An account of the retreat to St. Valéry by Bombardier W.H. Prandle
15th July 1940

101 Light Anti-Aircraft/Anti-Tank Regiment RA (TA) was formed in February 1940 by re-designation of RHQ 60 Anti-Tank Regiment with 237 & 239 Batteries plus 43 & 44 Light Anti-Aircraft Batteries from 11 & 12 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiments respectively.

This letter has been Provided by a contact in the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum and provides a fascinating account of the retreat to St. Valéry by one of the lucky ones that got away.

Copy of a Letter received by Sgt (AC) G.C.Claridge, from Bdr (AC) W.H Prandle 101st L.A.A. & A.Tk.Regt.R.A. (the old 5th Bn R.W.F.,TA)
C/O 207 A.A.Trg. Regt;. R.A.
Devizes, Wilts

15th July 40

Dear Sgt,

Sorry I had to bring you such rotten news yesterday it must have come as a great surprise to you to hear my voice & a still greater surprise to hear that a]] had not gone well with the Regt. Personally, I'm still hoping that some more of the fellows will turn up eventually, having travelled on other boats, and that some of them have managed to escape Jerry in France or are still alive & have been taken prisoner. There is the possibility that B Echelon - Mr.Currie (Qmr) and his crowd - got away from Le Havre or somewhere else that way, as they had made for the west of Rouen a couple of days before we began to get back. Then, although I'm told quite definitely that most of our trucks went up in flames from shell fire, there's always the chance that they're loitering in some out of the way place, as Lawrence (L/Sgt(AC) taken prisoner) would say!

We've been operating in the Northern part of France since arriving, going up to give support to the Somme troops after spending a few days below Rouen near Longes. The first casualty was I.S.Jones, 259s D.R., you now the gamekeeper chap with the big black moustache, who hit a car and damaged his spine. Then, as we were leaving Longes, Colin Shone (Buckley) our RHQ chap who broke his wrist at Fleet, was in a collision and broke his leg. After Nottingham (HQ D,R.) had narrowly escaped being banged up when he collided with a French lorry, RH,Roberts (HQ D.R.) as hit by a 237 lorry in the early hours of the morning & broke his left leg in about three places, (Roberts subsequently died).

About the same time - Wed. or Thurs. of last week - things were getting warm & the Regiment really went into action. The two A,Tk.Bys, with a total of 48 guns & only about 3 men to a gun, had a 60 mile front to cover from the sea by Dieppe to Aumale. 44 Bty had their Bofor guns at various points not far from the sea between the Aisne & the Somme, behind Abbeville and 43 Bty, who haven’t any guns at all except Lewis, were acting as A.A, defence for the A,Tk.guns, RHQ was well. up & B Echelon hardly any distance behind. Laurence rode in the Adjutant's (Lt.,Darby) truck, so that when on the move we did'nt see him after for a couple of days at a time. In fact, for the first week in France we did'nt see him at all!

Anyway, Jerry started coming through like old Harry from the Somme. Days & dates are very fogged in my mind, but I fancy this would be last Thursday or Friday. The A,Tk.guns had a battering & altogether we posted 110 men as missing & 6 in hospital wounded - all from 237, 239 & 45 Btys. After HQ had dug themselves into a wood & got rifles & Brens ready for our defence, we moved back in the night to a big forest where 2/Lt Unsworth & 10 of the missing men were brought in. As far as they knew most of the other fellows were alive & had joined in with the French infantry to fight off Jerry. We moved back again at night to another forest, where one more of the missing was brought in by a French truck. We spent the day there - it would be Sunday - & about 6 in the evening were told to get ready to move. What was left of the A,Tk.Btys were out at defensive posts at our rear and there was & lot of movement on the part of officers during the evening. Jerry was very close & the only possible thing we could do was withdraw. However, at 8 pm the officers came in & demanded supper cooked for them, with the result that their mess truck had to be unpacked and supper cooked for them. Had we moved then, I’m confident the Regt would have been able either to reach their new front on the Seine intact, or get to Le Havre or St. Valéry & give a good hand in defending the place.

However, we didn’t move till 1 a.m. on Monday, & fortunately for one or two of us – although at the time we could’nt see it in this light – the convoy got in a mess right away. French cavalry were withdrawing along the same road as us and after Major Payne & about 4 trucks had got through, the remainder with the office truck in front, were held up. We were making for Beaumay Woods & when our part of the Convoy arrived we couldn’t spot the others. They arrived later on foot, Major Payne's car had been ditched after taking the wrong turning, & apparently because there was so much traffic on the road - French cavalry, infantry & refugees - he decided that they could'nt turn round & get back to he right road, So they left the trucks, including the water, ration & M.Os trucks where they were and set off across country. Support Group were also at Beaumay & orders were given for us to leave for Fauville, 20 miles from Le Havre, at 10.30 p.m, However, Jerry was right on us & we got out at 7.30 p.m.

