I found it a very interesting read and it was certainly a different world to any I have come across. I cannot even begin to understand what they went through.
Please enjoy it and share the link so that others can read it.
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W.E.Alibone. II20949. Anti-Tank regiment.
A-Sejourn in the desert.
July 21st. 1942.
After almost eight weeks at sea today we arrived at Port Toufik. We had many a talk coming over on where our destination might be, but after the fall of Tobruk and the complete change of the whole situation in Africa we felt there could be only one place for us, so here we are in Egypt.
Speaking for myself I did not feel too good, a sea trip evidently does not agree with me; however I know there are plenty more feeling quite as bad as I.
22-7-42
We eventually reached Katatba just as dawn was breaking, being dark naturally we did not see much of the country we passed through, although we did pass through Cairo. Our real first sight and experience of the desert, as this camp is literally miles from any sign of habitation, we understand. We are staying here for a few weeks to do some extensive training to get us used to the desert conditions before moving up into the 'blue'. It’s certainly a huge camp with everything laid on, showers,
N.A.A.F.I's etc. We soon experience what heat really is, as just now is about the hottest time of the year. I could stand the hot weather at home very well, in fact I had boundless energy, but this is something much hotter than anything I had experienced before, the sand is like walking on hot cinders, strange to say, it became very cold during the night, that was the hard part about it , the two extremes, as naturally our clothing was rather scanty, and we only had one blanket. However we soon settled down to desert conditions, of course we all felt that things could be much worse than this. Here we had plenty of water also there are plenty of facilities for keeping oneself clean, little did we know that these baths would be the last for several months. We have been here for two weeks now and felt that at any time we would be moving up into the line to take a more active part in the war. Our training hadn’t been too severe, a little gun drill, also a few short marches in the desert. I rather enjoyed those little excursions especially as now I was feeling a little more like my old self, l found it quite interesting marching on a compass bearing. We took it in turns to carry the instrument, also we were forbidden to take a drink out of our water bottles, the idea was to get us accustomed to going without water as long as possible. I found it fairly easy after a time to ignore the urge to take a suck out of the bottle when you thought no-one was looking.
Today is August Bank holiday which proved to be a real occasion received my first letters from Kit, I felt real moved over them as it was my first touch of home for over two months. Of course they weren’t up to date having been posted almost immediately after I left England.
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However it is very hard to explain how much letters mean to us out here, really they mean everything, in fact they are about all we have to look forward to. Each day it seems to get hotter so you can well imagine how we appreciate a cold shower in the afternoon. We are busy now putting the appropriate camouflage on the guns and vehicles, a move appears to be fairly imminent.
Mid August.
We have been ordered to hand in our kit bags and un-necessary kit this morning as this afternoon we are moving up into the line, after a good deal of preparation such as filling any old tins with water we are ready to move off. After travelling a considerable distance along the main Cairo/Alexandria road I was rather disappointed when we left the road and began to cross the desert. We were all hoping we would pass through Alexandria however I was not to see that town for several months.
After spending the night just off the road we were up very early in readiness to make an early start. We were now in the desert with a vengeance and this is about the roughest and dirtiest journey I have experienced. It's absolutely impossible to see the truck in front of us, however after losing our way we eventually reached our destination. On our way up here we met an anti-tank regiment going out of the line. We also passed thousands of troops who were evidently pleased to see us, they certainly gave us a very cheering welcome anyway. What took my eye too was the amount of equipment, guns, tanks, transport etc. scattered about the desert I could only feel that 'jerry’ and the 'Itie' were in for an unpleasant time when the word 'Go' was given. However, that wasn't to happen for several weeks yet. We were to get our own initiation before the big event.
We are now in reserve positions a few hundred yards behind the front lines, although we are not quite within range of his guns we can hear them cracking away. Each night we are warned to in readiness for the enemy‘s attack which is expected in our sector, our warning is to be a particular coloured flare, however nothing exciting happened to us, anyway it petered out before reaching us. Arthur Warhurst and I are doing our little bit of cooking we have about ten to cook for, the rest of the troop do their own in the various detachments. A lot of men have reported sick with tummy trouble and several have been evacuated to hospital with dysentery. Arthur and I are not feeling too good ourselves, we were both up several times in the night, so we decided to walk over to the M.0. in the morning, luckily it 's only a short distance away and we make it alright. He gave us a couple of tablets and told us to go back and lie down and visit him again in the morning. However we both think we are better in the morning so don't bother. In the meantime one of the battery cooks has been sent to our troop so Arthur and I are out of a job as far as cooking is concerned.
