The memoirs of Alec James Barthorpe

As written by him before he died

In loving memory of Dad
Submitted by Mary Edwards

Introduction

My Grandfather SAMUEL JOHN had an elder brother, FREDERICK, who had a very successful career in the bank and retired as Chief General Manager of the Westminster Bank. He had also been made a Sheriff of the County of London and Knighted Sir FREDERICK BARTHORPE for his services. He,thus, earned the BARTHORPE Coat of Arms, which we still display today

CASHMAN : My grandfather WILLIAM ALOYSIUS was born in Cork, Ireland, in about the 1860's and married BEATRICE ANN (formerly ROLLINGE), a woman who had been married twice before and had lost both husbands. She had had 2 daughters,[one by each husband] called LUCY and BEATRICE, who were my Mother's step-sisters. They had two children in this marriage, my Mother GWENDOLINE WINIFRED and JAMES her younger brother, who in turn had a son PATRICK, our only male cousin, who now resides in Henfield, Sussex, near Brighton.

My Early Life
1921 - 1928

My Dad, EDWIN JOHN BARTHORPE, was born in Dulwich, London, on the 24th July 1892. On completion of his scholastic career, during which he learned conversational French, he joined the LONDON COUNTY, WESTMINSTER and PARR's BANK Ltd. in London, later becoming THE WESTMINSTER BANK Ltd. He met my mother, GWENDOLYN CASHMAN, born in Swansea, South Wales, on 31st August 1893. At that time her father, WILLIAM CASHMAN, was employed as the Senior Civil Engineer on the Great Western Railway supervising the construction of the railway line from Paddington Station to Fishguard, on the South Wales west coast, for the re-establishment of a regular ferry service to Rosslaer in Ireland, and he was based in Swansea. Dad and Mum were married in the CHURCH OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS in Hampstead, LONDON, on the 11th of May 1918. They had four children, PHILLIS MARY, born in Manchester on 21st March 1919, ALEC JAMES, born in Paris, on 15th January 1921, ELIZABETH FRANCES, born in Marseille on 3rd January 1925 and Monica May, born in Brussels, on 17th of MAY 1931.

During 1920 my father was transferred to the Westminster Bank branch in Paris. He had applied for transfer to the Foreign Branch of the bank on the advice of his father, who maintained that this recently formed branch offered a much better chance of advancement in the bank. He was right of course, because I was born at 16 Av. FELIX FAURE, on 15TH January 1921, and as a result of my arrival Dad was transferred as Sub-Manager to the Marseille Branch, the youngest sub-manager in the Bank at that time.

Dad remained in this Branch until 1928, and during that time we first lived in a lovely house, slightly inland from the "CORNISHE", which was the coastal road, and called 'VILLA ROSE'. It had a small garden in front with a garden path covered with pebbles or stones, about the size of golf balls,leading to the front gate which was kept closed but not locked. My form of exercise, when I was old enough to crawl, was to negotiate the pebbles to the front gate,then lean with my back against the gate and chew away on the pebbles. This form of exercise was usually performed in the afternoon, so that when Dad arrived home he was forced to call Mum all the way from the house to open the gate as I would not move.

We lived in this house for abour two years or so and during that time Dad bought our first motor car, a FORD MODEL 'T'. All told Dad had 3 Model 'T', the last one being the car that took our whole family from Marseille to Brussels in Belgium.

In about 1923 we moved to the coast,near the sea,into a lovely villa type house called 'VILLA BAGATELLE'. It was a beautiful house with a large glass fronted varandah overlooking the sea, and a concrete outside staircase on one side leading down from the varandah to the front garden alongside the front gate. I loved this house as it was built a short distance from the water on the rocks overlooking the sea and alongside a restaurant, about 50 metres away, also built on the rocks but over the sea. At that point the sea was well over 5 metres deep so one had to be able to swim to dive in for a dip. That was where PHYL,my sister, and I learned to swim. Our instructor was Dad with the help of a belt of corks which we had under our arm pits. Neither of us was scared of the water so it was not long before we were both swimming around like a couple of fishes, but only when Dad was with us in the water 'just in case'! The only way to get into the water was to dive or jump. I started my 'belly flops' from the lowest rock with my feet just in the water. I then graduated to Mom's, which was about the height of the side of a normal swimming pool and finally to Dad's which was about the height of the lowest pool board. At week-ends, especially just before lunch, a crowd would gather on the varandah of the restaurant for their aperitif before lunch, so it was at this time that I used to swim and when I judged the crowd to be large enough, I climbed to Dad's diving rock and when I had stood long enough to attract their attention, I would dive off much to the approval and adulation of the watching crowd. If the applause was loud and long enough - I'd repeat the dive !

It was about this time that I complained to my mother about severe stomach pains and to cut a long story short, she ended up by having me examined by a Doctor. After his examination he, in turn, called the specialist, who confirmed appendicitis, and my parents were advised to allow the specialist to operate as soon as possible in case the appendix burst. In those days many children died from burst appendices as they had not reached the safety standards of today. The specialist must have visited me at our house overlooking the sea, because he was working at the main hospital in the center of town, which was very smoggy, and suggested to my parents that the varandah at our house was a much healthier place to perform the operation, than the hospital, as the air was so much cleaner. At that time my mother had moved me, bed and all, on to the varandah from my bedroom so I had a lovely clear view of the rocks and the sea all day. The specialist stated he would arrange everything with the hospital and the operating table and all instruments would be brought to the house. Furthermore as this Hospital was a teaching hospital, he requested my parents permission to bring some students with him to watch the operation when it took place. In other words the varandah would be turned into the operating theatre for part of one day. I only got to know about all these arrangements much later in life of course, but at the time all I saw one morning was a number of young men suddenly arrive at the front door of the house carrying a large square of wood, like a table top, and some supports. I was only four and a half years old at the time, so I do not remember much about what happened after that, but one thing I do remember most clearly was, I suddenly woke up feeling drowsy and seeing several men around me in white overalls looking down at my tummy. I must have moved then for there was a gruff shout and somebody put his hand over my mouth. The next thing I remember was waking up in bed with my Dad and Mum alongside me. Dad told me much later that I had woken during the operation, which he had watched, due to the fact that the anaesthetist, a student, was so intent in watching the operation performed by the specialist, that his hand holding the pad saturated with ether had slipped down from my nose and I had come awake. The specialist shouted at him and he instinctively covered my nose and mouth with the pad and out I went. Needless to say the operation was a success, I recovered but had to wear a truss for some weeks afterwards.

The main event which had taken place in Marseille was the birth of my second sister Elizabeth Frances on 3rd January 1925. The only thing of note that happened to her when she was still at the crawling stage, was the time my Mother took her with Phyl to visit the Catholic Cathedral(or Basilica) built on top of a hill rising about 500 feet above sea level in the centre of the city. Concrete steps, with very sharp edges, led right up from street level to the main entrance gate. When Mum stopped for a short rest Betty appeared to be quite safe. She took her eyes off her for a second or two to check on Phyl when she heard a slight thud and then Betty screamed. Betty had slipped on the step, had cut herself above the right eye on the sharp edge, and was bleeding profusely. Mum and the children were rushed to the Hospital where Betty received about 6 stitches resulting in a lovely scar above the eye, of which she is still very proud today.

When I had recovered from the appendix operation I found out from my sister,Phyl, that she had started to go to what she called 'school'. This intrigued me because Phyl and I had always done things together and now she was doing something without me. This was wrong so I complained to my mother who told me that I was too young so I would have to stay at home whilst Phyl attended this 'school'. I put up with this situation for a time, but enough was enough, and some jealousy and envy crept in and once again I argued with my Dad and Mum that I wanted to go with my sister Phyl to this 'school' which she told me she was enjoying so much. Eventually my persistence won and Mum and Dad agreed that, despite the fact that I was not required to attend 'kindergarten' school for another year, I could go with Phyl to 'school'. I was happy - I had got my way and beaten Dad and Mum. After about two or three weeks of this school nonsense, I had had enough and now I wanted to go back home and play with my own toys - this was not what my sister had cracked it up to be. Now came the shock. My Dad calmly informed me that it was impossible for me to leave school and I would have to remain until next year when I was due to attend anyway. I served my sentence, much to my disgust.

That is about as much as I remember of my early days spent in Marseille. However I do know that Dad and Mum were very keen sightseeing travellers [for want of a better name] and travelled extensively by road all over the south of France seeing all the places they had read or heard about. The roads in those days were in parts very rough and mostly gravelled, as very few of them had been tarmacked - tarmacking was in it's infancy, but despite this the Ford Model 'T' came through trumps. I know that we went to Biarrits on the French Atlantic west coast, and whilst there we nipped over the Spanish border to San Sebastian for the day. I am also quite certain that we also visited Lourdes, but whether on this trip or another I am unable to say. We also visited Arles and Aix-en-Provence north of Marseille where there are numerous old Roman ruins. Arles has a particularly beautiful and well preserved amphitheatre, which I can remember visiting because Dad and I climbed to the top of the rows of seats looking down in the centre ring, where my Mother and Granny Barthorpe were talking to each other, and Dad and I could hear every word as the accoustics were so wonderful.

Nearer home not far from town, about 50 or so kilometres away, was a little village called Cassis where a Col. Teed and his wife lived, he was ex-Indian Army[Retd.] and had a small vineyard where he made his own wine. My mother was very innocent for her age, and it was quite some time before she discovered that Col. Teed and his 'wife' were not married but just living together. Mum was disgusted !

We also made several trips over the years along the Mediterranean Coast to Nice, where Dad had his favourite hotel where we always stayed, Monte Carlo, Juan- les- Pain, which was only a little village in those days, Cannes, Antibes, and St Tropez just becoming known. I only wish I could remember more of these wonderful trips we undertook as a family.

My scholastic life
1928-1937

Sometime during 1928 Dad was promoted to Sub-Manager of the Brussels Branch of the Bank, which was larger than Marseille, and second only to Paris, the largest. The whole family travelled up by car from Marseille, but once again I remember very little about the journey, except that we had no mechanical trouble and the Model 'T'gave us no problems.

One of the rules in the Foreign Branch of the Bank in those days, was that each Branch had 1 Manager and 2 sub-Managers, of these 1 had to be English and 1 had to be from the country we were in, in this case Belgium. The 3rd could be either English or Local. In this Branch, when Dad arrived, the Manager was Mons. DENEF, a Belgian, the sub-Managers were Dad and another Englishman called Mr.JOHNSTON and was known as Johnny. He was about 6 ft 3ins. tall, and was in the Royal Tank Corps during W.W.1. Dad and he became firm friends so we got to know the family quite well as we often visited each other. At that time there were many people residing in Brussels of British origin, some had not returned home after the end of W.W.1, married local girls and settled down, Johnny was one of these, his wife was Belgian; others were working for British firms that had opened up branches in Belgium, and they had moved there with their families, but whatever the reason, they formed a good proportion of the Britishers living in Brussels under the supervision of the British Embassy. With the full knowledge and approval of the British Ambassador, they had formed a Club to which, all persons of British decent, and their families, were eligible for membership. Naturally our family became members and attended many forms of entertainment laid on at the Club by the members. It was only after a few years that I discovered that both my Dad and Mum, especially Mum, had taken part in amateur dramatics long before they had even met, which explains the reason for some of us always being on stage, and for often taking leading parts in most of the entertainment put on in the Club, usually plays and sketches, mainly over ther Christmas Period.

If ever any children were required in a play, Phyl and I always appeared, apart from the occasions when she and I did a sketch on our own. I can only remember 1 play in which we appeared with other children, it was'DADDY LONG LEGS', and Mum took the female lead. It was well received and enjoyed by all. I well remember a sketch in which Phyl and I appeared and were required to do a little dance, and I let the side down badly. The sketch we were doing was to the song 'TEA FOR TWO' and my Mother was singing the song. We had rehearsed this scene many times amd on each occasion when Mum reached the words '...picture you upon my knee...' I was required to kneel on my left knee and bend my right knee, as I had the audience on my left side, so that Phyl could sit on it as part of her dance routine, and face the audience.

