Edmund Sydney White and Joyce Cornall Hinde
My father, Edmund Sydney White, was born in 1919 at Royal Farm, Eaton, Cheshire. His twin sister Dorothy died of diphtheria at 18 months old and all his life he felt that someone was missing. On the day war was declared, he went down to the bottom of the garden for a very sober contemplation as he knew he would be called up. He couldn't claim being in a reserved occupation as a farmer; the Depression meant that the farm could only support his two older brothers. He had never been further from home than Chester, 12 miles from his village. He said he felt a mixture of fear and excitement, as many young men must have done.
He joined the Royal Engineers in December 1939 and was posted to 290 Army Troops Company in January 1940 (a Black Country-based Territorial Army unit). He was provisionally embarked for service in the Finnish-Soviet theatre of war, then speedily disembarked and reformed to proceed to the Western front as part of the British Expeditionary Force. After several months in France, he was evacuated in May 1940 after Dunkirk and redeployed in southern England (Aldershot), where the company was involved in a lot of engineering works including artificial landscape concealment from enemy air attack.
In February 1941, the 290 ATC embarked for the Middle East, spending 14 weeks at sea, arriving at Port Tufic on the Suez Canal, before proceeding to Palestine and the Syrian campaign. He became a driver and remembered seeing a man in Arab dress and blue eyes herding goats. He slowed down, whereupon the man addressed him in a perfect Etonian accent, telling him "Move on, soldier." A spy? He attended the Middle East School of Hygiene, attaining distinction for camp layout and water treatment. He told me (his daughter) that the main thing he had to test water for was bilharzia.
He served in Italy from 1943 to 1945, building bridges, and it was here he caught malaria, which lingered after the war. He remembered stopping in Cape Town on the way back to Italy and a lady on the quay singing Gracie Fields songs to the troops, and the wonderful welcome and hospitality in homes the soldiers were shown. Who was this lady who has been mentioned in other accounts? He also remembered the final journey home through France in spring 1945, with all the wild flowers blooming and girls waving white handkerchiefs at the train—it was a wonderful feeling, to be going home after six years.
History
Item list and details
I attach a photo of my father Edmund, and a menu from Christmas Day 1941—they were very well fed! I also attach a photo of the 'team' in the Middle East, which includes locals as well; my dad and others learned some Arabic. I also attach a guide to Rome; the army obviously felt the need to educate the troops on their surroundings and Italian culture. The squaddies were urged to 'think well of Rome' which shows a respect for a country they had so recently been fighting. I also attach a paper from the regiment offering help in finding jobs after demob—the regiment didn't abandon them. I also attach two photos of my mother, Joyce Cornall Hinde, who joined the Land Army from a very sheltered middle-class upbringing and thoroughly enjoyed it. She mentioned that people would talk about an event as if it was yesterday and it had actually happened 50 years earlier! She learned how to milk cows and dig vegetables in the freezing cold. She served on a couple of farms in Cheshire and became friends with a little girl next door who introduced her to her Uncle Edmund. Love at first sight. They would never have met each other if it hadn't been for the war.Person the story/items relate to
Edmund Sydney White (father) and Joyce Cornall Hinde (mother)Person who shared the story/items
Anne Goodith WhiteRelationship between the subject of the story and its contributor
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Shared online via the Their Finest Hour project website.Record ID
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