St. Mary's Church, Theydon Bois, Essex.
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Plaque in St. Mary's Church commemorating the men from the 6th Battalion, KOSB, killed by enemy air action 1940
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Grave of James Proudfoot, Castelton Cemetery, Newcastleton Scotland. Sandy and Jimmy's hometown.
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Well life has been too busy since our last visit and we have not been able to get up to see Sandy as we planned.
In conversation with Sandy we asked what he considered the most dangerous operation he was on. He said it was during the fighting in the Wesel Pocket which was part of the larger Ruhr Pocket battles of March/April 1945.
He was with a platoon sized element commanded by a 2nd Lt who Sandy described as "pretty green". Their objective was to take a hill during the dark. As they approached the hill they came upon an anti-tank ditch in front of it that was full of water and realized there was no way to cross it at that time. The order was given to dig in and he said he quickly got to it, even trying as best he could to camouflage his fighting position.
At daybreak the Lt. noticed some Germans standing on top of the hill only a few dozen meters away stretching and walking around so he ordered the machine gun to fire on them. The problem was that many of the men had not dug in during the night whether from exhaustion, lack of concern for the enemy, etc. When the Germans jumped back into their positions they returned fire directly down onto the platoon and those exposed were picked off by sniper and machine gun fire. Sandy said he was taking some shots and suddenly a bullet landed in the dirt about two inches below the muzzle of his gun. He knew he had been spotted by a German sniper so he had no option but to hunker down in his foxhole knowing if he exposed himself he was dead. It was the closest he came to being killed during his combat time which when you consider the area he fought in and the loss of all his sniper team previously is saying something.
He did say the time where he was ordered back to a field hospital when he had pneumonia and all his snipers were killed by a mortar round while carrying teller mines was probably the next most dangerous time during combat. Guess there is a good time to get ill if that makes any sense at all.
We will get up to see him and his dad (Ian) just informed me he is going to visit his father again in early May of this year. We really look forward to seeing him again.
Just got a email from Ian in England with more details on Sandy's close call.
Hi Don,
Hope you are both well.
Dad expanded on the story in your last post where they were pinned down.
He said he gave away his position when he had to stand up in the slit trench to throw a water bottle full of navy rum to a wounded buddy who was calling out to him from the next slit trench, 20 yards away. The bottle fell short and a young soldier in his trench ran over to pick up the bottle and pass it on, he was picked off I suppose by the German sniper. Dad said he buried him along with others having removed their personal effects to be sent home to their families.
When I spoke to dad last night, he had been clearing snow with the Bobcat for the previous 2 hours!
Regards to all,
This has been one of the most amazing reads for me.... Thank you both Ian and Enfield303t for making this a reality.
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Cassidy and I had the pleasure of visiting Sandy again today. The above photo is of Sandy's first car he bought after he got back from the war. Told us his dad drove him to where the man was selling this Triumph and he was asking 60 pounds, Sandy asked if he would take 50 and the man said yes. He drove it home and on arriving in New Castleton someone from town saw him, waved him down, and asked if he would sell it on the spot, offering him 300 pounds! He said he had to keep it as he needed it for work so he installed a trailer hitch and would pull a small trailer when needed. He told us when he moved to Canada he sold the car to a friend for 50 pounds, exactly what he paid for it.
Now as usual there was some very interesting conversation about The War, and I am sure all of you will enjoy the following:
When Sandy landed on Walcheren Island there wasn't a lot of direct fire as the 4th. Commando had routed out much of the German opposition in the immediate vicinity of the beach head. Overall the battles that took place were epic with very heavy casualties and tough fighting, but the initial landing was fairly uneventful.
One day Sandy and some of his men discovered a German Paymasters money box, large in size and full of Dutch Guilders. Now Sandy and most of the other guys believed the Guilders to be worthless and used them to light their stoves when warming their food. One of the soldiers took the rest and later was in Belgium and bought a hotel with his share.
Sandy said the guy hired a lady to run it while he was away fighting and he wonders to this day if his family still owns the hotel. Sandy joked the soldier might still be living there to this day.
Ian called me on Sunday from the UK nd we discussed when he is arriving to visit his dad in May. During that conversation Ian was wondering if it would be possible to find a K98 sniper rifle for his dad to see. As mentioned in post #63 Sandy believes a German sniper just missed him and that was in his opinion the closest he came to being killed. Cass and I are fortunate to have Bearhunter from this site as a friend who owns a K98 sniper rifle and he is going to let us take it to show Sandy. We told Sandy we wanted to do this and he said it would be fine so we hope Ian will make a video of that visit ad post it.