I did this at every rehearsal but, on the afternoon of the performance, I found to my horror that I had bent the wrong knee, and this was not as had been rehearsed, so I changed knees. Unfortunatly for Phyl, she was just about to sit down on it, and was looking at the audience as she had been taught to do, but the knee was missing. She went crashing to the floor on her bum, to the great amusement and laughter of the audience, gave me a hell of a look and calmly got up, sat on the correct knee[now in place] and carried on with her dance ! I was told my fortune backstage.

But I digress, so back to the script. Arriving in Brussels we moved into a large house on the Chaussee de Waterloo, some distance from Town, on the road to WATERLOO, the site of the battle in which the allied armies of Britain, under Wellington, and Prussia, under Blucher, defeated Napoleon and led to his capture and exile to the island of St Helena. This was a large house of 5 bedrooms and a garage, as well as a large lounge, which was situated at the front of the house over the garage and overlooking the main road. The rear of the lounge led into the hall, and accross the hall down a few steps were the kitchen and the dining room which had a lovely french door leading on to the back garden. Upstairs there were five bedrooms on 3 floors as well as the communal bathroom and separate toilet. I loved this house, it was so large and roomy. Believe it or not it was named "RUDI et GEORGETTE". !

PHYL and I now had to go back to school, so she was enrolled the at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and I was sent to the De La Salle College close by but much nearer town,in fact they were within walking distance of each other. Mum could not drive so Dad used to drop us at school in the morning by car, and Mum collected us in the evening using the tram. The tram from town was very frequent and went all the way to Waterloo some 15 Kms from town along the main road past the front of our house. There were several other children from our schools who also travelled with us on the tram so we kids had fun on the way. It was about this time that we received the sad news of the death of Grandpa CASHMAN, Mum left almost immediatly for England, and Dad stayed behind to look after us. When Mum returned she brought with her a Pekingese puppy, a bitch only about 6 weeks or so old. She was called'SCAMP' and had a lovely temperament, especially with children. She remained with us for years until she died in quarantine on our return to England in 1935.

The local Parish Church was nearby and one of the activities run by the older boys of the Parish with the blessing of the Parish Priest was Scouts. Two brothers, who were Rover Scouts themselves, had started this troup which became officially part of the local Scout movement of that Region, to keep the younger boys of the parish off the streets especially at week-ends. Due to the age of the boys concerned, they were too young to be scouts, so they became Wolf Cubs. I asked Dad and Mum if I could join and they readily agreed, so I became a Wolf Cub. We had meetings once a week in the Hall behind the Church each wednesday. I loved it as most Sundays we went away for the day spending our time learning about the Scout movement and our duties as Cubs and Scouts, sometimes having a game of football or a long walk before coming home tired, hungry, despite the food we had consumed at our picnic lunch, but happy. Most years, during the summer, we all went camping under canvas in the sandy dunes of the Belgian coast for about two weeks. We all looked forward to this holiday as there was always plenty to do, escpecially as during W.W.1 the Germans had built numerous concrete shelters and dugouts all along the coast, which now became our playground. I remember at one camp Mum had bought some tooth paste for me called Gibbs in a small round metal container with a press-on top. Unfortunatly due to the sand and light rain we had had I found that on about the third day I could not remove the top, it was stuck with the sand. A couple of my friends tried unsuccessfully so I gave up and did not use tooth paste on my teeth. Mum nearly had a fit the first time I smiled on my return home, grabbed me, and using a cloth and plenty of vim she vimmed my teeth clean. I got the message.

It was shortly after Mum returned from England, after the funeral of Grandpa CASHMAN, that Dad decided to move closer to the town and to the schools, so we moved into a 3 storied house at 27 Rue du Tabellion, situated in rear of the Convent grounds, and not far from the College, in fact both schools were within comfortable walking distance.

Dad and Mum were still keen on seeing as much of the country as they possibly could, whilst they could, so we did quite a bit of motoring around. Depending on the time of year we either went to the Ardennes or to the coast, both had their own particular attractions. Soon after our arrival in Brussels, Dad changed the Model 'T' for a Peugeot sedan, with only two doors but very comfortable and it took us on several long trips. I loved going down to the hilly and wooded country on the border of Germany and Luxembourg which was the Ardennes, the scene of the last big German offensive against the American lines in the winter of 1944/45, and breaking through, but was halted by the British and American armies rapidly moving troops east and west so as to close the large gap left wide open by the retreating Americans. However it was a much happier and more beautiful scene when we visited the area. The forests are so vast and thick, and there are lovely walks, marked out with different signs for you to follow, usually painted on the trees at intervals and varying in shape and colour depending on the distance you want to cover. We did a lot of walking which we all enjoyed. When Mona made her appearance Mum managed to find a 'baby' carrier, made of canvas but with two wooden handles, one on either side, so that two persons could safely carry the child between them as the child was held in by a canvas strip accross the front, which had two openings for the legs. Mona appeared to love every moment of the walks on which she was carried.

Despite the lovely times we enjoyed in the forests and mountains of the Ardennes, at the age I was then, my favourite holiday was always by the sea. Dad used to try and spend holidays at different places each time we went, so as a result, we saw most of the Belgian coast, which is not that wide, between La PANNE to the south and KNOCKKE to the north. I remember on one of these holidays, I think it was at Westende, our cousin Pat, Uncle Jim's son, came with us. Pat did not speak or understand french, so Dad asked me, when playing on the beach one day, to keep my eye on him whilst he and Mum slipped into town. I went on playing and was suddenly aware of a commotion and shouting taking place behind me. I looked up and saw Pat chasing a couple of belgian boys, waving his spade around his head and threatening to knock their heads off. I caught up with him and demanded to know what the hell he thought he was doing. He replied 'THOSE DAMN FOOLS CAN'T UNDERSTAND ENGLISH'!

. Swimming on the Belgian coast is a pleasure as the sea is shallow for a long distance out, and the sand goes for miles shelving very gently, but the water can be cold at times, so swimming is very safe. Even in those days ethnic violence reared it's ugly head about once per year, and normally somewhere along the coast. The Police Riot Squad, called the GENDARMERIE, which in those days was mounted on horseback with extra long truncheons, would try to anticipate where the annual fight would take place, between the Walloons (french speaking) and the Flemings(flemish speaking). This year,however, they were fooled completely, as the combatants gave out that it would take place at Westende, so the Riot Squad assembled there - but the fight took place at Oosdenkerk, where the local hospital attended to 46 casualties !

School life in Brussels in those days was very ordinary, the only, real change was that Phyl and I walked to school and back as our house was so near. I revelled in the walks we used to take when we took Mona out in the pram and took Scamp for an airing. I loved wheeling the pram as I had learnt how to imitate the sound of motor car's hooter or claxon, which was very popular at that time. I used to pretend that the pram was my car, and the pavement was the road I was driving along. I remember on one occasion I was doing just this and approached the end of the pavement at the intersection, so I sounded my claxon so loudly that a car approaching the intersction from my left, hit his brakes hard and stopped dead the driver, no doubt, thinking he was about to collide. However when he saw that the road was empty apart from me and the pram on the pavement, he grinned sheepishly and drove on. I received a severe reprimand from Mum.

Eventually Dad exchanged the 2 door Peugeot for a normal 4 door sedan, also a Peugeot, and we had lots of mileage and fun with that one. Much about the same time as we got the new car, we moved into another house on the Rue Americaine, which was very similar to the house we already lived in, so I could see no reason for this move as it was about 500 yds further away from my school. About a year or so before we left Belgium to return to England, Dad managed to get hold of a Chevrolet sedan, 1932 model, very low mileage, and immaculate condition, through the Chevrolet agent whom he had got to know quite well, and that was the last car we owned in Belgium. It was also the best one we had ever owned and Dad loved driving it and us around. I firmly believe, to show off-the car not us ! Now you know where I got it from !

In the beginning of 1932, Dad and Mum decided that Phyl and I should leave school in Belgium, and start at schools in England, as boarders, as we were both fluent in French but not in English, which was our mother tongue. After exhaustive enquiries, in which Granny and Grandpa Barthorpe, were of great help to him, Dad got Phyl into a Convent in south London. Meanwhile Grandpa had found out that a form Master at Xaverian College, Clapham, south London, where Dad had once been a pupil, was now the Headmaster of Xaverian College, Mayfield, in Sussex, and Dad knew him very well. He was Rev.Bro.THOMAS, of the Order of St FRANCIS XAVIER, a well educated,a disciplinarian as well as an excellent teacher, who would also help and assist any of the boys if this was required - but don't try lying or bulldusting him or you would regret it as he did all the caning. To cut a long story short, in September 1932 Phyl and I left Belgium to start our scholastic life in England. The journey took all day leaving Brussels by train to Ostend, to catch the cross channel steamer to Dover and the boat train to London. On this very first occasion Dad came with us as we had items of school uniform, etc. to buy before going to school. After this Phyl and I used to do the journey to School and back to Belgium on our own, as the terms and holidays always coincided, and Granny and Grandpa's house at Streatham Hill became our arrival and departure point and they were always there at Victoria station to meet us or wave goodbye. The first days at a new school are always the hardest, but for Phyl and me it was infinitly worse as we had come from an entirely French speaking and teaching atmosphere into a British one, and we both spoke English with a marked French accent, which did not help at all.

Xaverian College: Mayfield Sussex
1932 - 1937

The College was situated in the country on the Weald of North Sussex, the building itself being on the crest of the highest rise in the area, about 2 miles from the village of MAYFIELD, Sussex, and 5 miles from the town of TUNBRIDGE WELLS,in Kent. The college grounds were extensive and I would estimate the area occupied to be about 50 acres plus, all of it being in front of the school. The rear of the building overlooked the school yard, which was tarmacked and walled, with the toilets on the far side, beyond which was the main gate and the road. To enter the college the drive led from the main gate past the gates on the east side of the yard, then past the rear of the Chapel to the beautifully kept front garden full of lovely flower beds which, during the time I was there, were always full of different coloured flowers. The front drive was pebbled and ran around the garden, and was where the visitors parked their cars. The main entrance to the College was roughly at the center of the garden which ran the lengh of the school building.

I had never left home for any lengh of time before, so life at first was hard, when I realised that there was the English Channel between me and my home, so no visiting either way for the whole term. We had three terms per year, so on occasions the term could be a long one. However, once I had settled down, I enjoyed the time I spent there. The first year was the worst, because as I spoke english with a french accent the boys looked upon me as a foreigner, and therefore looked down on me as an inferior boy. All poms are arrogant snobs at heart including schoolboys. However when I started retaliating, pointing out that I was just as British as they, my parents were just as British as theirs and I had no control as to my place of birth, I was soon being treated as one of them. From that time onwards I had no more problems.

I was very fortunate in getting an excellent teacher for my first year at Mayfield in Form 2, Bro BEDE. For some unknown reason he took me under his wing, and I think that Bro. THOMAS (or TOMMY, as the boys called him behind his back) must have had a word in his ear about me, because I noticed after a time that he always talked to the class standing near my desk which was in the front row. His method was to make us repeat everything parrot fashion, in unison, and kept us together by thumping the desk(usually mine) with the palm of his hand. Whether good or bad it was damned effective and saved me a year. I had never heard of weights and measures in drams, oz. lbs, stones, quarters and hundredweights before; lenghs in ins. feet, yards, perch or chains, were double dutch to me. But I can assure you, by the time I left (BASHA) BEDE to go to Form 3, I not only knew them all, but I was in the top six in the class when it came to mathematics. In the classroom all the boys get to know each other and friendships are formed, but only one or two in the class become your mates. In our class was a boy called Brian NOLAN-NEYLAN,who had three other brothers also at the school, Brian was the youngest. Little did I know that I would come up against him in very different circumstances much later in life. Brian was one of the class and therefore a friend but we were not great buddies. I eventually teamed up with a boy from the north of England called John MULHOLLAND, who was an only child and hailed from Billingham-on-Tees in Durham, we became great friends and stuck together for the five years I was there. Brian and Johnny were totally different. Brian was a rebel by nature, and whilst he was there I think he must have broken every regulation in the school, and of course was caught on numerous occasions and punished, usually the cane from Bro. Thomas. He was very friendly with 2 or 3 other rebels and they were always together and always getting into mischief. Funnily enough it was usually Brian who got caught the others seemed to bear charmed lives and only got caught occasionally. One of Brian's cronies was a boy called REG DENEHEY, whom I never really trusted, and I can not help but feel that he was the one who urged and egged Brian on by daring him to carry out these misdemeanours, and then fading out fast when danger loomed, leaving Brian to face the music and suffer the punishment. To the end of his stay at Mayfield, Brian was always protesting his innocence, stating that it was because TOMMY loved his bum that he received so much punishment (talk about a whinging pom !).

