| Later I was told about the political background that had made the matter so sensitive and urgent. The newly elected Labour Government were anxious to keep up the momentum of their house-building programme which was in danger of being held-up because of the shortage of wood. Consequently they were breathing down the neck of the War Office and they in turn were putting pressure on the Commander of the Rhine Army to get a move on! It provide a distinctive high-note to end my War-time service by keeping the Commander-in-Chief of the Rhine Army waiting for about ten minutes - for me! | ||
| Finally my War service was over. On the 30 December 1946 I reported to the demobilisation unit in the United Kingdom and handed in my revolver. I still have the receipt given to me by the quartermaster for my 'Pistol Revolver point-38 Smith & Weston No. 819442'. I was fitted out with a blue pin-strip suit and given a first-class rail warrant to Peebles; returning not as a callow youth of 18 but as a man aged 25. No matter what the years ahead would have in store, I knew I had to try to live in a decent way and never by my actions or reactions to life dishonour my fallen comrades. | ||
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Page Links ~ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
21, 22, 23, 24, 25, Index