16,200 yards (14,813m) and a shell weight of 100lbs (45.36Kg).
Anzio, of course, is on the opposite coast, so a very long journey took place, a bit like "have gun will travel!" Having arrived at Anzio and established ourselves, which meant a lot of hard work, eventually a gentleman came up the track which was adjacent to my gun, in his jeep. He had a red band around his cap. He had come for a look see. No, he wasn't the Salvation Army man with cups of tea but a very high ranking Staff Officer who promply went back to the Command Post and said that he wanted all guns dug in like the 25 pounders, a very much smaller gun than our 5.5s, which had balancing springs that stood over 6ft high. How we overcame the problem is a story far too long to relate here. So, on to the crucial part of this episode which is the barrage we put down on the final push to Rome. Sounds exciting I know, but we started the barrage at midnight, firing continually until dawn the next morning. The battery fired well over 3000 rounds during that period, bearing in mind that each shell weighed 100lbs and had to be manhandled onto a loading tray, the tray onto the cradle of the gun and then rammed home by two gunners with a ramrod into the barrel of the gun with a satisfying 'clunk' and then fired.
I must emphasize that as we fired so many rounds, the gun barrels got so hot the paint peeled off, the oil in the recuperating system literally bubbled and this was the only time in the entire war when we had one gun out of action for 15 minutes at a time to cool down. With guns blazing all around and, although music to gunners' ears, the noise was traffic and the Tannoy from which we received orders from the Command Post was perched on sandbags at the side of the gun pit. I found myself dashing to and fro putting my ear to the Tannoy to make sure I heard all the orders correctly.
>p>At dawn when we got the "ceasefire" order it was deathly quiet, in fact it seemed eerie.
We were wet with perspiration and near exhaustion and then almost instantly a gunner's voice broke the silence by saying "Got a fag Jack?". I was a non-smoker myself but I always had a little store for those who did.
To conclude this part of my story I would like to bring your attention to a painting that graces many a Royal Artillery Mess, of gunners in the First World War, with drag ropes`attached and pulling their guns out of thick mud, with the caption underneath "Straining at the Leash". The gunners God bless them.
Those last few words is what I dedicate to all my gun crew that served, not only the guns, but King and country so extremely well at Anzio.
The Sangro River
This part of my story comes after Anzio and Rome. We were pushing up north to support the Poles.
We had a good lyric writer in the battery, Sgt Roberts by name, and he wrote the following to the tune of Lily Marlene.
"After we fought our glorious way to Rome
Then we thought that we were going home
They sent us up to help the Poles
They'd got into a sticky hole
14/16 Bty, 14/16 Bty".
No, we did not go home, but straight back into the line, on the Adriatic side of Italy and made our way toward the River Sangro to give support. Our General in command of operations was General Montgomery, affectionatly known to us all as "Monty". Well, our guns were deployed just below the brow of a hill and my gun was nearest the road, very near in fact, and this was the only road up to the front.
The country roads in Italy are so narrow in some places that two vehicals could not pass, so to overcome that problem they cut passing points into the hillside or field. Such a hillside passing point was directly adjacent to my gun. Monty, in his chauffeur driven car, came up to this vantage point for several days before the Battle of the Sangro took place, crawled with his very large binoculars to the highest point to look at the German positions on the other side of the river.
Before I go much further I must explain. 4th Medium Regiment RA had been part of Churchill's 1st Army during Dunkirk and the North African Campaign and we were proud of that and still wore the 1st Army Flash on our shoulder.
After the Africa Campaign we were transfered to the 8th Army under Monty but still kept our 1st Army flash.
Much had happened in North Africa but I must get back to the story on the Sangro River because that's where the highlight of this story took place, and for me most certainly, because I met and spoke with Monty.
Having arrived back from his vantage point to the passing point, I was amazed when he called me over to his car. Naturally, I stood to attention and quietly said "Sir". With that he looked at the 1st Army insignia on my shoulders and said "What are they Bombardier?" and when I said "1st Army Insignia, Sir", he gently rebuked me saying "You are not in the 1st Army now Bombardier, you are in the 8th Army!" Monty was very proud of the 8th Army and after Alamein who could blame him?
The next thing he said was "Do you smoke Bombardier?" I said "No Sir, but I have a gun crew who do" and with that he said "Hold your arms open then" and he promptly filled them with Wills Gold Flake cigarettes and I toddled back to my gun and my arms were emptied in no time at all. Of course I said thank you but could not salute because I had no arms as it were!
I feel very privilaged that this little incident took place and I certainly shall never forget it. Monty had a staff car, which he captured in the desert. It had a glove compartment which stretched from one side of the car to the other. This he filled with cigarettes and handed out to the troops wherever he went. It happened to me ladies and gentlemen, so I know it's true.
Among my war souveniers I have a packet of Wills Gold Flake to this very day.
That's how I came to chat with General Montgomery. He did not drink, he did not smoke. I won't go further than that, but he did think of us men, which is humanity of course. When the Americans lost eighty thousand men in the Ardennes and Monty chipped in to stem the tide with the 21st Army Group, Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, wrote to Monty saying "My Dear Monty, If there is any thing I can ever do for you I'll do it". Monty, God Bless him, is no longer with us but what a fine epitaph to take with him.
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