Major Henry Charles David Marshall - Wallet 1 - Booklet 6 - Part 2

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true facts. I believe he received a shock. As usual I 

followed up the Battalion after seeing all the trucks on the

way and my main job was to see there were no stragglers.

The road was terribly narrow although a beautiful macadam

one and for most of the way had high cliffs one side and

a deep drop the other. I had one delightful surprise as I

was marching along the road. There was room only for

one line of trucks and a single rank of marching men.

I was going along wondering how much further when a

voice hailed me from a car. Looking around it was

Henry and Alan Bamford. I hopped on the side of the 

car and received the news that Henry was going to the

5^th and not coming back to us. He was being taken up

to Brigade by Alan. I was terribly disappointed as I had

hoped he would come back to us. Anyway he went

on and I did not see him again until next day.

We continued the March all afternoon and occassionally

met parties of the local natives Senussi I expect coming

back from Giovanni Berta with their narrow little carts

filled with loot. Out troops were by now very dusty and tired and

extremely thirsty. I remember seeing one cart upended in disgust

because the tins with which it was loaded were olive oil and not

milk - our Italian tinned goods that the troops had met

at Bardia and Tobruk and liked and with which they

expected to quench their thirst. I entered Giovanni Berta

just on dusk and had to get directions as to where BHQ

was located. Just at the entranced was a community bulk

store for the Italians of the vicinity - colonists I mean

and I had to clear this of troops who were trying to find

some special delicacies. They had small chance for

the local Arabs had been here long before. I went on

down the road about a mile and a half - by this time I

was walking and had been for some hours - to an xxx oil store

factory and found my Coy and BHQ quartered in the

grounds. OReilly had made me a very comfortable bed 

and I was ready for it but not yet able to. I went and

located Theo and the Adjutant and reported the Bn in

they had been there some hours. I found out that

 the Battalion had been disposed for defence across

roads and was well scattered. With Theo was the old

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Italian caretaker of the factory who had been regaling them

with some wine. He turned on the last bottle for me and 

I had a drink at least. He gave them one interesting

item of news. One of the Italian Generals Bergonzoli by

name but nicknamed "Electric Beard" had been the

backbone of the Italian Defence at both Bardia and Tobruk

He escaped us by the skin  of his teeth at both places and

had disappeared into the blue. By signs and repeating

his name the old chap said Bergonzoli - Luigi di Savora

solo - two days. - meaning that Electric Beard had been at

the west settlement Luigi di Savora on his own two days

before. It was quite true as later it was found he had

passed through, there on the way to an aerodrome. Just as

we were thinking of bed an English Artillery Major was

brought in. He and other officers had been on a reconnaissance

and had run into a mine field and were blown up. I cannot

remember why he should have arrived at our Headquarters

but we got Russ Godby to patch him up. He fortunately was 

not badly damaged but his pal who was driving broke a leg.

I think one of our trucks discovered them and brought 

them in. Russ also turned on dinner for all of us in his

RAP and whilst I cannot remember the menu I do

remember there was a lot of it and beautifully hot and

everyone including the Englishman did justice to it.

Then we all went to bed and to sleep. There are a few

isolated instances to remember. Keith Walker and his

carriers were first in the town but as they had no

wireless they could not report as quickly as the Reconnaissance

Regt who followed them in some time later and who

were equipped with wireless. Keith when he got there found -

a couple of cases of Liquers in a building but unfortunately

for us he only  snared three and let the Recce Regt get the

rest. However we all got a task  and I had a couple of

decent nips of Cherry brandy and rather a good one too.

I think One other incident bears telling. Whilst we were

in the oil factory one Corporal of the Cheshires who had

been set to guard some place - I think the factory reported

that the cellar had been broken into by Australians

and the wine barrel stolen. Theo took a very secondhand

view of this and queried his statement as to Australians.

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He finally admitted that it could only be Australians and

that was the basis of his charge. He was sent off with a 

flea in his ear to find out. I made a search and was

quite definite that none of my company who were all

round the factory had it. Probably the Cheshires had

it themselves. A brief description of Giovanni Berta

might be interesting. It is the same for any other towns

in Cyrenica. The Italian establishes these communities

and the farms lie all around its town. In each town

are community factories such as its olive oil one, mills

butchers - a big store - everything is state controlled

and the settlers all buy from these. I think everyone

had a wonderful sleep and the next morning woke up bright

and early. The Cheshires had the guard on the Community

Store and they I am afraid got into it too. I got a pillowslip

and it was amazing the very beautiful as well as

necessary things such as food the store contained. The

Senussi had made a terrible mess of it as they were

in as soon as Italian soldiers were out. Some amusement 

was caused to us by the efforts of two Senussi to load

a  very small donkey with three large bags of grain.