As mentioned another great visit and Sandy was in very good spirits. We are so very fortunate to be able to spend time with him.
When talking to dad last night, something triggered another of his memories and he told me that he had slightly modified the stock on his rifle to get a better handhold and in particular, a more comfortable thumb position. When he came to handing the rifle in on demobilisation, he was told he would have to pay for a replacement stock! He didn't tell me how the ensuing conversation went, but the matter was not pursued.
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Today we took these three sniper rifles for Sandy to see.
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Today Cass and I had another opportunity to visit our friend Sandy, as his family was once again visiting from the UK and Sandy's son Ian asked me if it would be possible to find a German Kar. 98 sniper rifle in the area for his dad to hold. Luckily my friend and fellow Milsurps'er Bearhunter had one that he was graciously willing to loan to us. Ian thought his dad might like to see a gun like the one that fired the shot that nearly cost him his life, from the incident where Sandy believes he came closest to death.
Cass and I decided to take the No4 BSA that Sandy enjoyed during last years visit as well as a Mosin Sniper rifle we have.
Like every visit with Sandy today was really special: Sandy was in great spirits having his son and grandsons Jim and Jon visiting and related some interesting stories of his life in and out of the army.
Sandy is a remarkable man who has had some truly amazing experiences in his 94 years, and like always I will do my best to relate one in particular. An officer asked Sandy to demonstrate a No. 1 mills bomb launcher in a quarry to two companies from his Battalion. He told us he was in the bottom of the quarry with the other soldiers (200+) watching from the rim above when he placed the butt of the gun on a sandbag and pulled the trigger. He held the gun tight and there was quite a recoil and the wire wrap literally tore the skin off the palm of his left hand. He then loudly announced to all watching "that is exactly how you should NOT do this". He had a disdain for that launcher and apparently so did the entire Regiment as he never saw one again for the duration of the war.
Sandy didn't find the K98 easy to aim as it really didn't fit him well and the same with the Mosin sniper. Thought they were interesting but again picked up the No4 and had a big smile on his face.
Cass and Sandy seem to "click" and today was no different as Sandy related many stories of his growing up in Scotland and life from that period to now. On the way home today we were talking about Sandy and Cass said he thinks he has figured out why Sandy was such a successful sniper and after a very length discussion I think he may be right. At a later date I will post about his thoughts however want to talk to Ian and make sure he is comfortable with it. There isn't any great intrigue however there are traits from Sandy's childhood that I agree made him a success especially in the military, and I want to make sure Ian and his Dad would be OK with me sharing some more personal information!
Jim told us he wants to visit his grandpa next year and bring his son who is 11, taking him thru Jasper and letting him see some of Canada. We told him if he did that we would have a day at the range with him and his son letting them shoot some guns including AR's which we know are few and far between in the UK.
Ian took some video and will edit it when he gets back home and then ask Badger to post it on this forum, I look forward to seeing it.
Once again I want to thank Sandy, Ian, Jim and Jon for letting us share time with their family and make us feel so welcome.
Just back from BC today having had a great time visiting dad and meeting up again with Don and Cass. My thanks to both of them for bringing the rifles and my thanks to Bearhunter too, for kindly allowing the use of his Mauser.
Ian called me yesterday to let me know he and his sons made it home and it was good to hear from him. I told him what Cass had discussed with me why he thought his dad was such a good sniper and the reasoning behind it and asked what he thought. As we are going to tell some personal information we really needed his and Sandy's thoughts as we would not want to divulge anything personal without their OK. Ian sent me a email today saying he talked to his dad and "he doesn't give a damn" so go ahead.
Cass after talking to Sandy over several visits and being told the best defense for safety is not being seen thinks Sandy's early years and what he did prepared him for his military service. We have heard many stories from Sandy of his early life when he was just a very young boy and the years growing up in Scotland. The family was not wealthy and life was hard so what ever was necessary for survival was part of life. Sandy was very good at fishing, however seeing as the land and rivers in the area were owned by rich people there was absolutely no way his family could afford to pay for the privilege of fishing legally. He fished a lot being very careful to ensure he would not be caught and that relates back to his telling Cass that not being seen is important to survive. He told us he fished with a retired Military Officer who had paid 600 pounds in the late 20's for the right to fish on a very small stretch of one river. It boggles the mind that anyone could afford that price so again having to eat meant doing what ever was necessary to survive. To put this into perspective Sandy's dad paid 20 pounds a year for renting their house, the retired Officer paid the equivalent of 30 years rent to fish.