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Haven’t received any more mail since those on August Monday expect some more soon though I can depend on Kit to Keep 'em rolling. The flies are terrible here really have to be seen to be believed the only time we get any respite is at night when they mysteriously disappear. Wish I knew where they bedded down. One has a continuous swarm around one, they stick in the corners of one's eyes and mouth and it’s absolutely impossible to keep them off the food and immediately one puts down a mug of tea there is at least ten in it before one is able to prevent it. One wonders whom they had to torment before we came into their lives. Of course they are responsible for all this dysentery however we carry out all the drill we have been taught such as burning or burying all our rubbish and waste. Our troop officer has been sent to hospital with this tummy trouble, really we are very shorthanded, some of the gun crews only have two or three men. Hope I can steer clear of it, although I am not feeling too frisky. Quite a number of the men are troubled with desert sores, the fair haired men seem to be the most susceptible, they only have to knock themselves slightly and it turns sceptic, naturally these sores are a great attraction for the flies. Our new cook is quite a character he‘s a real cockney standing only 4'8" high with the appropriate nickname of "Tich'. He was once missing for nine months for which he was awarded a hundred days in the glasshouse. He's about twenty four and married he also informs me his wife is expecting a baby, in fact he seems to think she should have presented him with an offspring any time now, personally I don't think he is very sure of the dates. He seems to have taken a fancy to me anyway he confides in me quite a bit, really l don’t know why, I have my own troubles. He's very amusing and tells me bloodthirsty tales about his mother-in-law what she would do to him if he failed to treat his wife in the accepted manner. I am sure he would look after her very well as he gives me the impression of being devoted to her. We tried to build ourselves a fly-proof shelter today and after working in the blazing sun the whole afternoon to accomplish this almost impossible task we had orders to move tonight. I don't think I have ever heard such profanity before in my whole life as Arthur, Tich and I uttered, we had almost done the impossible and were looking forward to at least two or three siestas, however this life is full of surprises and changes and it is up to us to adapt ourselves to the prevailing conditions as quickly as possible. At last we are ready to move off it‘s a work of art to pack our trucks as we seem to accumulate more and more each day. Tich's cooking pots and pans almost need a truck themselves.
We are going into the front line tonight where we are likely to see some fireworks. The New Zealanders have just moved out of the positions we are to occupy so thank goodness we have no gun pits or slit trenches to dig. After seeing us well established in our new surroundings the sergeant
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and driver have to go and fetch the rations leaving 'Tich' and I in charge of this particular position, anyway, while the cook prepares the evening meal I have a nose round to see if the last occupants have left anything of value behind, however my only find is a few packets of chewing gum which I promptly present to ‘Tich‘ not liking same myself. Of course we 'collar' the most likely looking slit-trenches available, 'Tich' suggests we share the same trench however, that suggestion doesn’t appeal to me much, so he chooses one very close to mine, It 's now almost dark and still the sergeant hasn’t returned "Tich‘ is becoming reel concerned over their prolonged absence although I have a sneaking feeling it 's the rations he 's most concerned about. We have already eaten our dinner and are seriously thinking of finishing off the remainder, however, as much as we dislike the idea of it being wasted our good manners prevail and we leave it intact hoping they will soon return. Its now 23.00 hrs and they have not returned so we decide to bed down however we aren’t allowed to sleep as our artillery opens up with quite a heavy barrage. As we lie in our trenches we can distinctly hear the shells whistling as they pass directly overhead. Jerry decides he’s not taking that without some form of reply so he starts a counter barrage, we seem to be about half-way between the two opposite batteries, not at all an enviable position to occupy I assure you, however we are comparatively safe unless we suffer a direct hit. "Tich' doesn’t like it a bit and wants to come into my trench, but I assure him he’s just as safe where he is. This is my first experience of being under shell-fire and I say without hesitation I'm not enjoying it either. Eventually we manage to get some sleep and wake up in the morning none the worse for the last night‘s excitement. We are just having our breakfast when the sergeant returned, evidently they got caught in the barrage and were not allowed to proceed any further, having to remain where they were until morning. Arthur has gone back to the wagon lines with his truck so our party is quite depleted. I firmly believe the flies are even more numerous in this position, what a life, what with these pests and a few others such as Scorpions etc. not forgetting the heat and shortage of water. Our ration is one gallon a day per man. One has to do everything with that small amount. I'm afraid we are already looking rather scruffy as our K.D. hasn’t been washed for several weeks now. We seldom wear more than our shorts and boots consequently we are becoming quite tanned. ‘Tich' is almost the colour of copper, and I'm almost as dark myself. I don't dislike the heat it certainly has its compensations anyway it’s much better than lots of rain, we are nice and dry all the time.
Sept.
We had a great thrill this morning three ‘Junkers‘ 88s were serenely flying over when the New Zealanders opened up with their ‘Bofers' and quickly accounted for two of them, one dived straight down in flames a few hundred yards from us and the other with its starboard engine in flames passed directly
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over our position. Although the pilot made a valiant effort to get his plane over his own lines he crashed in the minefield a short distance away. I'd seen several planes brought down before but not lucky enough to have such a grand stand view.
Sept 2nd
We are moving out tonight making some kind of attack we believe, After packing our truck (We are now reduced to one truck) We are waiting to be taken away by an officer from one of the other troops, for some unknown reason he didn’t put in an appearance (some misunderstanding) I suppose. So we spent the night sleeping beside our truck. Strange to say I enjoyed a very nice sleep. I don't sleep too good as a rule the hard bed is the explanation I guess, however I evidently get sufficient sleep as I never feel sleepy during the day.