Theo was offered a canteen of cutlery but declined.- rightly.

Theo went down about 8am to Brigade on a courtesy  visit

and to find out any news. He fell into a hornets nest. As soon

as the Brig saw him he said "what are you doing here". Theo

said quite airily ''I have just  come down to see you''.

Where's your battalion snapped the Brig. "In their

positions". Don't you know you should be on the move

and passing that point" "No". It turned out that our

message sent from Brigade had not been delivered and

we had been without information for about three hours.

Then things moved. Theo sent his car the mile back

and gave us the warning order. He obtained his orders

and then came back. The troops were to march on and

I was to bring  the transport together and follow. The

battalion did a marvellous job and within 20 minutes

of getting our order was on the move. Halliday had a mile

or more to come but he swung in nicely. I got the

transport who arrived very quickly and we were not

long after the marching troops. However there was a horrible

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traffic block with Artillery and all sorts of trucks coming

from all units trying to get along its narrow road. 

The Brig sent Harry to the junction to control it and

it was here that I met him again. I had to wait until

the whole Battalion transport was past and it finally 

did not get past us until after 12 noon. I found  out the

reason later along the road. The road had been blown

and the Engineers had to construct a by-pass through a

minefield whilst they repaired the road. Harry and

I saw the intervals of  stopping everybody trying to get

past and breaking in to my convoy. I finally left him

and collected two Anti Tank Gunners attached to us from

bivouac area and get them into the convoy. Then we

proceeded on our road. All this time I was frightened again

of being caught on a narrow road by air with trucks

nose to tail but nothing happened. Yesterday at [[Elouet Noll?]]

and here I seemed to have sweated blood. Meanwhile the

troops had been marching on and during the afternoon our

2/2 Fd Regt who had reached their days destination sent

back some of their transport and commenced to ferry our

tired men. Meanwhile the first company and then the

second had reached our stopping place for the day 15 miles

on from Giovanni Berta at a place whose name I cannot

nor can anyone else remember so I shall leave a 

space for it.         . I expect you have not totalled

up the mileages I have put in but since we left our

position at Catruba and commenced marching we

70 miles in 76 hours most of the way carrying our

automatic weapons and Anti Tank rifles and ammunition

Its a wonderful feat and one we are very proud of. We

were all in by five oclock and had a little time to look

around. We were disposed astride the road A & C Coys forward

and C & D behind them. HQ and BHQ were in center rear just

off the road to the left in a clear space. It actually was

the situation of an old Roman Bath and you could trace

the outline of the Bath with both in and outgoing water

conduits. The ancients went to an immense amount 

of trouble and all over Cyrenica can be seen traces of

their work. On the way back we passed near Cirene and

running parallel to the road and as straight as a die

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for miles was a Roman aqueduct. In our area too were

a couple of caves - the entrances being flush with the

ground and you had to be careful you did not walk into

them. The company of Cheshires were again attached to us

and a platoon was sent to each Company. Our A/T Gunners

were disposed on the right of the road and just before dusk

Chapman and I drove over and shared a bottle of Chianti

I had been given earlier in the day. They produced some

beer and whiskey and we had a well quiet time arriving

back just before dusk. In our absence the troops had found

a Wog (i.e. Senussi) who had found an Italian hand grenade

as booby trap ready prepared and had blown his arm

off. Russ Godby could do nothing for him and told us he

was dying. Dakers really became a nuisance and insisted

on sitting up with him all night. He could not speak to him

or do anything and I may be doing him an injustice but he

really seemed a ghost and would not realise that in the

eyes of his relatives he might be imperilling the mans

chances of heaven. We were only to stay here one night and

just before dawn our troop carrying buses arrived. The

Senussi died about half an hour before and Dakers insisted

on burying him although we had shown him to a passing

Wog and indicated by signs he was dying and for his

relatives to be told. He read a Christian service and

put a cross on the grave and in fact rather held up a

very small portion of the move. I might add that the

cross was not left on the grave in deference to his religion

but Dakers does not know this. I am very hazy now as

to distances but I think we moved about 70 miles this

day mostly through rain to an area for the night about

a mile past the settlement of El Fangeda. He well pulled

off both sided of the road. A similar defensive position to

our previous ones was adopted. A and B forward on a ridge

about a mile ahead and C and D on the next ridge

back with HQ and BHQ on the left of the road in 

a little valley behind C Coy. On the right of the road

was a plowed field with the earth very softened by the

rain. In the earth we could see the imprints of the

tracks of the Italian tanks as they retreated. I finally

got the trucks dispersed to my liking and had the

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Mess truck in the middle of the field. In walking around

