A/QMS. Eric Norman Pye
British Army 829th Tank Workshop Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
My father Eric Pye was apprenticed as a locksmith. He joined the RAOC in Sept 1940 and transferred to REME on its formation in 1942. He worked on a variety of Hobarts Funnies. He was at Vauxhalls at Luton for some time and nearly drowned in their test tank whilst testing a DD tank. He was mixed up with the Canadians and we frequently had a small convoy outside our house in North London.
Immediately before D Day he was in charge of the gang armouring the Caterpillar Bulldozers ready for the beaches. He went ashore with the Canadians on D Day plus 2. Back in London we had a near miss from a V2 rocket about 10 doors away. Apart from being at Belsen when it was burnt down by Crocodiles he seems to have had a reasonable time. He always said the only Europeans he got on with were the Germans!
On his return to civvy street he resumed a career in Ironmongery, He joined the AER, which meant that both of us were in REME as I did my National Service. The tradition continued as my son Robert joined Royal Signals as a boy soldier, retiring last year as a Lieutenant Colonel. His daughter is in the OCC at Liverpool. Dad passed away in September 1996 aged 84.
