Page 11 - ABA Salvoes 1999-2024

ONE OF THE ORIGINALS
By The Reverend Prebendary (sometime Captain) Francis Vere Hodge MC RA
After a slight hiccup caused by an allegedly dicky heart, Vere, joined the Royal Artillery on 16 May 1940. His basic training at Dover was interrupted by duty at Dover docks helping to unload boatloads of men, uninjured, wounded and in some cases dead, evacuated from Dunkirk. He makes the interesting comment that the Germans missed a trick by not bombing this protracted disembarkation. His training continued during the Battle of Britain, and in response to a notice inviting men to volunteer for ‘special duties’, the whole of his potential officers’ squad volunteered. He describes how they were asked to withdraw their applications as the need for officers was greater than the need for commandos. On 1 October 1940, Vere joined 121 (HAC) Officer Cadet Training Unit at Aldershot; later the unit moved to a then little known estate in Staffordshire called Alton Towers! In February 1941, aged just 21, he was commissioned and volunteered for service with 458 Ind Light Battery RA – he thought the ‘Ind’ was short for Indian and that the battery would be mounted! Following a few days at Larkhill, he joined his chosen battery near Leicester, to find that ‘Ind’ was short for ‘Independent’! The Battery was a new one, with men, vehicles, and equipment still arriving. He makes the point that one of the most pressing problems was to train drivers, as most men could not drive. We find ourselves smiling when an older soldier, a fitter who is thought of as a sort of ‘father figure’ in the Battery is found to be just that, paying three paternity orders weekly to three different women! Their guns were 3.7in mountain howitzers, and there are two examples outside the present 148 Battery Block at Poole. The gun could be broken into eight separate loads for animal, or even man, transport, and fired a 20 lb shell out to 5899 yards. During 1941 the Battery moved firstly to Benham Park west of Newbury, later in September to Linlithgow, where he was billeted with the owners of the distillery, and in December they moved to Bulford in order to join the newly forming Airborne Division. Vere describes initial trials in April 1942 aimed at fitting the 3.7in into a glider; the axle was three inches too long and the simple solution of cutting a bit off meant that although the guns now fitted the glider, when fired they became unstable. The solution was to replace the 3.7in with American 75mm! In the summer of 1942 he found that he had been volunteered for parachute training at Ringway, which he completed successfully. Throughout the summer his Battery, which had been re- titled 1st Air Landing Light Battery, carried out live firing practice, sometimes in company with various infantry units on ranges in the West Country, the Scottish Borders, and the Kintyre Peninsular. The rest of 1942 was devoted to more training, courses, a spell working on a brigadier’s staff, and service on various courts martial. Oh, and on 10 October Vere got married. In early 1943, as UK Airborne Forces expanded, Vere’s Battery formed the nucleus of the 1st Air Landing Light Regt RA. Significantly for his
future, in mid Mar 1943 he was sent on a Combined Operations Bombardment Course in Ayrshire. It was his first experience of working with RN Tels, and as a result of him expressing the view that a Gunner officer could accompany a parachute force to observe for naval guns, in April he found himself posted to 1 COBU at Dundonald Camp, Troon. Things get a bit hectic from here on in!
On 1 May Vere (now a Capt!) along with L/Tel Alex Boomer and L/Bdr Ted Eley, joins a convoy in the Clyde and set sail for Oran in North Africa. Eventually they reach Algiers and travel by train to a place called Mascara where they join 2 PARA commanded by Lt Col John Frost (of future Arnhem fame). After training directly related to the operation they were about to undertake, namely to capture the Primosole Bridge behind enemy lines in Sicily, they motored to their airfield on 12 May, but there was a 24 hour postponement due to wind. Eventually the Bn dropped at 2220 hrs on 13 May. The night was spent trying to assemble the Bn and then moving to high ground which had good command of the surrounding area. Characteristically Vere’s diary account of the next day’s action is pretty thin and matter of fact. However, reading between the lines, and also drawing on a separate account which he later wrote for a magazine, it is crystal clear that he and his party conclusively proved his original thesis that there was merit in including a Naval Gunfire spotting capability in any airborne force undertaking operations within range of naval guns. I am tempted to say ‘as usual’ it was found that his radio was the only one which could be made to work, and so throughout the long day, in addition to conducting shoots, it was he who had the responsibility of keeping the HQ ship up to date with the situation. Vere and his men were firing throughout the day using HMS NEWFOUNDLAND, and perhaps other ships (he does not say). Many targets were engaged, some close, and as an aside we are told that when some British armour appeared to link up with the Para force around eight in the evening, it was realised that none of the spotting party had either eaten or relieved themselves since the action began! They must have been busy. After the Sicily operation,
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