ROBERT MONTGOMERY

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21248, 19 October 1940, Page 13 (Supplement)

ROBERT MONTGOMERY

THRILLS OF WAR WORK DRIVER OF AMBULANCE Robert Montgomery has been modestly relating his experiences as an ambulance driver in France. “From what I understand about the last war there was some sort of order,” he says. “In this there was none. Here a little shoemaker in a village far behind the lines might be killed before the younger uniformed men at the front. “When I first went up, the front was south of Amiens, which the Germans had just taken. From there our headquarters moved daily. German planes were everywhere and their spotting service was uncanny. “They rarely bothered with street fighting. Their columns just circled around the town or village and left it to the bombers.” Asked whether he had ever found himself under exceedingly dangerous circumstances. Mr Montgomery was slow in answering. Ambulances Bombed “We all were,” he said finally. “It was inevitable with a front that was everywhere. There weren’t any old-fashioned rules. Driving ambulances, we were bombed and strafed regularly. Everybody worked until they lost all track of time. You’d find yourself saying: ‘That .wasn t yesterday; that was this morning.’ ” Bob was asked by one suspicious newshound if in embarking on hhadventures he had had an eye on the publicity department.

“Any one,” replied Bob, “who thinks I’d risk my neck for a stick of type is a cock-eyed maniac.”