大象传媒

When Bob arrived in Tobruk shortly after the siege had been lifted, WO1 Alan Jones led the workshop vehicles through the streets to their new base. He was about to perform the introductions when Bob recognised the man that had persuaded him to join the Army.

Reg Gunn lived across the road from Bob in Dover and had joined up a few years before. They laughed at the thought that their mothers were probably chatting away to each other and wondering where they were.

Reg was now trying to get the power station working. While overhauling the diesel engines, they found a broken piston and the missing portion was located undamaged in the sump oil. Under normal circumstances it was unthinkable to expect to weld a piston together and expect it to survive the stresses as it accelerated up and down inside the cylinders of the big diesel but they went ahead and the engine was successfully re-commissioned.

This story was submitted to the people鈥檚 War site by a volunteer from CSV Oxford on behalf of the late Bob Borthwick. It is a transcript of his own diary and he gave written permission for the material to be edited and published.

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