大象传媒

My father George(Jimmy)Richards now a very fit 91 year old, joined the army in 1942 and left behind a wife and 2 children, my brother Gordon 8 years old and myself aged 5.
He says he did his training in Scotland at Paisey Barracks, and from there sailed on the Strath Naver to Egypt.
He remembers having to sleep in a hammock which he had to hang up every night. One morning on parade the officer in charge was covered in red spots which he discovered were bug bites, as the officers had proper bunks to sleep in and the bunks were infested with these bugs. Also he remembers getting a meal brought round by a 'Coolie' of kipper and an orange and the officers being served with chicken.
When it got warmer most of the soldiers took a blanket and slept on the deck, and in the morning they were awakened with the call'Wakey,wakey,washey decky'and if they were not quick enough they got drenched with water.
When they arrived in Egypt they were just left and had to sleep on the sand that night.I asked him if he was frightened and he said no as he was with his mates and they had a lot of laughs
Apparently he still has a list (which he removed from the notice board as they left the ship)of the officers and sisters on board as there were a lot of nursing staff on the ship.
When I next go to see my father I will try to get him to tell me some more tales so you may hear from me again. He does not talk about the war very much and it is only recently that he has started to 'open up'.

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