大象传媒

This letter was found in my late Grandmother's effects and relates my Grandfather's experiences during the invasion of Sicily.

7921172 Tpr. Sandifer
鈥淎鈥� Squadron,
The Royals,
British Army,
Central Med. Forces.
Nov. 16th.

My darling,
I start writing this letter without the least idea of what to put in it. Very little is happening at the moment out here. We have moved up a little since I last wrote a green envelope letter, and we are nearer the sea, that is as much as I can tell you of our whereabouts. It would be an ideal spot if the weather was on its best behaviour, but unfortunately that is not the case, for we have had it very unsettled just lately, wind and rain and very cold. I believe further north they have had snow. As a result I have developed a cold, and went sick, [the first time in my army career] however, all is well now, and I am quite fit again.

We sailed from Alexandria in an American cargo ship, [having previously stowed our cars away in the hold, the cars being made water tight] for a destination unknown. We were escorted by twelve destroyers and a battle-ship. We were only a very small part of the invading force, large convoys having preceded us out of Alex for three or four days. Our convoy consisted of about thirty of these cargo vessels, beside the destroyers. It was only when we were three days out of Alex that we knew our destination was Sicily, although by that time we had a good guess. All went well until we were entering the Bay of Sirte [you can see it on the map] and about six or seven miles from Bengazi, when one of the ships was torpedoed by a submarine. The whole convoy at once altered course and went round in circles for about half an hour, the destroyers meanwhile dropping depth charges which seemed to nearly shake the bottom out of our ship, so if any submarines were lurking about they most certainly 鈥渉ad it鈥�. One destroyer stayed behind with the ship, and the last we saw her, she was making for the shore under her own steam. We learned later that she made shore OK and everyone was safe. We went on our way hugging the North African coast, each of us trying to pick out some familiar landmark which would identify that part of the coast. [We had previously identified Halfaya Pass and Sollum, which mark the boundary of Egypt and Libya]. On the fifth day there was great excitement on board when out of the morning mist we saw units of the battle fleet proceeding towards Alex. It was a wonderful sight as three aircraft carriers and about eight battle ships passed by, the leading ship signalled 鈥淕ood luck鈥� and they were soon out of sight. [We learned later that they were escorting the infantry, who, being in fast passenger liners, would soon catch up with us, and pass us.] Soon we met up with other ships and their escorts, tank-landing craft, and other ships too numerous to mention. We were to land at about seven o鈥檆lock in the morning. The infantry and commandos going in first at about four o鈥檆lock. The night before was a very stormy one. How well I remember it, being on guard. The ship pitched and tossed about something terrible [it was quite a small ship of ten thousand tons] and some of the cars broke loose from their cords and as the ship moved from side to side, so the cars ran backwards and forwards. What a night!

Then we heard the drone of aeroplanes, and a fleet of about forty troop transporters and gliders came low over the ships, so low in fact that one of them took away the balloon with it. Then away on our left we saw flares being dropped, and the flashes of gunfire, and soon the whole sky was lit up with fire, flares dropping in great chandeliers, and tracer bullets darting across the sky, until it looked like a Crystal Palace firework display. This was about three o鈥檆lock, and we must have been about ten miles away.

Come the dawn! What a sight met our eyes. Lying about a mile from the shore were hundreds ships of all sizes, ranging from great liners to little cargo ships and tank landing craft [already landed about a hundred tanks] were busy taking tanks and their crews from the ships to the shore. Most of the infantry had disembarked, and the liners were already getting steam up to move away again. The destroyers and battle ships were pounding away at the coastal defences a little higher up to the north. Still more ships were arriving and emptying their loads, and away. Soon it came our turn, and on its first journey one of our landing craft got stuck on the shore and despite all efforts to move it, it remained fast. We now only had one craft to shift our load, and when you realise we had on board about thirty tanks, ten armoured cars, and scores of other vehicles, you will understand that it was going to take some time to empty the ship. The armoured cars were right at the bottom of the hold, and so we were among the last to disembark. Then things began to happen. We had seen and heard nothing of Jerry, but when he realised what was happening, he sent his aircraft out. I hope I don鈥檛 have another day and night like that which followed. About ten aircraft came straffing and bombing, and what a barrage of fire met them. The ships threw up everything they had at them. One bomb hit the stern of the ship lying on our left and soon she was a mass of flames. There was no panic on board and the boats were lowered and the soldiers climbed down the side of the ship on to the craft which went to help. It must have been known from the first that she would be a total loss, for beside ammunition she carried petrol. Black smoke was pouring from her, and we pulled away from her just as the fire was reaching the ammunition. She soon sank, leaving a great patch of burning oil on the water. Jerry visited us again during the night, and the noise of the guns and the bombs, well -is past description. A big four-funnelled hospital ship which had been lying about three miles from the shore was deliberately attacked [it had all its lights on and the red crosses were all illuminated] and sank almost immediately with only very few survivors.

Another dawn! All this time the ships were being emptied, and in this connection, wonderful work was being done by the landing craft crews, most of them young lads who never wavered, but kept on with their jobs under fire. Yet another visit from Jerry. This time he hit the ship on our right. Some of our lads were on this one, including the Squadron Leader and the second in command, but fortunately they had just got off and the ship was almost empty. Our ship was almost blown out of the water by the bombs, but they all managed to miss it. At last our car came into view and the derricks hauled her out of the hold on to the landing craft, and we clambered aboard [ I was driving the Sergeant Major at the time], this was at 7pm. After another raid, during which we got lost in the smoke screen put down for protection of the ships, we landed at 1am. driving through 3 feet 6 inches of water, which came through the visor of the car, soaking me to the skin. I can just imagine what the Pilgrim Fathers felt like when they landed on the shores of America. Was I glad to get on land? You鈥檙e telling me! When on land you can dig a slit trench if Jerry starts his stuff, but when on the sea there is nowhere to go, you just have to grin and bear it and hope for the best. Once on land everything went OK as you now know except for a bit of a sticky time around Catania, but that鈥檚 another story.
This all now darling.
Love to all at home
Yours always
Walter

The "Hospital Ship" may have been The Talamba (^{About links}).

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