大象传媒

CHAPTER FIVE

The desert is a grim place, not all sand, which one realised the farther south we went.
The nights were cold and dark, as it was winter, but a clear night would give us a
treat, with thousands of stars which seemed to light up the sky. The tanks would form
up to make large squares, called "laagers"and strict security was the order of the day.
Patrols went round on guard and we all had to take our turn. Cooking was done by
individual sections at convenient stopping places. Rations were not marvellous, but
were sufficient. Water was the biggest problem - ONE bottle per day - which was
sometimes missed because the water wagon did not arrive. This water was for
everything - washing, tea and cooking. One of the ways to wash our clothes was with
petrol, but they had to be dried really well, otherwise you could have trouble with skin
irritation. There was continual battle with the sand, which blew incessantly as the
convoys of vehicles drove along.

The other annoyance with the sand was that we could be spotted easily from the sky,
so it was easy for the bombers to pinpoint us. When there was an alert we would
evacuate the lorries and look for a place to hide as far away as possible. They were
very frightening - it was as if they dropped out of the sky straight at you! Stops were
frequent and, sure enough, as soon as one got a brew going, orders came for us to
move on! The method of heating was a petrol can cut in half - easily done with a can
opener as they were only made of tin - half filled with sand soaked in petrol, then set
alight. Across the top were placed a couple of pieces of iron on which to stand the
pot. Many of these cans must still be lying in the desert with their wire handles on.
I'm sure the arabs, who always appeared from nowhere, make some use of them!
Sometimes, once the brew was on the go and the order was given to move on, the
makeshift heater rode on the steps of the truck, with us hoping we wouldn't be set
alight!

By then, as I remember, the weather was not so bad. Of course, there were
sandstorms and rain, but we were never bogged down or completely rained out. One
day, I spotted my old friend, Eddie Gainsley, driving along on a 3-tonner used by the
supply depot and he shouted his destination for my future information. He had been in
the desert for some months, had escaped after being taken prisoner and made his way
back to his unit, a forward supply depot. I managed to get to him a little later, when
he supplied me with as many goodies as I could get on the truck, and we managed to
catch up with each other's news. He had been in two retreats with Wavell's army.

CHAPTER SIX

The next port of call was Tobruk, the place the world had been talking about for so
long. What a disappointment! From the cliffs above it looked like a small cove with a
few small ships that had come in to shelter from a storm! There was colonisation
further along the coast, in Cyrenaica, but, of course, all the Italians had fled. There
were lots of good-looking houses with well cultivated land surrounding them, but no
people. Where they were inhabited later, I don't know.

Our advance was very fast at first, but eventually we were held. We came upon ruins
of places we'd heard about in the news of previous battles. Names like Sidi Barrani,
Bardia, Sollum, Gasallo and then Derna. Here the countryside was lush and
red-earthed, quite a change from the previous open nothingness. There was an airfield
with a few wrecked planes. The next large town was Benghazi, hardly touched and
with a large airfield. The enemy, meanwhile, had retreated to El Agelia and held us up
for some time until they were by-passed, and then we were off chasing them again!
We captured an Italian bakery unit and as one of our boys was a baker, he made us
some fresh bread, although the flour was full of weevil!

The next stop was further along the coast, where re-organisation took place for the
push on Tripoli. Surprisingly, this went very well and we were in the town in about
ten days after a really fantastic run. With amazing speed the company had taken three
months to travel the 1500 miles from Alamein to Tripoli, and it had seemed even
quicker! In Tripoli there was a Casbah, but it was really a very modern town. We did
not stay there very long as the Americans and the 1st Army were there as well.
Victory marches were held before the King and Churchill. I lined the route for one of
them, very impressive we were , especially after a lot of spit and polish!

Our division was then moved back down the coast to Homs, or Leptus Magna, an
ancient Roman city by the sea. We stayed there for a short time and then went inland
and right round to Tunis where, with the American 1st Army, we encircled the
Germans, who then surrendered. Of course, not all the adventures in these three
weeks have been recorded, it's not easy to remember everything after all this time.

The German Army surrendered after being blocked in the peninsular above Tunis.
There were 800,000 prisoners for the 1st Army to deal with after we left.

