Ernest Took East Yorks Old Contemptible and then Royal Engineers some notes from 1984

[toofatfortakeoff]

Can anyone explain this at all?  

Maybe confusion but Ive been able to verify all other , but Id say this has to be 1914 he got confused with 

''I was closer to the line than anyone would wish to be my job was to work along railways which ran right along the German lines-the Albert line.  Could be Albert-Doullens? 

When we were working on it, we would sing loudly and the Germans would sing back to us, and they couldn't hear us working...hardly a shot was ever exchanged it was a matter of live and let live. The only weapon I was issued was a regulation pocketknife, rifles were so short. One night a patrol of six enemy came as we were fixing the line- it wasn't broken the Germans had just moved some of it.

We haven't any weapons so we offered our surrender, but the German said to us we haven't come to capture you, only to help you fix your railway. And this German who spoke perfect English had lived in Hessle Rd!

 

note-before the war where Mr Took had lived all his life-he was still living there in 1984- in Hull and his father Herr Colen (Cohen Kohlen?) (sic) was a pork butcher''  

Obviously singing your head off in No Mans Land wouldn't be advisable in any circumstance.... 

has anyone heard of anything remotely similar to this? 

 

Cheers Sean 

 

 

 

[sadbrewer]

There are quite a few instances recorded of banter and even arrangements being exchanged...I think it was in The Great War interviews recently aired when one chap

said they would tell each other what time to expect a few shells coming over.