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Chapter 3

We celebrated Christmas Day on the 23rd December 1940; because the following day we were due to entrain for Port Said. A good dinner was supplied to the troops together with beer; under the circumstances all had a good time. The following day, the 24th, we duly entrained for Port Said, reaching there on the 25th and men embarked the HMT Dunera. Once aboard I was able to have a good rest and some good food. We set sail about midday and went down the Canal, spending the evening anchored in Lake Timsah. Some went ashore, but I didn’t, I knew it would start me thinking again although from where we were I could see the bathing beach we used to use and that brought back sufficient memories. The following day we passed through Suez, I saw Mrs Buhagier and Maude standing outside their house, I found out later they did not realise it was us. We waited in Suez Bay and who should come aboard but Jack Steer, we had a couple of drinks together. The same day we set sail for Port Sudan, where we arrived on the 31st December 1940.I felt a new man having had the first rest since August and some real good food. Our stay in Port Sudan was very short, I went to the pictures on occasion but did not enjoy it On the 19th January 1941 we moved or at least Battalion HQ did, to a place called Tokar. We were now forming the Northern Column for the attack on Eritrea and consisted of HQ and 3 companies, one company remained at Port Sudan. Our task early on in the campaign was to attract as many of the enemy as possible to our front in order to draw them away from Keren, this we succeeded in doing, drawing about 8,000 to our front. We had to make our force appear very strong, this we did by erecting big white tents and making dummy petrol dumps. The tents were never taken down and as far as I know may still be at Tokar being eaten away by white ants, while I was there they kept eating the ropes and making the tents fall down. Whilst at Tokar I visited Suakin, the deserted city, it was a very interesting to see the place as it was left years ago with no living soul in it. From Tokar we advanced nearer to Eritrea to a place called Aqiq, HQ being at Itaba. Here we suffered our first casualties. Private Carter being killed in action. We had some interesting times including swimming, but a lot of travelling.

I must mention how we got flooded out one day and a night. It had been a very quiet and hot day but one could see that up in the mountains it was raining, in the evening it came on to rain in our district. We were encamped near a dried up river bed, during the night I heard a noise like thunder which gradually faded and then I heard a lot of noise from the troops, so we decided to get out of bed and find out what was going on. On getting up I found I was standing in about 6 inches of water, my bed fortunately was standing on a little mound of earth, everywhere else was about 3 feet deep including the stores, the water had come down with such force that it washed one of the 160 pounder tents down to the seashore some 5 miles away. The damage was enormous, our vehicles had been dug in and the pits were full of water, the drivers had their work cut out to get the vehicles moving. I was supposed to move off with rations at 1000 hours but could not form the convoy up until 1600 hours and then the going was very heavy, I had my doubts as to whether I would get up to the line or not, however I had to make the attempt and so started off. I was dressed in tin hat, shorts, canvas slippers and a ground sheet with a belly full of rum. The vehicles were continually getting stuck but with hard work and hard swearing we crept slowly forward until we met an enormous obstacle, a river bed, which had previously been dry, was now full of water. I went through with my PU (a small load carrying vehicle known as a "pick up") and managed it, the next vehicle, a 30 cwt, got stuck right in the middle, we tried to get a 15 cwt across and that also got stuck, here was a pretty state of affairs. The first thing to do was off-load the vehicles, halfway through this job; the sound of aircraft was heard. It might be one of ours, but no such luck! 3 Italians, I didn’t know whether to duck my head under the water or what to do, but after circling round us they dropped their load and went off. We sorted ourselves out again, no damage, and carried on getting our vehicles out.

After a time we were successful and continued our journey reaching the battalion at midnight, they were getting worried about the next day’s food, rations were issued early the following morning. For once I got a liver on, I issued some sugar to Polly's company and some 'bloody fool' spilt some paraffin over it, in consequence I had to repeat the whole journey, I was not all pleased. It was at this position that the Battalion got attacked from the air, I arrived shortly afterwards and nearly blew myself up by running over an unexploded bomb. The Battalion mounted an attack on Korora, the first time unsuccessfully, one man being killed and one taken prisoner. Frank Day's platoon experienced some difficulty but got out all right, the second attack was successful. We now advanced to a place called Elghena, being reinforced by two other units, by now our supply route was getting too long and it became necessary to operate from another base, Mersa Takli, which had been taken by B Company. Arrangements were soon made and we pushed on to Cub Cub, where we had a small battle, and from there on to the Mesclet which overlooked the Keren - Asmara road. My supply point was back at Cub Cub and B Echelon was at Chemelette, this meant I was travelling 100 miles daily with rations over a terrible track and hills, it was not unusual for one or two of the vehicle springs to be broken. The country was mountainous, one platoon had a position on top of a mountain, and it took the other two platoons of the company to maintain them. I had great difficulty in keeping the Battalion supplied with boots. Orders were eventually received to cut off the Keren - Asmara road, but shortly after we started Keren fell and the attack was called off, during this move we received some casualties from mines.

Before leaving this part of the country I must mention the animal life at which we had some laughs at their antics, there were all kinds but mainly baboons, all day long one could hear them barking and they would appear at all kinds of places, it was most disconcerting when having a s... to be surrounded by a gaping ring of baboons. One day Tiffy, Chalky and RSM Greenfield climbed a hill, which was occupied, by a colony of baboons, when they got to the top they were promptly chased back down again, I never heard so much noise in all my life as they hurriedly came down. Often I would be going up to the line with rations when in front of the would be a family of baboons on the way to their watering place, they would appear in single file led by the father, a big grey whiskered old boy, he would bark at us and then we would pull up and watch them pass, following the old boy would be about 20 or 30 others all gradually getting smaller in size, the last chap being about as big as a rabbit, the very small ones were carried on the backs of the mothers, I could watch them for hours on end. The lions were the things that really worried me, I used to hear them sniffing around my tent, I lay as still as a mouse, in the morning I would inspect their footprints. One day I issued John Callan with a new pair of boots, the following morning he had lost one on looking for it found it chewed up by one of these animals, I was not at all pleased as I had taken a great deal of trouble to get them for him. Another day we shot a hartebeest for fresh meal, the butcher took the carcass some way away to clean and skin and bury the entrails, that evening the CO visited the area and parked his car over the spot where they were buried, in consequence he got no sleep. The jackals came along with all the other animals in the vicinity and dug up the entrails making a hell of a noise.

