Sword Beach to Bremen., A Veterans tale. Sapper

Hi Paul
Apologies for delay, computers playing up. Yes we saw action with the RUR and damned fine mob they were. as good a fighter as can be found anywhere. We seldom got to talk to others. Far too much was happening. And of course war does not exactly encourage socialising.
Back on the 60th anniversary of D day, I, in the company of the Colonel that led the RUR in on D day, did a live programme for the BBC. That was at Tyneham, the Little deserted Village that was commandeered back in the early part of the war. I have photo somewhere of both of us.
Best regards
Sapper

 

Hi Sapper

Thanks for your reply and glad to hear your computer's up and running again!

By pure coincidence I have just come across papers that showed that during the early years of the war he was actually in the Royal Engineers:

- October 1940 - Corporal in HQ No 20 Training Centre R.E. - Plumer Barracks, Crownhill, Plymouth
- April 1941 - Sergeant No 3 R.E. Construction Centre in Radcliffe, Manchester
- July 1941 - CQMS R.E. Radcliffe, Manchester

He had mentioned before that he had been in another regiment before RUR and that he had been lucky to transfer to 2 RUR as casualties in his old unit had been extremely heavy.

I've only just found out it was the Royal Engineers and having read your account again I can understand just how lucky he was (and me for that matter!!).

Thanks again for going to the effort of adding details of your story - its given me a far better insight it to what happened at the time.

Best regards.

Paul Scanlon


Quis Separabit

 

I just now got to this thread here and tried my best to breeze through all 27 pages of it and found this story very interesting. I'm glad we have such noble vets that can still share their stories with the rest of us.

 

Thanks for that But Noble? No one ever called me that before.
Big Grin.
Sapper

 

Anytime, my friend....

 

Sapper

Thank-you for posting your account of your service in the war.

My father was also a Royal Engineer. Due to family circumstances I know very little about his war service. I know he landed a few days after D-Day (at Port en Bessin I think) and finished the war on the north German coast - possibly near Lubeck.

Have a good Christmas.

Richard

 

Richard have you no information at all that would point to where and what about your Father?
Best Wishes
Sapper

 

Sapper

Regretably not - apart from what I have already mentioned.

I am going to investigate - possibly an interesting story hidden away.

Regards

Richard

 

while we were armed with the "Sten" a gun that fired when you did not want it to, and would not, when you did! My Sten fired on its own when I put it on the ground and nearly shot my best pal Harry Grey. We learned not to keep it loaded for fear of killing your own, something that nearly had a tragic outcome later. I remember the “Sten” cost about 7/6p to make, cheap and nasty, and very unreliable.
Sapper.[/quote]


I love reading your story, I have good imagination so its almost like a film is going on in my head as i read this thank you very much! I didn't realize how useless the sten was..

 

Kind of makes me wonder if it was so "unreliable" or "useless" then why were the Germans so desperate as to make a copies of it? Such as the MP3008 and perhaps the" Neumünster Device".

 

no where in that quote did i read the word, "useless".

 

LOL I meant "unreliable" and "useless". I fixed it . From decoder's statement,

"I love reading your story, I have good imagination so its almost like a film is going on in my head as i read this thank you very much! I didn't realize how useless the sten was.. "

 

oh no, sorry buddy! I was talking about decoders statement!

 

Thats ok . I wont hold it against ya . LOL

 

Let me clear up a point or two. The Sten was a general purpose weapon..Handy for close work. But it was also a finger and thumb chopper. Its unreliability was twofold. It would fire if jolted, and it did jam at times. To say the Germans copied the Sten ? To me, that is laughable. Why? Simple, the Schmeiser (Spelling after 64 years?) That light machine gun was superb. Light, accurate, with hardly any recoil. it was a beauty.

But forbidden for use by British Troops.....Why? because its sound was distinctive. That immediately invited fire from your own side...Men got killed.......! I did a test fire...Wonderful!

