´óÏó´«Ã½

Capt. R.T. WOOD
Royal Army Ordnance Corps.

My father volunteered for military service in 1940 at the age of about 37. He had been employed by Morris Motors Ltd., from shortly after completing his apprenticeship with Vauxhall Motors at Luton in the 1920’s. Why he chose to become a serving officer in the British Army is unknown to me, who was a child of six years in 1940. If he had so chosen, he could have joined the factory at Cowley which switched production to military vehicles.

Basic Military training took place in Sussex, I believe. Thereafter, he embarked for North Africa by sea via the Cape. Alexandria was threatened with being overrun by the German Army. Preparations to resist were very primitive and involved preparing 1 million Molotov cocktails which were to be stored on the roofs of high buildings with the intention of raining these down on German tanks as they attacked the city.

As the North African war progressed my father was proud to eventually serve under Field Marshal Montgomery. At this period troops had to learn to navigate in the desert using the Sun Compass in lieu of the magnetic prismatic compass, map and a watch as well as using the reading of the mileometer reading on the "speedo" of the vehicle. At this stage of his career my father seemed to excel himself as an academic — a most unlikely guise so far as I am aware because he was not especially mathematically inclined.

Navigation in the desert is a dangerous occupation, as becoming lost in the sand dunes is all too easy — hence the reliance upon the sun compass. Apparently, my father found the existing manuals on its use were incomprehensible to the ordinary soldier, so he set himself the task of producing something which he and his fellow officers and men could understand.

This little essay is about a forgotten document which probably saved a good many lives in the earlier stages of the North African Campaign. I have a file here at home which bears the legend S/4AD/IS/36 SECRET (To be kept under lock and key and passed under cover) PERSONAL LIEUT. R.T.D. WOOD. Inside, it contains a final version in print of the Notes on the use of the UNIVERSAL SUN COMPASS.

Within the file is a quantity of correspondence, initially addressed to Inventions, G.H.Q. (G.S.D.6), M.E.F.

This reads, "I found from personal experience in the Western Desert, that there were certain salient facts and explanations I needed at my fingertips, when having to navigate by Universal Sun Compass. I could never remember all the details and the ‘why and wherefores,’ All written instructions on the subject I came in contact with were so long-winded and voluminous that I was invariably back where I started, after reading up the subject. So I decided to write down the main details essential to navigation in as condensed a form as possible. I must say that I found these ‘notes’ most useful."

The submission of the Notes on the Sun Compass met with general approval by December 1942. A letter from P. Johnson Lt. Col stated "that the interest that has prompted you to forward your notes to this Headquarters is very much appreciated and it is anticipated that they will make a significant contribution to our future successes."

There followed, several letters of a congratulatory and approving tone. There finally came one from Col. Moore which concluded with the words "A good piece of work. Well done!"

The Second World War saw my father travel to Palestine, Sicily and up Italy to Rome where he and other officers had an audience with the Pope. He was impressed with the Pope’s congratulatory way of saluting the troops with the Italian gesture of raising his clasped hands above his head. The end of the war found him in Dubrovnik. Eventually he returned home by rail via Switzerland where the troops were offered green tea. The stress of war remained with him for the remainder of his life.

When my father was demobilised in 1945 he still retained his prismatic compass and Swiss watch that he used for navigation. He gave these to me. Civilian Street saw him return to employment with Morris Motors as their Service Representative in Scotland. The file passed to me at around the time I was given the watch and compass. He retired around 1965 and survived until 1984.

Christopher Wood
27 December 2005

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.