大象传媒

My grandfather has passed away now but as a child i was intrested in his wartime service. As most wartime veterns, he didn`t like to say to much about it but he did tell me two stories which i never forgot.
I do know that he drove trucks on patrol in the desert but who or what i am not sure.
The first tale as he described it was that he and his unit had been on a long patrol when aircraft they did not recognise started buzzing the vehicles.
The shout went up that they were not british so everyone stopped, got what ever weapon was to hand and started blapping away at the aircraft. This had the desired effect and the aircraft climbed away and out of range abit sharpish. It was only after the confusion had died down that someone pointed out that the aircraft had unusual markings and didn`t think they were german or italian. Well you can imagine their faces when they got back to base and reported in to be told that american P-38`s had reported taking fire from a british patrol.
It turned out that while on patrol the first american units had arrived in North Africa and the info was not passed down the line.
I can`t be sure but i beleive my grandad was part of the first friendly fire incident in America`s desert campaign.
The second story is one that makes me realise how fickle fate can be.
The morning of a long patrol my grandad was sent to the M.O. and informed that he had Malaria. He was sent straight to the field hospital and was there for some time. It was only after he returned to his unit that he found out that the patrol had gone out and failed to return. Everyone was K.I.A.
Not many people can claim that Malaria saved their lives and my father or me.

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