Diary of Garth Edward Sommerville Clabburn - 1942-1944 - Part 20

one ship for home. Thoughtfully Dave asked
if we might be put on the night Junior
Commanders Course which was due to start
on the 13th April on the Egypt House boat.
on the Nile. With our usual luck we
were both granted the course & after a
dreary week of absolute luxury we
moved on to this beautiful house boat
& started our Course. Here we are
wonderfully attended to & our every want
met. The ship is beautifully clean service
terrific & food the best anywhere.
Each day we are lectured on virtually
everything concerning the Air force &
the war by the most competent people
in the ME. service & all is proving
most interesting. Have visited the
Brearly family once or twice & found
them all to be well if not happy. Rob
Morrison & Vic Cowles & I spent some
very happy days together swimming &
drinking & generally mucking
about Cairo before Vic went
back to the bullets & Bob to
Palistine to do a staff course.
After the tough living conditions in the desert
& especially during the big & fast advance
our life in Cairo & around the sporting
clubs has appeared most luxurious & rich.
However, like all sweet things we tired of
it very quickly & were very happy to
start this course which is going to prove
invaluable to we birds what are to
continue accepting more & more important
positions as the war continues.
[*Tuesday 20th April.*] 

Well my 26^th birthday came &
past with no special ado- except to
shock me into realising that I am
gaining years rapidly. Since last
writing I have been listening to many
extremely interesting lectures aportaining
the general Air Force organisation
of the M.E. & how the whole show
functions. We have all learnt a
great deal & have no doubt that
this knowledge will prove invaluable
to us in the future.
Dave & I have been out swimming
once or twice & I have taken
Joan Brearly out to the Gezira

a few times. She is a charming girl

— has a difficult Father & I intend

to cut loose before becoming too involved.

Mother sent me a funny cable yesterday

reading "Good show in London leave

make no hasty decisions love Mother

Clabburn" Dear soul is afraid I may

marry Billy. Mother showed great wisdom

in sending that cable for before 

receiving it I was quite vulnerable 

& after all I would be a fool 

not to wait & see what Australia

has to offer. H/C Duncan told David

yesterday that at last Bobby Gilles is

off "Opps" I was very glad to hear

of this even though there is such

a tremendous shooting party on over

Tunisa right now. Yesterday the

57th Group shot down 84 E.A.

for a loss of about 14-15 this

is the greatest party since the Battle

of Britian & I wish I had

seen during my tour 100 + JU52's

stouging along over the sea.

[*25 April*]

And still taking it on the chin in the

Sporting Club. Great news to hand

about two days ago Air Ministry signalled

saying that I could return home. I am

to go with David Ritchie & all the

other 3Sq. birds who have recently been

replaced. We are now anxiously waiting

for a ship to arrive fearing that Air

Ministry may send a cancelling signal

regarding my posting - they are always

doing things like that. Last night

we all had a grand party at the

Continental Carabret in honour of

two Australian pilots recently repatriated

from Italy. One fellow had lost his

arm another a leg & others who 

could not attend had been shot up

in different ways. They were as happy 

as dogs with numerous tails at

the show - who wouldn't? some of

these fellows had been behind 

the wire for over 18mths. I took 

Joan Brearly along & we thoroughly

enjoyed each others company. One

fly in the ointment is that Joan

[*At the Sporting Club

& also at this 

carabret we met

a Russian delegation

of about 8 Army

fellows in their

illfitting uniforms

& shaven heads.*]

has fallen too heavily & starting to weep

slightly which makes me feel quite helpless.

Bobby Gibbes is down here now &

it was he who organised the

nice little party last night. The Sq

missed all the big day shooting up

the fron & have been killing very

little. Poor old Sgt. Ward one of

our nice new chaps was shot down

last week & from all reports killed.

Col Greeves & Gen McCrae are also down.

Col is going to a job at H.Q.M.E. &

Mac is doing some commando course.

I am sitting on the forward hatch 

of a sturdy clean freighter bowling along

at a good 16 knots down the narrow

Red Sea. How they came to call

it Red - I cannot understand for it

is as blue as the Medderranean. On

both sides about 10 mls distant stand

great bare rocky mountain ranges,

endless sandy ridges & shimmering

heat. I am happy - going home

well fed, very healthy & the

whole world is my oyster.

