大象传媒

SIXTY YEARS ON (THE FIRST ARMT REMEMBERED) by Sgt Norman Stevens (1917-1996)

Our grandfather would not let his sons join the Officer's Training Corps at school (he objected to schoolboys being trained as soldiers) and, because Dad was in a reserved occupation at Westminster Hospital when War came he was not called up until March 1941. Basic training soon convinced "The Second of Foot" that he was not cut out for the infantry and after a spell in the Company office he was transferred to the RASC and re-mustered as a clerk. He liked to have thought that his eventual promotion through the ranks from Private to WO II justified the efforts made to put square pegs into square holes! And he was thankful too, to have been one of those who came through unscathed. For him it was almost a Cooks Tour at a safe distance from the fighting line.

Towards the end of 1941 he was posted to Largs, Ayrshire to work in the Supplies and Transport section of HQ 110 Force, destined for service overseas. It was a bitter winter. He and Mum were married in February 1942 - on his embarkation leave - but on returning from 4 days honeymoon in Bournemouth (he had left his tin hat behind!) he learnt that the trip abroad was off

During the Spring and Summer combined operations were being practised by units in Western Scotland. One day his HQ took part in a mock assault landing on the Isle of Arran. Later, they were on an exercise centred on Kilmarnock which was abruptly halted. Something big was afoot. Those who came from London were hurriedly sent home to help in the planning of another important operation, and again for about six weeks he commuted from Teddington to the West End. At first they worked at Norfolk House, St. James's Square and after a week or so their Rear HQ moved to Marble Arch. The ST office took over Binnie Barnes's flat opposite The Cumberland Hotel. They were long hectic days. The officers met their RN counterparts daily to compile and to continually prune loading tables for the units which would be taking part in the operation: vast quantities of vehicles, guns, ammunition, petrol, supplies and other equipment that would be needed and which could be accommodated in a limited number of vessels - not to mention transportation for the thousands of men to be shipped. The clerks were kept busy churning out the paper work, but they had brand new typewriters and duplicators provided. Everything Top Secret, of course.

At last the plans were ready and by mid-October mobilisation was complete. They had been re-designated FIRST ARMY and the HQ moved back to Scotland. Within a few days they were aboard the 23,000 ton P & O liner SS Strathmore at Gourock and steamed down The Clyde to assemble with the other vessels going with them. It was a large and well-dispersed convoy with adequate naval protection (so they were assured) but they were not close enough to see. They steered a zigzag course around The Atlantic, passed through the Straits of Gibraltar and eventually disembarked at Algiers after 13 days at sea. They were the second convoy and had met little resistance. The secret had been well kept and the enemy were too busily occupied elsewhere anyway.

The task of First Army, together with the Americans who were landing in Morocco and allied naval and air forces, was to advance from Algeria into Tunisia to link up with Eighth Army whose Western Desert campaign was having conspicuous success. The Battle of Alamein, fought and won 60 years ago is now being recounted in the media; quite rightly so. But many still living today who were alive at the time may have forgotten, and many born since may never have known that another British Army, The First, helped to bring about the surrender of the Germans and Italians in North Africa in May 1943. The 1st Army was involved in very heavy fighting in Tunisia during the 1942/43 winter. Remembrance Day this year (Nov 8) will actually be the 60th anniversary of the initial landings at Algiers, so it will be especially significant for those who served in the 1st Army and particularly so for the families of those who did not return.

Its objective achieved, the 1st Army was disbanded and its units were absorbed by other formations. His job had been to do the bidding of the Colonel (a peacetime executive of Shell) who had been in charge of the supply of petrol, diesel and lubricants for the operation. He asked him if he would like to return to UK to join an OCTU, but he thought the war would soon be over and he chose to remain an OR. So his Cooks Tour continued through Sicily and Italy from Bizerte to Trieste. It was to last another three years!

Written originally by Norman Wilfred Stevens (1917-1996) in 1993. Adapted by his daughter Margaret Anne Gardiner in 2003.

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