Tunis was very interesting. It was the first time I had met Jews in North Africa.
There was a large synagogue in the Rue de Paris. One day, while wandering around
the commercial area, I saw two very well-dressed young Jewish men, one of whom
was named Cohen, so we got on very well indeed! They had a shoe factory and had
been there all through the war. Friday afternoon being Erev Shabbat, the market
wasbusy baking chollas and all the other things like almonds and herrings were on sale,
which made me very homesick! We didn't stay there long as our role had been to help
the 1st Army and as it was their prize we went back to Tripoli, where we settled in
tents on the beach, just like on a holiday! The town itself was old and had a large
amphitheatre where ENSA put on shows with artistes from home. They, I'm sure,
were pleased to come as the audiences were huge and appreciated any entertainment!
There was swimming, sports and time to read our mail, which by now had caught up
with us. The time passed very leisurely and a great deal of the time was spent trading
with the natives for fresh eggs in exchange for tea. Drying old tea bags in the sun and
re-using them was a dodge soon discovered by them - they were cuter than us!
Open-air films were shown when it wasn't too windy, as the screen was liable to be
blown away then!

CHAPTER SEVEN

After about four weeks we began preparing to invade Italy. This included training in
vehicle-carrying ships, which were drive on-and-off. They were flat-bottomed, so that
they could g o right up on to the beaches and then the vehicles would be driven off.
We started from Tripoli, where there had been victory marches which were very
impressive, led by the Highlanders in their kilts, with drum and pipe bands, etc. and
various contingents of the 8th Army. King George VI came to take the salute and I
was one of those chosen to line the route. There had been visits during the campaign
from Churchill, wearing his battledress, accompanied by Monty, so they all got in the
act!

It was September 1943 and our goal was to sail to Salerno and join up with the
American 5th Army, under General Mark Clark. The journey seemed to pass very
quickly and at night we could see Mt. Etna glowing. It looked like a lighted cigar and,
of course, we all hoped it would erupt and give us a real show!

The Americans had already landed, so we got on shore easily. We hadn't experienced
such cold weather before but luckily we wearing our winter clothes and overcoats.
The terrain was quite different to that which we had been used to. There were fields
with hedges, mountains ahead and small villages with enormous churches, like
cathedrals, all covered with snow.. The church certainly held great sway, the priest
being the guv'nor!

I now joined a platoon in the field and was part of a unit going on patrol and
skirmishing. I now realised how cushy things had been for me in the desert, but soon
got used to the change. Our job was much more active as the tanks found it difficulty
country to work in, so it was our job to clear the way for them. Skirmishes and night
patrols went on until we reached the Volterno river, where we were stopped by the
Germans. "Night patrols" said quickly sounds OK but were, in fact, very frightening.
Every movement, every sound, was a stopper Sometimes you stopped breathing in
case you were making too much noise! The purpose was to find out where the enemy
was hiding. I suppose they were just as frightened as us, but we didn't think of that at
the time! The area below the Volterno was malarial, so at night no skin could be left
uncovered for fear of being bitten. We had to sleep under nets and take mepacrim
tablets. It was a good excuse for large sick parades.

The fighting was quite intense and there were casualties on both sides. What was
amazing was the number of things that got lost in battle and had to be replaced from
the quartermaster, such as shaving kits, socks, etc. If anything got lost at other times,
we'd say that we'd lost them while on patrol!

The Italians surrendered and we were now fighting the Germans who didn't give in
quite so easily and there were anxious times until we returned to the Rest Station.
The news began to get better and we knew that we would soon be returning to
England for the invasion of Germany, unfortunately there were lots of casualties as the
fighting was fiercely contested.

Meanwhile Naples had fallen, but the docks had been blown up by the Germans and
could not be used by us for some time. We moved back below Naples and were
billeted in the grounds of the Duchess of Amalfi. The garden was very large and full
of citrus trees and vines. The whole battalion was there and we were allowed trips
into Naples, which involved a hair-raising drive along the cliffs by the Med. Sorrento
was nearby and that was within walking distance. From the grounds there was a
staircase going down through the cliff to the beach below, but nobody ever used it as
it was too steep to climb back. There was a little fishing below that looked like doll's
houses from above and was very pretty. The people were incredibly poor but very
sociable and always had a glass of wine or some fruit ready, to tempt you into their
courtyards.

