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Some time in April 1943 the Eighth Army finally met the advance elements of the First Army, which had finally slogged their way from the 'Torch' landings.

There was a considerable cultural shock when the two armies came together The men of the First still looked like proper soldiers, with black boots and blancoed webbing, while our lot were in the last stages of disrepair. This was not because we preferred shabbiness, but simply because the overstrained supply system had, for months, been able to supply only the essentials for shooting, moving and eating. We were at the far end of a very long logistics chain.

The sartorial discrepancy was made wonderfully manifest very early one morning. I was roused by an agitated corporal who said, "These First Army bs are holding a stand-to". This was actually a 1914-18 measure to be ready for a dawn attack. (Our Germans used the whole 24 hours.)"You've to represent 'A' Troop". Half awake, I hauled on trousers, boots and extra-long greatcoat which had lined my slit trenches since Alamein, and made my way to the assembly point. To my horror, a line of exquisitely turned-out soldiers were awaiting my arrival, and looked at this down-and-out with silent derision. I tacked myself on to the end of the line - unshaven, hatless, long-coated and with boots long since scuffed white, cursing the corporal who had failed to warn me.

To my greater horror, a First Army officer, fresh from his batman's best endeavours, appeared and began to inspect the line from the other end, correcting the angle of a helmet here and the alignment of a rifle there. When he reached me, he obviously couldn't believe what he saw. While struggling to translate his outrage into words, a couple of my mates strolled by, looking like characters from the "Beggars' Opera". He gave up and walked away,probably wondering how such a bunch of scruffs had ever won a battle.

However, the relationship quickly improved, and it was the efforts of the combined armies - along with the Americans - which finally brought the Tunisian campaign to a successful conclusion.

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