Sept 4th
We had a. very bad time last night. On top of losing two of our guns one of the detachments was completely wiped out - the sergeant, bombardier driver and two gunners were killed out right, another lad was so badly wounded he's not expected to recover. Apparently their gun sustained a direct hit on the emergency ammo container. Several other men in the near vicinity were wounded too including Cal Bowers an old pal of mine. Our first casualties we were all somewhat shaken by it. The two gunners were old friends of ours as they had been in the troop almost as long as I. We expect we are moving back again tomorrow.
Sept 5th
We are now out of the line having moved back a few miles this evening, expect we shall stay here for a bit at least until we are reinforced with men and equipment. After a few days rest we are to go in again tomorrow. We are taking over a couple of guns already in position but have to make the best of the men available. I have to join another detachment made up with a Bdr. and another gunner from No. 1 gun. Incidentally we are taking the place of the team we lost. In the meantime our troop officer has returned he's a very thoughtful chap as he brought us some beer back with him. I'm sure it leaves very little to the imagination to realize how much we enjoyed that.
Mid Sept.
We understand we are going forward tonight, again we are relieving the New Zealanders, real good lads these always willing to help whenever possible. After quite an exciting move in the dark we eventually reached our destination. Once more on the way up here we had to negotiate a mine-field a gap is made in the mine-field by the simple process of removing a few mines so they don't remove more than is absolutely necessary. I assure you the safe track isn't very wide, certainly leaves very little margin, however no-one ran over a mine. We did lose a truck immediately after we arrived up in the 'blue' the driver having his legs seriously injured. It was 02.09 hrs. when we finally
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reached our position having lost ourselves again. As usual it's quite a work of art to find one's way about the desert during the hours of darkness.
These positions are under observation from the enemy so we are ordered to remain in our trenches until 11.00hrs. The air is so clear in the early morning that Jerry can see every move we make. As the sun reaches its full strength it becomes rather hazy so he is unable to see what we are doing so easily I rather like being here something seems to be happening the whole time, regularly some Stukas come over to dive bomb the 25 pounders a thousand yards or so in our rear. One can distinctly see the bombs immediately they are released from the planes but as they gather speed naturally we lose sight of them. He also sends over a. considerable number of shells, so far we have been lucky, none have fallen near us, he seems to be more interested in putting those field guns out of action. He knows we are quite harmless unless he decides to send us a few tanks. We have been here almost a week now and apart from the men bringing the rations round after dark we haven’t seen a soul. It’s terribly hot too, if only we had a little more water to use, it gets very hot as there isn't a vestige of shade to protect us from the sun. The tea ration only permits three brews a day so we have to be very careful to make it last the time. The rations are not too bad as the last occupants of this position left us quite a bit of food. Of course there is very little variety and one gets tired of the everlasting bully and biscuits. At the moment I’m doing the cooking, I really don't know how we should manage without the petrol tin, it’s used for almost every thing cooking, brewing-upcan, also we fill it up with sand liberally soaked in petrol that's our means of cooking, very effective, though personally I prefer wood when available. Thousands of gallons of' petrol must be used daily for the sole purpose of cooking. After staying here for a little more than a week we are moving tonight we understand the Greeks are taking over and we are going into their old positions a few thousand yards back. We had quite a bit of excitement just as we were getting our kit together the truck was coming to take us out immediately it became dark so we had to have everything ready enabling us to get out as quickly as possible. At that particular moment Jerry evidently had to send over a parting shot or two and did so with very good marksmanship, two of them landing direct in our area. The first one didn’t explode luckily for 'Hardie' who was the only one of us left on the surface, how he escaped injury from the one that did is one of those mysteries no-one can explain. We eventually reached our new positions without further incident, again we had the good fortune to find gun-pit and trenches already prepared. I assure it's no fun digging pits in the dark especially when one has solid rock to contend with. After managing to get two or three hours sleep we had our usual roam around to find the place absolutely filthy, the late occupants must have lived like pigs.
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Must say this for our lads they are very well disciplined in the way of camp cleanliness, everything is either buried or burned and that means everything in the way of waste, consequently the flies are appalling literally a black mass of them around one‘s face the whole time. Wish my tummy would behave itself really I should report sick. I have had trouble with it for weeks now, everybody is about the same I believe a night never passes without having to get up two or three times. One thing I haven’t desert sores to contend with like some of the poor devils the flies almost drive them crazy.
Oct. 1st.
Book a walk over to T.H.Q. this morning to see if they had any flour to spare, hope to make a boiled apple pudding. I have quite a few apple rings so feel with a bit of luck it should turn out alright. This cooking is quite a problem especially when the sand is blowing about, incidentally we have experienced a few sand storms of late, the sand penetrates into everything we haven’t the slightest protection against it all. I am getting a little hardened off against those pests the flies although they are just as bad, but the sand is almost unbearable at times. I saw ‘Tich‘ this morning he was very excited informed me he had received news from home acquainting him with the
fact that his wife had given birth 'I'm a daddy'. My cooking effort was quite a success at least we ate it all and I’m sure that’s as good a proof as any. A sergeant from one of the other troops has joined to take over our gun. 'Wardie' is rejoining his old pals tomorrow I shall miss him as we all got on so well together. Our new No.1 is a very nice fellow he’s been in the battery a long time and I knew back in blighty. We were given to understand that the flies would be less numerous by October however they are still as plentiful in our part of world anyway.