Where we live there is no reason to have to poach anything, obtaining a firearms lic. is not expensive, guns are relatively inexpensive and there are thousands of aces of Crown Land where you can hunt for free during our hunting season. Fishing is the same, not expensive and hundreds of lakes to choose from in BC. When Sandy was young it was a completely different story, thankfully he was good at what he did.
Sandy took a old .22 rifle loaned to him by a Uncle, fine tuned the sights, added a flashlight that he built a longer body for it to give him a stronger beam, built a silencer to shoot game birds. mainly pheasants. Again this was poaching as it was on the land the Earl owned and it seems pheasants were one of his favourite targets. He said he and a friend would shoot at night very close to the game keepers home however the only sound from the .22 was the click of the bolt, it was that quiet. They were never caught, I don't remember him mentioning they ever came close to being caught by anyone.
He was night fishing once with a friend, standing in the middle of the river gaffing salmon, being so young it would have had it dangers of being swept away and he became very good at catching salmon. The first time he and his friend did this unknown to him his father was hiding in the bushes making sure the boys were safe. Night fishing had more risks but also the advantage of less chance of being seen. Sandy was taught how to poach at a very young age. The first time he ever used the acetylene bicycle lamp and "cleek", the cleek was just a very big hook with a barb on it and would be about 3 inches across and was tied to a ash stick about 4 ft. long with a leather strap fitted to the other end to slip your hand thru so you wouldn't loose a fish. Some of the fish weighed up to 60 pounds and the technique would be to get to one side, gaff the fish, turn your back to it and walk to shore.
To make more money Sandy and a friend would frequent a Golf Course called "The Vertish Hill", there was a Tee from which the golfers had to drive the ball over a hill. They would lie hidden in the Gorse bushes waiting for the golf balls to come flying over the hill. When they landed they would run over and stomp them into the ground. Of course, when the perplexd and frustrated players passed, the dug them up and and sold them for a few pennies to any golfers who would buy them. Apparently there was a lot of gambling on the Vertish Hill and at times they would get paid a few pennies to look our for the police and let the gamblers know if the police were near. He was 4 or 5 years old at this time.
Cass believes what Sandy learned as a very young boy was invaluable in his survival as a sniper during his service in WWII. You can't catch what you can't see and without a doubt Sandy was a real expert at staying hidden. The more I think about it the more it makes sense as we all know there has always been a great dislike for snipers and when spotted generally they don't survive. Sandy told us if caught he would have immediately been shot.
The day he was spotted while throwing the rum ration to a wounded friend he said he fired a lot before that incident, easy to read between the lines of what occurred. I won't discuss numbers out of respect. After 70 years Sandy still thinks about the first enemy soldier he shot, this occurred during the Battle of the Scheldt.
He is such a remarkable man, smart, witty and still full of life at 94. We are so fortunate to have been involved with him and his family.
Cass and I will always thank those who served and gave us the freedoms we cherish today. We owe them everything!
Afterthought, when I talked to Ian he told me he will edit video he took and will probably not get to do that for close to 6 weeks as he going on hoidays. I do look forward for that happening.
Cass and I visited Sandy today and despite him fighting a cold he was in great spirits and we had our usual conversation on everything from poaching to sniping. We all had some great laughs, hope you think things are as funny as we did.
Sandy talked about being a sniper and again stressed how important camouflage was, without it done properly you are dead for sure, just a matter of time.
Poaching again was talked about it detail, Sandy saying he was taught by his father and it was necessary to survive. The local policeman Bill Morgan always tried to catch Sandy knowing he was poaching so one day when Sandy's dad told him they were going that day with Bill Morgan there was great surprise. How funny going poaching with the policeman that was always trying to catch you, quite ironic. Sandy's dad told him to not say anything to Bill, just let it go and poach with him.