The College was divided into four Houses : CAMPION, FISHER, MOORE and PLUNKETT, I was in FISHER, Brian in MOORE and Johnny in PLUNKETT. The refectory was divided into 4, with a long table in each corner and a smaller table attached at the center of each of these for the four Committee members. The lay teachers sat at a table down the centre of the refectory and one Brother was there on duty, the remaining Brothers ate in their own common room. All new boys sat at the bottom of the tables and worked their way up each year towards the committee table, as they gained seniority through lengh of service. The house Captain, appointed each year by the Headmaster, was responsible for the behaviour and discipline of the members of his house in the refectory, and thumped any boy who violated this code of manners at table.

The College was very sports minded, and all members were required to take part, only a doctor's certificate could prevent this. In summer we had cricket and swimming, in winter we had soccer(for the very young boys only) and rugby union (or rugger as it was known then)for us seniors. Boxing and shooting (.22 rifles only) was an all year round sport carried out on a voluntary basis, I took part in all of these, and enjoyed a fair measure of success with most of them. Athletics and runnin were also compulsory, but I was never any good at those except the 100 yds. sprint.

Every pupil was automatically a member of the School Cadet Corps, which formed part of the Cinque Ports Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment, and again only a certificate from a Doctor would excuse you. The parades took place every Saturday afternoon and, if I remember correctly, even Brian had to take part despite his objections ! I soon grew tired of this endless marching and rifle drill so I accepted the offer from the Bandmaster to be the Big Drummer in the school band. After a while I became the Drum Major in charge of the band under the Bandmaster, who was an ex-regular Army Bandsman.

I always enjoyed the sport, especially rugby which was my favourite. In Form 4 I was made Captain of the'Under 14' team, playing the local schools at Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Maidstone. Plying away was always fun as all schools played a hard game on the field and then stood the visiting team lovely 'tea and cakes' after the match In Form 5 I was prmoted to the 1st Team and finally in Form 6 to the 'A' Team as well.

When I finally left Mayfield in July 1937, I was House Captain of Fisher House, I had been awarded my coloura at rugby and was scrum leader and also vice-Captain of the College 1st Team and also the College 'A' team, our strongest with 8 schoolboys and 7 Brothers playing. Our main match was always the annual match against the Old Boys team. Dad presented a Swimming Cup to the College and Fisher House won it in a Inter-House relay race.

Looking back I did enjoy my last years at Mayfield and was well satisfied with my achievements, both academically as well as sporting, and with the knowledge that I had not let Dad and Mum down. I shall never forget Dad racing up the stairs to my room shouting he had received the result of my final examinations and showing me a note from our Headmaster, detailing my results and "CONGRATULATIONS AND 1st.PLACE" " Bro.THOMAS." I never saw Dad more excited.

Westminster Bank Service
1938 to 1939

After leaving Mayfield, in July 1937, having passed the School Certificate Examination and obtained my exemption from the Matriculation Examination (University Entrance Examination) by obtaining high pass marks in certain specified and failing subjects, I enjoyed a few months leave before starting my career in the Westminster Bank Ltd., Castle Square Branch, Brighton, on 1st January 1938, as they would not accept me prior to my eighteenth birthday.

It did not take me long to get into the work at the bank, which was quite easy, for after all, the Junior Clerk in a bank is the lowest thing that crawls, and you are virtually at the beck and call of everybody from the manager downwards, all that was left after you was the dog to kick! Every day, at 11 am and 2 pm, all the Junior Clerks from the various banks in our immediate vacinity, met to exchange the cheques, drawn by the other banks on their own particular branch. The meeting was quite brief, and took place at each branch in turn, for a week at a time. I was always the first to arrive at our bank in the morning as I held the second key to the front door and no one could enter until I arrived. The Chief Clerk held the main key which opened the door, and I held the locking key which, when turned, allowed the main key to unlock the door. I was also the last to leave in order that the front door was secure for the night.

It had always been Dad's ambition for he and I to work together in the bank, but not at the same branch, so you can imagine his pleasure when I was accepted, and his looking forward to my starting on 1st January. Tragically this was not to be as Dad had a heart attack just before the New Year and was confined to bed, where he remained until his death on 5th June 1938. I had been forwarned of his death by Mum a couple of months before, when, on arriving back home from work one evening, I met Mum weeping on the stairs. She told me then about Dad's weak heart, and when they married in 1918 she knew that Dad could die at any time, so she considered herself very fortunate that she had been blessed with a happy marriage of 20 years, furthermore she told me that she knew then that Dad would never leave his bed alive. After Dad died Mum moved to Brighton where we lived at 345 Ditchling Rd. until the beginning of W.W.2, when I was in the Sussex Yeomanry on war service.

I remember one amusing incident which occurred at that house during the very early part of the war : The Battery I had joined was posted to the County Cricket Ground, in Hove, to do our training, as no army personnel under 19 yrs of age was allowed to go to France with the B.E.F. so I went home at week-ends unless I was on duty. One Sunday I got home and Mum asked me to light the fire in the lounge, as it was a cold windy day. I closed the door and tried to light a match, but the draught up the chimney blew it out each time. After I had wasted about 4 or 5 matches I said out loud to myself "F****" the fire. A little voice behind me said "ALEC, WHAT DOES THE WORD F**** MEAN ? " Mona, aged 8, had quietly come into the lounge without my having heard her.!!

Just prior to starting work I went along to the Brighton and Hove Rugby Football Club and applied to join. They agreed and after completion of the application form, they put me in to the second team to test my standard of play but for some reason or another the match was cancelled. The following week I found myself in the first team, as they were one player short and I was the only local member available. I must have impressed because after that I turned out regularly for the first team, either as a flank forward, or full back when the regular full back was not available. I thoroughly enjoyed my playing days with B&H R.F.C. as their Home ground was at Preston Park, just down the road from our house, and their changing rooms were at the rear of the Local pub. Mum found after I had left on war service that the house was too large, and furthermore the owner put the rent up, so she found a smaller Municipal house at 5 Cumberland Rd. just around the corner from Preston Park and on the bus route.

About six months after Dad died, a few of my bank friends and I decided that as war clouds were gathering, it was now early January 1939, that we should all join the same unit so as to be together if hostilities did finally break out. After a long discussion and much thought we all decided to join the local Artillery Unit, the Sussex Yeomanry, at the Drill Hall in Brighton, so all 5 of us trooped down and signed up in the Territorial Army. We had to attend a 14 day Camp in July/Aug and so most of us never returned from Camp until 1946, which made it a bloody long camp ! During this waiting period, from signing up to start of Camp, we attended many lectures and instructions at the Drill Hall in the evenings as well as some field exercises on occasional week-ends, on the South Downs.

The war years
1939 to 1946

War was officially declared at 11 am and 3rd September 1939 and on that day, and at that time Teddy and Peter Hicks and I were sitting with Mr. HICKS, their Father, in their house indulging in our favourite pastime-drinking beer ! Peter, Teddy and I had a week-end pass from the Drill Hall, so Mr.Hicks had invited us around to have a beer and listen to the Prime Minister's important announcement. Within a few minutes of the end of the announcement, the Air Raid siren sounded, but we all decided that it was just as safe staying where we were as going outside, so we carried on drinking beer. We were 3 of the 5 who had signed up in the Territorial Army to be together if hostilities broke out. On our return to the Drill Hall, we were informed that the Regiment was being formed and our Battery was being integrated with the Surrey Yeomanry, so that we would become the SURREY AND SUSSEX YEOMANRY, then the Regiment was off to France with the B.E.F., and would be equipped with all the available guns limbers and transport we possessed at the Drill Hall and further equipment would be issued to us in due course. We would also be moving into the Hove County Cricket Ground immediatly, where all this equipment would be assembled. All ranks were billetted in private houses in the vacinity of the ground and days full of activity passed quickly assembling all the equipment and transport for the newly formed Regiment. Then out of the blue, came the bombshell for me. No soldier under 19 yrs of age would be allowed to go to France with the B.E.F., but would remain behind to form our second battery. I did everything I could think of To get back to the unit, I even volunteered as a batman - but all to no avail, so when the Battery moved off I stayed behind and helped to form and train men for : 389th Battery,of the 144th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (Surrey and Sussex Yeomanry).

By the end of September our First Line Battery had moved out to an assembly camp and was on it's way to France. The handful of us who stayed behind cleaned up the County Ground and prepared it for our reinforcements of National Servicemen to arrive for training. We were coming into winter now and the days were getting colder, snow started falling in November of 1939 which made our guard duties on the main gate most unpleasant. However by then the National Servicemen had arrived and training had started in earnest. I was a driver, and I was most surprised at the number of men who were unable to drive and were much older than me. I thus became a Driving Instructor with 3 other men who had been with me at the Drill Hall. Between the 4 of us we taught the new recruits how to drive as well as how to tow a limber and gun in safety. We were a field artillery unit and were to be equipped with the new 25 pdr. gun/how, so drivers would be driving a large Quad, behind which would be an ammunition limber and then a 25pdr. gun so the man had to be competent driver in any terrain. Eventually the day finally arrived when we had to collect our equipment from the main Ordnance Depot. Quads, limbers, guns light and heavy trucks, etc.,etc., and the Regiment itself was moved to a larger camp area at DURSLEY in Gloucestershire, to undergo a period of intensive training with our new equipment especially our guns. It also included a trip to Okehampton in Devon, which was the Artillery firing range, to calibrate all the guns as well as getting practice in firing them. At the time, there were only 2 Regiments in the Army equipped with new 25 Pdr.guns,the Kent Yeomanry and ourselves, so both units had to become operational as soon as possible.

We had virtually completed our training when the B.E.F. became embroiled in the Dunkirk retreat and were forced to evacuate the mainland of Europe in a hurry. At that time we had just received orders to prepareto embark for France and had started greasing the guns and ammunition for embarkation at Southampton. This was cancelled immediatly and the order countermanded, we now had to clean the guns ready for action and ready to move on 2 hrs notice In addition we were instructed to prepare to receive a large number of evacuated soldiers from France, take possession of any arms they had brought with them, feed them and issue them with new uniforms if necessary. These were busy days for us, but eventually the flood of soldiers ended, as they were posted off by the Army and our Regiment was moved into tented accommodation near AYLESBURY, between London and Southampton. As we were now considered to be fully equipped and trained, and were still on 2 hrs notice, we were on stand-by in case of any German invasion attempt along the South Coast, between Southampton and Eastbourne, the Kent Yeomanry had the same role as us from Eastbourne to the mouth of the Thames.

This position lasted for the rest of the summer and through the Battle of Britain until October 1940, when we were stood down and told that we would be granted 48hrs embarcation leave, prior to our departure for overseas service. I phoned Mum and arranged to meet her in Southampton for the day, as the time allowed was so short. I met her train and we spent a lovely day together, before seeing her off in late afternoon for her return trip to Brighton. Little did I know that I was not to see Mum, or any of the family, for the next four and a half years.

The Regiment left by road for embarkation at Liverpool and we were encamped under canvas on Aintree Racecourse. We were advised that a convoy was being assembled, and we would be joining it as soon as a converted passenger ship became available for us. A short while before the convoy was due to sail the 'Royal Mail Line' ship "HIGHLAND BRIGADE", an old coal burning ship, arrived from South America with a load of export meat both frozen and tinned, for the British market. This ship was immediatly commandeered by the Army for us, but due to the shortage of time we were ordered to assist in the unloading of this ship, before the loading of our own arms and equipment as well as men and material could be carried out. So each day after that we were all loaded into trucks and taken down to the docks where we assisted the dockers in their work, for which, as a result of numerous air raids on Liverpool and Birkenhead docks, they were receiving danger pay over and above their wages, whilst we received nothing extra despite doing most of the work !