Mid Oct.
After a long spell with this gun detachment the troop officer informed me he wants me back at the T.H.Q. tomorrow, in the meantime we have been sent reinforcements and we are actually at full strength again, almost the first time since arriving in the ‘blue'. Saw Arthur Harhurst again today, he had been in the wagon lines for quite a time, however he 's having a spell with T.H.Q. for a bit. He‘s quite good entertainment when he gets going with ‘Tich'. I made quite a name for myself when cooking with the old detachment so 'Tich' thinks I shall be able to assist him, he doesn’t mind who does it he's perfectly happy having a roam round somewhere. We have made ourselves an oven out of an ammo container and much to his surprise his first effort at making pastry was a real success. One has to do a lot of improvising in this life. We experienced our first rain this afternoon and I managed to catch sufficient on some canvas covering our stores to have a bath. I feel like a new pin now. Some of the lads have been to Cairo on leave they are allowed four clear days after reaching their destination. Altogether they are away ten days. I’m looking forward to my break that’s if I’m
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fortunate enough to get it. There‘s talk of a big attack coming off in the near future, consequently all leave will be curtailed when it does take place. Just returned from a three day scheme thoroughly enjoyed too as all it entailed was riding about in a truck the whole time. Quite the easiest exercise I have participated in. We heard afterwards that the sole reason for it was to give Jerry the impression that the big attack was to originate in our sector (the South) we learned later that it served its purpose most admirably. As we travelled over the desert the whole thing hardly seemed real to me. Whichever way one looked there were vehicles, guns, tanks, truck loads of infantry and all manner of machines of war. Probably no one had ever traversed these sands before certainly a collection like this had never been witnessed. All we talk about now is this forthcoming attack we feel its any day now especially as the moon is almost at its full.
Approx.Oct.20th
Today we experienced our worst sandstorm, it was just hell, everything was buried and visibility was absolutely nil. Naturally we were unable to cook any food or even brew up. The Arabs say after three days of this one could commit: a murder, however towards evening it had abated considerably, and then to make matters it started to rain. Tich and I walked over to one of our other gun positions to deliver a message and between the two of us we lost our way on the return journey. By this time it was deluging down and in a very short time we were soaked.
When we had almost given up hope of finding our way back before morning we were fortunate enough to strike a place we recognise thus enabling us to reach T.H.Q. after wandering about the desert for over four hours. I felt sorry for Tich because it wasn’t necessary for him to have accompanied me, he just offered to come, however after a few hours sleep we felt none the worse for our little adventure. How simple it is to lose one 's way in the desert during the hours of darkness even if one is in possession of a compass.
Oct 22nd.
Our B.C. visited the troop this afternoon to pass on some information to us, during his talk we were informed that the big show starts tomorrow night. Tomorrow we shall be busy making our final preparations. Our new guns arrived yesterday so we haven’t had much time to get accustomed to them, however, we are not entirely unfamiliar with them as one of our troop having had them back in blighty.
Oct 23rd.
Tonight we are moving up into our allotted positions , during the night we are standing to as tactical reserve, we have to be ready to move off to whatever part of our sector we are needed, however, no enemy break through is attempted so we are not disturbed.
Oct 24th.
It rained during the night completely washing us out of our trenches, luckily it was nice and warm this morning so enabling us to get dried out before moving off. I am back with my old gun detachment again
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T.H.Q. has been broken up for the battle so our T.C very kindly offered me the choice of whichever gun I preferred naturally I chose this one. We are moving right forward tonight to give the infantry anti-tank protection. Arthur has just returned from Cairo where he has been spending his leave, he is on the gun too. As we move up in the dark we pass battery after battery firing into the enemies positions, what a din, the earth literally Shakes with the explosions, and the flashes one is absolutely surrounded by them. The barrage is something terrific and one feels glad we are not on the receiving end of it.
Those field gunners must be working terribly hard keeping their guns blazing away. The track is simply crammed with vehicles of all types consequently we are unable to proceed very fast. Occasionally one goes up in flames having suffered a direct hit as 'Jerry' himself is having something to say in this night’s entertainment. We are now reaching our destination and coming under heavy mortar fire which compels us to leave the truck whenever it stops and take whatever cover we can find on the ground. Our T.C. is experiencing some difficulty in locating our positions, however after an hour or two of wandering around in circles we eventually reach ours. We now have the unpleasant task of digging in our gun also providing ourselves with slit trenches, as I have a nasty feeling we are going to need them in this part of the world. He is still behaving in rather an inhospitable manner, sending over quite a variety of unpleasant missiles including a fair amount of small arms fire. We frequently have to duck as one explodes uncomfortably close, fortunately we have suffered no casualties, really a miracle considering what's been flying around. Our job is to guard the gap in the minefield if he does attempt a counter attack he's expected to come this way.
Oct 28th.
This terrible barrage continues and one wonders how anyone can live through it, we think we are having a rough time but it must be nothing to what he's having to endure. On top of all the shelling the R.A.F. is playing their not inconsiderable part. We seem to be almost immune from air attack, having only seen a few Stukas since the battle commenced and they appear to be more concerned about getting back than giving us any trouble. Quite frequently about a dozen of our Hurricans dive down to almost ground level to strafe the enemy infantry in their trenches the other side of the minefield. From our positions we can see about twenty knocked out tanks in the minefield, look like some of our Grants We have been here almost a week now.
