Leave Of Absence

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Well, here we are again in Shropshire, for an early autumn break, and, at least for this afternoon anyway, the sun is out, the sky is blue and the air is moderately warm to boot. The forecast for the next week is none too shabby either, given some of the weather we've had this summer. Eighty years ago today though, my uncle Arthur and his mates from HQ Company Signals Platoon, 2nd South Staffordshire Regiment, were waiting for the go on Operation "Market", having been readied and subsequently stood down several times already. I don't know whether those, such as Arthur, who were stationed at RAF Manston got the reduced 24 hour leave that those at Brize Norton certainly got after a four-day battalion leave was chopped at the last minute; however it would have been a tall order for him to get back to the Midlands and back by 12:00 on the 15th anyway, as Manston was right at the tip of Kent on the Isle of Thanet. This sudden change in plans must have given them all a clue that things were likely to be going ahead pretty soon, though. They had no idea what they were heading into. I'll follow the battalion war diary each day from the day of their departure and deployment on September 17th.

Comments

  1. Anonymous15 September 2024 at 09:27

    Nothing there to spoil the view:)
    ATB
    Joe

    ReplyDelete

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