The unloading was very urgent if we were not to miss the convoy, and the dockers, making full use of the number of troops availble, worked to a very good plan. They organised two gang planks from ship to shore, one at the front end and one at the rear end of the ship. The system was simple and very effective, alongside the front gangplank they stocked cases of foodstuffs to be loaded, so we grabbed a case of food carried it on to the ship and were directed to where to dump it then we grabbed a side of beef, or whatever there was to unload, and dumped that on the keyside near the rear gangplank for the dockers to carry away. The ship was eventually unloaded and we drivers then brought all our equipment of trucks guns, limbers, ammunition etc. to the dockside to be loaded in the usual manner. Despite this, we were only half loaded when the rest of the convoy was ready to sail. The Commodore decided that the convoy could not wait and that they would sail on schedule, in order to rendezvous with the naval escort off the northern tip of Ireland for their journey throught the Atlantic to the African West Coast, and we would have to catch them up.

Middle East
1940 to 1944

Needless to say by the time we sailed we were too far behind the main convoy to catch them up before the rendezvous over the northern tip of Ireland, so our Captain, ex Royal Navy and submarine commander in W.W.1 recalled for war duty in 1939, decided to continue the chase at full speed. The HIGHLAND BRIGADE was equipped as were all armed merchantmen with a 6" naval gun in rear, manned by members if the Royal Marines, so the Regiment erected 4 Bren Guns on tripods for Anti Aircraft defence, which were manned by our machine gunners 24 hrs a day. We also supplied men for 8 look-out duty posts against possible 'U' Boat attack to assist the crew.

For the first few days the sea was rough and the wind strong and cold, causing the ship to pitch and roll quite a bit, which was most uncomfortable as my troop had been billetted on deck, where we slept on paliasses, but fortunatly this part of the deck was enclosed and we were protected from the elements. It rained most of the time and this was mixed with the sea spray thrown up by the ship and the wind so we had to keep the windows and doors closed. I was surprised at the number of men, especially National Servicemen, who had never been on board ship or had never even ventured far beyond the perimeters of their own towns and villages. So it was not surprising to see the meal queus grow shorter and shorter to almost nothing as the bad weather dragged on. I considerered myself lucky to have managed to overcome my queasiness I felt in the beginning, but after we had passed the northern tip of Ireland I felt much better and was one of four of us who eat regularly in our 'mess', which was incidentally situated over the back screws just short of the 6" gun. The food was good and, of course as much as you wanted, but at times you had to hang on to your plate ! After about 4 days at sea when the waves abated and the wind lost a bit of strengh, life became much more pleasant as we all started to relax. All guards and look-outs, however, were kept on the alert and we received the news that we were turning south-west towards West Afric and the BISMARK had been sunk by the Royal Navy off the Irish coast but a long way south-east of us.

It was about this time that I happened to be passingway through our sleeping quarters, when there was a shout the ship rolled over to a dangerous angle and I was thrown towards the open side window. I dropped my lifebelt from my hand and saved myself with only my head going through the window staring straight down into the sea which at the angle the ship was now, was below me. It was then that I heard the siren blaring off for life boat stations. I grabbed my lifebelt, ran to my boat station where I found all the other men assembling, no one knew what had happened but speculation was ripe. After about 30 minutes we were stood down and ordered to stay alert. It later transpired that the naval look-out had spotted a submarine periscope out to sea and had yelled to the Captain who was on the bridge as usual. The Captain immediatly ordered the helmsman to turn the ship hard and fast and the engine room to full speed ahead, and that was when I careered towards the open window. The 'U' Boat fired 2 torpedoes at our back side, and here all credit to the Captain, he managed to avoid them by watching and steering a path between them. We maintained our full speed for about 1 hour or so before we resumed our proper course.

We never did catch up with the convoy but we headed for FREETOWN and a few days later entered the sheltered harbour. The whole convoy was there, having arrived the day before, and as we passed the boom at the entrance every ship in that harbour blew it's hooter in greeting. Apparently LORD HAW HAW, the British traitor broadcasting for the Germans,had included in his broadcast a few days before that the troopship s.s.HIGHLAND BRIGADE carrying a fully equipped artillery unit, the 144th Field Regt., had been sunk in the Atlantic by a German 'U' Boat, there were no survivors. Then a few days later we roll into FREETOWN as large as life!! (It was not until I finally returned to England in 1945, that I found out that my Mother and indeed the whole family did not know about this incident.)

I loved the trip from Freetown to CAPE TOWN, much warmer weather, lovely calm seas with flying fish visible every night flying off the bow wave of the ship. I was struck with the luminosity of the white water created by the ship passing through the calm sea of the South Atlantic Ocean. For the first time we were travelling in convoy and our escort was a cruiser which was heading for repairs or everhaul at Simonstown. It was full moon for most of the way and the nights were balmy, the days were sunny and hot and although we had been warned that the African sun was fierce and sunbathing not recomended for lenghy periods, some of us did get burnt but no one reported unfit for duty due to sunburn.

We finally sailed into CAPE TOWN in the afternoon with the sun shining and the majestic beauty of TABLE MOUNTAIN in the background, it was a really wonderful sight. That night we spent a long time looking at the lights of Cape Town as most of us had not seen any lit up city for over a year.

The next morning we were assembled on deck and informed that we would be allowed into Cape Town from 1000 hrs, and as we were the only ship in the convoy berthed alongside the dock, for coaling purposes, we could return when we wished, on condition, we were back on board by 2200 hrs.

Two of my friends, Doug and Peter, and I then left the ship as soon as we could and once out of the dock gates headed for the town to 'see the sights'. We stopped to enquire from a pedestrian on which sights were nearby and where we could go to swim in the sea. He informed us that South Africans did not swim near Cape Town in October as it was too cold for them, but suggested we went to Muizemberg by train and directed us to the railway station where we caught the electric train to Muizemberg which was free to servicemen in uniform. The sea was cold but invigorating and I found it to be about the same temperature as the English Channel off Brighton Beach, but much rougher and with a powerful under current. I thoroughly enjoyed my first swim in the Atlantic and came out fresh and ready to see all the sights. Doug and Peter also enjoyed their swim but i remained with the impression that they did not appeciate the strong waves of the Atlantic as compared to the smaller ones they were used to. We then returned to Cape Town and were walking aimlessly along looking for a coffee shop, for a bite to eat, when we were hailed by two young girls in a car asking us if we wanted a lift. They asked us if we were from the convoy, which had pulled in the night before, and could they show us the sights of Cape Town, to which we readily agreed. They first suggested that we caught the cableway to the top of Table Mountain, which was free to servicemen in uniform, but they was wait for our return in the car park as they had been up many times and furthermore they would have to pay the full fare and being University Students they could not afford. We offered to pay their fare for them but they adamently refused, so off we went on the cableway. We had an aerial view of Cape Town stretched out down the lower slopes of Table Mountain to the harbour and Table Bay where the whole convoy lay at anchor, except our ship slongside the warf still taking on coal. It was a bit windy when we pulled in to the landing dock at the top and the guard, travelling in the cable car, had to check the sawy before we could come in, but we took no notice and started our walk around and visit to the shop. We had barely been there about 10 minutes or so when a siren sounded, and thinking it was the signal for the down car leaving we ignored it. As the car was about tro leave the guard re-opened the door and shouted "DON'T YOU BOYS WANT TO GO DOWN ?" being the nearest to the car I replied " NO THANKS WE'LL CATCH THE NEXT ONE " back came the ominous warning " THIS IS THE LAST ONE, UNLESS YOU WANT TO STAY UP HERE TONIGHT " you've never in your life seen three soldiers move so fast to scramble on to that cable car before it moved off !! We got down safely and joined the girls who were still waiting in the car for us, quite surprised that we were back so soon. Anyway they took us on a tour of the City and surroundings especially the University grounds and buildings where they were both students, as well as Rhodes Memorial and many other places, finally ending up at the drivers house to meet their parents, and have drinks and dinner. Both parents were charming people and we enjoyed their company, conversation, friendliness and, of course, their hospitality. Unfortunatly time came for us to return to the ship and our host drove us back to the docks in his new Chevrolet Sedan.

The next day we were told at assembly that we would be allowed ashore at 0900 hrs but as the convoy was sailing that afternoon we would have to be back on board by 1300 hrs. Doug, Peter and I decided, rather than stay on board, to go for a walk around the town just to kill time. When we got to the dock gates we say a line of cars drawn up at the gate waiting to come into the docks and driven by the ladies of the town. We were walking passed them when one of these ladies called us over to her car, asked us where we were going and could she take us there. We thanked her but told her we had to be back on board early and had only been allowed out to buy essential things we might need. I noted that she had a chauffeur and she sat on the back seat with a large basket on the floor in front of her. She stated that usually information concerning the arrival of any convoy was notified to the ladies of Cape Town, who in turn would arrive at the dock gates complete with picnic baskets. They would then collect a number of soldiers each, from the convoy personnel, and take them out for a picnic at one of the scenic spots around the City, but not having received this advanced information they had arrived late and there was little time left. She was particularly annoyed as she had brought with her in the basket sufficient food and beer for about 4 men ansd as she was dertermined not to take it back home again she invited the three of us to sit in the back of the car, have a chat and eat and drink as much as we liked (or could) from the contents of her basket. We needed no second bidding but sat in the car with her and got stuck in to the lovely cold meats, chicken and salads as well as bottles of CASTLE beer. I found her to be a most interresting, charming, well travelled and informed person, and a good hostess as she never let the conversation lapse for any lengh of time but made sure that we had plenty to eat and drink. Time passed all too quickly and it was soon time for us to leave, full of lovely food and bottles of beer in our pockets which she forced us to take. By the time we got away we had to make a run for the gang plank and I noted we were the last to get on board, as the Duty Sgt.took the names of those following us.

We sailed that evening and by the next morning we were well out to sea at the mercy of the infamous cape rollers. Our escort was now reduced to a cruiser and we were told that it would be a non-stop run to Port Tewfik, which was the port for Suez in Egypt. The only dangerous part of the journey would be once we had passed Kenya and into waters off Italian Somaliland around the Horn of Africa off Abyssinia and Eritrea, there we could expect enemy attacks from the air. However despite these warnings and extra vigilance no attacks occurred and we had a safe journey to Port Tewfik where we disembarked and were put into tents nearby to await our equipment, guns and transport to be unloaded. This was done during the night and all next day, after which the whole Regiment moved off by road to ALMAZA, the Royal Artillery Base Depot on the outskirts of CAIRO. Once there all guns and transport were repainted for action in the Western Desert, which took about ten days to complete, then to our utter amazement we received orders to return to Port Tufik for re-embarkation to the Sudan.

Abyssinia and Eritrea
1940 to 1941

We landed at PORT SUDAN and from there proceeded by railway flat cars to KASSALA to join the 5th (Indian) Division on the Eritrean front. The Regiment was split, my Battery the 389th (Sussex) Battery proceeded to GERDAREF and our sister battery the 390th (Surrey) Battery remained on the Kassala front and joined Gazelle Force, a highly mobile unit formed specifically to harass the enemy as they retreated. They were later to become involved in the only known cavalry charge of W.W.2 when 60 Italian Colonial cavalry, who had been trapped by the rapid advance of Gazelle Force, suddenly charged them from the rear. The guns were immediatly swung into action and the gunners fired over "open sights" at the charging cavalry, assisted of course by every man in the unit who could use a firearm. The enemy fled leaving 24 dead and 16 wounded on the field.

On arrival at Gerdaref we were immediatly despatched to relieve the 25th Field Regt. who were holding the line at GALLABAT, which at this time was the only Sudanese town occupied by the Italians. The equipment of the 25th Field Regt. was old, badly worn, and in urgent need of replacement, as they were all the old 18 pounders of 1912 vintage, ex W.W.1, and pretty well worn out. Our arrival to relieve them with our new 25 pdrs.,which these regulars had never seen but only read about, caused quite a stir,and they were dying to see us fire them in action. We were told by these men that they had dug 2 gun positions, one a forward position just in rear of the infantry to bring the targets well to the rear within range of their worn out guns, and the one we were in, the rear position, where they caould fire on the enemy. Within half an hour of taking over we obliged them, and they were astounded to find that we could shell from their REAR position targets which were out of range to them from their FORWARD position !

