C.S.M. Ernest William Fereday
Army Service No. 5334942
ERNEST WILLIAM FEREDAY
28TH MARCH 1916 - 24TH OCTOBER 1995
[LS78-8] Middle bottom row, a European
West African Sergeant with a Nursing Sister, I think her name was Bunty.
[LS78-9] Bottom row end photograph is me sitting on, believe it or not,
the toilet, with an empty beer bottle in one hand and a large bladed knife
in the other which I quite expertly knocked the cap off with. I am wearing
my bush hat there, which incidentally I still have. On the back is written
- Ernie slightly canned at 18 B.G.H. Madras, India.
One day I was called into the office and my Commanding Officer said 'My
boat was in' this meant my time had finished, 12 years in the army and
I could go home. "Would I go home or sign on and stay there?"
Unfortunately, at that time I was very depressed, (after six years, four
of them abroad) I had a very strong desire to get home and finish with
the whole thing. My biggest mistake in many ways, I think.
I accepted the 'boat' and therefore travelled home to get discharged from
the Regular Army.
It so happened that on arrival, I found two young ladies who were billeted
as it were with my foster parents, they were working in a local factory
and one of them I was very attracted to. After a few months of courtship
we became engaged and thereafter married. We honeymooned in Folkstone,
in Sheraton Avenue where close to there, many years before, I was stationed
in Shorncliffe 1934-1937.
After several years and two daughters later I went through a period of
longing to get back into the army and tried to do so. I don't know if
you remember me saying that I was downgraded to B1, well this meant that
I would have to go for a medical inspection to see if I was fit enough
to go back in due to the medical records it was doubtful. I asked for
an x-ray at Wheatley Head Injuries Hospital which then existed, a wartime
institution and I went there for this x-ray. I asked the Officer what
chance there was of getting back in and he said 50/50.
Unfortunately, I was turned down and I never did get back in although
my application had been received, I had my rank back, a registered number
allocated to me and posted to the 'Dorsets' but as I was turned down medically
that was that. I was still determined to keep in touch with the army and
I went to the Territorial Association and made an application to join
the Territorials. Although downgraded I was accepted and I joined the
90 AGRA at Shippon, Abingdon. They were called the REME - Royal Electrical
Mechanical Engineers. I was given the rank of Staff Sergeant.
[LS80-1] This large photo is of a camp and the TA in its early stages.
In the centre of the back row, wearing an open neck shirt and in civilians
is Arthur Giles. At the time he lived next door to me at Robsart Place,
Cumnor. He was the eldest son and I persuaded him to join but after a
few weeks turned it in. Most of these lads are local lads mainly from
Abingdon. On the left front row is Sergeant Major REME regular, a TA Officer
ex regular, Commanding Officer in civvies in the centre. The one next
to him is an Electrical chap in charge of all electricals etc, radio and
what have you. He, in fact, owned a record recording shop in George Street,
Oxford at the time. The next fellow is the officer in charge of all the
supplies for all the group, he was Ordinance Officer and then myself.
The group all in uniform this time. With the exception of one or two,
many of these fellows had seen active service in many parts of the world.
One outstanding chap and I say that with meaning, in the back row, he
was a regular guardsman and he was attached to my TA Unit. He was an enormous
size, in fact all his equipment was doubled, it had to be specially stitched
together to fit him. The webbed belt around his waist was the equivalent
of tow belts normally worn by anyone else. I am sitting on the extreme
right, front row...
A group again of our Unit from Shippon. We are shown in the front of a
large gun. At that time I knew quite a lot about it but now I have forgotten
most of it, even the calibre of the gun. On this occasion I am third from
the left on the rear rank.
[LS881 & 2] As was usual with the TA we would have one drill night
per week then there would be a week-end attendancies and training schemes
or on the rifle range and then once a year we would go to the annual camp
for a fortnight. On this occasion we were at Chickerell. Then we went
a few miles outside where there was fairly rough country. A demonstration
was given by the TA supposedly of their efficiency and ability to recover
vehicles that had got into severe trouble.
Top left is a photo which shows a vehicle being pulled back up out of
a very steep gulley. In actual fact, it had been pushed down there deliberately
and everything had been laid on for all the Brass Hats and all the Top
Dogs and all the members of the Units to see this vehicle pulled back
out with the then latest equipment! A great deal of trouble was taken,
stakes were hammered into the hillside, pulleys passed through and coupled
up to a winch on a recovery vehicle on the top of the hill and everything
was set to go. Unfortunately, things that were laid down in the book do
not always work out in practise. Here again it happened, with a ping ping
ping all the stakes were pulled out of the ground and there was just no
way that that vehicle could be hauled up by winch. The ground was so soft
it would not hold the stakes to allow the pulleys to go through. Eventually,
amid a great deal of laughter and cat calls all the troops were mustered
and went down and actually pulled that vehicle up by hand. It was just
one big laugh.
It could have been pulled out with real practice and knowhow coupled with
past experience instead of resorting to the procedure as laid down in
a book.
The second picture actually shows the vehicle being manhandled to the
top...
P 1 :: P
2 :: P 3 :: P
4 :: P 5 :: P
6 :: P 7 :: P
8 :: P 9 ::
P 10
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