Stan Blay part Two
Stanley talks about running into a German armoured unit in the Second World War.

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The whole of the 2^nd Sixth Battalion were going to do a carrying party to take in as much food, ammunition and water as they could carry and bring out their casualties.

We got further forward.  I saw a lot of lights coming in our direction and thought, ‘Oh that’s pretty,’ not realising that they were tracers. Of course as soon as we realised, down we went. Yeah, somebody was hit, a corporal.

Several years ago now I did get in touch with his people and told them what happened. He got very severely wounded. We’d run into a German armoured unit and we were pinned down, you couldn’t move, in fact. We laid there for quite a time and then the Platoon Commander crept up and he said, ‘Well look, do you remember, we passed a house way back on the track, well the Company Commander’s given orders we’ve got to get back there’. oh the Corporal who got wounded, his name was Bill Kerswell. Well of course we were very slow, we were dragging him back and I think he was in a lot of pain. It was dark and we couldn’t see really where he was. We come along this ditch and we had a little bit of protection. Well then this ditch fizzled out and it was open country and whichever way we moved we seemed to be getting fired at.  We just laid low and then it started getting light and then we thought, ‘Oh well we’ll see if we can make a run’ but meself and another two chaps I think there was, we come running down this gulley way and sitting at the end was half a dozen Jerries with a machine gun. And I remember them saying, ‘Ach Englanders!’ and I’m afraid that was the end of the war for us.