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At the start of 1945, the European war was coming to an end and in North Africa, on the old battlefield of El Alamein, General Montgomery routed the German army and finally banished them from North Africa. On 18th February 1945, after six months’ training in the desert, a final exercise was held with our American allies before leaving Egypt for good to sail against Japan.

The British Admiralty agreed to a request by King Faruk of Egypt to visit the Royal Navy in Alexandria. As HMS Hunter was the senior British battleship, Captain Torlesse was asked to entertain King Faruk and illustrate how an aircraft carrier operated.

HMS Hunter sailed out of Alexandria Harbour and twelve Seafires from 807 Squadron showed off bombing and strafing tactics on targets towed by the escort ships.

The pilots put on a great show and were entertained at the King’s nightclub on the Bay in the evening. I enjoyed talking to King Faruk on the Flight Deck. The pilots each received a gold watch and the crew received crates of oranges from the King’s orchards.

On the following day we sailed south through the Red Sea to encounter the Japanese.

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