Don & Frank, Christmas 1944

Here we see Don Mackie and Frank Simpson with what must be a French family. The picture has been trimmed down so part of the manuscript on the back has been lost, but I think it reads "Bon Souvenir, Noel 1944, H.H. Sicol". Don and Frank would have been in Caen at this time and they are wearing jerkins very similar to those seen in Major Lee-Richardson's book. I presume H.H. Sicol is one of the people seen here, or a relative. It does not seem to be a very common surname; even google.fr finds very little. Pure speculation on my part, but maybe Don and Frank were billeted with this family.

14AOD in France and Germany

Looking for information on 14AOD, I found this site http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mike.comerford/ORDNANCE/



I contacted Mike Comerford, the man behind the site. He informed me that AOD stood for Advanced Ordnance Depot. He kindly provide me with extracts from "21 Army Group Ordnance - The History of the Campaign" by Major J Lee-Richardson, R.A.O.C. (Published & Printed by 21 Army Group Ordnance, Germany 1946) which tells the story of the AODs in France and Germany. These are reproduced here.

What this is all about

During WWII, my father served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. In October 1944, he was posted to Caen in France with 14AOD (Advanced Ordnance Depot). He played guitar and he soon became part of an army dance band "The Band of 14AOD". After VE Day (8 May 1945) 14AOD transferred to Glinde near Hamburg to handle returned ordnance.

Dad brought back with him various records and photos of the band. But he never actually played the records. They lay gathering dust until a couple of years ago when I dug them out and had them cleaned up and transferred to CD. I was interested to know more about the band and its members. I sent a photo in to the Daily Mail's "Missing and Found" column and made contact with relatives of some of the other musicians. Comparing notes with them has enabled me to fill in a lot of the gaps, but I would still like to know more. The band comprised:

Art Sutton - alto saxophone and clarinet. He was originally from Leicester, but later moved to Birmingham. After the war, he developed a successful hosiery business called "Knickers"

Denis Harper - accordion. From Loughborough. He went on to be a successful band leader.

Claude Page - trumpet. From Rothwell, Northamptonshire. He played with a number of bands, including a 40s Big Band made up of veteran performers.

Ted Willmott - drums. From Carshalton.

Bert Hunt - piano. From Aldershot.

Don Mackie - guitar. From Abbey Wood, SE London.

Frank Simpson - bass.

I know that Messrs Harper, Hunt, Mackie, Page, Sutton and Willmott are no longer with us. So far, I have not established any contact with any family or acquaintances of Frank Simpson. But if he is still alive, he will now be in his late 80s.