Oct 30th.
We have spent most of the time in our trenches it’s certainly not very healthy on the surface although the shelling is not so bad. We have had some uncomfortable times during the last few days but so far have sustained no casualties. A rather strange thing happened today, we were amazed to see a couple of 'Ities' under the protection of a white flag approaching our positions however we soon learned the reason for their visit. They wished to know if they
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could be granted a truce to enable them to collect and bury their dead.
Although a complete truce was not granted they were allowed to do what they wished during which time no guns were fired in that particular direction.
For the first time for several days we heard what was happening in other sectors natural we were overjoyed to learn that everything was going according to plan.
We were overjoyed to learn that everything was going
9th day of battle.
We could hardly believe our eyes this morning when we saw our infantry advancing across the minefield. Although it had been comparatively quiet during the night we did not really expect this, however our T.C. has just come over and given us the order be prepared to move, apparently he moved out during the night. It's a nice feeling to be able to move freely on the surface without the risk of being hit by some flying metal or any other unpleasant things that have been flying around of late.
As we passed trough the minefield a gap had been made to allow the infantry a safe passage before us. We had a better view of those knocked out tanks as we thought they proved to be 'Grants'. All had their tracks blown off, expect they will be salvaged at the first opportunity. After safely negotiating the minefield we were soon stopped for the night. What a strange sight to see everybody cooking their evening meal on open fires where complete blackout had prevailed for over a week. Now we were allowed to show as much light as we wished. There were plenty of S mines and booby traps lying around so one had to be careful where one walked. The ground was literally pocked with shell holes showing the complete devastation wrought by our barrage.
We are up very early in the morning in readiness for the chase, as we move across the desert we frequently have to prepare for emergency action as enemy tanks are reported moving in our direction, however, much to our disappointment none approach us.
During the afternoon the first of the 'Ities‘ appear on the scene, what a rabble they look, they wave to us but pleased to say our lads just ignore them. We first saw them in twos and threes now they are appearing in scores, there's no-one in charge of them. We are chiefly concerned about keeping well up in the chase. Later on in the afternoon we met a huge crowd of them estimated at more than five hundred. I did see a couple of our lads marching along side of that little party, they looked rather ‘cheesed off' I thought. Probably thinking of a long march back to a P.O.W. cage. Again it rains at night soaking us to the skin and this time we don't get much chance to dry our bedding as we are up and away by first light, however we dry our bedding a little by little by spreading them out on the truck. Much to our disappointment we are not allowed to continue the chase as the anti-tank gun is purely a defensive weapon, we are not necessary during an advance of this magnitude so we have to remain here for a few days. We learn later that we are going to do a couple of days salvaging and that consoles us a bit thinking it will be a change anyway.
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Nov.
We have finished our bit of salvaging during which time we found almost everything from a tank to an empty petrol can. Blankets we recovered by the hundred much to our discomfort as we found later many of them infested with fleas and other vermin. However, being static we were able to wash our clothing out a little even if our water was still rather scant. After a few days of waiting around we are to continue our advance tomorrow starting at first light.
We move off at 0500hrs stopping a couple of hours later for breakfast. A short time later we pass Alamein station and reach the main coastal road, we feel excited at seeing some sign of civilisation after being in the desert for over four months and seeing nothing but sand, rock and flies. I think one can easily understand our feelings. I'm perfectly aware that four or five months isn’t a very long time but one has to actually live there under the conditions that prevail in that wilderness of sand to really appreciate them I guess. There was even greater evidence of a battle having taken place than in the sector we had just left. Burned out tanks and all types of vehicles littered the desert, as we rode along the road we had our first sight of the Med what a glorious sight, and how we longed for a good swim to wash this dust and filth off our bodies and clothing. This travelling about the desert is certainly a dirty undertaking as one literally lives in a cloud of dust the whole time, however it is isn’t now we are on the road, rather bumpy perhaps but we are well accustomed to that sort of thing now. After being on the road for almost three days we reach Sidi Berrani and much to our disappointment we learn we are not taking the coastal road any further owing to the road being congested with transport carrying supplies, we have to travel across the desert once more - more dust and bumps. We eventually reach El Adem where we remain for two nights we are very lucky as we find an old well with lots of water, although it isn’t fit for drinking purposes we are able to use it for washing and have a real thorough clean up, it's a grand feeling to be almost clean again, although we know perfectly well we shall be as bad after a mi1e's travel in the desert. Nevertheless we certainly look a different colour as we found it wasn’t all sun-tan. We are now wearing battle-dress, being issued with same just before commencing the advance as it is very cold during the nights and early morning I assure you we are very glad of them. On three consecutive nights we have had rain, not much perhaps but sufficient to soak our blankets making it very unpleasant as we don't have time to dry them out, being on the move again at first light. The rations problem is very well arranged of course we always carry a six day emergency stock on the truck but so far that is intact.
