The 7th/9th Royal Scots Signals Platoon in Detmold, Germany, 1945. Wounded in Heinsberg in January 1945 and after a spell in the UK, managed to get myself posted back to the 7th/9th (Highlanders) Battalion The Royal Scots in Germany immediately after the War had ended and was warmly welcomed back. I had missed them; their well-kent faces my family. I had been posted to a Holding Battalion in Redford Barracks, Edinburgh, whilst I was recuperating and when well enough was pleased when I was appointed Adjutant of a new Transit Camp being established in Duddingston, Edinburgh, as a staging post for men being posted to Norway. It got me away from the dull routine of parades. In my new responsibility I reported directly to Scottish Command and after a couple of weeks in my new job I had to telephone them on a routine matter and to my great delight the switchboard had inadvertently put through to 'Officers Postings'. I quickly seized the opportunity to tell them my story of being wounded and said I would very much like to be able to re-join my old Battalion in Germany. He didn’t interrupt but kindly listen to my request, noted my name and battalion and said he would do something about it, but keep it quiet; after seventy years I think I can readily talk about it now. It is the first but only attempt to use an ‘Old Boy’ network, and was surprised it actually worked! Within forty-eight hours I was on my way back to the Battalion. Crossing by ferry, I reached a holding camp in Ostend and within a couple of hours of arriving there was approached by two senior Warrant Officers wearing the 52nd Mountain Division signs asking if they could have my permission to see what they could do to get a 15 cwt truck to transport them and myself back to the Division. The power of the ‘old boy’ network of fellow Warrant Officers quickly came into action and they were back with an hour to advise me that all was ready for an early morning departure and so we set off for Bremen where we believed the 7th/9th Royal Scots were located. However, they were no longer in Bremen as the 52nd Division had moved eastwards and the 7th/9th Royal Scots were in Magdeburg, some miles west of Berlin. Another officer was doing my old job of Intelligence Officer but as the Signals Officer had returned to a posting in the UK, I was immediately appointed to fill the vacancy in the Battalion’s Signals Platoon. This picture shows my delight in being with my Signals NCOs and Signallers. Within a few weeks had the job of handing over our field telephone lines to the Russian Army as the Mountain Division was moving to Belgium as we became part of the Strategic Imperial Reserve and believed we were about to be sent to the Far East. However, the war with Japan came to an end on the 14th August 1945 after the atomic bombs had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the 7th/9th were re-deployed in the Army of Occupation. The Battalion then moved to the Garrison town of Detmold where this picture is taken in the former German Army Cavalry Barracks which we renamed the Lothian Barracks. It was there I was appointed Adjutant. Joe Brown.
Another riveting tale as always Joe, thanks for sharing. Reminded of my Father, when he was hit by shrapnel injuring his leg, he was aledged to have said patch me up and send me back. Regards David
No such luck with any old boys network in my case - after recuperating and sitting at the base depot - I was confronted by an SSM who gave me a choice - 1)Join a Churchill regiment in Greece - 2) go home for six months then the Far East -3) finish the war with 16/5th Lancers - I chose the Lancers and finished up in Austria - to be joined by the men who chose the Far East as Japan packed it in…… Cheers
good day joe brown.ww2 veteran.today.10:23am.re:the army's "old boy"network.thank you jo for sharing another interesting story of your army life.the "the army's "old boy network"is like civvy's st's.its not what you know its who you know.always great to hear from you.regards bernard85
I think the best form of Army 'network' that proved the test of the enduring friendships born out of those seven years of War were the post-War Reunions. Alas, they have not been able to fight off the passing of time as our numbers diminished but they were a highlight in the long years since the end of the War. Below, a picture records our first 7th/9th Battalion Signals Platoon Reunion held in 1947 at an hotel in Edinburgh. Lads in the top photograph are there; in the front I am seated in the centre, but our acclaimed leader is Captain John McVie who is on my immediate right. He was the Signals Officer who provided the Battalion Commander with his network of communications with his rifle companies and support weapons the whole time the Battalion was in engaged in their operations during the North-Western Europe campaign. Truly a much-admired leader and a wonderful friend. John was the first officer I met when I joined the 7th/9th RS in 1943. The Adjutant was on leave and he was acting for him, and when he heard I was due to arrive he arranged transport to meet me at Stonehaven Railway Station and as I stepped out at the Officers Mess he rush down the steps to greet me, ushered me in, and said I must be hungry and he had arranged a late lunch for me and he sat with me in the dining room as I ate and we quickly establish a bond of friendship that endured until he died a few years ago. We shared an officer’s experience of infantry signals; we shared with the Battalion Second-in-Command and the Adjutant the responsibility of staffing the Battalion Command Post when we were deployed in a defensive role; two hours shifts each during the night, waking each other up like we were on guard duty as surely we were. We would take regular calls from our forward positions and keep an Operations Log. The Battalion Commander would be left to have a fully rested night, only disturbing him if some serious matter was occurring or about to happen. Like the time when I was on duty and located by intersection bearing the position of a Nebelwerfer that had fire on our forward platoons. The Platoons had intelligently took bearings that enable its location to be pin-pointed, coinciding with a query mark on an aerial reconnaissance interpretation map. Along with the Royal Artillery Battery Officer attached to Battalion HQ was planning to get fire brought on to it quickly as the Nebelwerfer would likely be on a track vehicle and would dart in and out of prepared positions. I had thought we would get the support of the guns allotted to us for targets during the night but the Battery Officer came quickly and excitedly back to tell me that all the guns of the Regiment except those earmarked for other targets would now engage the target: it was to be an ‘Uncle’ target! I thought it wise to wake up the Colonel and tell him I was starting a battle!
