WO. William Blyth Barron
British Army 47th Anti Aircraft Battalion Royal Engineers
from:Burlington Inn, 7 Hendon Road, Sunderland
My Dad, William Blyth Barro, like many of his era spoke very little of his wartime experiences until shortly before he died. Only then did he tell me of some of the lighter moments. As his daughter he may have thought some things too horrific for me to know, so the first was when they were sent to a location to await a US parachute regiment being dropped at night, while they awaited around a muddy field in cold and wet conditions with few rations between them. The Americans started to drop into the landing area with all the top of the range equipment, silk parachutes and such like, which they dumped and left on the field! My dad said once they were safely off the field the British went in and salvaged some of the stuff they had just discarded, food, cigarettes, anything they could use and then had to clear away the remnants of the landing operation.
Next was when they came across a previously bombed area and in the ruins of what they thought was maybe a village hall they found some bruised and battered instruments. My Dad being a musician by trade, along with others who had also been in the DLI band, retrieved and repaired some of the instruments and when conditions allowed would entertain the troops at night.
Once the war ended and they were preparing to be boarded onto the ship for home they were all told that the taking of any war trophies was not allowed and anyone caught doing so would be dealt with severely, although none of the musicians had previously looked upon their rescued instruments as trophies they now realised that perhaps they would be considered as such, so with nowhere to dispose of these discreetly the only available place was a disused well, so down they went. Dad used to say "I wonder if they were ever discovered again?"
