大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Alison Tebbutt of the Derby CSV Action Desk on behalf of Margaret Tadman and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

My father never spoke about the war, but then in all fairness we never asked him, it was like a closed book or garment, used and then folded up and put away. My sister was two years old when Dad was called up. I was born in 1940 and my younger sister, not until the war was over. It was only after my father died, that my husband Richard and myself, became acquainted with a wonderful man and his wife, a Mr and Mrs Charlie Schofield, who filled us in with memories, photographes and press cuttings, of some of the happenings of the 278 H.A.A. Battery, whose motto was 'Ubique quo fas et gloria ducunt,' 'Everywhere, where fate and glory lead.'

Late July 1941 the Heavy Anti Aircraft Regiment boarded The HMT Srathallan, a luxury liner built to carry 1000 passengers, this time there were 7000 troops aboard! Eventually they arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, on 2nd September where they stayed for four days. As Charlie wrote 'Here we were fete'd. Just unbelievable. We spent four days of sheer joy, after seven weeks of cramped conditions on the Strathallan. On the 6th Sept. they sailed on to Bombay, India. Many other places were to follow; Basra, Bagdad, Kirkuk, Palestine, Africa (where they were joined by African soldiers from Bechuanaland) on to Italy and after many long months HOME!!

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