大象传媒

I joined the R.A.O.C. at Chepstow in July 1940. I had travelled from Catterick Station via Darlington and York. On arrival at Chepstow Race Course there was no accommodation! I slept in a horse box on straw that night.

Next morning I, and a group of others, was moved into Bell tents on the far end of the Race Course. Meals were taken in the Grandstand.

After a week's intensive training the Batallion moved to Pembroke, an Army and Naval base. The base had several balloons for defence against enemy aircraft and the Navy had sea-planes.

After 3 more weeks of training, the batallions were split into groups of 20 and sent to various parts of the country. My group went to Shoreditch Technical College. Another group travelled to Coventry on the same night as the Cathedral was destroyed.

12 weeks of training by civilian staff followed. Meals were taken in a cafe near Old Street tube Station. Bombing in London was very severe at this time, just before Christmas 1940.

After completing my training, I was moved to Acton to Steward and Ardens- a big motor company. Here I was on a 12 week course working on motor vehicles given by civilians. Meals were supplied by Morleys, who ran the Miss World beauty contests.

Acton suffered much less bombing than North London. The people of Acton were the most generous and hospitable of any I met in over 5 years of Army service!

After finishing the course we were sent to various units. I went to Colchester and after a week there I was moved again- this time to Aldershot to begin 12 weeks training on tanks.

At the end of the training I was posted to Catterick, back to the workshop where I'd been pre Army service. As I was putting in for a sleeping-out pass I got news of my posting to an R.A.O.C. Company for overseas duty.

After a few days in tents at Aldershot, the Company went by train to Bristol and boarded the Orion, a luxury P.and O. liner. The Orion, with other liners including The Queen Mary, was used as a troop carrier. It was an almost new ship with 2 swimming pools and several decks.

The convoy, made up of Orion and 5 merchant ships, was escorted by a modern cruiser and 3 frigates.

After 2 weeks in the Atlantic, we sailed into Freetown. Here we received news over the radio that Stalin had signed a pact with Hitler.

On leaving Freetown the convoy was now escorted by the Revenge, a battleship. It had been built before the First World War and was now over 30 years old! It sailed between two lines of three ships.

Almost every day, Lifeboat Station Practice was held. My station was on the top deck.

Two days out of Freetown, at about 2300 hours, the Revenge, with faulty steering, sailed directly in front of Orion causing a collision! Alarm bells started to ring alerting us all to get to our Lifeboat Stations. Getting there, in my case right to the top deck, seemed impossible and there was much panic- until we were informed it was not a submarine attack!

Next morning everything was back to normal. The Captain of the Orion complimented the whole ship for the orderly manner in which everyone had acted! This was a complete surprise to me and everyone else!

Damage to the Revenge was only slight and was soon repaired by 3 of the Royal Navy crew in a lowered boat. The Orion suffered far more damage to its front.Two days later we sailed into Capetown, passing Table Mountain. We were given two days shore leave, whilst the Orion was temporarily patched up. My friend and I met an English couple who had been resident in Capetown for 35 years. They seemed to gain much pleasure from showing us around Capetown, perhaps because they were a childless couple. They told us that British influence had almost vanished and they were thinking of leaving. We loved the city and we were sad to leave it, and our new friends, behind.

We left Capetown and sailed round the Cape into some really rough weather.There were distractions on board including lots of lovely music supplied by a London Tank Unit. The band had been formed pre-war from a T.A. tank company. They were later almost wiped out by Romell's superior gun power.

After 3 weeks we landed on Egyptian soil. I was there for 3 years, but that is a much longer story!

A belated thank you to the Royal Navy for a safe voyage.
R.W. Randell. 4th. Batallion R.A.O.C.

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