大象传媒

We were in the transit camp for some time. Then one afternoon the Colonel in charge sent for me and said "Mr Dickson your waiting for a troop ship for Egypt, well the ship is due into Liverpool tomorrow and you and the other two 2nd Lieutenants will be on that troop ship, but I have a job for you to do. In my camp here I have 600 young Royal Engineer Recruits who have just completed their basic training here and are going out to their depot in Egypt. There are no NCOs or officers with them, so I have arranged a special train from Prestatyn to Liverpool tomorrow morning it only takes 2 or 3 hours and these 600 men will be going on that train and so will you three officers and I am appointing you Mr Dickson in charge of them for that journey. It will only take a few hours and you will be in charge of them from Prestatyn station until you hand them over on the troop ship, the other two young officers can help you."

So I agreed to this and the following morning the three of us were at the station and saw the 600 men being loaded on to this special train, which set off for Liverpool. The date as far as I can remember was round about the 24 September 1945. About an hour after leaving Prestatin the train pulled into a siding and sat there for quite a long time until I heard someone running along the side of the train shouting, "Who's in charge, who's in charge?" and when I looked out it was a Captain who was the RTO officer!
he said "Who's in charge,"

I said "As far as I know Sir, I'm in charge,"

"I've bad news for you, there's a dock strike has started at Liverpool and the troop ship that you were going for has not been able to dock, so you are to wait here for further instructions."

It was some hours later before he reappeared and told me that the new instructions were that the train was being redirected to Tilbury and by the time we got there the troop ship would be there. Eventually the train turned and made a slow trip back to Tilbury where it arrived getting on into the evening and I got out and went to the transport office and told the Captain there that I had a train load of men for this troop ship where is it.

"Oh he says I'm glad you've arrived have bad news for you, unfortunately the dock strike has now spread to Tilbury, so you'll be unable to go, so we have decided that we will have to put you into a transit camp."

So they sent a man with us to show us where the transit camp was, it was a few miles out of Tilbury at Purfleet. When we got there a Captain opened the gates for us and let us in, it was an empty camp, all tents except for a guard-room at the gate in brick. He handed the keys over to me and said, "Your now in charge of this transit camp there are no other troops in it and you'll have to arrange everything for yourself, guards for the gate, cleaning the camp and so forth,"

I said, "Look, Sir, I have 600 private soldiers with me no NCOs or anything,"

"Oh well, the best we can do for you and all we can do for you is we have a canteen and staff a canteen and provide 3 meals a day," so he left it at that.

The following morning I got up, I was extremely worried because I had made enquiries and the rumours were that this dock strike might last for quite a while. I managed to get the phone number of the transit camp at Prestatyn and phoned them and told them that this 2 hour job they had given me yesterday, dock strike and so forth we have now over-night stopped at PurfIeet and God knows when we will get any where. I said, "now I have 600 young soldiers with no NCOs, no clerical staff, nothing, I haven't even got the names of the men that are making up this 600 crowd, I don't know the names, army numbers, home addresses anything and if this goes on for any length of time I'll probably have to arrange payment and all sorts of things for them."

I said, "Look, Sir, I think in the circumstances it would be much better if they were sent back to your camp in Wales where you have staff."

"No, no, no, no," he said, "You can't do that your last order was when I put you in charge of those men and your still in charge of them until you hand them over on the troop ship."

It sounds unbelievable this could happen in the British Army, to the best of my knowledge that was about 24 September. Then away in October I was told that because these men hadn't been home in some time I would have to let them have another 3 days embarkation leave and it was hells own job the three of us young officers working as clerks getting all the papers ready for sending them on 3 days leave.

When they came back I got word one afternoon that the following morning there was a special train laid on which would take us to Peacehaven a port on the South coast. So on the 2 November 1945 we were taken by train to Peacehaven into another transit camp for one night. The following morning a smallish boat, because the dock strike was still on and this one was probably breaking it, took us from Peacehaven to Dieppe on 3 November 1945 and when we got off there was ,special train, an old battered French train with wooden slotted seats which had certainly been through the wars. We were told to load ourselves on this train and to remain on this train, not get off it again from Dieppe until we arrive at Toulon and that there where toilets of sorts on the train and we would at various stations along the way be given some food. Well the train eventually set off and it took at least 3 days to get to Toulon again into another transit camp. On the way to Toulon the train about once or twice a day stopped at large stations and we were handed parcels of sandwiches and mugs of tea, which was the only food we got. Eventually from Toulon, again it wasn't a troop ship, but a small steam ship the Acombar took us on 7 November 1945 and arrived in Alexandria on II November 1945. We had now only 599 men, one of the 600 had went missing from Purfleet and they were unable to get him, so the 599 men and the 3 of us were taken to Alexandria on this boat, and we spent a night in tents and the following morning I got up early and went and made enquiries and discovered that these men had to go to the engineers' depot which was a long days journey by train but they would lay on a special train. I said "Look anybody from this depot turned up to collect them,"

"No, no," he said, "No one has been in touch with us,"

I said, "Well look I have had these men for nearly 3 months under my command and I don't feel like putting them on a special train without NCOs or officers, I'll arrange with my two friends and myself to escort them to their depot."

So we went with the 599 men to their depot. It was early evening when we got to the nearest railway station, again no one there to meet them, found out where it was, a few miles out the road and marched them to their depot, just got in through the main gate when two Captains came over, one of them said "What's all this, what's all this,"

I said, "Well all this is 599 of your young men who have just passed their basic training, no NCOs and we have been escorting them for the past three months."

"Oh we'll take them over," so one of them marched them off and the other one stopped to talk to us, he said, "What's it all about?"

I said, "It's all about this, we were asked to escort them from Prestatyn to Liverpool and hand them over to a troop ship but the dock strike started and instead of a two hour job it turned into a three month job and we have been kept extremely busy looking after them."

"Oh" he said, "Can we do anything for you?"

I said, "Yes, you can we have been travelling all day and have had nothing since breakfast time, we need a meal."

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid your too late for dinner, will you be spending the night?"

I said, "Of course we will have to spend the night, it's already night, and we have got to go back to Alexandria before we can get a train to our depot, the only reason we are here is because none of you people turned up at Alexandria to escort them."
So he took us over to a wooden hut where there were empty bunks and he said, "You can use three of those bunks for the night and I will see if I can get you tea and sandwiches,"

About an hour later a soldier arrived with a plate of sandwiches and a pot of tea. No one else from that camp or no officer from that camp came over to speak to us or invite us over to their mess for a drink or anything. We went to bed and the following morning got up and our breakfast was brought over and we were in the middle of our breakfast when an officer, a Captain appeared complete with Sam Brown belt and said, "I am President of the Mess Committee and I understand that you three people are leaving today,"

"Yes," I said, "we are leaving immediately after breakfast to catch the early train into Alexandria,"

"Oh," he said "you can't leave until you pay your mess bill,"

I said, "Pay our mess bill, is this the thanks we're getting for looking after 599 of your men for three months when we are not part of your regiment, the only messing we had were some sandwiches and a cup of tea last night, and a very small breakfast, but make the mess bill out in my name, I'll pay for the three of us, but please put your full rank and army number on it, because when I get to our depot I will insist in getting in touch with the Head Engineer in the Middle East to explain how we were treated when we delivered your men to you."

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