2nd Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment

C.S.M. Ernest William Fereday
Army Service No. 5334942

ERNEST WILLIAM FEREDAY
28TH MARCH 1916 - 24TH OCTOBER 1995

This is the time when the M.T. Section was really coming into its own, we were getting more and more trucks and the horses were disappearing rapidly. In fact, the only horses that were kept were Officers chargers. Most of the Officers then were fairly wealthy men who kept their own chargers and even in some cases they had their own steeplechasers that they rode at Folkestone races and Steeplechases. They were the very few. Now the truck we had was a Morris, army designed commercial truck. A straight flat six engine, very simple, hardworking and very reliable.

Top left photograph - with me at the steering wheel of my own truck. I was a Lance Corporal at the time and a qualified driving instructor. All those drivers were taught and trained by me. There again I've got Fred Brown who features later on. He's still there, O'Mara, he was a good driving instructor and he was also an electrician, took electrical lectures which I took later on. He taught me incidentally. He is stood on the passenger seat right arm on the hood rail.

[LS28-2] On the right there's one large 'Caution, driver under instruction' board, this illustrates the discipline we had to undergo. My truck was inspected and my officer found a little bit of mud just behind the drivers screen door. They didn't have proper doors fitted, just a canvas screen which was unstrapped and clipped along. When he pulled it back he found some mud there. He said to spend the afternoon cleaning the whole vehicle, not just the place where the mud was found! - And this was a Saturday afternoon and it was my afternoon off! The camp photographer came by and I saw him, I thought 'Right we will have a photograph of this' and he took this. Of course the board with 'Caution, driver under instruction' normally hung on the back of the vehicle to warn people behind that driver was in fact under instruction. I thought it was quite a gag to put it by my truck while I was cleaning it as I was 'under instruction' too!

The next one on the left is my old friend Joe Slatter, whom I have met for the last two years at the Reunion Meeting of the Berkshire Regiment. You can see the Regimental sign there with the badge 1st Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment. That's Joe in his truck. He was in fact an ex drummer until he came to the M.T., I taught him to drive. (written on the back of photo - J Preece, Gore, Shabdon, Leominster, Meredith, Great Leys)

[LS28-5] On the right is one of me larking about on a motorcycle, stood up on one leg riding the motorcycle round the parade ground driving straight at the cameraman, but it is my camera that he had got. He took a considerable risk believe me to take that. The bike was 16H Norton with a kick start and foot gear change.

[LS28-6] Down the bottom is another group which shows me with my Lance Corporal and Good Conduct stripe in walking out dress. Don't know why I got that - all those undetected crimes! The signpost there says to Sandgate and Folkestone. The little Austin 7, thay were supplied by the way, for the Company Commanders who had now lost their horses and they gave them an Austin 7 to run around in. The one on the left is young Cavanagh whom I have mentioned before.

[LS32-4] This is at Saxmundham (Suffolk) on manoeuvres. I think it was 1937. Little Titch Shilton - 3rd along in the centre there, 5th along Fred Brown whom I have mentioned before.
I can't remember the name of the others. The photograph on the right is Coaker again his in walking out uniform, head and shoulders photograph! He was a very nice chap.

A couple of vehicles and motorcyclist outside the M.T. office.
One of myself outside on the grass on camp, just relaxing.

On the right is McCleen whom I have mentioned before, he had just obtained a motorcycle, very old fashioned today but worth a lot of money today if it still exists. I think it was an AJS or something or other with hand gear change which you don't see today.

[LS30-6] Below that there is me in an Austin 7 and one of the Officers personal servants driving another Austin 7. Next to us is a 'DR' which is a dispatch rider on a motor cycle.

Bottom left is one of our young boys on 'boy service' we had him down the garage doing tool boy or grease boy, that sort of thin. Next again we have a DR on a motorbike and centre a Humber Snipe, which would be worth a bomb today if you had one in good condition. That belonged to the Second in Command of the Battalion's car.

Top left - In the truck is young Bateman and the photograph on the right is O'Mara on the motorcycle. He was a motorcycle instructor too and taught the R.S.M. to ride one and gave him a rough time as he took him over the worst possible cross country runs to shake him up.

Next is me in civilians looking reasonably smart! That was taken at Photographic Studios, Bovington Camp, Wool in Dorset with the Royal Tanks Corp as it was known then. Headquarters training depot museum. I went down there on a 3 month course, I think. Driving, maintenance and instruction on Brengun Carriers. From then on I was finished with the M.T. (which means Mechanized Transport, in case you didn't know). Thereafter it was Brengun Carriers for me and that is a very different story. Having fully qualified on that course I returned to my unit, who had in the meantime, moved on to Bovington Camp just outside Aldershot.

The group below on the left is the whole of the M.T. as it was at that time. Underneath is Charlie Waterman and his truck, he turned out to be a very good driver!
[LS32-6] And again, underneath the office window are, I and another chap posing on the motorcycle for the photograph.

Top left hand corner, this is one of our lads in the Brengun Carrier HMH 302...

In the middle there is a photograph of three of the lads, the one on the right is the same chap who is in the photo on the left. They are poised at the top of a small mound.

P 1 :: P 2 :: P 3 :: P 4 :: P 5 :: P 6 :: P 7 :: P 8 :: P 9 :: P 10


 


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