Somehow or other the ration truck appears on the scene, of course there is no variety being just bully or K.V. and biscuits’, however there is always ample which is the main thing I guess. The water ration is rather meagre as we are now reduced to half a gallon a day per man.
Mid Nov.
We had rather an unpleasant experience yesterday, ran into an
(sentence missing from diary)
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wrecked fortunately and rather surprising none of the men were injured. The maddening part about it, it was some of our own Mark 4 mines which Jerry had come into possession of sometime or other, however after a short delay we were able to continue our journey slightly altering our formation. After a few more days in the desert we hit the road again a little south of Benghazi at a small town called Jemines, naturally, we were delighted to be out of the sand and dust again. Apart from the mine-field incident we had several other little adventures such as getting ourselves lost when the truck broke down. After spending the night alone we caught up with the regiment during the next morning. They had been firing tracers into the air during the night to guide us to their position but our T.C. thought it more prudent to wait until first light before attempting to join the main forces as there were too many mines in that area to venture far in the dark.
Dec 3rd.
Had my first swim in the Med. today granted it was rather cold but it did move a little of the dirt, how I long for a real good hot bath, expect it will all come off one day. I assure you it’s rather difficult to remove the filth after a days travel in the desert with less than a pint of cold water which often looks almost as sandy as ourselves. We all made a credible effort to keep ourselves as clean as possible under the circumstances. I almost forget the mail, of course we haven’t received any during this march but several reached me before Alamein even if they took a terrible long time to get here to us, no one except the men out here could possibly know how we look forward to their arrival.
Mid Dec.
We have now reached El Aghelia but are unable to proceed any further owing to the number of mines still lying around there are so many the engineers have not been able to render them harmless yet so we have to go back again for a few days. Our troop sergeant has been evacuated to hospital suffering with jaundice in fact we have lost several men with the same complaint, must confess I’m not feeling too bright myself haven’t eaten hardly anything for almost a week now.
Xmas Eve.
Reported sick today and as I thought I have jaundice too, it 's really not surprising as I have had a distinct yellow look about me since yesterday. I am sent to a New Zealand C.C.S. just outside of Agedbia where I spend Xmas day. On the following day a party of us are transferred to a hospital in Benghazi to await the arrival of a hospital ship which is to take us to Alex, from there our destination is a hospital in the Delta we are informed.
Feb 43.
After a spell in hospital I spend two weeks in a No.2 con. depot and then on to the R.A. base where we await a draft going up into the 'blue'
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I rather enjoy my short stay at the base where I am able to spend several days in Cairo. I am feeling real fit again now in fact better than at any time since arriving in the M.E. even putting on a little weight. Eventually the time comes for us to leave the base and after spending a few days at a transit camp just outside of Alex we are at last ready to leave by boat for Tripoli at which place we arrive in three days time spending quite an uneventful time at sea.
March.
By this time Tripoli was some distance in the rear of the eighth army who had already come a long way. Again we had to spend a few days in a transit camp until transport was available to take us to our respective units. There were quite a number of men from my regt. returning to their different batteries including several from my own. We spent quite a congenial time at this camp as it was almost on the shores of the Med. we were able to pass away the time by bathing. By now the sea was fairly warm and pleasant as we are experiencing a spell of really glorious weather quite different from the dip we had just south of Benghazi in December. After a few days of roaming about the desert we eventually rejoin our units. In a way I am quite pleased to be back again also pleased to find most of the lads still with the troop. Apart from one sergeant being killed and a few other casualties of a minor nature they have been extremely lucky although I understand they have seen very little action since Alamein.
April.
We are now in Tunisia and find it not at all an unpleasant country, certainly much more vegetation than we have previously seen since leaving home. Our battery accompanies the New Zealanders on 'Montys ' famous left hook completely outflanking the Mareth Line. This line was composed of really formidable obstacles such as anti-tank ditches, minefields, booby traps etc. however it suffered the same fate as the other defensive systems the eighth army had to contend with during its advance from Alamein. Passing Medenine we soon reached Gabes and hardly pausing we continued our way towards Sfax. In this particular area we were two more than days driving through olive groves. I understand there's reputed to be more than six million trees in this district alone, quite a pleasant change from the dust and
dirt and sand of Egypt. Near El Jem we passed the ruins of a huge amphitheatre quite an imposing structure, a relic of by-gone days. As we were several hundred yards away it was impossible to have a real good look at it, however the business at hand is the most important thing I guess, and one has no time for sight seeing.
This is quite a pleasant land seems to get more like home the farther we go.
Today we were several hours passing through a huge tract of wheat about waist high although our rate of travelling isn't very fast there must have been several miles of it also it stretched on our flanks as far as the eye could see. As the year advances naturally its becoming much hotter also the season must be at least two months in front of ours in England. The wheat we passed through being in full ear,
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also we see fields of peas and beans, unfortunately we have no time to deal with them just now, however they don't appear to be quite ready for picking so we console ourselves with the thought of what we will do to then when the opportunity occurs.
Mid April.
