大象传媒

Andover, I can鈥檛 remember the actual name of the barracks, we were being held in order to form a draft to go out as reinforcements for the 2nd Brigade, who at that time were in Africa. A parade was ordered and names were called, the people named were told that they were on the draft and to have their kit packed at all times. Parades were called at random times, and if you didn鈥檛 answer to your name you were replaced, believe me, having got this far no-body wanted to miss out. Very soon we were told we were on the move, and to pack our Red berets in our Kit-bags, and to wear our old service headgear, this for security reasons. Boarding the train we started off and very soon it became obvious to those who knew that part of the country, that we were heading towards Bristol, where some of the lads came from. When the train stopped in the station, there was a frantic scribbling of notes, popped into envelopes with an address on, trying to hand them to a member of station staff, saying 鈥済et that to my (Wife, Mother)鈥�, this was quickly stopped when the Officers realised what was happening, we eventually reached Liverpool and boarded our ship.
Next morning, going up on deck we saw soldiers wearing Green berets (Commandos), there was a mad rush to the cargo holds for everyone to emerge wearing the coveted Red one, we weren鈥檛 going to be outdone. Next stop, being anchored in the Clyde, off Greenock, the purpose being to assemble the convoy, quite a lot of the lads were Scots and they were eagerly looking around, one of them, Stevie, yelled out 鈥淭hat鈥檚 my blooody hoose oo鈥檈r there鈥�, he lived in Dunoon .Convoy assembled, we sailed forth, being later told we were in mid-Atlantic, a line we would maintain until altering course for the Med, through the straits of Gibraltar, finally docking at Algiers. We were put into a transit camp and our first taste of desert life was quite a culture shock. Next move was to a railhead and being loaded into box-wagons, distinctly lettered, 7 CHEVEAUX, or 40 HOMMES. We were afforded the luxury of having about 20 of us in a wagon, which considering the fact that we had to sleep there, wasn鈥檛 giving us a lot of room. I don鈥檛 remember how long the journey took, there being frequent stops for the engine to pick up water or fuel, each time there would be a mad rush to get water ourselves so that we could have a brew-up. We eventually reached a camp somewhere near Benghazi and after a short stay, we boarded Assault craft and were transported to Italy, a very uncomfortable journey.

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