There is a picture of me with a deactivated Sten at the lost Village of Tyneham in the Purbeck hills. Live broadcast for the BBC on the 60 anniversary.

The Gentlemen by my side is the Colonel In Charge of the RUR on D Day. It was his birthday.
As they drew near the coast with shells and bullets coming their way, a Irish lad bent over his shoulder and said.. "Look Sur they er sending you Birthday presents"
Sapper

 

No he did not say the word "useless" I used that word to describe the sten, After reading how it went off and almost shot his friend. I thought usless would be a good term for a gun you would leave unloaded because you could not trust it. It's also a shame how Brian did not get an award. I don't believe either of my grand Fathers who served Britian were re-warded either.

Brian, I noticed a few times that you mentioned your self as an old man with silly tales of the war at times. That might be how you view your self in some rare occasions. I hope you don't belive that for a second! Whenever my Grand father speaks of his RAF experince during ww2 I'm leaning on the tip of my chair listening to every single word that comes out of his mouth. He has no idea how much I care for these stories.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING BRIAN! (I wish people like you could live forever)

 

Looks like a copy to me .

Original STEN



MP3008





"The 9 mm MP 3008 was a Nazi German substitute standard submachine gun manufactured toward the end of World War II. The weapon was almost identical to the British Sten, except for its vertical magazine.
The MP 3008 was an emergency measure, designed at a time when Germany was at the point of collapse. Desperately short of money and raw materials, the Germans sought to produce a radically cheaper alternative to their standard submachine gun, the MP40."
Volkssturmgewehr MP 3008 | Rifles n Guns

The 9 mm MP 3008 (Maschinenpistole 3008, literally "machine pistol 3008") was a Nazi German substitute standard submachine gun manufactured toward the end of World War II.
Also known as the "Volksmaschinenpistole" (people's submachine gun), the weapon was almost identical to the BritishSten, except for its vertical magazine; some even featured additional pistol grips. Many other versions were direct copies of the original Sten, right down to its manufacturing stamps.

MP3008 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Page 77
The MP40 Submachine Gun - Google Book Search


The MP3008 was the last machine pistole produced and was maunfactured by Mauser-Werke AG in Jan. 1945. Some 10.000 were made and it was almost a direct ( emergency ) copy of the British Sten Mk2. and was a selective fire weapon.

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Brian if I may... I watched the movie Valkyrie on christmas day. I live in Texas in the U.S I was originally born in Bedfordshire England. I grandfather called my christmas morning from Bedford to whish my happy christmas and I told him that I was going to see Valkyrie. He told me when he first heard about the attempted assination on the radio he thought it was " a real pitty" they didnt get him. I just thought term pitty was a good phrase I am assuming you felt the exact way way that day?

 

Falkenberg: Its funy how it says "Germany was at the point of collapse. Desperately short of money and raw materials, the Germans sought to produce a radically cheaper alternative to their standard submachine gun, the MP40"

So in order to make it unreliable like the Sten they had to use cheap material lol. That 9 mm MP 3008 looks akward. Where would your thumb go? Through the stock?

The mp40 is my all time favourite gun I am buying an AR-15 in January. I hope to buy a Mp40 eventually. (I currently have an SS dagger in the mail box waiting for me)

 

Good Morning!
With respect, we had little time for films, Though as I grow older I do watch just in case I see myself. Fat chance after 64 years!
While talking about weaponry It may be of interest that we never found a German stick hand grenade with a serrated metal head. All of them were made of serrated concrete, and just as effective.

Going back to machine guns, I carried the Bren. its slower in its rate of fire than a Spandau, but very accurate. For me it produced a round pattern of five.....Very neat.

The Spandau rate of fire was very fast and rather like tearing a sheet of coarse sand paper in sound. On patrol one of our men was virtually cut in half across his stomach.

I have loaded a picture of me just so you can see who you are posting to.
sapper