we saw a little mound and on investigating saw some

Italian ammunition boxes and odds and ends roughly

covered with earth. I would not allow anyone to touch

it and Theo and I decided rather to be sure than sorry

and called the Engineers to blow it up as it may have been

a booby trap. The Engineer  Sergeant inspected it and

was not sure as he tied a long rope to a handle of the

case and when everyone was clear pulled. Nothing

happened and the dump turned out to be empty boxes.

D Companies position was on a series of three features

and the ruins of three Turkish or Arabian castles.

We stayed here two days and it was here that parcels

and mail caught up  with us. I also had  a box made 

and packed the Italian flag and Standard head we

obtained in Bardia and posted it home to Guthridge. I

believe it has arrived but can't remember how I know.

Theo also had during this period some trips around

the country under armed escort to outlying command

settlements. Usually his car, two carriers and an

A/T Gun. I went down one day and inspected an Italian

farmhouse about a mile away. They look beautiful and

white at a distance but not so good when close at hand.

The cattle are in stalls attached to the house and there

is one large living room with board table and trestles

very bare. I did not see their bedrooms but the whole

farm looked poor. The Italians seem quite calm  and

resigned. Theo and I went one day for a walk up the 

hill behind our position. Everywhere were signs that

this had been a stopping place for tanks on their

retreat. Empty tins, broken biscuits, ammunition

hand grenades etc could be found anywhere. At the

top we saw a hole in the rock and with our automatics

ready investigated. It turned out to be an almost completed

Italian Anti Tank Gun position cut into the side of the

hill and beautifully sited to command the road

but looking the wrong way. I should like to know

the reasons of the man who sited it. It rained quite

heavily most of out time here and was bitterly cold.

The scrub around suffered and the troops had

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fires from any dry wood they could find until we had

to stop them in case they gave our position away to the

air. It was here that we did our last burying job for the

artillery including giving their Padre a whisky. Theo's

protests had effect with the Brigadier and our Pioneers

were not called on as such for burials again. Two other

little items of interest. One was the search for an aerodrome

marked on the map so that Wavell could arrive  by plane

The map was Italian and seemed to be incorrect and

I have never heard whether the search was successful

The other was a report from the local Senussi that some

Italians were disguised as Senussi and were robbing and

cutting throats. It only made us a bit careful of any

nomads and was probably are very well pitched yarn.

It was raining off and on the whole of our stay here and

about four in the afternoon we received orders to move.

The Battalion left at 4pm with orders to draw as far

as possible before dark. Theo led on and on across our

extremely wind swept plains with no cover and finally

pulled off the road at Tunis about 40 miles further on.

It rained all that night and we were partially protected

by closely grouped clumps of scrub rather like tee tree

Next morning a cold sun came out and we took the

opportunity of drying blankets. The Pioneer Platoons found 

a cave and made themselves warm and comfortable 

That set me prospecting in case it rained again and

I found most of the area honey combed but only as

a last resort could we go into the caves. They only

had a three foot square entrance and usually no

method of dropping to the floor of the cave except by ropes.

Most would need a large amount of clearing up. One

cave I let Ian Walker down into was quite roomy but

had the carcasses of a couple of sheep with a high smell

and a lot of dirt and rubbish. Fortunately it did

not rain again very much but it was bitterly cold.