Pompeii was nearby, we tried to visit but most of it was closed and wasn't opened until
much later. Vesuvius kept threatening to erupt. It was active all the time and had a big
go just before we left. The Germans had crossed back over the river and the Anzio
landings had begun, so we waited for them to be enclosed but that did not happen for
some time.

The reason we stayed here for so long was because we were preparing to go home -
the whole division - that's a lot of men! There were many tearful goodbyes and we
made our way slowly to Naples, where the docks had been repaired and prepared for
our embarkation. I had spent some time in Naples, which was both very rich and very
poor. In some places whole families lived in caves in the wall and yet there were huge
mansions and wonderful shopping malls I managed to buy a knitted baby coat while I
was there and send it to Pauline, who had been born whilst I had been away. By now
the climate had improved, so everything looked better. As we knew we were going
home and before we left the estate, we collected lots of fruit and nuts, as these were
rarities in Blighty. We put the fruit in our kitbags, which were stored in the holds.
Eventually, if one had occasion to go down into the holds, you were met by the awful
stench of rotting fruit. Nobody had told us that the fruit should have been picked
before it was ripe!

CHAPTER EIGHT

The journey home was through the Med. on a Scottish liner. We were one of a
convoy of ships escorted by warships. There were German destroyers in the Bay of
Biscay, so it was decided we should stop at Oran, on the North African coast. The
harbour consisted of two quays with thick sea walls to shelter from the sea. It was
now winter, but we were allowed to exercise on the quays for short periods. One day I
was on the quay when a huge wave swept over the wall and I was pushed into the sea,
along with other men, an AA gun and a jeep. I really thought my end had come, but,
even with all my clothes and overcoat on, I managed to swim to the surface and was
hauled up the side of the quay, which was about seven or eight feet high. My friend,
who could not swim, was in more trouble, but was eventually hauled out. Needless to
say, all shore exercise ended after that! Altogether, six men were drowned that day
and several vehicles lost. The rest of the journey was uneventful, but we were going
home and that was all that we wanted.

We landed on the Clyde in Scotland, where we disembarked. The first thing I did was
to try to phone home, but as I had no English money I made a reverse charge call to
the factory in London. They refused to take the call because they didn't know
anybody in Scotland! Persistent nagging of the operator was finally successful and I
was able at last to talk to Dad after two and a half years!

CHAPTER NINE

The regiment was first sent to Norfolk and then went on leave. Back in Thetford we
refitted and regrouped. The vehicles we were issued with were half-tracks, with
wheels in the front and tracks at the back.. They were very solid, made of steel and
had room for eight men, including the driver and NCO. This was to be our home for
the rest of the war and in it we did manoeuvres on the plains of Norfolk with the tanks
of our division Our job was not only to support the tanks but in some cases, such as
when we were in wooded country, to clear the way for them. In this period there
were several opportunities for leave, which were all taken eagerly, as you can imagine!
On one of these leaves I visited my old friend that I used to travel with on the train
from Bedford to London. It was Mrs. Shenkin who was still living in Bedford, near
Jean, who by now had married Sidney and was also living in Bedford. Even though I
knew her daughter, Sylvia, by now married to Eric, I was never told about another
daughter, Rose, and it wasn't until I was on demob leave in 1946 that I first met her on
Golders Green Underground station with her mother. But that's another story!

Eventually, in early summer 1944, we made our way to Brentwood, in Essex, and took
over the golf course to finalise the preparations for the Invasion. As the landing in
France was to be from the sea, our vehicles had to be waterproofed. The engines had
to be covered in a rubber solution so that all the electrics were protected. Also, the
exhaust, which is normally underneath, had to be brought out and up, so it stood like a
chimney above the vehicle. We took great care over these adaptations, because if they
failed whilst we were in the water we would be sitting targets. Hurried unofficial
leaves were taken as we were so near home and many a hedge gave us cover from
M.P. patrols. Our skirmishes in Italy had given us plenty of practise, but with a
different enemy!

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