The countryside here was very dry, just before the rainy season, fairly bushy with plenty of trees so our camouflage nets were extendively used. We had no air support to speak of so CAPRONI bombers paid us frequent visits. We soon realised that, although the Italians knew the area we were in, they could not pin-point the gun emplacements. One day a few Caproni aircraft flew over to give us, as we thought, our usual morning visit, but they had cunningly missed all the gun sites and bombed the serrounding bush, then we saw smoke and immediatly realised that we had a bush fire on our hands, which had been started by the Italians dropping incendiaries on the bush setting it alight, and was now being blown by the wind straight towards the gun-sites. However in the center of the gun position slightly to the rear and heavily camouflaged was our ammunition dump for the guns with all our reserve stock, if the fire ever got to it, the resulting explosion could cause heavier casulties in both men and material than the Italian army facing us could cause in months of fighting. All available men who could be spared, and I was one of them, were issued with shovels and sent to the scene of the fire to stamp it out, which we managed to do within a few hours. Thank goodness the Caproni bombers left us alone.

A few weeks later, this was about the end of January 1941 our Infantry reported that, as a result of a noticeable lack of enemy movement or activity, patrols had been sent out and reported that the enemy had vacated Gallabat village and appeared to have retreated in the direction of LAKE TANA, about 60 - 80 miles away. A mobile composite unit was quickly formed, consisting of a company of Infantry, a troop of Artillery, for which my troop "B" Troop was selected, and despatched immediatly in pursuit. We eventually caught up with their rear-guard after about 15 miles at top speed, which was not that fast in that bush country, wheeled the guns into action, but after firing a few rounds the enemy retreated. We only chased them for about another 5 - 10 miles before catching up with them again, wheeled into action but only fired off a very few siting shots when we were ordered to cease fire and stand by. A short while later we were stood down and as it was now getting dark, we were to prepare to spend the night in our present positions but to be ready to go into action at any time. The next morning we were advised that the enemy had indeed made good his escape towards LAKE TANA, and we were to return to the Battery position at Gallabat, and then to proceed at all speed to KEREN, where the Italians were making a stand to block our way to the only pass through the mountain range to the high plateau above, and the Capital ASMARA. All our probing attacks ,so far, had been repulsed.

It took us a few days to reach KEREN as we had to go via KASSALA, but on arrival we took up our positions in a sandy valley which was very wide at the mouth, where we came in, but narrowed down as we approached the mountain range ahead and ending at the foot of the pass. What we did not know at the time was that the gun positions we were occupying in the sandy valley were situated in the centre of the area the Italian Artillery had used as a firing range before the war! According to information received, the 4th Indian Division had arrived sometime before in their advance from Kassala but had been halted at this spot. Despite patrols being carried out to the north and south of out position, this was the only pass from the low land to the high plateau a few thousand feet above, where the main Italian supply base lay, the town of KEREN. The pass was narrow and winding, both the road and railway line had been hewn out of the rocky face of this narrow gorge, which was overlooked by Fort DOLOGORODOC, Mount SANCHIL, BRIGG's PEAK and a few other strong points held in strengh by the Italians. In order to break through these massive defences the 5th Indian Division was called to assist, and that included us.

The battle of Keren is better described in the official books of W.W.2, so I will not even attempt to do so, but I will try and describe what occurred in our particular area especially on our gun and to me, in particular.

We were deployed in a very sandy area which in a way was to our advantage, as despite the frequent shelling we underwent by enemy artillery, the shrapnel was smothered by the sandy soil which saved casualties and on one occasion saved my life. We ate and slept within 10 metres of the gun, which was essential in action, and on this occasion we were awakened at first light with a request for defensive fire on a pre- selected target. We started firing at the usual rate of 1 round per minute. This eas very soon increased to 2 per minute and then almost immediatly to the emergency call of gunfire (as fast as you can). This applied to all our 4 guns in the troop. After about 2 hrs firing No 3 gun on our left (we were No 2) ceased firing, and as there had been no order and we had been shelled during this operation, our No 1 enquired the reason. It appeared the recoil system on the gun had leaked oil, rendering the gun unserviceable. As we were running low on ammunition the Sgt. on No 2 gun suggested that we send over some men to fetch some of his. I was sent with 3 other me to fetch some. ( I must mention here that although I was a driver, when we were in action in a static position, I assisted on the guns.) We did several trips to No 2 and back, carrying either a box of 4 shells or one of 8 cartridge cases. As I started back on my last trip carrying a box of 8 cartridge cases, the enemy started shelling our position. I was about half way back so to turn back was as dangerous and going on, so I just kept going. I was walking through a particular sandy patch over a low dune when a shell landed literally no more than 2 metres from my feet but at the foot of the dune. This probably saved my life as I was covered in sand and bits of grass and swearing at the enemy gunners, but unhurt by shrapnel. I was told afterwards that when my friends saw me disappear into a cloud of sand they called me to see if I was alright, but once they heard me swearing they knew I was untouched - thanks to the sand !

The weather was hot and dry and there was no rain, so the P.B.I. (Poor Bloody Infantry) suffered badly from thirst during their attempts at taking or storming the heights above them. The Italian defence system was based on Fort Dologorodoc, so to force our way through this pass we had to take the high ground, and as the enemy had blown both the road and the railwy line in several places, the road had to be repaired by the Indian Sappers and Miners, as we advanced, to allow our tanks to get behind enemy lines. The Fort was eventually taken by the Mahrattas of the 5th Indian Division and the Weat Yorkshire Regt. with the support of our 25 pdr guns on about the 3rd day of the battle, which lasted about about 10 days. We(my battery) established an Observation Post inside the Fort as soon as it was captured and helped to repel the counter attack launched by the Italians. All supplies for the troops defending the fort had to be humped up the mountain side on foot. I went on a couple of these supply hikes in the searing heat of summer and found it to be very thirsty work, especially when I was carrying a 2 gal. can of water for our O.P. party. By the time I got to them I could have drunk and whole 2 gall.myself - all I had was 2 pints in my water bottle ! Eventually of course the tanks broke through and the enemy was forced to retreat towards ASMARA, the Capital of Eritrea. A follow-up force was quickly organised by the 5th Indian Division, and our Battery wass ordered to take part in the pursuit , chasing the enemy to Asmara and possibly beyond. We were soon packed up and having loaded all the ammunition into the limber we hitched up the guns and off we went with "A" troop leading, followed by "B", and "C" bringing up the rear. We were the first artillery regiment to move through the pass to Asmara, and we did not stop until we were pulled off the road about half way to Asmara and told to get into position as the enemy was about to make a last ditch stand. We got the guns off loaded and ready to fire, but the order was countermanded as the enemy had abandoned their positions and left hurriedly. We stayed in our positions, and bedded down for the night. Early next morning, before dawn we were once again on the move in pursuit of the retreating Italians. We entered ASMARA shortly before lunch and were quartered in the grounds of the Marina Radio station, now temporarily out of action. I was quite surprised to see the civilian population come out and parade freely in the town, both whites and blacks, cheering us in.

ASMARA was a pleasant and attractive town, the largest we had come accross since we had left Egypt. The town was built on the high plateau, which was the centre core of Eritrea, and was about the height of Johannesburg, 5500 ft above sea level, the weather being very similar. We remainwed there several days and took the opportunity to clean up and prepare our equipment for further action. It was not long in coming as within a week of arrival we were ordered once again to move next morning to MASSAWA, the coastal port where the enemy had dug in and preparing to make a stand. Massawa was the only Eritrean port and was therefore strategically important to us as it was connected to Asmara by road, by rail and by overhead cableway. The distance by road was 67 miles and it descendewd 5000 ft the last 5 miles being at sea level. It took us 8 hrs to tow the guns down and later 2 days to bring them back !

As soon as we arrived the guns were moved into positions ready for action. We were to support the Free French Foreign Legionnaires who had been part of BRIGG's FORCE, a composite group of British,Free French and Indian troops as well as Sudan Defence Force, had advanced down the coastal strip from Port Sudan to Massawa against an enemy who occasionally offered stiff resistance. The next morning we opened up with a barrage on the enemy positions in the town and the infantry moved in when we lifted it. A few hours of fighting, and the enemy surrendered and the town was ours. The next day some friends and I managed to get permission to borrow one of the light trucks and go for a look into the town, or what was left of it. The town was quite small but most of the houses were damaged by shellfire, the harbour was full of wrecked ships. We were told that there were 67 wrecks of all types in the harbour. The day was boiling hot so the three of us stripped off and dived into the sea and had a lovely swim. The Red Sea at that point was quite warm, rather like taking a lookwarm bath. When I eventually got out I found that I was sweating with exertion whilst swimming in the sea water ! We returned to our gun position and eventually returned to ASMARA, taking 2 days for the tow back up the steep mountain slopes of the tarmac road. We were parked again at the MARINA Radio station in the town, and remained there for a about 10 days or so cleaning and checking our equipment, as well as salvaging enemy guns which had been put out of action in the fighting outside ASMARA.

The enemy meanwhile had retreated helter skelter southwards towards ADDIS ABABA but had stopped and taken up a very strong defensive position inside, and around, a prepared strong point at a mountain site called AMBA ALAGI, this was to be the Duke of Aeosta's last stand before the South African forces, moving up very rapidly from the south completely serrounded him and the remains of his army. Our forces had already taken up positions on the northern side and our Regiment was ordered south to reinforce them. This strong position prepared by the Italians had gun platforms dug into the mountain side from which the guns could be wheeled out from connecting tunnels dug into the mountain at right angles to any possile line of attack. As soon as we fired back they would simply wheel the guns into the tunnels where they would be prefectly safe. As these guns were a nuissance to us, and causing unnecessary caualties, our Regiment registered the site of each gun platform within our range and treated each one as a regimental target. We must have done some destructive firing because after only a few days the firing from these guns was definitly reduced. It was about this time that I started feeling sick as if I had a bout of flue, all I wanted to do was lie down. The M.O. sent me back to the rear first aid dressing station at Regimental Headquarters for tests. It turned out that I had a bout of Yellow Jaundice, by this time my skin had turned yellow, my urine was the colour of Old Ale and I had a permanent splitting headache. I was sent for treatment to the base Hospital in Asmara where I remained until after the surrender at Amba Alagi, wnen I was returned to the Regiment which was once again stationerd in the Radio Station in Asmara. We remained there for a few weeks during which we were mostly engaged in salvaging enemy equipment. In about June 1941 we received orders to move back to Egypt for duties in the Western Desert Campaign.

In June 1941, our troops had crushed the Italian Army and had advanced as far as El AGHELA on the extreme south of the Gulf of Sirte, which was to be the limit of their advance westwards. The Italians had received reinforcements and were about to make a stand, and reports had been received in Cairo that the Germans had landed strong reinforcements under General ERWIN ROMMEL to assist their allies, comprising the 90th Light Motorised Division, and the 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions. This was indeed bad news as our forces had been reduced considerably by having to send troops to defend GREECE as well as CRETE, coupled with the fact that most of our tank force had suffered severely during the rapid advance through the desert and were badly in need of maintainance and repairs. We desperatly needed reinforcements ourselves and on their way from U.K. was the British 1st Armoured Division, reputed to be the best trained and equipped Armoured Division in the Army. It was lucky that there wasa a lull in the fighting at this time, which enabled both armies to regroup and reform their available forces for future action.

Having landed at Port TUFIK we were ordered to proceed towards ALEXANDRIA, by-passing CAIRO and then turning west along the tarmac road to Mersa Matruh. At a small railway siding not far from this turn-off we went off the road going south into the desert for about 20 - 30 miles and then stopped. Our Battery Commander called us together and told us that orders had been received that we had to build a defensive position at this spot which would eventually become part of a defense line stretching from the MEDITERRANEAN SEA to the impassable sand sea to the south of us which was known at the QUATTARA DEPRESSION. The name of the railway siding where we had turned off was called ALAMEIN !!