The Brig when he visited us with orders to move was

glad of hot coffee and rum. We stayed here altogether

two nights and one day. We were to move next morning

at 8 oclock with an open road and the next stop was to be

Barce. Russ Savige was sent down the road to reconnoitre

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as the Italians had blown the road. He did his job well

as he ran straight into the hole in the dark and landed

on all four wheels. We had to send a carrier early next

morning to pull it out. We were up and ready and

there was a slight misty rain. Theo led off punctually

and I as usual stayed until last to see all the trucks

away. We had some trouble starting the Diesel engined

troop carrying trucks loaned us by the 5 Bn and when

we started it had to tow the others until everyone 

was away. Whilst we were at Tunis we sent the Padre

back to a NAAFI with a truck and trailer and he filled

them both. I travelled along after the last truck gaily

enough for about half an hour when we struck a road

block. I left my truck and went forward and there met

Theo was was in a towering rage and stopping every

truck who tried to break out of the column and

press forward. By this time it was composed of trucks of

all limits. He passed on the job of stopping trucks to me

with order to let no one through and he went forward

to try and straighten out the mess at the head. Due to

the Italians blowing the road a by pass had been

constructed left into Barce and the rain had turned

the unmade track into a quagmire. For the third time

in a fortnight I acted as a traffic policeman and had

a terrible time as everybody believed that the success

of the war depended on they themselves pressing forward

irrespective of whether there was a traffic jam in front.

I spent most of  the day at this point stopping trucks and

keeping one side of the road clear for any back traffic.

That clear side was the devil of a temptation for everyone

who thought that they could go through. I finally got

trucks parked nose to tail and for awhile had the help

of  some Artillery Officers including Lyall Barnden.

One car I stopped but could not prevent going forward

was that of Sir Henry Maitland Wilson the General Commanding

the force. - Nicknamed "Jumbo" because of his size. He is

well over six feet and big in proportion. Occasionally

something gave in the jam and the trucks moved

forward a few hundred yards and stopped. This

continued until late afternoon when the line of

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vehicles commenced to move slowly through freely. We

approached the turn off at dusk - having taken a whole

day to cover half an hours run in a car. Just past the

turn off I met some War Correspondents whom I

had stopped earlier in the day. They had pitched a tent

against their truck and proposed to wait. They had no

very great responsibilities  that day. I wonder what lies

or rather what romances not founded on fact were

manufactured in that tent. I expect their

daily reports to their papers went off. Just before leaving 

Tunis I had obtained a bottle of whisky from the

Padre who had bought a dozen on his trip. It was

a comfort particularly through the night that followed.

It was bitterly cold all day with squalls of rain and

my mind was at least relieved of any great fear of

air attack in consequence. We proceeded down the by

pass about two miles at a funeral pace when there was

another block. All our travel we had been slipping and

sliding in a sea of mud and first gear travel was the

only way. The check turned out to be a truck skidded

across the road. We straightened it in time and

continued our way in the dark. No lights were allowed.

It was hairraising enough but my truck failed and

I had to be towed by the next one of ours in front. My

hair did stand on end. Incidentally the first tug

pulled the bumper bar clean off and the rest of the

journey was completed with a side pull on one of the

dumb irons. We got along a bit further when the big

check of the night occurred. I found this time a troop

carrying Diesel with some of the 5 Bn on board sideways

across the road with its nose against another skidded

10 ton Diesel and a plowed field on the other side of it

making it impossible to pass. I made a reconnaissance 

and found a stack of straw. I forced the troops to carry

bale after bale away and build a road to get the

truck off. We were successful and I was able to pass

three trucks on when the fourth driver who would not

do as he was told went off the straw and sank down

to the chassis in the mud. It was now 4 am and

I had to give up until dawn as we could not see where

to dig or else the truck might sink further. The bottle

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of whisky came into its own then. I was mud from knees

to ankles, wet and miserable as the night was a succession

of squalls and it was bitterly cold. An AASC Officer

in the truck behind mine had half of it between us 

before this and between 4 am and dawn I finished the

bottle with breakfast which OReilly made. As soon as

it was dawn my driver commenced fixing my truck and

I went on in the truck which had been towing us. In

the light it was easy to find a way past the bogged

truck in this Morris 15 cwt and we bowled along

at a great pace for about three miles the last half

mile being through water 6" to a foot  deep. Then we

came up to the tail end of the column and for as far as 

as I could see were trucks  nose to tail. I then found

out that all my efforts had been in vain during the

night as this column had been halted all through. I

left the truck and walked along the column incidentally

passing many trucks I had stopped the day before. "Jumbo"

Wilson was stuck right in the middle so he did not

get far. I walked on and on through a desolation of

mud and trucks off the road. finally struck Russ

Savige who gave me an early lunch and as the column

was  moving on I continued with him. He had a good

driver and we were not stuck anywhere. At one bad 

corner two tractors had a full time job pulling bogged

trucks out. We continued on and found Cramp and

Walker in two of our carriers pulling trucks up a

greasy bank. Cramp incidentally had the honor of

taking General Wilson into his Headquarters in

Barce in his carrier as his car finally refused to go.

