大象传媒

We had taken Siddi Barrani.
Thirty thousand British Regular troops had ridden rough shod over Mussolini鈥檚 hundred and fifty thousand who were boasting they were going to sweep the British out of Egypt.
The Australians took over from us and pushed on to Bardia and we were, 鈥淚T鈥� to guard thousands of Italian POW at Sollum.
I was on Guard duty one night just outside of Solum, there was another bloke with me as at night the Guard was always doubled.
We were both bored and cold sitting in a stone enclosure called a Sanger and we could hear the sea
as the waves hit the beach.

The Sanger was a round enclosure, the best way to give the reader a mental picture would be to say it looked a lot like of stones put together as in dry walling, except in this case the stones formed what looked like a huge water well without the winder with rope and bucket.
It was about ten feet across and to get in one climbed onto a big stone used as a step and jumped down inside.
Once inside one was safe from any snipers that might want to do one a mischief.

Only when one stood on a stone on the inside was one able to observe the landscape out side that is on one side because on the other side it was a sea view.

However, we were there to observe and report and according to our Officer 鈥淭he Italian Gentlemen are unaware of our presence here so don鈥檛 fire at any aircraft and try not to show yourself, we don鈥檛 want to advertise our presence here.鈥�

That night the Italian Air Force came over and bombed the building we used as a Guardroom and now we had a flat Guardroom. Then one bright lad found a cave half way to the beach so we all moved into the cave and it was dandy because now the Italians bombed at night and we were tucked away under the cliff out of harm鈥檚 way.
At two in the morning I was again in the Sanger on watch with another bloke when I heard a droning in the distance and I held up my hand.
The other bloke said, 鈥� I hear it鈥�.

The noise stopped and the Jock with me said, 鈥淥ch, he鈥檚 awa hame ti his bed the noo an鈥� guid riddance, ah jist hope his missus hez goat a heedache the nicht鈥�
But then I remembered in the desert we used to hear planes at night, but because they were far away no one bothered and when the noise left us we assumed they were gone.
But the crafty devils were cutting their engines and gliding over us dropping fountain pens and such so when someone picked them up they would explode taking off the unfortunate blokes hand.

If it looked like a thermos flask that had got jolted out of one of our Officers P.U. trucks then it could lure some unsuspecting Jock to pick it up thinking it could be full of Johnny Walker Whisky and he would suddenly be very popular with his mates and try to get the top off and it would go off and could kill three or four blokes in a group.
I looked over the top of the wall and I could plainly see the plane in the moon light about half a mile away over the sea, and he was sowing mines in the sea.

I watched as he dropped mine after mine that I could not see in the light of the moon but I could see the stark white splash as they hit the black of the sea and I could hear the faint splash as the mine hit the water.
When I went off Guard I reported to the Officer who was strolling nonchalantly on the beach what I had seen and he said
鈥� Jolly good, very alert what! very well cut along and get some sleep鈥�.
I walked off the beach looking back and the Officer was walking along the beach whistling and he hadn鈥檛 a care in the world.

The next day a tug arrived from Alexandria with three dumb barges in tow (Dumb meaning no motors or sails and had to be towed)
The barges were towed just clear of the jetty which was crowded with Italian POW.
The POW were taken out to the barges by small boats, and finally when the three barges were full of POW accompanied by some of our blokes acting as Guards the whole lot started to move away into deeper water.
The tug towing three barges containing about three hundred and fifty unlucky people missed the nearest mine in the water.
But the first barge following the Tug struck the mine and the mine exploded.
As the now holed barge sank it dragged down the barge behind it and it in turn dragged down the remaining barge behind it.
The stunned blokes on the tug were too late cutting the rope and the tug joined the rest on the bottom of the sea as it was dragged stern first into the deep.

As I remember it no one came out of what should never had happened.
We had reported the mines were sown in the sea, what was the point in us standing on watch if what we reported was being ignored.
We spent the next few weeks dragging bodies from the sea and it was not a pleasant job because sea creatures had been feasting on them.
None the less we had to collect identity tags where possible and hand them in to the bloke who was sorting out the mess.
It was a good job when we moved and let someone else have a bash at a very messy job.

Having taken Siddi Barrani from the Italians, the powers that be decided we could have a rest at Sollum.
The Australians took over from us and continued on to Bardia which in due course they took from the Italians.
During the course of one evening we stood and watched the skyline in the direction of Bardia and watched fascinated by what looked like a terrible electrical storm.
But it was in fact our guns giving Bardia a hard time.
The Italians were having a bad time of it but they had more to come.
And they got it.
A lot made the desert their permanent home.
The cave by the way turned out to be a burial cave that we found out as soon as it was daylight, one wall had squares on it indicating the body was pushed in and the hole plastered over.
I did not think much about it then, but some of those bodies could have been there before Rome was built.
We only went in there when there was an air raid, we would spread a blanket on the floor and play cards while listening to the bombs going off on top of the cliff and around the jetty. The jetty never got hit.

Perhaps they thought they could use it if they got Solum back so they concentrated on the few buildings that were there.
About three in all that looked like mud toilets.
One day we were down the cliff to the sea and were having a swim when we noticed an all white ship with a big red cross on the side, 鈥� Bet that鈥檚 a hospital ship Fred 鈥渟aid one bloke, 鈥淪houldn鈥檛 wonder since it鈥檚 gor a big red cross on it鈥� replied Fred鈥�
Then God turned the ignition key in his brain because suddenly his face lit up and he blurted out, 鈥� I bet they got fags on there鈥� and he pointed to the ship.
鈥淵ea well, they allus do carry everyfing on a boat like that鈥� added the bloke, 鈥淭hey got to go a long way sometimes an it wouldn鈥檛 do to run out of supplies in the middle of the sea, naw wot ah meen?鈥� 鈥淵ea ah suppose鈥� agreed Fred.
Then he followed up with his thinking, 鈥淗ow about if we get our raft and paddle out to the boat and tell em we ain鈥檛 got no fags鈥�?
鈥淚 recon they would frow us a box o鈥� fags if we tells em we is desperit fer a smoke鈥�.
鈥� Hey that鈥檚 not a bad idea Fred鈥� and Fred beamed and untied the raft that was a triangle of planks with an oil drum at the three points and two planks through the middle.
Because there were no Civilians at Solum and because of interruptions by bombing things were a bit slack.

Maybe relaxed would be a better word, so when we went for a dip in the sea we wore nothing at all and Soldiers all have the same equipment so down by the sea we enjoyed the complete freedom of nature.
But the two lads paddling like Hiawather and his mate did not realise until they were close to the ship that they were in the nutty and there were about twenty giggling young Nurses lining the rail and they were pointing and laughing and some had binoculars and were almost hysterical.
We saw the humour of the situation and had a laugh as our heroes suddenly jumped into the water and franticly swimming pushed the raft back the way they had come toward us and as they clambered up on to the warm rocks of the beach,
Fred muttered, 鈥淭hey can stuff their bloody fags鈥�
Then we were sent to Alexandria docks to board HMS Glenroy a destroyer bound for Crete.
2982252 Pte Barker T.O. 1st Bn Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders.

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