大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Lin Freeman of Radio Derby CSV on behalf of Mr Tom Bowen and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

I joined the Royal Navy just before the war in 1939 as a Naval Air Artificer Apprentice in the Fleet Air Arm. After accelerated training at RAF Halton between 1939 and 1941 I graduated as a fully trained aero engine fitter. I spent six months on a Pilot Training Squadron No 767 at Arbroath Scotland before being drafted abroad in early 1942, sailing to South Africa in a converted liner. My naval group was destined for Singapore, but it fell to the Japanese before we got there, we eventually ended up in Nairobi in East Africa in late January 1942. I was subsequently moved in a small group to Port Reitz Airfield at Mombassa under the command of the C in C Eastern Command, and our job was to build aircraft to support the Aircraft Carriers operating in The Mediterranean. After the first consignment of aircraft and engine parts we utilised the large crates to build a workshop on a small plot of land in Mombassa docks. This was accomplished in just over a week with the help of some Askaris and various materials 鈥渙btained鈥� from the East African Railway, we then commenced the task which none of us had ever done before 鈥� building aircraft from basic kit form. We were known as the 鈥淒ockyard Party鈥� because all our work was done there, and we had to build these aircrafts in areas between the railway lines in the docks, - a real first!

This was not a front line job, but extremely important to the Aircraft Carriers arriving for replenishment, there was no let-up in our work and the days seemed to roll into one. Our quarters at Port Reitz were very basic 鈥� in native type wooden huts, no doors, crude wooden beds, and one washroom with one cold water tap to cater for our needs. Our huts were forever being overrun by marching ants, tarantulas and a variety of snakes in addition to the continual bombardment of mosquitoes mostly at night time. Most nights we were disturbed by the intrusion of these invaders, and bites and malaria were constant problems, but these we accepted as part of our job.

One humorous incident which I recall from this period is when having built a Fairey Swordfish aircraft, we transported it across the harbour on a barge on which we had fitted a modified deck, to the base of the cliffs at Port Reitz airfield, it then had to be towed and manhandled up a rudimentary cliff path. I was supervising this, as I had learnt enough Swahili to be able to control a platoon of the Kings African Rifles (KAR) regiment who were to tow the aircraft up the cliff with ropes.
I was standing on a small hillock directing the operation at a crucial bend in the path when suddenly I felt very hot, rubbed my neck, then realised that I was absolutely covered in large ants. The Askari sergeant heard my shout and ordered everyone to stop and hold. The sergeant then rushed over to me, ripped off my shorts and frantically scraped the ants from my body; the pain from the bites was intense! Having done this, my shorts were restored, my position moved, and we completed the job, after the soldiers had settled down after what to them was a hilarious sight. As soon as we had the aircraft safe at the top I rushed off to have a strip wash and plastered myself with an antiseptic cream from my kit. It took a few uncomfortable days before the sting went out of the bites, and I began to look 鈥渘ormal鈥� again, but I watched where I stood after that you can bet!

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