I finally located Theo in our Headquarters. Barce was

an Italian garrison town at the end of a narrow gauge

railway from Bengazi and we were quartered in some

of the barracks. The road was tree lined and one side

had the barracks and a big Hospital and the other

had some rather good sports grounds all water logged

more or less. Theo established his Headquarters in a 

little villa and we had the first two rows of barrack

buildings with three more villas in front of them for

officers. The xxBn had the next two sets of buildings and

208.

then the 5 Bn with Brigade a little further down the road.

Henry and a Company of the 5 Bn had been left at Cirene

about halfway to Derna as a garrison. Cirene is the

scene of an old Roman town and is famous for its

excavations and ruins and old statuary. His usual luck

the barracks were absolutely filthy and littered with  Italian

Equipment. We were at Barce 6 days in all and most of that

time was spent in clearing the stuff away. Everything imaginable

from leather equipment to letter cards was thrown out and

the rooms made habitable. Then we had to cart away the debris.

We finally got things shipshape and I instituted Company kitchens

again - one of the few times we were able to. The Padre quickly

sold out the remains of the canteen and we were able to 

restock from an A.A.C.S. store which established itself very

quickly in the ice works or flour mill I forget which. The 6 Bn

also established a canteen but they made the mistake of

confining it to 6 Bn only. We sold to anyone and coined

money. Our six days were literally packed with jobs. Everyone

had to clean up and I had to wait until my truck arrived

to change so OReilly could chip the mud off. I had a room

which I shared with Halliday with John Young and the Padre

and Fletcher next door. Opposite and cross the passage was

Russ Godby and the R.A.P. Our building had a bathroom

but unfortunately the chip heater had been ruined and was

unworkable. After cleaning the bath I was able to have

the luxury of a cold plunge bath and clean clothes.

My bed was an ordinary iron camp or hospital bed but

it had springs even if a trifle loose and bent. I slept

very soundly the first night. I bought another bottle of

whisky from the Padre and it had a record life. Less

than 20 minutes, John Young poured out and I think we

had only 5 neat whiskies and the bottle was empty. I'll

admit we were drinking from army mugs. During our

stay by some round about means the troops collected

some liquers. John Young and Halliday secured some

and we had a very fine Cognac and also what I would

term Avocat - Brandy eggs and milk mixed very

thick. Our thirst were like our drinks - large. One night

Russ Savige invited me down to his room for dinner as

well as Halliday and Godby. With some beer we had a

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very good night. I left early and left  them to it. The day

before I had been appointed officially second in command

and I now had to stop playing tricks. Now that Henry was

definitely not returning I wanted the job and was very

pleased to get it. I think Bardia turned the scale. Our

barracks had painted in Italian a very interesting motto

and I will give you the the best liberal translation of it I can

remember. "Infantry in the final analysis is the deciding factor

in battle for the good of the people." Very true and very

apt we thought it particularly as we infantry were living

under it and also had our tails well up. The rest of our

story I will describe in disjointed style. On one Saturday a

whole programme of Sports for the troops was arranged. Football

between units was the order of the day and within the

Battalion we had some intercompany matches. I spent the

morning watching some of the matches. Another of the events was

Menzies visit. A great parade of troops in mass was arranged

in order I think to the Brigadiers disgust as he had set his

face against all these mass parades since we were in any

danger of air attack. All troops paraded with arms and

ammunition and certain anti aircraft precautions 

were taken but frankly there were too many men too

close together to please us. Still the powers that be ordained

it and it was so. We were all assembled in the usual

three sides of a square and had to wait for the great man.

He was coming by plane and soon we saw the slow old

Victoria coming. It sailed slowly overhead and it was

rather amusing to us to see the pilot taking no chances

As he fired his recognition signals for the day very

early. Otherwise had he failed to do so we would have been

correct in riddling the plane. They went to the landing

ground a mile and a half away and in about 20 minutes

he arrived. He made rather a good speech and we then 

went home to lunch. Another thing we did was to utilise the

Italian Rifle Range and gave the Battalion some practice.

Combined with this we also ran a Competition and donated

money prizes from our funds. We had to pay out in Italian

money as our Egyptian currency was no good in the town .