The French are hopeless on the roads & they completely messed up our convoy. HQ & 239 got mixed up somehow, and I fancy the leading HQ trucks had again taken a wrong turn somewhere. I'm afraid that Jerry cut off part of he convoy behind us with his tanks - we heard a lot of firing but owing to there being so many French vehicles on the road could'nt tell what was happening. However, we began to get cracking and were moving fine when we ran slap bang into a German detachment who had taken a village right in our road. We halted out of range while French cavalry went ahead, and Lewis guns, A.T.guns & Brens were ordered up to the front of the convoy. It was decided to turn what there was of the convoy round and Peter Walker (g/Lt), on the advice or the French liaison officer, decided to try end make a dash for the coast road. At this stage the office truck was farthest from the village & so at the head when we turned round. I asked what was going to happen to the people who’d been riding in the trucks & who'd gone forward with the M.Gs & it was decided that the A,T.Tows should wait for them. They included Harry Claydon (RSM) & the M.O. from our truck. Walker & the French officer led us & we had'nt gone far when they suddenly pulled up & said they'd missed the road & we'd have to turn back. They got round quickly & buzzed off, but us we were turning a Support Group officer appeared from nowhere & told us to continue to the crossroads, where we would find the Support Group Convoy, We did so, and 4 trucks followed us, the others apparently following Walker. Sp.Gp were making for the coast, but we had'nt gone far when we stopped & the Brigadier told us that all the roads were blocked by Jerry & the only thing to do was make our way on foot across country,

But we'd only just started to get a bit of kit together when the order was cancelled & we got in the truck & drove up a side road. We stayed there about an hour, while the D.Rs went scouting & how they found the way through is a miracle, But once again the French got in the way and we lost the leading portion of the convoy. It was now dawn on Tuesday & we were making good going along the main coast road. There were several other convoys & at one point we got blocked again. I'd relieved Tony (Gnr.Little) at the wheel as he'd been driving all night & saw a chance to squeeze through, The other 4 trucks of the Regt. was me apparently, and got on my tail, and we got clear away from everybody else. We went like hell & thought we were definitely clear of the wood. But on arriving in St. Valéry we were told we could'nt go any further us Jerry had laid a trap on the Fecamp road about 8 miles out. The only thing to do was stay in the town. We turned down into the centre of the town again & imagine my delight when I saw Cassell, the 239 Bty D.R,, who told me Major Charlton was just 100 yards away. I soon found him & he had 5 trucks with him, and walker and the M.O. were there. After a bit of scouting around, Mr. Wardrop was found by himself on the prom. As morning wore on several of the lads came tramping in, including Joe Lowe (BQMS 239 Bty), and arrangements were made for boats to come along later in the day to take us off. But at 10’clock Jerry started shelling & bombing us & we went through a terrible time. With some of the lads I got along the shore under the cliffs & we were in the caves there until 2 a.m. on Tuesday, when the boats pulled in & began takin us off. There were 50 or so on our boat, and possibly there are others somewhere else. Time alone will tell. Tony Little was with me all night until I gave wounded chap a hand, which slowed us up a bit is we were making tor the boats, and he must have got on. But I have'nt seen him!

Well, although the Ministry of Information says we were landed again in France here we are, I hope it'll be here we stay for a long time! I was with Major Charlton, TSM Jarvis & the rest when we landed at Southampton on Wednesday but while two or three of us were getting new togs the train pulled out. It had been said we were going to Aldershot. We were taken to a School just outside Southampton & had a good meal, shave & rest, & then came on here by train. There’s a good old mixture of troops, Surreys, R.E, RASCs, Duke of Wellingtons, RAOC, 51st A.T.Regt., etc,. & and all we want is to get home for a bit of leave.

Believe me Sgt it's been a swine out there. Jerry bombs you all day long & there isn’t a thing to stop him. ,44 Bty have brought down quite a few, but they come over 30 & 40 at a time & the R.A.F. is conspicuous by its absence!

After living in woods & orchards for a month - it seems years - its grand to get back to e bit of civilization. This is a grand camp - good food & a good rest,

To return to what I was saying, it is possible that more or the fellows are on other boats and that even a lot of those who didn’t reach St. Valéry will turn up in the long run. B Echelon for instance might simply have withdrawn a few miles behind the Seine front & be holding on with some other unit. Other trucks might have go through to that district too, though several of them were definitely seen to go up. After the Germans had shelled St. Valéry & come into it, our Naval guns returned the fire & the place was burning all Tuesday night, so the office. Truck and the others on the promenade must have ended up ablaze there.

Probably this is very much of a jumble and won't be so easy to understand, but no doubt I’ll get a change of seeing you and you can then pop all your queries at me. I've been told today by the Arty Clerk here that we may stay as long is a week, so if you care to drop me a line there's no doubt that I get it. Yesterday I thought, we should simply be here a few hours.

In any cause I’ll get in touch with you again & let you know how things are going. Cheerio for now,

Yours, Bill

Division History References :