THE epic tale of a teenager driving a crane from a Redditch coal yard to Saltley Gas Works during the Second World War has been recalled.

Terry Baxter, owner of Motor Services Redditch, spoke of Charlie Carriban's amazing journey after his friend died aged 90 in the Alexandra Hospital on Tuesday, April 10.

"Obviously, Charlie is one of the heroes of Redditch," said Mr Baxter.

Trying to drive a 40ft high, 10RB crane that travels at just 5mph more than 30 miles across Birmingham was difficult enough.

But when you had to deal with air raids, treacherous roads and stopping to rescue victims of German bombers, it was near impossible.

Connell Carriban, known as Charlie, was originally from Ireland and, without his parents knowing, left his home country aged 14 to come to England.

He ended up in Redditch, working at Leonard's Coal Yard, where Redditch Motor Services is now based.

It was an icy day in February 1941 when a smart, young Government official named George Fox arrived to requisition the yard's crane, which was needed at Saltley Gas Works.

He told Charlie and his colleagues, Billy Leonard and Joe Dempsey, he was waiting for a lorry to come and pick up the crane when a bicycle courier arrived with a message telling him the gas works had been bombed and there was no lorry.

But the crane still had to get to Saltley and George decided to drive it there although he had never driven a crane before.

Charlie, then aged 17, agreed to drive it for him and with Billy and Joe also agreeing to help, they began to work out how they would manage the journey.

The roads were slippery and the crane's smooth caterpillar treads couldn't run on ice, so they loaded fuel, sand, shovels and other supplies onto a truck that would drive alongside it.

After knocking down a lamppost with the crane's gib at the start of the journey, they made slow progress from the yard in Hewell Road, Enfield, to the Old Birmingham Road.

There, a family were buried in a house that had been bombed and Charlie was asked if he could move some of the debris to free them.

He nervously inched the heavy crane onto the collapsed building, desperate not to crush anyone inside, and managed to dig them out.

The crane then continued onto Hopwood Hill, which was so slippery with ice they had to winch it from tree to tree to get it to the top. When they arrived at the pub that is now the Man on the Moon, they sheltered in the cellar for the night as it had taken them the whole day to get there and the nearby Austin factory was being bombed.

"The publican said What's that lads?' and they said We've got a secret weapon to fight Hitler'," said Terry, who can tell story after story about Charlie's adventures on the journey.

Perhaps the most dramatic was when the crane met a tram on the Pershore Road on the way into Birmingham that it was unable to pass.

Suddenly, German aircraft flew over and the men fled for cover. The crane and the lorry were filled with bullet holes but otherwise unaffected and they were about to start them up again when the bomber returned.

The story goes that George Fox calmly borrowed a rifle from a member of the Home Guard, hid behind a letter box and shot the bomber down.

It took three days and three nights to get to Saltley, where the men were amazed to be greeted by crowds of people waving flags and cheering as their journey had been followed by a local radio station.

Later in life, Charlie had two daughters, two sons, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild.

His daughter, Lynn Kings, said: "He was a very loving family man. He lost my mum 20 years ago but he lived for his family. He always said he had the best family in the world."

His funeral is at Mount Carmel Church on Friday at 2.30pm. All his friends are welcome and there will be flowers or donations to the Stroke Association.

CHARLIE told Terry his amazing story in 1991 when the two were driving to Nottinghamshire to buy parts from crane manufacturer Ruston Bucyrus.

When they arrived and said they were from Redditch, an old man sitting in the corner said he drove a crane from Redditch to Saltley Gas Works in 1941.

It was George Fox.

Although parts of the story seem unbelievable, Terry said he had never doubted it was true.

"I've heard it umpteen times. It's a brilliant story and I think it was totally true. George Fox told exactly the same story," he said.

Terry has had talks with a writer from ITV who has expressed interest in turning the story into a film.