After the fall of Keren we were taken back to Chemelette and there told we would have a ten days rest, but did we, a couple days later we were ordered to move and capture Massawa. We started off on the evening of 1st April 1941, and moved back just short of Cub Cub where we struck off for the coast, we drove all night and I can remember saying at daybreak when we stopped for a tea break, what a good way of spending ones wedding anniversary. Later that morning we came to a place called Oblette and had to pass up the worst river bed that I had ever come across, in places there was up to 30 inches of loose sand and of course a large number of vehicles got stuck, there was a lot of swearing as the troops dug out and pushed their vehicles through, even my light vehicle got stuck. However we eventually got through and arrived at a place called Mersa Cub on the coast, here we caught up with Polly's company. After the Battalion had once again collected together we pushed on down the coast, the going was extraordinarily rough and in places the sand was very soft. My vehicle was put out of action by a broken spring so I left it behind to come on later. The advance was stopped that evening because of a destroyed bridge, which when we reached it was still burning. I was pleased for the halt because my vehicle was repaired and caught up with me. That evening I had a bathe in the sea which was wonderful and for the first time in my life I found I was worried by land crabs, I dug a hole for myself to sleep in and the damn things crawled over me all night.

The next morning the Sappers had sufficiently repaired the bridge for us to cross over. We passed through some plantations and a village when the speed of the convoy slowed down considerably because we were entering the Massawa defences eventually stopping before evening fell. B Company who were the advance guard had been told to push on as the town had supposedly surrendered, but they ran into a fairly hefty barrage when most unexpected, so had to be brought back and a proper attack organised. That night I had to go up with the cook’s lorries, as they had had nothing to eat all day. After having issued the rations I went to the Officers Mess for something to eat myself, I cannot say I enjoyed it because at that moment they started to shell us, which was not at all pleasant. That night I went back to B Echelon area and the following day we were shelled by a naval gun in Massawa fortunately with no effect. That afternoon I was ordered to go back for rations, a job that took 3 days to do and on my return the Battalion was still in the same place. During the trip back conditions were not too pleasant, we had the Oblette riverbed to negotiate however the Sappers had considerably improved this. We managed to take advantage of a good swim that compensated for a lot. After rejoining B Echelon we continued to be shelled quite a lot again fortunately with no effect A few days later the attack was delivered during the early morning and was successful but lost 17 killed and 65 wounded. We did not enter Massawa that night but very early next morning, I was one of the first of the Battalion to enter. We met one of our platoons that had been captured the previous day. The town was crowded with Italian soldiers and sailors, 11,000 in all, it took a good 3 days work to round them up. I took over a Naval barracks for the Battalion, with an extraordinary good cookhouse, which had been put out of order by the Italians was soon put into working order again and I was able to give the troops some good feeds. The officers were quartered in an Italian headquarters offices and supply store from which I was able to extract some good stuff including wine. I lived in a room with Tom Roe, a jolly good sort, the room had been an office of some description, the previous occupant had lived fairly well because amongst other things we found a store of Apricot brandy, very good it was too, this together with the wine that I was able to scrounge caused a never ending flow of officers visiting us.

The heat was terrific it being practically impossible to do anything after 9 is until 5 pm except sweat. This heat and the dirtiness of the barracks combined created the worst smell that I have ever experienced, after cleaning the barracks thoroughly it was still awful, I eventually traced it down to some dead natives and a meat store in which the cold storage apparatus had gone wrong. The smell even made some of the captured Eritreans vomit when it was removed. It was necessary for me to draw rations at 5 am owing to the heat I used to attend the slaughter house at that hour and watch the animals being slaughtered and bring them straight back to the cookhouse and have them cooked as it would have gone bad. I did not mind doing this at such an early hour because I was able to scrounge liver and kidneys, which I loved at the time, and used to have them for lunch, I was rather disappointed when the CO remarked at lunch one day "take this liver and lights away and bring me some bully". Another job I had was to look after 604 Italian officers, I took great interest in this and did it to the best of my ability, I could not have done so if I had realised what treatment I was to undergo in their hands at a later date.

Things were much better organised after a week or so, although I did not get much time to myself, some officers visited Asmara and other places but I couldn’t find the time. Fish was plentiful, we hired a couple of smacks that supplied the Brigade under RASC arrangements but in the usual way it was not issued fairly. On one occasion I took the law into my own hands and removed a box full, which had been reserved for Brigade Headquarters, good fish it was too. My health was not all that I desired at this period; I felt very much run down and had a bad thumb, I was also worried about Kit because I had not written to her. My job had been so tiring that at the end of each day I could hardly undress through being so tired. Since coming to the Sudan it had been one continual grind, the least distance I had travelled daily over the most difficult country was about 120 miles. I was receiving mail quite regularly, I believe that this was the only thing that kept me going, had I missed a mail I would have said to myself 'blow it’ and let things get on the best way they could. Our stay in Massawa came to an end about the end of April or beginning of May 1941,I cannot remember exactly but I was pleased because of the heat and feeling run down.

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