As mentioned before they used a cleek to catch salmon. One night Sandy's dad told them there was a abundance of salmon in the river and that he should go out with Alec Hardy to get some fish. Knowing Bill the local policeman would be looking for poachers Sandy suggested they cross the river and work upstream as there is no way that Bill would wade across the river to get to them. As the approached where they intended to catch fish they had to slide down a concrete angled wall that was there to prevent erosion. Now Sandy told us you always held the cleek by the hook when you did this however Alec failed to do this so when he jumped into the creek at the bottom of the wall he put the cleek thru his waders, boot and into his foot. This was really serious as Sandy was only about 14 and Alec was his fathers age and much larger. Alec eventually with the help of Sandy worked his way out of the creek and up the wall to the trail above. Sandy then had to carry Alec about 100 yards to their house where upon examination they realized they had a serious issue. When Sandy cut off his waders and boot he noticed a black mark around the cleek but no bleeding, he told his dad to give him a razor and he cut a incision into the foot to allow it to bleed. This action probably saved Alec's life as later the doctor said without that quick action he probably would have had serious blood poisoning. Sandy's dad took a full bottle of whiskey, gave it to Alec and told him to start drinking it.
The decision was made to go get the doctor, Sandy left to do that and said it was such a dark night he had a difficult time trying to find the doctors house. When he knocked on the door the servant (female) answered the door and asked what he wanted. He told her Alec Hardy had stepped on a cleek and they needed the doctor to remove it. This was too much information as soon it was all over town what happened and one didn't have any problem realizing that Alec was poaching.
When the doctor arrived he realized there was no way to pull out the cleek so seeing as Sandy's dad had removed it from the handle it would be best to push it thru his foot. By this time Alec had consumed all but a few ounces of the whiskey and felt no pain during the removal. Guess there is a good time to be absolutely "drunk as a skunk".
From conversations it is pretty evident Sandy was always a very good marksman so I asked him how he was picked to be a sniper? Sandy was in the Territorial Army and the Battallion RSM Tommy A. who was from his home town knew Sandy was a prolific poacher and good shot so he recommended him for the position. Sandy trained to be a sniper with the Lovat Scouts in mountains in Wales. The Lovat Scouts are famous and there is no doubt that this training helped hone his skills. Here is a link if you want to know more about them.
Lovat Scouts
We ended today's visit with one of the funniest stories ever in my opinion.
Sandy told us after the war there were many beautiful women in Germany and a lack of males, countless being killed during the war and countless others in POW camps. He said for as little as a chocolate bar you could willingly have the company of the most beautiful girl as the Germans were short of everything including men. Now there is a lady (German) where Sandy lives who is 87 years old and he was telling her about what you could get for a chocolate bar and somehow this 87 year old lady thought 94 year old Sandy was propositioning her for sex. When in Germany Sandy learned enough of the language to be able to ask a lady if she would go to bed with him and he was relating this to this local lady. She is so upset she won't talk to him anymore and won't even take his phone calls. I don't think any of us including Sandy have laughed so hard in years, that is beyond funny. Sandy related "what was she thinking, I am 94 and she thinks I want to sleep with her"? You just had to be there!
OH ONE MORE BEAUTY!
Every year a circus of sorts would visit Sandy's home town of Newcastleton and there was always a contest to pick the most beautiful young girl and handsome young man. Well one time Alec Hardy's daughter was picked as the most beautiful young lady and Sandy picked as the most handsome young man. Sandy said it was only appropriate to take this young lady for a walk so they went up the path to a large field of tall grass. Apparently things were going "very well" when suddenly this young lady's uncle almost stepped on the two of them lying in the grass. Sandy said he never heard the uncle coming as he would always walk in the grass beside the gravel path as he said the gravel wore the soles of his boots out too quickly. Nothing is more Scottish than walking off a path to save the soles of your boots.....yes we laughed so hard about this story. Sandy still is a real character with a great memory.
During our last visit with Sandy we talked about his shooting skills and a competition he entered when he moved to Calgary. He told us in 1951 he was living in Calgary AB and met as former SAS member and they decided to enter a big bore shoot they heard about. They went to a store and bought a couple of Lee Enfields, I am guessing No1's the day before the shoot. took them home and cleaned them up.
Sandy said the following day they went to the Sarcee Range and took a couple of shots to sight in their rifles. Things went well and he won the running deer competition that day. He said the Calgary gun club ( probably affiliated with the Alberta Provincial Rifle Assoc.) asked him to join. Sandy said he couldn't join as he was too busy trying to make a living as a plumber.
Here is a link to the Sarcee Range and what is in use now. http://www.albertarifle.com/APRA%20S...story%2012.pdf