I went round the town itself only once and then very

hurriedly. It really consisted of some big works mentioned

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before and a street or two of shops most of which were boarded up.

There was one hotel - rather a good one but this had been

taken over by Force Headquarters so I did not see anything

but the outside. Barce is situated in a little vale and

really is the prettiest spot I saw in the whole of the desert.

Red loam and brilliant green fields. A very pretty picture.

Whilst we were there someone gave  orders for all the buildings

in the town to be mud splashed and soon the colors changed

from a brilliant white to the color of the ground. I had

another job here and that was to take the candidates for

commissions in the Brigade up to Div. Hqrs at Barraca about

15 miles away for interviews with Ivan. Div Hqrs had taken

over a  magnificent stone building in fact a monastery

and chapel and it really looked marvellous. Paved

courtyards and Cloisters - a modern built version of the

ancient monasteries of Italy. I saw Alan Bamford there and

Mick. The [[Mess?]] we did not take from our truck but ran the

whole thing against the veranda of the cottage Theo was in.

We had a couple of good nights particularly one when Alan

Bamford came from Div to dine. We sent him home in Theos

car very merry. Some other visitors to dine we have met

up with in here. Lt Col Piggott who commanded a British

Engineer Field Company dined with us one night and now

he is one of Theos room. Capt. Hughes-Stanton a Camouflage

expert and in  private life an artist and art teacher also

had a meal with us. He was in Hospital with Theo at Athens

and they did not meet again until we came to this camp.

Theos cousin also an Engineer - Colonel Bodington met Theo

here but I was away. Theo had been trying for months 

to contact him. The Brigadier insisted on us sending back

to the dump at Sidi Haneish for our band instruments and

any spare boots or kit we wanted. The truck went in a

Brigade convoy and did not keep to schedule as it did

not get back to us until we were in our next position and

again on the job. Personally I did not want to send for them

but could not say so and in the end I was right. When they

arrived we could not use them as we were dispensed in

defence all over  the country at Mersa Breza. In fact when

someone looked at the big bass I believe a dead rat fell

out. I asked for my suit case to come up as I wanted the shoes

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I was very disgusted with Crawford's guarding of the dump to

find that they had been stolen. A number of kitbags also had

been ratted. Theo suddenly received orders to move to the 

Headquarters of the 7^th Armored Division and reconnoitre 

preparatory to taking over from them. He left early and

was away all day and returned after making his

reconnaissance. In the meantime the Battalion was preparing

to move. We waited until very late at night until orders were

received from Division through Brigade and at eight

oclock next morning we moved off on a very long days  run

In preparation for our move through Bengazi we sent the

Intelligence section forward to man a bypass around the

town and to save us the great trouble of controlling our

convoy interval in traffic. Before leaving Barce I must tell

you of another job we had here. Each day a platoon was sent out

to different communities up to twenty miles away on a "showing

the Flag" expedition. The local police or "Carabinieri" were

allowed or made to function and one day one of them was

sent with an Italian farmer to report to us that in his absence 

(the farmers) his wife and family had been murdered. We had

a great deal of difficulty in finding out anything - he

seemed to be very hazy about reading a map and showing

us the exact location. Combined with the fact that neither

of the two spoke English and our Italian was practically 

non existent. Chapman the Adjutant prided himself

on speaking it well but Theo and I were not so sure

after Giovanni Berta. Even he could make out nothing

more than the name of the village which seemed to be

about 30 miles away.  Finally we sent a platoon and

the farmer as guide. The outcome was that after what

the officer in command blistered as a trip the mans 

wife opened the door when they arrived. There had

been no trouble at all. I am not sure whether they

administered a boat where it was most required.

