However, I returned to my unit and after nine months in the army I was promoted to Lance Corporal and three months after that I received my second stripe to become full corporal. As the year progressed, huts were built on the adjoining fields, so we could, at last, have a little more room and glad to get out of the very dusty and overcrowded accommodation of the shed. After six months as a corporal, I received my third stripe, making me into a sergeant. My pay as a lance corporal had been five shillings and sixpence a day, a corporal’s pay being six shillings and threepence daily, but as a sergeant I received eight shillings and sixpence. Whilst still a corporal I had asked Alice about getting married. She finally agreed, so during my Christmas leave 1941-42, I informed mother and dad that we were to be married, hopefully on my next leave, which would be Easter 1942. Mother, after a little hesitation, accepted it as I was then twenty-five and there was no end of the war in sight. When we first joined up out of our original 17/6 per week for a private soldier, seven shillings allocated to mother weekly, ten shillings for me and sixpence a week for barrack room damages, just a big con. When we finally joined the ROACs regiment, I received 3/6 per day and the pay was backdated to the 17/10/40. The allowance home for mother was to ensure, should anything happen to me whilst I was still single, mother would receive a soldier’s pension. Unknown to me, mother had been putting the seven shillings into my TSB account. When I was married Alice received married woman’s allowance which was much better and enabled her to save. Things didn’t run too smoothly when the time came for my Easter leave, although I had been granted leave for Easter. The Officer commanding our company turned awkward and said I couldn’t go because troops were not allowed to travel at Bank Holiday times on the trains. This naturally caused me a little upset as all preparations had been made for the wedding on April 6th, Easter Monday. In the end, one of the sergeants noticed my distress and asked me what the matter was. I didn’t actually get on with this staff sergeant as he was a bit arrogant. However, he made no more to do but went in to see our shed officer as opposed to the regimental officer. They were both captains at that time and it was finalized that if I travelled by road (hitchhiked) I could go, much to my relief. It was marvellous how things worked out. On the Saturday morning before Easter day, I set off and managed several lifts from Old Dalby to the other side of Nottingham, then by Derby road towards Matlock, by this time I had been joined by another hitch-hiker. As we were on the road a car stopped and asked us if we knew where Chorley was. Well, that put the icing on the cake; he was going to see his child in Heath Charnock hospital, so it was a wonderful lift and I arrived in Chorley, told him he could put up at the Royal Oak in town and the other laddie made his way to Darwen. I caught the bus to Whittle-le-Woods. Well, that was fine. We, Alice and I, had a happy two days together and of course, Easter Monday came, it being the big day, when we should be united by the Reverend Maurice Garner at two o’clock. There was nearly a temporary hitch as my brother, whom I had asked to be best man, apparently had one of his regrettable habits of being awkward. Elsie and the children arrived at my mother’s in rather an upsetting state, saying he wasn’t coming. Somehow I didn’t worry as in the event I would ask Arthur Walmsley to stand in for me. However, Fred eventually arrived on his bicycle with his trousers very wet, so my mother had to get the iron out and press them for him. It would seem, so they said, he had not any money available to come on the bus. All turned out all right, the taxi came and took Fred and me to church. I always remember turning round and seeing Alice coming down the aisle on her father’s arm. After the service photographs were taken by a photographer who had come to Alice’s sister’s wedding without being asked and their photographs were so much liked we had decided to have the same person come to take ours. We then went to Chorley to have the usual picture taken by A.V. Tootle, the recognized photographer in Chorley. Then we made our way back to Hills Café where the reception was held. I had arranged with the taxi man to take us to Blackpool if he could, as petrol was severely rationed then, so after the reception, we made our various ways to Prospect House, Alice’s parents’ home. Alice got changed and my brother couldn’t have been nicer urging us to get in the taxi and be off whilst everyone was busy. The taxi was waiting so off we went and as we arrived at Blackpool it was raining so all the confetti stuck to our clothes. The landlady guessed we had just been married and of course with the blackout, it was pitch black and we had great difficulty finding our way back to the residence where we had booked for. We had a lovely week until Saturday when we returned on the bus to Whittle.
Continue to 24. Sergeant - Staff Sergeant & back to Weedon