大象传媒

I was born in South Africa and was 19 years old when world war 2 was declared. I hope that these memories may prove interesting to the People's War Project.
Although there was no mandatory conscription and our families were not in any immediate danger from attack, I joined the South African Airforce, as a mechanic, because I wanted to do what I could to help.
Most of my time was spent in North Africa and Palestine where we fought at El Alamain and provided defence cover for ships travelling up and down the coast.
A flight of 9 aircraft and groundcrew, of which I was one, were sent to the island of Kos. We weren't told the reason for this mission, but while we were occupying the area we were straffed and subjected to light bombing raids by German aircraft.
For me the most memorable of these attacks was when I took cover behind a mound covered with canvass, only to discover that my 'protective wall' was a potentially lethal stash of Italian bombs!!!
Despite the raids we remained and so the Jerries dropped paratroopers to drive us out of the area. About 20 of us managed to escape by hijacking a Caique (small boat) in which we escaped to Turkey. This was a nightmare because after casting off we discovered that the sail was missing and it had no engine. Thus we were at the mercy of the tide. To add to our dilemma we knew that the allied pilots had instructions to attack any of these vessels on sight, but thankfully they recognised us as we waved our tin hats at them and held their fire.
When we reached Turkey we were spotted by two Turkish soldiers who escorted us for a further 6 days of hard marching, to help us reach the coast. There they treated us exceptionally well and arrangements were made to transport us to another small island where a civillian boat took us to Cyprus.
On my return to SA I was posted to the 35th squadron who patrolled the coast where I worked on the Catalina Flying Boats that were taken over from the RAF and later on Sunderlands.
I moved to England, with my family, in August 1999. For my 84th birthday, in 2005, they took me to see these old planes on display again at the Waddington Air Show. What a trip down memory lane!
My grandchildren are fortunate to have heard my war memories first hand and they appreciate the price that was paid for their freedom by those who were not as lucky as I to survive. I am delighted that you are endeavouring to ensure that our memories are passed down to their children.
With Thanks
Samuel Bruce Stanley (called Bruce)

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