大象传媒

The nine week voyage took them to Freetown on the west coast of Africa, then round the Cape of Durban, Aden and Port Suez. From here, Reg was posted to RAF Headquarters Middle East in Cairo where he worked in the sick quarters.

In amongst the boxes of old family documents that she has been sorting out, Mrs. Mutten has found a letter sent home from Reg, written in January, 1942 during his time in Cairo. In it he talks of the long voyage and the warm welcome the Forces received on their brief stops in port.

鈥淎lmost before we dropped anchor we were surrounded by dozens of primitive canoes occupied by natives who would dive over the side and deep in to the water for coins and other small objects thrown from our boats,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淓very day this happened and later the canteen management began to complain about the shortage of small change.鈥� Later he mentions 鈥� again without naming it, then for security reasons 鈥� the second port of call. The first striking incident came from a railway engine alongside the harbour which gave us the Victory signal on its whistle as we were passing.

鈥淔rom that moment it was impossible to think of anything but victory, as everybody in that convoy and others will agree. I am sure that the hospitality, sociability and encouragement which met us from every side sent a throb of esteem through the heart of every fellow that had the pleasure of stepping off the gangplank of their respective ship during that unforgettable stay. Never will I forget the people of that town 鈥� if anybody is working for the ultimate victory it is them鈥�

After Cairo, Reg was posted into the desert just before the Battle of El Alamein. The world focused its attention on the success of the British Forces as they drove back the German and Italian Forces through Tobruk, Bengazi, Libya and Tunisia. And the dignitaries came to show their appreciation. King George VI and Winston Churchill visited them and Reg met Montgomery several times in the desert.

His exemplary service, while working in the mobile field hospitals, was mentioned in dispatches.

Weeks were spent moving steadily in convoy through the desert, and then another posting came, this time Reg was heading to Sicily, where the German Army had retreated to from Tunisia.

They sailed from North Africa to Sicily in tank landing craft and camped in olive groves on the slopes of the volcano Mount Etna until the enemy was driven across the Messina Straits on to the Italian mainland.

Severe bombing from the Italian mainland wrought heavy losses of both men and planes. As soon as the British Forces were established on the Italian mainland, Reg鈥檚 group was moved to Italy and he was based at Foggia when the Italian Forces surrendered and the German Forces were gradually driven out of the country.
In January 1944 he flew to Algiers to complete his overseas tour at the No 2 RAF General Hospital where he was responsible for the evacuation of patients to the UK by air or by hospital ship. Finally, in November 1945 he was flown home. He was given 28 days leave 鈥� his first in more that four years 鈥� before two more postings in the UK. His last posting was to RAF Innsworth in Gloucestershire where he met a young radar operator, Hylda Beckie. Whose home was in Harden near Bingley in Yorkshire.

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