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This is my favorite thread. So, thought I might have a revisit and check all the new posts.
What a surprise. Videos, history, and a sharp leading man. Ian you have done a wonderful thing for your dad with the help of Don and Cass. My thanks to you all, especially Sandy.
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Cassidy and I visited Sandy earlier today, spent a couple of hours with him enjoying every single second.
He is such a humble man and really doesn't think his service was anything exceptional. He told us of a story about his father who served with the British Engineers and was in the south of England during WWI. Apparently his father was with a group that was digging a sap and during this training some explosives had been loaded. There was a accidental explosion and his father went into the sap to rescue a officer and a enlisted man who were caught in the sap. His father carried out the officer over his shoulder then went back for the other soldier and was awarded a medal for bravery for his actions. Sandy remarked his dad was a brave man, we told him he also was a brave man and you could see in his eyes he was somewhat surprised we said that...humble.
We spent a good amount of the visit talking about his action on the Scheldt, very interesting and we all know what a battle that was. He told us he was talking to a engineer who had found a teller mine, walked away and suddenly when he was 30 or so yards away there was a explosion and he thinks the Germans had booby trapped the mine attached it to one below that blew both when the engineer picked up the first one. Said it literally blew the man across the canal which Sandy said was a good 50 yards wide, very sad.
I didn't realize his squad of 8 was not attached to any one company but was assigned as needed by a intelligence officer. We joked how "army intelligence" are two words that don't go together that well, we all had a big laugh. Sandy did say he thought the intelligence officer didn't know much of what was really happening.
We had always intended to go back, it took a little longer than both of us thought it would and we were prompted by a call from Sandy earlier this week. Sandy loaned Cassidy a couple of books to read last visit and from his phone call he was a little concerned about getting them back...LOL. I told him we had already planned on visiting him on Friday so he was good with that. Today he gave Cassidy another book, telling him he was trusted as he brought the other two back. For 94 he still is very witty.
We will return to see him soon, we have another book to return!
PS, Sandy just celebrated his 94th birthady on Oct 14.
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Should anyone be interested the book Sandy gave Cassidy to read today is "With The Jocks" by Peter White. He was a platoon commander in the Kings Own Scottish Borders and has mentioned Sgt. Scott a couple of times in his book.
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I just discovered this thread and I am amazed! I have shed a few tears reading and watching the videos. This is simply amazing! Mr. Scott is the very definition of a hero. An unassuming humble man who thinks he "just did his job". He did much more than that and it is appreciated!
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Just wanted to say thank you to Don and Cass for taking time to visit my dad, he does look forward to these visits. From two remarkably nice guys(his words).
I'm off to the Scheldt to represent him at the commemoration of the battle, on the 1st November.
Thanks to everyone for the touching and kind comments.
Ian.
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Great thread and let it be an inspiration to all to get out and do the "rescue archeology" while there are still some vets left.
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Cherish what a great moment that was. Because in 15 years none of them will be around.
I am hoping to have one good meeting with a veteran, German or Japanese or American and just shake their hand so I can say I spoke with someone from that era.. its not something just in films or books but it actually happened within memory of some.
For me WW2 seems as far away as the dark ages. So much has changed since then.
Of course you meet veterans of WW2 all the time, when I was a small kid I likely met a veteran of WW1. But never under a situation like this and taking away literally a book worth of history that few others know.
Congratulations to you both.
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I recently returned from the 70th Anniversary commemoration of the Battle of the Scheldt, 1st November, 1944. I laid a wreath for dad at the 52nd Lowland Division Memorial which stands on Uncle Beach, where he landed. The hospitality of the Dutch people was wonderful, many asked me to pass on their thanks to dad for his part in their liberation.
I met a No 4 Commando Veteran who had landed on the same beach and had landed in France on D Day, he said the landing at Flushing (Uncle Beach) was worse than on D Day!
It was a memorable experience that I'm glad I did not miss and I was proud to represent my dad. Although this is the last commemoration, I suspect there will always be some sort of remembrance for those who died taking the Island.
My thanks to the Dutch people for their remembrance of those who never came home.
Ian.
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Cass and I visited Sandy again today and as usual his recollection of events was amazing.
We talked about some of his experiences during WWII and i asked him about the one he thought was the most dangerous. Cass is going to see if he can find out more details on that incident so will write about it in a later post.
Sandy told us about a time he was fishing and could not see if there was a trout as the glare on the water was too bright so he crossed the creek to get the sun at his back. Said he spotted a big trout so threw in his line and low and behold the fish took the bait. Now Sandy was "liberating" this trout from it's habitat when on the opposite side of the creek a Mason John Johnson came along. Sandy said he spotted him and ducked down, holding onto the line and the fish was thrashing in the water. Mr Johnson saw this and being somewhat bewildered remarked out loud " I have never seen this happen before", obviously not realizing Sandy had hooked it and was hiding on the other side. After Mr. Johnson left Sandy landed the fish and proceeded to catch another one in the same spot. I presume that poaching was fairly common in those days. ( I know Sandy is protected by the Statute of Limitations"...LOL)
After our last visit Cass did some research on Sandy's best friend Jimmy Proudfoot. Jimmy was killed by a parachute mine at Theydon Bois in 1940 and Sandy described Jimmy as his shadow and he was Jimmy's. I believe there were never two better friends and to this day Jimmy is sorely missed.
About 10 days before the declaration of war a policeman told Sandy to go get Jimmy as they had been called up. Jimmy was working about 4 miles out of town so Sandy took his motorcycle ( Raleigh 2 3/4 HP) and went off for him. Said he got to where Jimmy was and took him back to Newcastleton and that was the last time he saw him. Sandy was in the south of England when he was told of Jimmy's death, he went to his CO who told him to take all the time he needed to go to the funeral. The explosion was so violent pennies in the men's pockets were found bent and misshapen.
Cass hooked up his computer thru his cell phone and showed Sandy some pictures of where Jimmy is burried in Castleton Cemetery near Newcastleton. There was also a picture of a plaque in St. Mary's Church (the church had its stained glass windows blown out by the explosion which were replaced by plain glass which remains to this day) in Theydon Bois that commemorates Jimmy and the 29 other soldiers that lost their lives that day. The plaque was put in St. Mary's in 1998. We all had a few tears at this time and Sandy was comforted when Cass told him people still care about his friend Jimmy and all who gave their lives so he (Cass) has the freedoms he does today.
Sandy then told us how he and Jimmy built a "saw mill" when younger. Guess Jimmy was very smart mechanically and they got a heavy plank table from the local joiner. They mounted a saw blade and shaft on it and then needed a motor to power it. A old motorcycle was in the yard of someone they knew, over grown with bushes so the owner gave it to them. Jimmy proceeded to tear down the motor and rebuild it and on the second try it started and ran beautifully. They attached it to the blade, put wheels on the table and then went around town offering to cut long wood slabs into shorter pieces for 6P. It was obvious from Sandy's expression how proud both of them were they did this.
Without a doubt we have been beyond fortunate to be able to spend time with such a wonder humble man. When we left we told him that close to 6,000 people have viewed this thread and he had a real smile. This thread has come so far from the original request and has a long way to go, Cass and I look forward to our next visit which will be very soon, we are hoping in two weeks.