Recently David & I spent perhaps our

happiest A/F holiday during a 10 day stay

in Alexandria. We thoroughly enjoyed

a few days in the Crillion Pension

& the remainder in Blemhein House

at Stanley Ray. On the night of 5th May

451 Sq. threw a great party to celebrate

the opening of their new concrete mess

at Edku. David & I went out in

a bus together with 26 nurses & had

the grandest fun. The big attraction

was a charming New Zealander named

Audrey Roe - bit more later on.

Alex Chapman had gone to England & the

C.O. — a very nice fellow, was Dick Payne.

W/C Jeffries the Station O.C. was present

& a good guy. My benefactor W/C

Duncan was in very good spirits, as

were we all. I finally - like many

others became too full of good spirits

& went to sleep in the bus during

the 25 mile return trip. It was a

grand party & a credit to Australia

& I am sure all the English girls 

enjoyed themselves.

We swam & sun-bathed & soon became

very well tanned. At places like Monsonia

& the Metropolitan Club we met a

few girls & enjoyed an occasional beer.

We went swimming many times with

Mrs Klat & Mrs Dorra & three times

indulged in a very fine luncheon at Mrs

Klat's home. These are very fine & cultured

folk & could not do enough for us. Little

Mrs Ritz McCallough who is married to an 

Australian Lt. Col. was most entertaining &

lived in a beautiful penthouse on Rue

Touad. We spent an evening in this palatial

place furnished in gilt & glass, drinking

whisky & telling rude stories. A very

strange & funny set up. Our last afternoon

& evening in Alexandria was perhaps

the happiest party of the war to date.

We were four - Audrey Roe, Mary Carrol,

David & I. These two charming N.Z.

nurses were on leave & staying at

the Beau Rivage. We swam & yarned

& then had one drink with the Klat

family in the beautiful hotel

garden. The girls then came 

along to Blenheim House where we had

a few drinks & dinner. We listened to

the radio & the lovable small talk of

these two charming English girls. After

more drinkings, when most of the 

other fells had gone to bed we indulged

in a couple of S.B's & then switched to

Blenhiem Busters. The first was Gin Vodka & Ginger

Ale. The second - Vodka & Gibib. Of 

course after these we were all dancing &

floating several feet above the floor &

the party went on with gay abandon.

We escorted the girls home on the train at

about 1 A.M. & they raided the kitchen with

the aid of much dutch courage & a box

of matches. Their haul proved pretty poor

— 2 bottles of ginger ale - two small

sausages & some dry bread. Still at

2 A.M. it was an enjoyable supper. Dave

& I could find no train & slept 

for 1/2 hr or so on the station. After

waking up we managed to hunt up

a taxi & arose next morn as 

fresh as a couple of larks - not

a trace of any headache. Truly

two of the most charming girls it has

been our good fortune to meet. It was

with great regret we went to Cairo on

the train at 9:30 A.M. I rushed 

around & fired up many odd jobs

including a trip to Kanka - 25 mls to

collect a kit bag which I found to

contain exactly nothing of any value.

We left the following morning for

Tufic & Suez. After enjoying a

few drinks with Alf Glendinning

& Rob Andrews. rob is waiting to

return home on a hospital ship.

At 21 P.T.C. Rasforete we picked up

F/Lt Anderson & drove on the Suez.

For a while we thought we may

be going aboard the Queen Mary

but found out we were to

sail in the evening on the Tan

Ping Yang - a small but clean

job carrying only 10 African

passengers. We have six Aussie

Army Officers, one [?] "Old

Bill" & we three A/F types.

All is happy aboard - plenty of marvellous

food, grog & sunshine & we should

be in Australia 17 days after leaving

Olden - should all go according to plan.

The fellows in A.Q.M.C & our liason office

were helpful & evidently somebody worked

things very well to get us out of 

the country so quickly. We were

both spending too much money. My pay

book is to be sent home & xxxx is

worth ₤63 Stirling. I make a note of

this here in case the precious information 

should go astray. This book was made

up to date on 11th May & was 

worth ₤63 Stirling on that day.