Fortunatly we only spent about 2 weeks or so digging these gun emplacements when we received further orders from G.H.Q. Cairo.

We were ordered to dump all our equipment there, only take with us our own private property and kit, which we had to carry with us including rifle and 50 rds of ammunition slung round or necks, wear our takkies and sling our boots around our necks by the boot laces and proceed by truck to Alexandria harbour where we would embark. Destination was not mentioned. so you can imagine the speculation and guess work going on amoungst the troops, with each on trying to out-do the other, it was good fun and helped to pass the time.

Tobruk to Alamein
1941 to 1942

We duly all arrived by transport in Alexandria and pulled pulled up at the docks at about 1700hrs. Alongside the dock was a destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy called H.M.A.S. NIZAM which we boarded carrying all our kit and were told to squat down on the deck, which we did. It was July so the weather was hot and the nights were balmy although the wind could be quite cold. We sailed before dark and were told by the Australian crew that we were headed for TOBRUK, to relieve the Australians who had been there since the siege began in April, and were now being removed for R.& R.at the special request of the Australian Govt. We would be taking over their guns and equipment and they would come back with just their private kit. The idea was to arrive in Tobruk at about midnight, so that most of the run would be made in the dark of night, as we were within range of Axis bombers for most of the way and Axis submarines were present in the Mediterranean. We would be landed either at the docks or on one of the wrecks in the harbour, after which the destroyer would load up with Australioan troops for the return trip to Alexandria, We would then be collected by lighters, if we were on a wreck. As the harbour was the Axis bombers favourite target we were asked to be quick off so the ship did not waste time before commencing her homeward journey with her load of Aussies. The journey itself was nice, quiet and free of bombs or torpedoes, and we were landed on a wreck to await the lighter which arrived after daylight and took us to the harbour. At the harbour we were taken by truck to the Australian gun position we were to take over. The Australians themselves were as good a bunch of guys as you could wish for, they were friendly and cooperative and full of stories of Tobruk from April to date.

I do not remenber the particulars of their unit but they were all Melbourne men and although we remained together for only a week or so waiting for the next convoy to arrive we were very sorry to see them go.

Tobruk itself was open and very sandy I do not remember seeing greenery anywhere near our position. The focal point was the harbour and everything revolved around it, including the bombs. There seemed to be no shortage of drinking water but this had all come from the sea water which had filtered through the sand into pockets similar to artisian wells, so tasted slightly salty, which affected all hot drinks like tea and coffee. It was an acquired taste which you would spit out when when you had the first sip, but after a time you got used to it and eventually, like me, you might even get to like it. The harbour itself was fairly large and shaped rather like an egg, with the north and south aides being protected by high cliffs, the east side was the narrow entrance and the west side being the way out towards DERNA and beyond. On the northern side between the cliffs and the harbour lay the town itself stretching westwards alongside the water to the end where the intersectioon of the road from DERNA met the road from BARDIA, to the east of Tobruk. Inside the harbour were more than 50 wrecks resting on the bottom but most of the superstructures above the waterline, they were dwarfed by the wreck of the Italian battleship SAN GEORGIO which had been bombed/shelled and sunk at her anchorage just inside the entrance. I never did find out how it was sunk as the army claimed their artillery had shelled it and the air force stated it was their bombing, anyway the mighty ship was sunk when Tobruk was taken by the Australians in Gen. WAVELL's advance in 1940/41, so either story could be right !

The guns we had taken over from the Australians were old pieces made in about 1912 - 1916, similar to the ones being fired in Sudan when we had first gone into action at Gallabat, and were badly worn out, however they were still useable so we firesd them although never at maximum range. As far as I could gather all our troops were firing different types of guns, a lot of them Italian. We were firing 18pdrs. A Troop were using Italian 105 mm, C Troop were using Italian 75 mm, and I was told that E troop was firing Italian 110 mm and D Troop 18 pdrs like us. Air raids during the early days we were there was quite light but nearly always on the harbvour and town areas. The Aussies had left us with very nice dug-in gun positions and sangers to live in which were all about 5 ft deep by about 4 ft wide with , of course, a raised portion left as a bed.

During the early days in Tobruk I was detached from the guns and posted to the specialist section as their driver/relief number, and my job, which I enjoyed doing was keeping communications between our Observation Post Officer with the Infantry Unit we were supporting, and our own troop gun position. The O.P. Officer and his assistant were changed every 3 days or so and I was to organise all supplies and changes by driving the relief up to the post and the relieved members back to the gun position. The time of the change was dependant on the ground situation at the time, as the guns could be called into action any minute and also day or night, and the truck was to be parked at the O.P. position at all times, so I virtually lived there with the infantry. During my slack periods I used to help the O.P.Assistant as I had been through the course and just needed some practical experience, and instruction. Meanwhile the infantry had been changed and the Polish Brigade had taken over the position. I am sure the enemy found out about this, or maybe the Poles were more aggressive than the Aussies because the activity on this particular part of the front seemed to increase for a while. I was always up early and one morning I was up and careful where to move as usual when I heard a plane above us and saw a 109 F which appeared to be on a recce mission, I watched it swoop down very low and deliberatly fly only a few feet up right along the infantry position. The Poles by this time were stirring and started firing at the aircraft with rifles and other firearms but they had been taken by surprise and their aim was bad. The machine passed about 200 yds away from me over the infantry, and I clearly saw the pilot having a good look at the layout of our position, so I gave him the usual army greeting. It was not long after this when our position got 'stonked' hard by the enemy, and I was very pleased to have such a secure sanger. Mark you this was what had happened, but I think that it was in retaliation by the pilot for my giving him the good old 'two's up' salute as he flew past that morning ! It was shortly after this when the Poles were reinforced by the arrival of their artillery men who took over our position and guns, so we were moved to a new position nearer the centre of the line. We left all our guns and equipment behind for the Poles and took over the ones already on site which had been left for us by the previous Australian troop. Our new position was about 6 kms along the El ADAM road from the instersection with the BARDIA road, and the site of the prisonner-of-war enclosure. The infantry we were supporting were the Australian 2/13th Battalion of the 2nd. A.I.F. who had been due to embark and return to Alexandria aboard the last convoy, but they had been attacked on the way losing 1 ship and crippling another, so the convoy had turned back, and the Australians waiting on the docks were returned to their original position in the line which happened to be in from of us - how could we be so lucky ?

The Australian warned us that this sector was the favourite ground for tank attacks by the Afrika Corps so warned us to be prepared at all times. In front and to the left of the infantry position was an old Italian built observation point, consisting of a large wooden seat on a high pole dug into the ground, from which a good distant view of the no-man's land in front of us could be maintained - ideal place from which to spot an enemy tank attack,and connected by field telephone to the Artillery O.P. Yes, you've guessed it, I was detailed with one of the infantrymen to go down and to take it in turn to sit in the seat and observe. I have never felt so vulnerable or so alone in my life, I felt as if every member of the Afika Corps opposite was looking at me and I expected to be shelled at any moment. However the afternoon dragged on, the favourite time for attack came, evening finally came and went and no attack took place. Eventually we were recalled and I never did that duty again - they found that I was always otherwise occupied when I was called ! Eventually I was put back on the guns as the O.P. was changed in our new position and we were quite frequently called upon for defensive fire to assist the infantry. We of course became very friendly and they thought the world us for the good and fast reply to their calls for gunnery support. We, on the other hand, felt perfectly safe knowing they were in front of us and we could sleep safely at night, nobody could infiltrate these boys. On several occasions the enemy shelled the area we were in, to silence our guns if possible, as we were apparently being a thorn in his side, but he could never pin-point our exact position. One of the men on the gun with me and I could not get on as he kept on picking on me for my religious beliefs and he was a non believer, he jeered at the Church, he jeered at religion in general and mine in particular and this had gone on for a long time but had never come to fisticuffs as the Sergeant had threatened to let me have a go at him in the ring if he did not cool it, which he did and he was a bit smaller than me. Anyway on this particular day we were not firing at the time and we were all resting in the main sanger, which was at the gun site and used when we were standing by ready for action, when suddenly down came the shells all around us big ones and smaller ones, shaking the ground and causing the sanger roof to shake covering us with pebbles and dust. We all heard a big shell explode very close to us which really shook the sanger badly covering us with a cloud of dust and stones, then I heard another big thump and saw the end of the sanger roof colapse, but no explosion. I happened at this precise moment to look over at my antagonist and he, at the same moment looked at me. In that split second I knew he was praying, and in his eyes I could tell that he knew that I knew he was praying, and smiled at me. From that day onwards he stopped his baiting and jeering and we got on much better. After the shelling died down I went outside to see what the thump was and found that a large 110 mm shell had landed partly on the end of our roof but had failed to explode, it was dud. Truly Almighty God was watching over us that day.

On another occasion in the same position, I was assisting on No.1 gun as usual, and we had just ceased firing in support of the infantry when we were shelled by the enemy guns. We could not leave the guns as we had not been'stood down' by the Gun Position Officer so we just knelt down for cover behind the shield. The shelling did not last long but one of the last shells to explode burst between our gun and No 2 about 20 yds away to our left, throwing up and cloud of dust and stones. I was nearest to No 2 so I shouted "ARE YOU ALRIGHT" but there was no reply, so as the shelling had virtually stopped I dashed over towards No 2, and as I approached the men rose up from their crouched position and signalled and shouted that all was fine, nobody hurt. I was about to turn round when the shelling started again so I looked around quickly for cover and saw a sanger entrance on my left about 5 yds from the gunpit, so without even thinking I dived into it (like diving into a swimming pool) fortunatly it was empty. When the shelling died down I tried to get out, but found I could not because my shoulders were too wide. The builder had used an old window frame, knocked out the glass and supports and used the empty frame as his doorway, and try as I might I could not get through it. Eventually I had to be dug out by the men on No.2 amid much laughter and ribaldry.

Life just carried on in TOBRUK with the occasional air raid and shelling but no serious attempt by the enemy to take the Port itself. Our information was that Gen. Sir Claude AUCHINLECH, ex Indian Army had now taken over as G.O.C. and was preparing to launch a new offensive in the very near future. The oppressive heat of the summer was now giving way to the cooler autumn weather, and, as winter officially started in November we knew from past experience that it was also the time that offensives were started. True to form Operation 'CRUSADER' was launched from the wire, by the 8th Army, the new name for the Weatern Desert Force, in early November 1941, with the object of relieving TOBRUK and destroying as much of the enemy as possible on the way. However everything did not go quite according to plan from the beginning and some of our units suffered heavy casualties as a result. The main strong points were by-passed to be mopped up later. Despite the build up of our tank strengh we found that our tanks were still outgunned by the German Marks 3 and 4 tanks with 75 mm guns against our smaller 2 pdr. and it was not until the arrival of the General GRANT tank in 1942, and the Gen.SHERMAN later the same year that we were able to match the Germans fire power. In the meantime we just had to struggle on with what we had. This was also the main reason for the heavy casualties suffered by the South Africans at SIDI RESEGH, just about 20 miles outside the TOBRUK perimeter. Our troops besieged in TOBRUK launched a massive attack and broke our towards the advancing 8th Army,but with our limited resources were not as effective as was planned, however we did our best with what we had. My troop had only 2x30 cwt trucks with which to move our guns, and both these trucks were clapped out so we were incapable of any motion !