We saw a really wonderful sight today miles and miles of wild flowers they seemed to be about nine inches high with almost every colour represented I could name, a veritable carpet of brilliance as far as the eye could see, really delightful days and one could easily be forgiven for forgetting the nature of our business. However, in spite of such agreeable surroundings we are continually seeing evidence of the more serious job in hand, and each night after his reconnaissance plane had gained some idea where we are likely to stay until morning over came a few bombers in an attempt to make it a little less pleasant for us, however with the aid of the trees available we were able to camouflage our trucks and guns to such good effect that he was never once dead on the target, although one night he hit an Arab village in the very near vicinity. We were not allowed to open fire on him with our Brens etc. because of disclosing our positions, this was quite different to what we had been used to as back in the old days we used to open up with everything we had, often without the smallest chance of hitting him. We have now passed through Susa where we had a really wonderful reception. Jerry had quite recently pulled out and the inhabitants were evidently so pleased to see us they threw flowers at us as we drove through the town. We have had lots of different things thrown at us and dropped on us since arriving in Africa so it was a pleasant change to be the target of such harmless missiles. He have been static now for three days and as the water problem is much easier we are able to give ourselves a thorough clean, in fact in this particular district there is water in abundance both for drinking and washing purposes. There is also a nice plot of peas in the vicinity which we use to the best advantage. The owner having previously given us permission to take as many as we wished. there also are plenty of beans and carrots available so at the moment we are living on the fat of the land. How good it is to taste fresh vegetables again. The lack of that food is without doubt responsible for all the jaundice suffered by so many of the men.
Received a huge batch of mail, over twenty letters as well as a parcel from mother which she posted last September. As I had received no mail for at least two months I can hardly express my feelings on paper at least adequately.
I am the owner of a pullet at least its late owner assured me it had just commenced to lay. He wanted the equivalent of fifteen shillings for it, however, he gladly accepted an old spare shirt I had in exchange. These people seem to be quite different type of Arab to the one's we met in Egypt, they are delighted to take our V. cigarettes in exchange for eggs. They are continually asking for us for tea, so we dry our old tea leaves and swop them for eggs etc. however they get wise to that after a time and refuse to do business with that particular commodity.
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We are expecting to go into position again very soon as 'Jerry' is making another stand in the hills a little west of Ehfidaville. As we move up we have to pass through a little town which is under shell fire from the enemy, we also pass our own 25 pounders firing away into the enemy positions, as it is broad daylight we lose no time in reaching our objective fortunately suffering no harm to either men or equipment.
This is rather unusual moving into position in daylight. The usual procedure is to move under cover of darkness, however, once we have negotiated the town we are no longer under observation thus being comparatively safe, apart from a lucky hit (or unlucky from our point of view) We eventually reach our destination during the afternoon and as we haven’t had any food since breakfast we promptly commence to prepare ourselves a hurried meal, a brew up is the first task. I forgot to mention that ‘Tich' is no longer with us, in fact he was transferred to another battery some time ago, also Arthur had to report sick during Alamein and he has not returned yet, don't think there's much chance of him returning to us now, Our T.C.'s batman is doing the cooking now, a little more orthodox than his predecessor was. I missed ‘Tich's cheery company quite a bit. We have had a great number of our men evacuated to hospital through wounds and sickness, some of them keep joining us again but many are not likely to return to the regt.
Again we are fortunate to within easy reach a nice plot of peas and beans and I assure you we are making the most of this golden opportunity. After the everlasting tinned My hen came across with her first egg today what a fuss she made, I could not think why she was behaving in such a manner, so I had to get her box out of the truck and even put her in it. Afraid I am spoiling her, however, its quite an occasion and we are all as excited as it means an egg for breakfast about once a week a fresh one too. A few hundred yards away there‘s a farmhouse and buildings, during my search one morning I found a huge quantity of corn as the owner had long since evacuated the premises 1 felt fully justified in helping myself to a little. Feel the old girl deserves a little something better than mashed biscuits and bully, must look after her now she is earning her keep. The mosquitoes are almost unbearable in these positions they torment us the whole twenty-four hours, we have always been given to understand they only bite during the night whether these don't know the rules or whether they are deliberately cheating I really don't know. All I understand is they are giving us hell. We have no protection against them whatever, as I‘m sure the anti-mosquitoes cream we smear on all our exposed parts only tends to attract them. It certainly has no detrimental effect on them anyway.
May.
After enduring this torture for a week we are moving tonight, a few more days of this would just about drive us crazy. Flies and sand were bad enough but they are definitely the lesser of the two evils. Although we are only a few
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thousand yards or so away from the mosquito infested positions strange to say there's hardly any here. Our position is in a small olive grove, quite nice really, there's even a well laid on too so we anticipate doing a bit of washing tomorrow however much to our disappointment whilst we are having our breakfast we had orders to be ready to move in thirty minutes. We are evidently going forward again but in a different sector. It is almost 16.00 hrs before we reach our destination we are now a thousand yards or so in the rear of our forward positions which is our objective immediately it becomes dark. I'm not going this time I have to stay in the wagon lines where I shall draw the troop's rations and take them forward each night. It was 03.00 hrs before the drivers returned with the vehicles, by all accounts they had rather a lively time taking the guns in, evidently they have a good stretch of exposed road to transverse, anyway it is our turn tonight. The driver of the ration truck and I do the cooking for us, again the water is none to plentiful. We still manage to get a few beans to supplement our rations, afraid the peas are finished however we did very well having had them on the menu for several weeks.