All organised resistance on Nth Africa

by the enemy ceased two days ago.

Axis prisoners taken - or counted to

175000 counted 

date number over 150,000 & the war

[*175000 counted

by the 15th May.*] 

material captured is something terriffick.

I feel sorry now that I did not 

stay on for the final great slaughter

& victory - but remember how glad I

was to be out & off at the 

time. David & I saw the hardest

fighting & we feel quite satisfied that we did

a job.

[*15th May*]

We have now been in Cossier for

nearly 2 full days & nights loading

a cargo of 7000 tons of phosphates.

This is the deadest spot on

earth & what is here was

built by the Italians. The phosphate

works are modern & effecient

but that is all there is to

see apart from a filthy wog

village, of about 250 inhabitants.

The sea is wonderfully clear & full

of fish & we have swum

& sunbathed, & overeat at

each meal. Andy & I are both

very concerned at our rapidly

increasing weight & now do

daily exercises trying to reduce 

the girth. The weather is

too hot & I am afraid

the exercises suffer accordingly.

Yesterday & the day before

Germany was very heavily

bombed & the greatest raid of the war

to date was directed against Duisberg.

Mr Churchill - who is now in Washington has

mentioned that the invasion of Europe is

not far distant & that great things are

shortly to be attempted. I can see

Italy collapsing very shortly & perhaps

us receiving great help from countries

like Turkey & Iran. The war

is growing bloodier every hour, but

the Allies & their cause gain strong

with & I feel sure now that we will

come out on top in the European theatre.

18th.

We are in the middle of the Red Sea.

No land in sight & very hot. Andy &

I have been enjoying the sun these

past few days & partaking of very

hot Turkish baths during the afternoons.

Yesterday we say many porpoise &

several tuna fish. The sea is

of a beautiful blue & the sky

a greyish hazy haze of shimmering

heat. Last evening we had

many drinkings in our cabin

& at about 11 P.M. went out

on deck & saw the good old

Southern Cross for the 3rd time in

two years. This moring I listened 

to W/C T. White & also Keith Bridgefort

broadcast from London to Australia.

The news was not good today except

for the smashing of two large dams

at the head of the Richr Valley. The

Japs sunk an Australian Hospital

"Contour" Ship off Queensland - why I don't 

know. 290 people are missing

including 11 women. Our ship is

riding well now for she is deep

in the water & making a steady

13 Knots.

[*26th May 1943.*]

Two days out from Olden we

struck heavy weather - but first a 

little of our stay in that old British

fort & refueling station at the

Eastern entrance of the Red Sea.

We steamed in at about 8 A.M.

The heat was terrific & the 

great solid rock mountains seemed

to reflect it across the bright

blue water. The port was very

busy & I saw many ships. A very

steady & strong breeze was blowing

off shore & the native sailing boats

were putting up a great show & 

bowling along at a good 10 knots. We

saw many big fish leaping about &

also saw many natives lugging.

these about on shore later on.

Major     happened to know a 

Mrs Payne & her charming daughter

Margaret who were aboard the

ship next to us - "The Australian

Star" & after meeting them we

all went ashore together & visited

King Solomon's Tanks. These

great water catchments were

up in a great cleft in the 

rock mountains & had been

discovered & renovated by some

English guy back in 1885.

Old Aden was most interesting

& the dominating influence was

Indian. All the people were

very colourful with great

bright turbans & they were

much cleaner that the Wogs

of Egypt.

Here we could buy silk shirts. pyjamas,

& lingerie, & we all spent a few pounds.

The material was genuine Chinese & Japanese

silk but mostly had been spoilt by poor

tailoring. All the shirts we found out

later on were very skinny in the sleeves & 

short in the tails & the pyjamas were all

half [?]. We also bought cigars. Before

the war Aden had been one of the worlds

finest cigar markets. Here they had been fresh

fine & duty free. Now I fear it is the

worst for the cigars we bought were old

coarse & heavily taped. Colin Anderson

smoked one of his for 5 mins. & then

decided he would either have to part 

with the cigar or his life. He let

the cigar go. During our one evening

in this stifling spot we had four 

charming ladies & two fellows from the

Australia Star across to dinner. There

was Mrs & Miss Payne, & a Tahitian

maid & also one petite French

lady who unfortunately brought

her husband along. Margaret Payne brought

her man of the moment - the assistant purser

& between us we managed to sweep his

young lady partly off her feet & away from

him for this one evening at least.

