大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Nadine from the People's War team on behalf of Robert Salmond and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

I was a Fitter Motor Transport with 46 Squadron. In May 1941 the squadron embarked on the S.S. Almanzora, reaching Egypt early July with the squadron headquarters based at Kilo 17 Fayoum Road.

The squadron pilots were operating in the defence of Malta, claiming destruction of nearly 40 enemy aircraft, 10 of them German, and the remainder Italian.

In May 1942 the squadron moved to Idku and began reforming as a nightfighter Squadron with Beaufighter aircraft for the defence of the Eastern Mediterranean, the support of our Armies on the ground and the 8th Army's advance from Alamein.

At the end of January 1943, two detachments left Idku, one for Tobruk (Bou Amoud) and the other Cyprus (Nicosia).

My time in Cyprus was in maintaining 5, five ton Bedford trucks. Four in service, one in workshop. The test run was four mile down the road to the Y.M.C.A. in Nicosia, and here I was doing just that, pulling alonside our ration truck in the car-park and joining the driver and two helpers in the canteen with a mug of shay and a wad of chinwag. In five minutes I said cheerio and made my way back to the trucks and tried the door-handle of the ration truck, and the door opened.

To remove the gearlever from that model Bedford is as simple as taking out an electric bulb. Bayonet fastening. I took it out, put it at the back of the drivers seat, and made my way back to camp.

Half an hour later I had a visit from the sergeant cook, anxious that the ration truck had not returned. Had he broken down? Would I go and look for him? Agreed, that if he was not back in half-an-hour I would go with a tow-rope. And so I set off back to Nicosia, and as I did so, there was a great cloud of sand being kicked up in the distance by an oncoming vehicle - the ration truck!

I stopped as he did, opposite each other. "Tell you the story later, got to get the rations unloaded". His words his story. " I left the Y.M.C.A. a couple of minutes after you, and was amazed to find that the gearlever was missing. Me - "never, what did you do?"
His words - "I had to wait nearly two hours before another Bedford came in and I pinched his!!". What fun.

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