大象传媒

Story by Alfred Francis.

I was called up in 1941 to Richmond (Gallowgate camp) in North Yorkshire. I was 21.
When I'd done my three month's training I was moved to Loo in Cornwall and from there got embarcation leave and went up to Durham where we were kitted out for overseas service.
We sailed from Gourac in Scotland on the Duches of Athol (a 35000 tonner built in 1928). There were 5000 troops on board and the journey took 7 weeks to Capetown, we were the slowest ship in the convoy.
My draft slept in the prowe of the ship where the anchor chain was - most of us slept in our underpants due to the heat but we we didn't get much sleep due to the constant clanking of the chain as well as the heat.
We had our three meals on the mess deck, the meals wern't bad, at least we got fresh bread - but they were monotonous and we had to queue for everything.
The only duties we had to do was fire drill - the only time they got us togther, there were so many of us it was difficult to organise. It was the easiest of my time in the army.
We had a small naafi where we could buy pop and sweets - no beer! It was open for about an hour each day so we had to queue.
After 6 weeks we arrived in Capetown and after two and half days set off again for Egypt on route Elalamain.
While we were in Capetown the local English people came to take photographs of us and they took us up Table Mountain.
Another bonus to the trip was that it was very interesting watching the antics of rats running up and down the ropes, watching fish, whails in the water and birds.
Later while I was in the desert on the Mareth Line I found out from a newspaper that the Duches of Athol had been sunk

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