After dinner - & it was very hot - we

drank & sang on the deck up top.

A large fire broke out across the water

& we later found out that an A/C

had crashed whilst night flying & that

the Australian pilot had been 

killed.

Aboard this ship - & it is a very happy &

contented one, my fellow passangers are:

David Ritchie Colin Anderson both

guys like myself returning from the W/D.

There is Major Andrews of the A.I.F. 

returning after having put in a deal

of service in the M.E & during the

last 6 mths of his stay was fulfilling

the post of Trade Commissioner for

Australia in Egypt in the absence

of Mr Payne. Next we have four

fine fellows who have been

repatriated from P.O.W. camps in

Italy: Major Rimms, Captain Gilbert, Lieut.

Strong & Hicky & Sgt Bergman. Some

of these chaps have been in prison over

18-20 mths & they tell of hardships. We

were very interested to hear the news 

of fellows like Hicky Barre {?] [?] & Allan

Righetti for Hicky had met most of

our fellows & had spent several months

with them in the same camps. Hicky is

minus an eye & Strong has been shot 

through the legs. Apparently these two

chaps are extremely lucky to be alive, let 

alone away from Italy & on this ship

returning home; for the action during

which they were taken prisoner were

fast & many others "bought it."

Finally we have Old Bill Connelly, a

wild bushman from Victoria who

took a shipload of wild horses

to Turkey. He caught smallpox

& was stuck in a Wog hospital in

Suez of all places. He must have

been through Hell for many weeks

& now is pretty weak in body

but strong in spirit. He gets

very drunk on a few drinks because of

his weakened heart & condition & 

yersday (27th May) we took all his grog 

away from him & he thanked us when

he sobered up; but cursed us earlier

on in the piece. The skipper Captain

Jergenson is a great guy & has

been a sailor these past 30-40 yrs.

I have enjoyed many a long year with

him leaning against the rail &

concentrating on his ½ English ½ Norwegian.

Each day we receive the complete

news (BBC) in typewritten form

& for a few days out of Aden

could hear it on the Captain's radio.

One evening we all sat in his

cabin & listened to Churchill speak 

from Washington & were heartened

with his references regarding the

Allied War effort against Japan.

It is evident now that our

leaders are fully aware of our

enemy's strength in the Far East

& are aware that they may 

strike at Australia when our

main forces are concentrating on crushing

Germany & Italy. Europe must be

cleared first because of the

shipping set up & so long as

sufficient materials & men are

sent to the Far East to hold

Japan for say another 12 mths - then

all will be well.

[*29th.*]

We have now been out 9 days

xxx from Aden & all is well.

We have been exceeding hot &

Colin & I have sunbathed continually.

We have sweated more than I would

have believed possible & to top our

slimming exercises off each day we

have sat for one ½ hr in one

specific lavatory in which the

humidity & temperature I am 

sure must have been 99% to

120. From this we stagger dripping

to hot freshwater baths &

then to the dining table where

we promptly eat & drink about 

enough for four men. Many

times I find myself looking back on

my doings these past two eventrul

years & some realise that

perhaps they will always appear as

the two most exciting of my whole

life. No young man past, present, or

future, could ever dream or plan

a more interesting, exciting, romantic,

& full two years no matter how

he tried - & it has all just

come to me because of my

decision to become a pilot.

For all that has happened, for

all I have seen & done; &

for all those kind things I 

have had done for me, I

am truly grateful.

30th May. 

This morning we must be approx 1000

miles due East of Northen Madagascar.

At about 10 A.M. the boys fired off

the Anti A/C rockets & they made

one hell of a bang & went up 

about 1500! From there two parachutes opened out & supported

a great length of fine steel wire.