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This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Sarah Housden of Norfolk Adult Education’s reminiscence team on behalf of Frank Keeble and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.

I was in Palestine with the Essex Regiment when the war started and was in the front line all the time. I was a Sergeant. It was pretty desperate in the desert with loads of flies all the time, but we had to put up with it. I saw some dreadful things – men lying there with their heads off and you can’t do anything about it, you’ve just got to leave them there. It was really hard – especially when it was your mate. I had good men, they were fearless. I had a lot of respect for them. I never asked them to do anything I couldn’t do myself – and that’s the secret of good leadership. I liked being in uniform, but the desert was tough. I was always backwards and forwards to Palestine each time there was a flare up, but there were other places too and I have them all tattooed on my arm – Cyprus, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, India, Tobruk and Burma. I joined the army in 1936 and I was a leader of men all the way along. I was a strict disciplinarian. You had to be. I enjoyed my army life. I kept my head low and was not injured seriously, even though I was always in the front line. You had to take care of yourself, keep your head low, and keep your eye on the terrain.

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