It was not long before the enemy retreated westwards as a result of the constant pressure from the 8th Army troops who swept past us in hot pursuit. Officially TOBRUK had been relieved. We received orders to pull all our guns out of our present position and take them to the R.E.M.E. Dump in Tobruk for return to Cairo. We would be re-equipped with new 25 pdr guns as soon as these arrived. Accordingly, being now regarded as a senior gunner and there being no N.C.O. available, I was detailed to take the guns down one by one to the R.E.M.E. Dump as per instructions received. I was given a detail of 6 men under me for this job. It was quite enjoyable and better than hanging around cleaning up the site. Our Australian Infantry meanwhile had received orders to return to their Division In the delta, and we were all sorry to see them go. The job itself took about 2 days to complete due to the state of the truck I was using, and during the return journey on the last day a funny incident occurred. During the siege we had relied entirely for all our supplies on the convoys and the slower lighters so there had been no chance of purchasing any extra luxuries like chocolates, cigarettes, cool drinks etc.etc. let alone sample them. So it was a complete surprise for us to see, parked longside the road, a fairly large truck with the name N.A.A.F.I. stamped on it. I immediatly stopped the truck alonside it and got out to see the person in charge, I was closely followed by my men grouped around me. He turned out to be a Sgt.so I asked him to open up as we wanted to make some purchases. He astounded us all by stating that he waas unable to open up for us as he could only sell his goods to the 'FIGHTING MEN 'not to men in base jobs ! It took me all my time to stop my men from assaulting him there and then. After I told him who we were and what we had done, he had the grace to apologise to us and opened up right away, mark you, I had explained to him that if he did not open up, I would not be responsible for the behavour of my men or the state of his truck by the time we had finished with it. So we made our purchases and left, I think much to his relief !!

We eventually received all out equipment and we were ordered to proceed at all speed to BENGHAZI. The 8th Army meanwhile had pushed the enemy back to EL AGHEILA, at the southern end of the GULF of SIRTE, the furthest point of our advance on both previous occasions, and then had stopped, in a holding position, to re-group and await reinforcements. This gave the enemy time to do the same, and their lines of communication were very much shorter than ours thus also giving him the advantage, of which he made full use. Once again the Germans under Gen.ROMMEL were ready first, and once again they attacked and caught our troops napping, forcing us to retreat in a hurry back the way we had come. Gen.AUCHINLECK had appointed Gen.RITCHIE in charge of the 8th Army, and nobody I spoke to had ever heard of this gentleman before, but we were soon to find out that he was the most useless General in the Brit.Army. Meanwhile we had barely started out for Benghazi when the orders were countermanded as BENGHAZI was to be evacuated, so we were ordered to proceed immediatly to BARCE, a small township about half-way to Banghazi but still on the plateau and not down the escarpment near the coast. Our orders were to defend the southern road through the DJEBEL ACHDAR, the high plateau which stretched back from our destination at Barce towards DERNA on the coast.

When we finally arrived at BARCE we were put into gun positions on both sides of the road itself. My troop "B" troop was to the north of the road together with "A" troop and "C" and "D" troops were on the south side. I do not know where "E" and "F" troops were. We dug in and waited for the enemy to arrive. Our infantry we were supporting was a company of the CAMERON HIGHLANDERS and they were holding a position on a ridge well ahead of us. In front of them was a higher ridge, which was plainly visible from our gun position, and which was to prove invaluable in the coming battle, as the Camerons had dug in, of course, on our side of their lower ridge. The sound of transport heralded the arrival of the enemy advance guard and we heard the sound of small arms fire as the Cameron forward lines of defence engaged them. We received news from the Camerons the enemy was debussing to attack, it was about this time that we opened fire on the debussing Germans. catching them by surprise. We then received information that the enemy had retreated slightly to reform for an attack,so we increased our range slightly and shelled their assembly position. Then the impossible happened, the Germans, for some unknown reason, started charging up the slope to come over the far crest in a bayonnet charge, on to the Cameron lines. Our guns were ordered to fire on open sights, and to aim about 20 yds below the crest of the forward ridge, which our gunners did just as the enemy appeared over the ridge. Now a 25 pdr shell has a lethal range with shrapnel of 35 yds forward and 10 yds in rear, so the germans sustained many casualties before they ever got near the Cameron lines, where machine guns and finally the Cameron with fixed bayonnets were waiting for them. Needless to say, all attacks were repulsed with heavy casualties until they finally called it a day and retreated back to their defence positions for the night. The next day we held them but information was received that they had called for armour support and the armour was going around our position to the south where we had no troops in order to attack us from the rear, their usual method, so we pulled out that night and abandoned our position. We then travelled through the night and part of the next day together with our infantry for protection, and engaging the enemy when he got too near, until we finally arrived at GAZALA, where we joined up with the rest of our troops and tried to make a stand. However, the so-called line was a plan on paper but on the ground it was a series of, so called, strong points with desert in between them, which had proved to be death traps before and were considered stupid by the troops, in view of their vulnerability to Panzer attacks. Fortunatly the "Upper Brass" must have at long last realised this and decided to make a better defensiv line based on Tobruk defences on the coast to Bir Hacheim in the south about 50 miles away. Our Regiment was ordered to dig defensive positions at BIR EL HAMAT, about 15 miles north of Bir Hacheim. We eventually arrived there and dug in. Meanwhile the Germans had extended their lines of communication to such an extent that they were forced to stop and regroup, so there was a lull in the fighting for the time being.

We all knew that this lull was only temporary and that sooner or later one side would be strong enough to launch another offensive. We had been informed that large reinforcements were on their way to us from U.K. but until they arrived and more equipment and armour was sent we would be in no position to launch any kind of attack, we would simply have to harass the enemy as much as possible with that we had available. For this reason it was decided to send out "JOCK" columns, on harassing raids. These consited of a Battery of artillery protected by a Company of Infantry and supported by a Battery of A.A. Bofors guns, an anti-tank Battery with supply and Medical units. The hitting power was, of course, the Artillery 25 pdrs. Th idea was to infiltrate behind enemy lines, which was quite simple and easy, and then turn north and look for some enemy target to destroy, if enemy armour was encountered we would not engage unless threatened, but would look for softer targets, like supply depots or columns, and once we had hit them we would disengage and dissappear. The enemy countered this form of harassment with STUKA attacks from the air if anf when he located us. Our battery was selected for the first raiding column with the Camarons as our infantry. It was good fun and we found sevceral targets we engaged with mixed results. We were pasted by the STUKAS on several occasions ands I well remember once when I was returning to the gun position with a load of ammunition in my truck when I saw the planes arriving in formation to bomb our guns which were firing at a German supply column we had surprised. I stopped the truck and watched the bombing hoping that my truck would pass unnoticed by the pilots bombing the guns, as it reminded me a lot of TOBRUK during the siege when in several occasions I was one of the targets. Eventually the Stukas finished and flrew off, and I drove to the gun Position to find that there had been minimal damage and no guns hit, although the men had been shaken up a little bit. Despite the reputation it had, the Stuka was a most innacurate weapon.

No long after this, we were informed that the 50th Northumbrian Division would relieve us in Bir El HAMAT and we would be out for a rest somewhere in the Delta. We had now been in continuous action for about 9 months and were ready for a rest, so there was great excitement in the ranks ! We left there and drove, in stages, towards Palestine accross the Suez canal and then were ordered to proceed to IRAQ, to HABBANIYAH air base near BAGHDAD. We crossed the JORDAN River between the SEA of GALILEE and the DEAD SEA after by-passing JERUSALEM on the southern side, then headed eastwards through JORDAN eventually following the oil pipe line accross the sandy desert waste to Baghdad. It took us a few days to get to our destination, but night accommodation was easy we just pulled off the road a short distance and slept on the sand alongside the trucks. A point worth mentioning was that petrol points from Palestine onwards differed from all the others I had ever seen in the Army. Refuelling points consisted of taps (like garden taps) no petrol pumps, in rows 2-3 metres apart and attached to the nozzle of each tap was a lengh of hose about 1 metre or so long. So you drove the truck alonside the tap and stuck the hose into the tank and just turned the tap on. When the tank wass full and the petrol started pouring out, you just turned the tap off. Don't forget we were in OIL country.

HABBANIYA was a wonderful sight, a lovely green oasis in the middle of an ocean of desert, it was entirely occupied by the R.A.F. who had been there for several years and had established married quarters, Officers and Men's Messes and various canteens, clubs, etc.etc. A large area of land had been laid out alongside to accommodate passing, non-Air Force personnel. It was there that we camped in luxury - under canvas tents ! We were only to stay there for about 3 weeks but during those 3 weeks I was sent on an official journey from Baghdad to KIRKUK then on to MOSUL and back to BAGHDAD, a boring trip but I was interrested in seeing the main oil well towns of Irak. I also managed with some of the other men to spend a day sight-seeing in Baghdad. I don't remember too much of the town because time was limited, but we did find "BULLSHIT ALLEY"(Army name) a rather narrow street, filled on both sides with tinsmiths hammering away making ash trays, candle holders, etc. with bits of tin. I lifted one of the bits of tin in use and found it was part of our non-returnable petrol tins, used in the desert to supply us with fuel for the trucks, marked Shell, B.P. Pratts, or whatever !

During the time we were camped at Habbaniyah, we had followed the progress of the war in the western desert, our sigallers were always tuning into the news items, and realised that the situation was getting extremely serious, TOBRUK had fallen, we were rapidly losing a lot of our armour and now it looked as iff our troops were fighting a very fiece rearguard action but retreating slowly towards the the frontier wire. So we were not at all surprised to receive orders to proceed at all possible speed back to the Western Desert with all our equipment ready for action. During the journey back through Palestine and Egypt the name of our final destination changed several times, the last one being ALAMEIN, where we had assisted in building a defensive position before leaving for TOBRUK about 10 months before.

We travelled fast and hard only stopping for a few hours sleep and to fill up with fuel. We finally arrived at Alamein just before dark, we were told to sleep where we were and we would be sorted out in the morning, the situation appeared to me to be a bit chaotic at the moment but we hoped for better things the next day. On the following day an Officer from the 149th Anti-Tank Regt. came to see our Regtl H.Q. with a request for reinforcements as he had lost his battery in TOBRUK and reinforcements for him from Depot were on the way but not due for another week or so, and the remains of the 149th Regt. was in position at the South Western corner of the South African defence position occupied by the remains of the 1st and 2nd S.A. Divisions on the coastal strip, and he was left with the situation of having the guns but too few men to man them. The transfer would be until the Depot reinforcements arrived, then our men would return to the Regt. I had a talk with this officer and as a reult volunteered, so I left that day, received promotion to Bombadier and was put in charge of one of the 6 pdr.guns, in the S.A. Defence system. My team was young and new to the desert, but efficient gunners. They had only arrived from U.K. a few months before, only 1 of them being with this Regt. for about 1 year, so I was by far the most experienced. The Officer was about my age and had been in the desert nearly as long as I had. He had also been on the same "JOCK" column as I had described earlier in this narrative, although we had never met then, but it formed a bond between us. So we sat and waited for the attack which we knew would come soon.

As far as I can remember it was about the middle of June 1942 when the German and Italian forces under Gen. ROMMEL attacked our positions at ALAMEIN by probing attacks at first looking for our weak spots. He must have got a very hot reception from the S.A.Troops on our sector because he started by-passing our position and did not attack head on as expected. On our left (to the south) was a large gap as the New ZEALANDERS, who should have been in that position, had been held up and had not yet arrived so the enemy drove gaily into the open gap with the idea of completely serrounding our position. Fortunatly before he could seal us up, fresh troops arrived and checked his advance long enough to give the Kiwis the time to arrive, drive him back westwards, and stabilize the line. I must say that we all breathed a sigh of relief on my gun, as we had seen the sighting for the past 2-3 nights getting further around us towards the Mediterranean sea, stop, then retreat westwards again. Once the Kiwis had established themselves next to us we felt very relieved . It transpired that the enemy had over-extended his supply lines and was running short of vital supplies especially fuel and was forced to fall back and regroup. It was a great pity that we were in no position to counter attack in strengh at that time, it could have shortened the war.

During the lull in the fighting, my Troop Commander (whose name I can not remember) had spoken to me many times about going in for a commission in the Artillery, and, if I was interrested, he would recommend me. Of course I was interrested and keen, so I left it to him. A short while later the Corps Commander of the Royal Artillery was visiting the Regiment on a tour around the area and he drew me aside and questioned me on the subject of a commission, in other words he interviewed me, and before leaving told me he would see what he could do for me, as I had been recommended to him by my Troop Commander and the Regimental Commander. It so happened that only a few days later I was severely injured in a freak accident involving a non returnable leaky can of petrol which caught fire and burnt me severely in the legs especially the right leg, both kneesand both hands. I was bandaged up by our Medical Officer and sent to base Hospital in Cairo by Red Cross Train.