The start of our run  was marred by two platoon trucks

burning out their clutches in getting out of the boggy

ground. It finally resolved itself that one Company

was the  trouble and on arriving at Mersa Breza

I sacked the driver and the Corporal Mechanics saved

212

himself by going sick - quite genuinely and being

evacuated. We promoted someone else and had no further

trouble. On the road up we passed  a Medium Battery

or maybe the whole Regiment returning and sailed on

gaily past Baracia and on to Bengasi. On the way we

had to descend another escarpment and had one ticklish

spot where our Engineers were repairing the road blown

by the Italians. They filled petrol tins with earth and used

them for the filling of the hole. A few miles further on Theo

left us and pushed on to have a conference with the

Armored Division at Mersa Breza. Meanwhile our

Intelligence Section had reconnoitred the by pass at

Bengasi but they had gone to the far end and established

their post leaving the entrance to a Military Policeman

to turn us into. He failed and Theo sailed past and

right through the town. He found them at the other end

and sent them back. Meanwhile I had arrived with the

convoy and could see no signs of the guides. I had

to continue on therefore and pass through the town with

the convoy - the one thing we did not want to do owing to

danger of airraids and traffic. Still there was nothing else

to be done and we continued on. Reaching a cross street

and a dead end I turned right instead of left. I was

not very happy and the first Military Policeman I saw

I stopped and received the right directions. Fortunately

there was a petrol station with a dual runway so we

used this as a turntable and just returned the way

we come. It was fortunate finding this turntable as

the road was too narrow for easy turning of our

3 ton troop carrying trucks. We finally untangled

the  twist and continued on out of the town. Thats

all I saw of Bengasi as coming back we used the

by pass. For about 10 miles out of the town the road

is  bordered on each side by two rows of trees

and most of the way between these two rows were

hundreds of abandoned or broken down vehicles

They soon petered out and we had nothing but  the

very good asphalt road with its inevitable ditches

at the side and sand and dunes each side. Now

and again the country changed with a settlement

213.

and these were usually about 40 kilometres apart. We pushed

through Geminis and later Beda Fomm the scene of the

last action of this campaign where the 7th Armored Division

who had cut across the desert came in behind Bengasi and

captured or knocked out about 160 new tanks and took

10,000 prisoners who were retreating out of Bengasi. It was a

tough little battle and one of the few times the Italians

showed any fight with their tanks. Incidentally most

of them were new and showed only the mileage from

Bengasi to Beda Fomm. We saw them scattered all

over the battlefield and later on a few more who had

tried to get away but had either been ditched or

damaged. One interesting point about the appearance

of the Armored Division here was that it was entirely

unexpected and the Italians had given out that we

could not possibly arrive for another two days. In fact

the Civilian bus service to Tripoli was still running

and continued running into our hands. I cannot remember

the names anymore of the communities on the road - the

main point being at various points we passed various trucks

damaged by actual attack from the air or by being forced

off the road and damaged. In  one place we drove past

two trucks still burning from a successful attack some

hours before. You can imagine perhaps  a little of the

tension I was always under in leading the battalion in

convoy but my luck still held. Nevertheless I never had

an easy moment at any time during driving in daylight.

Night driving was almost a pleasure even if the risks in

driving without lights were increased. I always felt physically

tired after any drive of this sort. Theo met us on the road

and gave me orders to drive on to kilo post 811 and that

as a result of his conference  A Coy under Russ Savige

were to remain at Adgedabir as Town Guard. At Kilo

811 I was to dispense  the battalion in bivouac position

in a cup over the hills on the left of the road. It was

then about 5 oclock and we had to crack on the pace

as the position for the night was about 40 miles past

Adgedabir. Russ Savige dropped of at Agedabir and as

we just cleared the town we saw a party of 800 prisoners

being brought in. They were part of the Italian Senussi

214

levies or irregular forces and were mainly mounted on

camels. In fact they were a camel corps. They looked very 

picturesque and we drove through them. I remember two

of them probably officers were mounted on magnificent horses

about an hour before dusk I arrived at kilo 811 and

turned off  the road with some difficulty as the road had

been banked up and there was a six foot embankment.

