大象传媒

On January 5th, 1942, his diary records that he had a little butter for tea, the first in the army for two years. On January 9th, they had just 2 1/2 rounds of bread and jam for tea, so in the evening, they went to the N.A.A.F.I., and had fish and chips for 8d(3.3p); the same thing in Bournemouth the previous weekend had cost 3/6(17.5p).
The weather over the next few months was extremely cold, at one point down to -10掳F but he also remembers being promoted to Corporal (two stripes), and given the title "Survey and Meteorological Corporal". His job was to train other surveyors; take meteorological readings; do surveys for 3" mortar shoots etc. There were also trips down to Barton-on-Sea to see Joy at weekends, usually without the necessary pass or with one with a forged signature.
Sometime in March in they heard that they were about go abroad but were not told where to, although they knew that it must be to the Far East or Middle. East as they were issued with tropical uniforms. These included a topee, lightweight khaki shirts, long socks and khaki shorts, which had turn-ups as long as the legs and buttoned at the top so that they could be turned down at sunset as a precaution against malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
The prospect of a posting overseas led to a decision to get married even though both sets of parents were against the idea The wedding took place on May 16th 1942, in Old Milton Church at 12 o'clock. On the morning of the ceremony he had a taxi booked to take himself and best man to the Church but it did not appear so they had to run the three-quarters of a mile to the Church and luckily got there before the Bride. Because her parents disapproved of the wedding and the clothing coupon shortage, Joy could not buy a proper wedding dress so she was married in her V.A.D. nurses' uniform
For the honeymoon, she had managed to buy some clothing coupons from a girl who worked in the cake shop and with those bought an ice-blue dress. The reception was at a small private hotel in Ashley Road called "The Fairlawns". The wedding cake was a three-tier fruit cake with rice paper covering instead of icing and marzipan, which was unobtainable. The honeymoon was spent at Strathmore Hotel in Torquay, and like everyone else, they had to give up their ration books and each had one week's' ration of butter and sugar on the table; At the end of the honeymoon, the couple returned to Lynton for two weeks, where he was able to spend nights off the Camp.
On 17th June 1942 Joy left for home and later the same day he embarked on the Arundel Castle from Avonmouth. His height made it impossible to sleep in a hammock so he had to sleep on the Mess Table. By June 19th the ship had passed Ireland and by June 20th had reached the River Clyde. At 2.30 p.m. on the following day they left the Clyde to begin the long journey round the coast of Africa. The first port of call was Freetown which was reached on 2nd July where they stayed until 6th July. During this time, nearly everyone on board was ill. Several passed out with the pain of stomach ache. It was oppressively hot, but there was only room for 50% of the men to sleep, on deck, so every night there was a rush for space. After crossing the equator on 8th July they docked at Durban on 20th July after 33 days at sea.
The next day, they left the boat and went by train to Clarewood Camp where they slept in tents. . From the Camp it was possible to hitch-hike the six miles into Durban On 25th July, they were up at 5am and at 7.30am went by train to the boat. They set sail again at 8 a.m. on 26th July and arrived in Aden at 12.00 on 6th August.. They remained in Aden until 8th August where It was the hottest he had ever known. They were told that anyone who did not perspire was to report sick immediately. They entered the Red Sea, without a convoy escort , and reached at Suez at 9 a.m. on 12th August After a night spent in tents he was put in charge of a guard taking a baggage party to the Mena Camp in Cairo. The rest of the Company were then ordered to march there by Colonel Costello. Because the men were not acclimatized several were ill. It was 1040 in the blazing sun. Over the next few days he climbed to the top of the Pyramids where his photograph was taken for 80 piastres, found an opportunity to buy a leather handbag for Joy and spent a week in the desert with no tents and doing all his own cooking as well as surveying and meteorological exercises.
Every day he had to go out in a truck with a Sapper to an emergency landing ground in the desert and let off a smoke canister and record wind speed and direction, etc. This is what he was doing at 7 p.m. on 18th September when two Wellington bombers flew over. They saw the smoke and thought that it was a signal for them to land, which they did. Later he joined some of the crew for a snack of fruit and cream. The next day they took off for Khartoum to where they were being delivered from England.
On 23rd September, he wrote to the Colonel, asking to be considered for Officer training and following an interview was told that he would go before an examining board. Over the next three weeks leading up to the beginning of the Battle of El Alamein he managed to acquire a tent to himself, attempt to wash in 6鈥� of water and finally be charged with spreading rumors about the battle to come. The investigating Officers treated this issue as a joke and dismissed the charge.
On October 19th he watched mortars and ammunition being moved up to the front and at 10pm on 23rd October the big push started. In November a successful appearance before a Board of Officers assessing his suitability for Officer training was followed by a spell in hospital with jaundice.
On 9th December with the Colonel, three Commanding Officers and the Adjutant he toured the length of .the Alamein battle front, behind which had been the German lines. Six men of 65 Company were killed clearing mines in this area on 13th December and three more injured on the 19th. On 20th December, with a colleague he acquired an 8 day leave pass. He hitch hiked to Alexandria and stayed in the Belvedere hotel, They had a room on the front with a balcony overlooking the harbour. The final days of December were spent on leave in Alexandria where the cost of the B&B was 35 piastres. On Christmas Day with a friend he took a coach to Alexandria Airport and from there caught a plane to Cairo where they visited the Cathedral.
On 30th December it was back to business. He went with the Colonel, the Intelligence Officer and the Regimental Sergeant Major and an Officer from each company on reconnaissance. On New Year's Eve, they were looking out over the Qattara Depression, a flat sea of soft sand as far as the eye could see.

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