大象传媒

In Septmeber 1940 the draft of which I was part set off from London in the dead of night and in the middle of an air raid.
The following morning we arrived at a port which I subsequently discovered was Liverpool and we boarded a ship which turned out to be the MV Durban Castle, a Union Castle line ship which had been used for the regular services between Southampton and Cape Town. The ship had only just been commandeered as a troopship and had not yet been converted; it was still in its normal configuration as a passenger ship and still had its full complement of crew including stewards whose services the troops enjoyed throughout the voyage. I (a lowly AC1) was accommodated in a tourist class cabin.
That evening the ship was moved from the quay out into the mouth of the Mersey, where it remained awaiting the formation of the convoy of which it formed part. Eventually the convoy set sail up the Irish Sea, round the north of Ireland and out into the mid Atlantic. It then turned south, dropping anchor in Freetown Bay some 20 days later. (Convoys were limited to the average speed of the slowest vessel. We never made more than 10 knots and always followed a zigzag path).
During this part of the voyage our draft was informed that our destination was Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. We were to form a newly created flying training school; No 21 Service Flying Training School at a newly built station, RAF Kumalo some 2 or 3 miles from Bulawayo. After a stop at Freetown (we were not allowed ashore) the Durban Castle left the convoy and proceeded at her own pace more or less directly to Capetown. (At this time the South Atlantic was considered to be safe from enemy action.) As we approached Cape Town we were very fortunate to see the magnificent sight of Table Mountain complete with its 'tablecloth'. It was to be almost 5 years before I had the pleasure of ascending Table Mountain by cable car and setting foot on the top.
The journey from Liverpool had taken just over four weeks. For young men in their teens and early twenties it was extremely boring. There was virtually nothing to occupy our time.
We were required to undertake lookout duties -2 hours on 4 off for 24 hours. our job was to scan the surface of the sea for 'periscope wash'. I think I did three such duties. We were also subjected to a series of lectures on the customs and practices of life in the colonies and we carried out lifeboat drill every couple of days.
Disembarkation took several hours. A train stood on the dockside alongside the ship. We move directly from ship to train being directed into numbered compartments and seats by name -six to a compartment. This proved to be an administrative masterpiece as I later found out that we had been marshalled into the flights and sections within which we were to be employed. The design of the compartments was quite ingenious. The seat formed a bed, the backrest hinged up for a second bed and the wall panel also hinged down to form a bed and when in the 'up' position formed storage for bed linen. Thus the six passengers slept in the same compartment as they sat in during the day.
After what seemed to be an age the train moved off. This was to be our home for the next five days and nights. About three or four times per day the train would stop, usually at some very small township and we were directed to leave the train and stretch our legs. The two stops which stick in my memory were at Kimberley and Mafeking (for obvious reasons). We encountered some memorable scenery such as the Drakinsberg Mountains and extremely boring landscapes such as the Kalahari Desert. Eventually the train pulled into a siding inside the camp bounds of RAF Kumalo at around mid morning. The journey had taken 5 days and nights.
We were mustered and allocated accommodation, personnel from the advance party showed us where our barrack huts were located, and then took us on a tour of such places as the mess hall, canteen, HQ, hangers etc. The rest of the day was devoted to settling in. The following morning flying training started and that afternoon there was a fatal crash. Thus started a long period of involvement with military funerals. I was detailed as a member of the firing party, a duty I was required to carry out many times over the next two years, not a pleasant experience.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.