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George Watson's War.


This site is the story of George Watson.

George served in the Second World War as a member of the British Armies East Surrey Regiment. He saw active duty in Italy as a member of the London Irish Rifles.


George's story

George Watson, April 1940

George was called up in Feb 1940. He initially joined the East Surrey Regiment, and was transferred to H Company of the London Irish Rifles when he was posted to Italy in early 1944 as a Corporal.

George and his mate Jack Snellgrove were both called up on the same in day Feb 1940. Before the war, George had been employed as a truck driver, so after his standard infantry training, he was transferred to the Bren Gun carrier platoon (which was attached to HQ's). He was soon promoted to Corporal. He must have been good at the job he was doing, as the Army kept him with that training battalion to train additional new intakes, until the Regiment overseas had taken too much of a hiding, and additional reinforcements were required.
Thus, after the standard boat trip, he joined the others in Italy in early 1944 as a Corporal. Due to his subsequent injuries, George cannot remember all the details, but it must have been Feb 44. This because his daughter was born in November and his wife said she was a ten month baby, and he had gone straight from home to Liverpool and on a ship.

When he got to Italy, it was decided that the East Surreys had suffered too many casualties at Salerno so they were being sent back to North Africa. George and the other reinforcements were transferred to the London Irish Rifles, H Company, and he went back to driving Bren Gun carriers.

On the Bren Gun carriers, George was the driver, and there were three more personnel besides an NCO and two gunners. The carriers were very good at times when you had a bit of flat ground, as you could cover a lot of ground in a short time. They were lovely to drive - nice and fast, but when you are on mountain roads and went around a bend and there was an 88mm gun waiting for you, that is another story! In George's opinion the 88mm were one of the most accurate and mobile guns of the war - shame they were on the "other side"!

Like the time we had been in action and were held up by these anti tank guns. Really it was the first time he had come across a dead one in the road. Being the gent he was always taught to be, George had stopped the carrier and got out to shift the body. A voice rang out "leave that alone", (or words to that effect!), "there may be a mine under him. Run the b----d over". They had been told the Germans had a habit of doing this. So had to do as told, but this sergeant had not seen what George had seen - this bloke blown into the rear from tank fire. If they had put a mine under him it would have exploded when they went over him; - not much logic there is there?!

George was at Cassino, but again cannot remember much of the details. His mate, Jack Snellgrove, used to say that they loaded stores onto mules and took them up at night to the troops. He finds it strange that he cannot remember this period as he loves horses and mules. The only thing that he does recall was "all those Yankee bombers dropping all those bombs on Cassino". (I imagine that would be a hard scene to forget for anyone who saw it - Ed).

On the 25th May, in the area of Melfa Crossing (near Ceprano), they had been on the move for about a week, with a bit of action here and there. They were on a track that led up to a small woodland. The party halted there while some more chaps took over and passed through them. They were told to camouflage up, and about midday the CO came round and told them they were going to be there for a while so dig in. They started digging in when up in a cloud of dust came a couple of scout cars from the 56th recce. The CO tore a strip off the one pipper standing up in his scout car - "What do you think you are doing? My chaps have tried to conceal that they are here, and then you charge up in a bloody cloud of dust!" The one pipper replied "Oh the enemy are miles away sir." "Our bloke said they wasn't two hours ago, so bugger off!" replied the CO and they went.
They finished digging their pits and laid the tarpaulin out and settled down to have some kip, four to a tarp. Then lo and behold, a group of Stuka's dive bombed their position. Everyone dived down the pits, when George noticed that his mate Jack was missing. The Stuka's did not stop long, and once gone, everyone helped out were they could.
In George's words:
"It do not help when you see a bloke you were talking to a few hours ago laying there with half his body blown away and you are looking for someone. Any way one of our chaps says 'Snellgrove has had it - I have just heard the Officer taking a roll call' so we were going to see this officer to find out. We were about 100 yards from were we had been and we heard a voice saying 'Is it over?", and it was Jack! He had taken his boots off when we lay down and this place had been destroyed by gunfire and was all bits of brick around yet these two had run over all this rubble with no socks on and did not have a scratch on their feet! How they got there I do not know. When I told him that they were getting his kit together as he was brown bread he went potty! But it was another Snellgrove who had only come back from Naples that night."






George was wounded about 20km from Florence. He did not get much shrapnel - only bits here and there. It was the blast that he caught and the building that it brought down that did the damage.

In George's words:
"We were under heavy shell fire and I had gone back to my bren gun carrier for some more ammo. I heard one coming a bit close, so jumped down the slit trench that was there and landed on a dead Jerry's belly! Of course he let out all the wind that was in him and I got out of that trench quicker than I had got into it! I picked up the two boxes of ammo and ran to the building we were firing from, and our signaller was kneeling near the doorway calling for stretcher bearers. He was the last thing that I can recall. They say you won't hear the one that gets you, and I never heard that one."

George was taken to the 92nd hospital Naples. He was like "a stuttering fool" then as he had just got his sight back and was walking. In George's words:
"I know some people may think this is a bit far fetched but it is the Gods honest truth, I had got my sight back with the help I believe of two South African squaddies. I must have been a bloody old moaner as I could not do anything for myself, and one day these two chaps asked the doctor if they could take me around the ward which they did - one each side kicking one leg in front of the other. I cannot tell you how long this went on but they put me back to bed and I must have gone off to sleep. It must have been dark when I woke up and all I could see was this light above me and then I found out I had a bad stutter. I am calling out I can see the light repeating this, I remember someone saying well pee on it and put it out, something like that, and then this nurse putting a card over my eyes and asking if I could see it then I said no. Then they started to treat my minces, but up to that point I was waiting to be shipped home, but I got better although I could not hold anything steady. Then they sent me to this hospital to be regraded and while I was there this chap came up and said I had taught him to drive in Dover not that I could remember, but he said I have just seen your mate Jack in the next hospital (which was under canvas). So he took me there and I met my mate. He said "They told me you had been sent home." I asked what was wrong thought he had been wounded, but he had Malaria and was going to be regraded. The next thing I heard of him was when my wife sent me a letter to say he had been to see her and told her how I was and was being discharged with a pension, but I never heard from him again."

One incident he recalls well, is a train derailment. This was well above Rome and happened when he was going back home after being wounded. This must have been November or December '45 as he remembers he was home for the Christmas and it was the first time he had seen his daughter.
Owing to his head injury he cannot recall exactly where it was, but it was a train carrying Zoo or circus animals. They had to shoot some of the animals while the troops were told to stay on the train. Then they had to change over trains with the one coming south - which had some Kiwis on. As they passed each other there was the old chit chat back and forth. There were about 200 or more men on the train, yet he has never been able to find anyone who recalls the incident. George and I would like to exchange stories of that incident with anyone out there who remembers it. Mail me if it rings a bell.


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