Chapman and I disposed  the Battalion and they commenced

their usual job of digging slit trenches. Theo arrived and

I found I had not gone far enough from the road as

he had meant but as we were to move again next day

he left it. Next morning we established our sentries on

the hills around us and had breakfast. During the 

morning we heard a hum and immediately our air

sentries signalled enemy aircraft. All automatics were

manned and also our anti tank rifles. The aircraft

were coming from the direction of Adgedabir and in

about thirty seconds  they arrived flying low over

the hills.  They apparently did not know we were there

and got a great shock when we opened on them with

everything. There were about 11 of them and the first

German planes we had met. They had a go at us

rising and then diving to machine gun us but 

we received no casualties. Our fire was  apparently a

bit to heavy for their liking for after about five

minutes they turned for home. We all felt certain that

at least one plane  would come down but they passed 

out of sight before this longed for site gladdened our

eyes. I really did not see much of it for when they 

arrived I dived for my slit trench and unfortunately

knocked the support of my bivouac ground sheet

shelter and the two Italian ground sheets forming

it fell in on me and believe me they wrapped me in

a knot. On about a minute I did not dare to

raise my head or arms or do anything as I could

hear the machine gun bullets hitting the ground somewhere

near. A little late I was able to see but the planes

had passed further away and after one dive each

they flew on. Theo has just lent me a book - an autobiography

on the first page of which he speaks of memory and I shall give you

 215 

the quotation as it is rather apt to the state of my memory at present

"For when a person endeavours to recall his early life in its entirety

it is not possible: he is like one who ascends a hill to survey the

prospect before him on a day of heavy cloud and shadow, who sees

at a distance, now here, now there, some feature in the landscape

- hill or wood or tower or spire - touched and made conspicuous

by a Transitory sunbeam while all the remains in obscurity.

The scenes, people, events we are able by an effort to call up do

not present  themselves in order; there is no order, no sequence or

regular progression - nothing, in fact, but isolated spots or patches,

brightly illuminatet illumined and vividly  seen, in the

midst of a wide shrouded mental landscape. It is easy to fall

into the delusion that the few things thus distinctly remembered

and visualised are precisely those which were most important

in our life, and on that account were saved by memory while 

all the rest has been permanently blotted out. That is indeed

how our memory serves and fools us; for at some period of a man's

life - at all events of some lives - in some rare state of the mind.

It is all revealed to him as by a miracle that nothing is  ever

blotted out." That was written by WH. Hudson in  1918 in his

autobiography "Far away and Long ago" and correctly describes

me at the moment, darling, and the task I have set myself in

putting on  paper all my doings and the highlights of the

time we are parted. At times  I feel that I have forgotten so

much and that my efforts at description are very futile and

cannot make you understand. I have had recourse to Theo

and his diary but it is necessarily brief and I feel that I

shall miss  out much in this period until we sailed for Greece.

Due to his diary I can give you some dates. On February 17

we left Barce and arrived at Kilo 811 in just on dusk. Theo

arrived in the dark after settling A Coy into Adgedabir. It

was on Feb 18 1941 we had the air attack I have described.

During the day B Coy left this position and went forward

and occupied a position aside astride the road just past

the village of Mersa Breza at a place where a bottleneck had

been formed by marshes up to the left of the road. On the

right was the sea. Theo also went forward and reconnoitred

the area forward where our screen of Armored Cars were

stationed. Whilst he was in their area they were bombed

and the Armored Car Regiment - the Kings Dragoon Guards

216

lost two men who were suffocated. During his reconnaissance 

he souvenired the air raid alarm from the village and we

used it from then on for the same purpose. Mersa Breza

village was only a collection of mud houses and the 

harbor had a few ships sunk in it. The ships were only

small as the harbor would not take anything large. Whilst

he was away I had the job of reconnoitring our area and

laying out a defensive position. During this day C and 

D Coys - the only two left dug the reserve positions and

next day moved further forward and dug in again the

forward positions. The reserve positions were for occupation

by A and B Coys if and when they reverted to our command.

on Feb 19 the Brigadier arrived and it was a full day for

both he and Theo . The Brigadier and Theo went off on a

tour of inspection. They visited the KDG's as well as inspecting

the area and Theo suggested that they had some  time to spare

and what about looking at the town of Mersa Breza. The

Brigadier agreed and they went in. Keith Walker and the 

Intelligence Officer of the KDG's were also in the party. They

parked the cars in the street and Theo and the Brig went to

an old Turkish fort to look around. They were standing on

a wall and heard the hum of planes but took no notice

as they had seen some Hurricanes of which there were

six at Adgabir aerodrome a few minutes before. Blissfully

they continued to search with their glasses and paid no

more attention  to the air when - bang and the bombs

started to rain down. Its problematical whether seeing

the two of them whether the pilots thought the town or fort 

occupied but they gave Theo and the Brigadier their

undivided attention for twenty minutes. After they had 

dropped all their bombs  they started machine gunning the

fort. Theo had dropped flat on the top of the wall - standing about

two feet above the sand which had drifted up to it and

remained there most of  the time. The Brig was lower within 

the fort and he took refuge in a small room with a piece

of corrugated iron over the door. Theo when the machine

Gunnery got to hot made a dive and gained the room

and they both stayed there and confessed that they

thought they remained in full view of the bombers

who because of no opposition flew very low and the