LEN BLAKE

In 1939 I was living in Long Riston and in April 1940 enlisted in the East Yorkshire Regiment stationed in Beverley. It was at the Victoria Barracks (now Morrisons) that we were subjected to the rituals of square bashing and getting accustomed to all the mysteries of Army Life. I was subsequently transferred to the R.A.O.C. (Royal Army Ordnance Corps) Depot at Burlington, Oxford, then at York and finally at Hucknall, Notts.
In 1941 I was attached (still with R.A.O.C.) to the 4th Division - The Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry (called The Dutch Cheese Light Infantry) near Reading. Our job was servicing all the Army vehicles. At this time we were all training for the second front.
However, late in 1942 I was posted to the 1st Army in North Africa - still with the D.C.L.I. and I became a Sergeant.
In 1943 we were transferred to Italy and in the Battle of Cassino. Two of my contempories - Harry Lee and Norman Carlill had been in the Anzio landings where 4 divisions - 20,000 men - had been wiped out and it was there the Commanding Officer protested over any more losses on that scale.
After Cassino we went up through Italy and across to Bologna and Rimini on the Adriatic coast. In 1944 we were sent off to Greece and landed at Piraeus and up to Salonika.
In 1945 after being away for three and a half years I was given leave and travelled home by boat and train. Leave over, I returned to Greece and after being in Camp only one day, found I was to be released and demobbed and was sent home again!!