The Story of WALLY STOCKLEY

...The young man, the same age as myself who I had enlisted with, did our signal and driver training together and joined the 3RHA with had been killed in action. This was only about a couple of months before the war ended. In my grief I thought "there but for the Grace of God go I."

While in position in Harburg, we found a barn in a farmyard, somewhere to be comfortable in our bedroll when not on duty. It was only when a young Dutch lad who acted as the battery interpreter went up into the loft first to check it out, started shouting to us as he jumped seven or eight feet from the loft that we saw six German soldiers coming down from the loft. What would have happened if that young Dutch lad had not warned us does not bear thinking about!

March 1945
I swapped my Canadian Ford to become Battery Captains Driver to Captain Charles Aitcheson which meant driving his jeep. What a great little vehicle that was, and the Captain, he really was a gentleman, along with my Battery Commander Major Jack Tirrell; nobody could wish to serve under two better men.

We left Harburg arriving on the outskirts of Hamburg at 2pm and at about 4.30pm word came round that the war was over this was on the 8th May 1945. As at this time I was Battery Captains Driver, it was decided that we would go in the jeep, to pick up another officer with a Dingo (a small armoured scout vehicle) and then go to Denmark, where we stayed overnight. The next morning returning to Hamburg we passed lots of German Soldiers marching back to Germany. this time there was no singing as there had been when things were going in their favour, their heads down, quietly subdued not wanting to make eye contact.

From Hamburg we moved to the little town of Elmshorn, a distance of 32 kilometres from Hamburg. We were
stationed here until early June when we moved on to Berlin. At this time an order was issued by 21st Army Group HQ. That there would be no fraternising with the German people, women and children included. Travelling along the Autobahn to Berlin to prepare to take part in the Victory Parade, it was during a ten minute break from driving that we let our little dog Swia out of the vehicle to do whatever he wanted to do that he ran into some trees at the side of the Autobahn, and sadly never came back...