I was sent to a British Army Hospital on the outskirts of Cairo which was tented, dug into the sand for about 3-4 ft. The floor was concreted with a smooth finish and the serrounding walls were plastered brickwork to about the height of 4ft the tent was rectangular and had two entrance ramps one on either end, it was nice and airy and as we were now in July it made life much more pleasant. I was only in Hospital for about 3-4 weeks but in that time we all received the best of treatment from a very efficient and attentive staff. The Nursing Sisters were all members of the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service (Q.A.for short) and were most pleasant and helpful. There was a very friendly atmosphere throughout the time I was there. The nurses were members of the Palestinian A.T.S.and were of mixed nationalities, but all white and mostly jewesses. I met a most attractive French girl who had been out on Holiday when war was declared so had stayed on and joined the local A.T.S.and as she could not speak English too well spent a lot of time speaking to me in French. I loved it as, apart from practicing my french, I had one up on the rest of the boys in the tent. I can not remember her name now, but call her Minette, was attached to look after our tent so we had plenty of apportunity to talk and of course I got ragged plenty, especially by the Aussies, Kiwis and , of course, the English about our relationship. One morning Minette did not turn up for work so all the boys asked me what I had done to her the night before to prevent her coming to work, which of course I could not answer. When the Sister came in they asked her, and her reply was 'SHE'S GOT AN UPSET TUMMY.' Well that was asking for it, and I got more ribald remarks than there are grains of sand on the beach, and until the day I left I was not allowed to forget it !! On anothjer occasion one of the Kiwis was operated on for Piles. His bed was alongside mine, so eventually he was brought back from the theatre and tucked up in his bed unconscious but under anaesthetic. Some time later he recovered conscienceness. but he was still under the effects of the anaesthetic, and the Sister was in the ward changing the patients bandages. He started swearing and cursing the surgeon, saying 'This is effing sore - I'll bet the effing bastard cut the wrong effing thing ' and kept repeating this until the sister blushed so much she left the room, after all she was thge only female in the room and the men was laughing out loud although they felt uncomfortable for her. Amusing for us but extreme embarrassment for her, however she returned a short while later and when the men apologised for his behaviour and language, she replied that, although it was embarrassing at the time, he had no idea of what he was saying and she had heard it all before. A few days after this I was discharged from the Hospital and returned to the Base Depot in Almaza, for return to my unit. However on my arrival I was informed by the Office staff that orders had been received from G.H.Q.that I was to remain in Depot, as I was to report to O.C.T.U. for the next Officer Cadet Training Course, which commenced in September at ACRE near HAIFA in Palestine, the date to be notified later. This was now about the middle of August, so I remained in the Administration Staff of the Depot until I finally left with about 30 other aspirants for Acre, which was the Infantry O.C.T.U. for 2 months of Infantry training under the Guards.

North Africa and Italy
1943 to 1945

The 2 months at Infantry O.C.T.U. under their training staff was hard and tough. We were all stripped of rank and called Cadets individually but Gentlemen collectively and Sir personally, and no insignas were worn, and until we passed out as Officers we wore a white band around the crown of our hats which had to be clean at all times. We were all from various Regiments in the British Army made up of men from U.K., Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, mainly, and we were all white, on the course I was on.

We were kept at it from the first early morning parade to lights outand the Canteen had very little to sell and in any case I was far too tired by evening to think of going for drinks as we also had to keep our own brasswork and leather work clean personally. About 2-3 times per week one of the training staff would enter the barracks call out a few names to report to the office immediatly. We very soon got to know those dreaded roll calls were for those considered not fit to become officers and were R.T.U.(Returned To Unit) as having failed the couse. Towards the end of the course we undertook several night exercises where we split up into smaller units and competed against one another, that was fun. In the end I was one of the lucky ones and passed out eventually in November 1942 and reported for 3 months intensive training to Base Depot Royal Artillery (B.D.R.A.) at ALMAZA, on the outskirts of CAIRO.

This was far more to my liking as I was now on home ground- back with the guns. We were put through all aspects of Gunnery including , of course, the specialist work, which I had already gone through with my old Regiment the 144th. Being prospective Officers for the Field and Anti-Tank guns, we did a lot of firing of the 25 pdr, ands to a lesser extent the new 17 pdr and 6 pdr anti-tank guns. I very much enjoyed the course and eventually passed out as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on 3rd March 1943, and given 2 weeks leave which I spent in Alexandria as I had heard that our first line, the 92nd Field Regt. (Sussex & Surrey Yeomanry) in which my best friend from banking days, and one of the original 5 of us who joined the Territorial Army just before the war, TEDDY HICKS was serving was in the 44th Division which was stationed near Alexandria. I met up with Teddy and we had a most enjoyable holiday despite the fact that he was a senior N.C.O. and I was an Officer so we had to be careful where we went due to the segregation of Officers and Men strictly enforced by the Army. Litle did I think when we finally parted that I would not see Teddy again until after the war.

On my return to B.D.R.A.,Cairo, I was called to the Office and informed that a post was waiting to be filled by a Junior Officer who spoke French fluently, and would I be interrested. To cut a long story short I accepted and after an interview I was given the post. Briefly it was with the Free French Brigade, under Gen, KOENIG, who had been in BIR HACHEIM and were now resting at ZUARA, near TRIPOLI on the TUNISIAN border. They were the responsability of the British Army who were to re-equip them with British equipment and we were the British Team who would be training them in the use of 25pdr guns. The team was made up of Col.Rawden HOARE, in charge, 1 Major and 1 subaltern (me) 1 Sgt. and 6 men (2 drivers, 1 signaller and 3 batmen) our transport was 1 staff car and 1x15cwt truck.

After final preparations had been completed we finally set off by road to join the Free French Brigade at ZUARA. The journey was quite uneventful and took about a week as we were in no hurry and due to the heavy fighting taking place in certain areas the our speed was reduced to a crawl. We eventually arrived and were given tents to live and sleep in foir the lengh of our stay. Gen, KOENIG spoke no english and Col. HOARE no french, although I found out quite soon that both men understood a little of the other's language, KOENIG more so than HOARE, so I was always called upon whenever these two met, except at Officers meeting when the official French interpreter, a Russian Foreign Legion Warrant Officer, took over,thank goodness. We also found that another french speaking British Officer, a Captain, was already serving as an adviser for some time now, so the Col made full use of his services as well. The front line was not too far away now, the 8th Army was pushing the enemy back slowly but remorselessly towards CAPE BON and had presently reached a position around GABES, and was being confronted by stiffening opposition. Meanwhile on the British 1st Army front our troops were doing quite well against the enemy and were pushing him slowly but shorely towards CAPE BON from the west but were suffering a few reverses and a lot of casualties due in part by the appearance of a new German Tank called the TIGER, which was a monster to which the 1st Army really had no answer. The American 7th Army under Gen. PATTON was proving to be a failure and a handicap on the progress eastwards. At KASSERINE PASS the Americans were surprised by an inferior force of Germans whilst refuelling their tanks and ran away abandoning the tanks and equipment. The Germans carried on with the refuelling and as the Sherman tanks were still in perfect working order they got into them and drove them down to meet the oncoming British 7th Armoured Div. also in Shermans. The British had been told to expect the Americans any time and they would have Sherman tanks with large American white stars painted on the sides and the roof of the tanks. Naturally when they saw these tanks approaching them they took them to be the American 7th Army tanks, stopped and got out of their tanks to greet their allies. You can imagine their surprise when these 'American' tanks opened fire on them and they lost several tanks, and lives, before retaliating, counter attacking and chasing them off. We held a very low opinion of the fighting qualities of American troops after that.

Meanwhile the Colonel and his staff carried on with their training programmes, and I quite enjoyed being the 'general factotum' around the place. which gave me plenty of free time to myself. I met most of the French Generals in the de GAULLE Brigade, and when de GAULLE himself flew out to inspect the Brigade, I was introduced to him by Gen. KOENIG himself, who said (in french) "YOU CAN TALK TO HIM IN FRENCH - HE'LL UNDERSTAND YOU" which de GAULLE proceeded to do, and he spoke to me for a short while asking me about myself.

I think that de GAULLE must have had some influence in some way, because it was very shortly after his visit that the Brigade including ourselves was ordered to pack up, and move to the front, near ENFIDAVILLE, to assist the 8th Army in the final push for CAPE BON. I knew that all the French were eager to get back into action as they wanted to be in on the final surrender of the Afrika Corps, that is why I suspect de GAULLE had a say in this move. The Brigade moved off without much delay and we followed in our own time and choosing our own route, as our job was now temporarily on hold. However after the fighting was over and the enemy had finally surrendered at CAPE BON and the dust had settled, the Col. was instructed to disband the Unit, as the re-equipping and training of the Free French Foces which included both the forces of de GAULLE and Leclerc as well as those in North Africa who wished to enlist with them, would be undertaken by the Americans, who were to incorporate them all in the American Army as the Free French Armoured Division. But that was in the future so our services were no longer required at this time, so I returned to Base Depot in ALGIERS for a new posting.

This took some time in coming but eventually I heard that my previous Regiment the 149th Anti-Tank Regt. (who had assisted me in obtaining my Commission) were still with the 4th Indian Division and were in action at MONTE CASSINO, besieging the Monastery, but were being held up by stubborn defence from the Germans holding it. I applied to rejoin my old Regiment as an Officer and was accepted by them. I arrived at Cassino towards the end of February 1944 and found that the Regt. was holding a position north of the Monastery, and was now part of the recently formed New Zealand Corps, together with the New Zealand Division and the N.Z. Armoured Brigade.

To recap on the recent fighting in this area, it appears that in Janaury 1944, American troops advancing from the south were the first allied forces to be halted by the Monastery, perched on the top of MONTE CASSINO, and overlooking the town of CASSINO. Their first frontal attack was heavily repulsed and broke down in the face of devastating fire from the German defenders. They then reformed and attacked again, this time by-passing the Monastery and Town and getting behind it. They then launched another assault from two sides, the north and south-east but in the face of the fiercest opposition,foul weather and all but impassable terrain, the American assault finally petered out on the bare hillside, where the troops clung to their hard won ground until ordered to withdraw. It was then that the N.Z. Corps took over from the Americans, and the Brit. 78th Division was held in Reserve. A new assault on the Town and the Monastery was planned for February, but it was decided to bomb the Monastery to 'soften' the defences before the main attack was launched. The American Air Force were given the task of bombing the Monastery prior to the assault. According to all reports I received from the survivors in the 4th Indian Div.(my Division), and the N.Z.Division, nothing divised by man could possibly have assisted the enemy more than the American Air Force attempt at bombing the Monastery. It was a ghastly and costly failure, as most of the bombs fell on the British Troops waiting to launch the main attack. It was estimated that at the most one third of the bombs dropped hit the target area and the rest hit the waiting troops. A N.Z. Hospital about 5 miles away was hit ! [ For a better description of this bombing read Cap. 23 on page 286 of FOURTH INDIAN DIVISION by Lt.Col. G.R.STEVENS. O.B.E.] This took place on 15th February and I arrived in March.

The terrain was very mountainous in the area we occupied and the anti-tank guns virtually useless, so the Regt. had been temporarily issued with large 4.5 ins.mortars in place of the guns and were busily engaged mortaring the defenders in the Monastery whenever called upon. I was welcomed back into the Regt. and was put in charge of "C" Troop, normally equipped with 17 pdr guns, but now of course firing mortars. "C" Troop had been placed in a rocky position but well protected by the narrowness of the cleft which was the gun position as mortars fired with a high trajectory compared with the field gun and anti-tank gun we normally used. I had 1 Sgt. as my 2 i/c and about 26 other ranks. My command post/quarters was situated on the far end of this cleft or split in the rocks comnplete with radio and operator and a place for my bedding. The men had made a very good job of this position since their arrival on the site, and had managed to make a roof which, with the help of old ground sheets, was also rain proof, as well, of course, as a protection against flying pieces of rock and shrapnel which occured whenever we got stonked. I had only been there a few hours when I received our first stonking from the German mortars in the Monastery, unpleasant but not accurate, as they knew the ar