Further to my original post on remembrance day about the day My grandad joined up in 1915.. this is his extract for armistice day itself. I remember well the night of the 10th of November 1918, we were standing in a group outside our billet when a soldier on a motor bike stopped, came across to us and said the war was nearly over just one more day, many of us laughed as up the front our guns were putting over a tremendous fire, drum fire it was but we were excited at the news, at 9 o clock next morning the 11th of November 1918 we paraded for our main training period and our hearts sank as nothing was said, and we started an extended order drill, the guns were making a terrible noise, the sky full of our planes, with jerry flak bursting all round them I for one thought there was no truth in the motor cyclists story, at ten to eleven we were called in and the four companies made a square, the colonel in the centre, then read from a paper he had in his hand, there was a lot, but what we were waiting to hear came as he said armistice 11 o clock, we threw our steel helmets into the air and broke ranks to pat each other on the back e t c but the officers quickly put a stop to that, when discipline was restored the C. O. continued his speech the gist being that we were in a foreign country and allies had been known to fall out, I’m sure that he was annoyed the war was over perhaps he saw himself as a general if it had gone on. The guns that morning never ceased and I’m sure they continued after 11 o clock but would not swear to it as we were all in a very emotional state and were terribly afraid something would go wrong and keep the war going. I was to be disappointed in the next week when we heard that part of Germany was to be occupied, and got to know our division was to stay in France, but anyhow I had a lot to be thankful for I had gone far longer than the average infantryman before being hit and I was whole and not crippled in any way as hundreds of thousands were, and who would suffer from their wounds or health for many years, many of them would spend the rest of their lives in an institution, I also had to laugh where he described the cockneys that joined his division later on, apparently the geordies didnt like them and called them jam wallers cos they ate their jam with a spoon :)
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 21:17:44 +0000
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