We managed to get the rations through although it was a little exciting at times having a fair bit of shelling to contend with. The small arms fire is the worst though, one can constantly hear them whining by. Probably they are much further away than they appear to be. As we didn’t get back until the small hours of the morning we didn’t have to rise quite so early this morning.
On one of our roaming expeditions one of the drivers and I found some more chickens we felt fully justified in helping ourselves to as many as we could catch.
The result was he bagged one hen with a brood of chicks and I managed to 'collar' five about half grown. We also found some coops and a huge basket of wheat which we promptly confiscated. I feel I am now in the poultry business in a big way. My old hen who hasn’t failed to lay since she started did not welcome these new arrivals at all hospitably, considers them intruders I believe. Just in the rear of us there is a battery of heavy A.A. guns and one of their detachments have twelve hens (almost like home) nevertheless a fresh egg is a real treat for breakfast, even if it‘s only one‘s turn about once a week. The weather is really lovely just now, glorious sunshine day after day, not that overpowering heat we experienced back in the desert, so with our little bit of excitement at night life isn't too bad at all really.
A couple of Jerry planes flew over us this afternoon, as they were very low they took everybody by surprise and were well beyond our reach before we could grab a bren or rifle, however we heard later that one of them had to pay for it 's audacity can't do that sort of thing round here.
After being in these positions a week, we are to be relieved by the Free French tonight, however, as the vehicles were moving up to take the guns out it commenced to rain and in a short time the ground was an absolute quagmire, the result was lots of trucks became stuck in the mud also there is a very deep waddi
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to be negotiated, quite an achievement to cross under ideal conditions but this torrential downpour made it absolutely futile to attempt a crossing, luckily for us we were well in the rear of the convoy thus escaping the worst of it, except the inevitable drenching of course.
The following night we were more fortunate and withdrew the guns quite easily luckily the desert soon dries up. We are now in reserve positions a few hundred yards in rear of our front line. Today we heard of the fall of Tunis and Bizerta so feel that the end of the African campaign cannot be much longer delayed, apart from these pockets. In the hills resistance is virtually ended. We are having quite an easy time just now, our position has quite a farm-yard appearance about it with my chickens stalking around. Thursday that 's the layer named thus because she produced her first egg on that day, hasn’t missed a day yet, well over twenty in the bag so far. The only trouble is catching them when we have to make a snappy move, as the latest arrivals are still rather wild, however when we all join in the chase we manage to net them alright.
May 13th
Today hostilities ceased in Africa there was not nearly so much jubilation as one would expect at the termination of a successful campaign. I am sure we all felt it was just a step towards ultimate victory and there would be no returning home until victory was complete and decisive, so we wished it were possible to carry on straight from here.
Apart from the usual hardships that was inevitably entails the latter part of the advance had not been at all unpleasant it was certainly a vast difference to anything previously experienced in the desert. After another day or so in these positions we move south for a few miles and make camp just off the main road a short distance from a small village called Sidi Ben Ali, as one of our batteries has left the regt. our troop has been chosen to help form a new one to be called I92, so instead of a battery being composed of four troops it is now reduced to three. We are spending quite an easy time just now, we understand that after a few days in this place we are moving back to Tripoli. In the meantime we are all given a day out in Tunis which is approximately seventy miles away. As there is no food available we have to take our own rations. I spent a very enjoyable day in the company of Cal Towers. I think we saw all the sights the town had to offer including the cathedral. In spite of the truck breaking down which caused us to hitch hike the remainder of our return journey. I‘m sure we all enjoyed our days excursion. We made quite a leisurely move back to Tripoli the journey taking us five days to complete. The Mareth Line didn’t look quite so formidable this time, although there still remained thousand of mines and I assure you we did not venture far off the safe track, it would have been courting
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disaster had we done so. One morning we passed the graves of two of our lads who were killed by small arms fire as they were moving out of position 'Jerry' had buried them in his usual meticulous manner. I think he's rather more particular about his graves than we are. I remember seeing way out in the desert a grave where two Germans had been buried which was a most elaborate affair giving full details about the two men. There was also a very smart swastika on it too. During our trip east we occasionally caught a glimpse of the Med. what a beautiful blue it looked. One night we camped rather earlier than usual within reasonable distance of the sea and much to our delight a truck was laid on for us to have a bathe which was very much appreciated I assure you as a good bit of the journey had been across the desert and we were beginning to look a little the worse for wear. After reaching our destination we were given two weeks rest before commencing our training for future battles in a totally different terrain, however that was not for me.................
Post script added by Mrs E. K.Alibone wife of W. E.Alibone.
At the end of the African campaign the battery went to Italy. Unfortunately Ted was in hospital for three months after which time he was considered unfit for active service. In view of his civilian occupation he was posted to an officers mess in the Lebanon where he stayed until discharge.
copyright © 2010 Mary Laycock.
All material in this entry (Grampy’s diary), such as text, images, content, and design, is copyright 2010 to Mary Laycock and may not be reproduced elsewhere in any way without explicit written permission of Mary Laycock who can be contacted through the blogger.
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