Posting orders and the excitement of being on the move. A three day embarkation leave pass and travel warrant
Leave over. For the first time, everyone arrived back early.
The dream to fly was realized. which upset the RAF boys, who travelled by sea, a full replacement compliment at a time,
We had the privilege of flying in a York Airliner. The post war version of the Lancaster bomber.
A short while later they began dropping from the sky like flies and were withdrawn from service.
We landed in the Canal Zone at 2.30. am. to be greeted by the hot night air and ever present musty smell that pervaded the area. It was off to the Transit Camp to be given a feed of two slices of bread, a hunk of cheese and mug of tea. Tins of runny margarine were on the tables.
To keep the incidence of flying insects minimal, the mess tent was dimly lit, which was just as well, because we found out at breakfast, the bread contained weevils. This was standard fare and soon came to be accepted.
Groping about in the darkness, Someone produced a few matches, I can still visualize him burning each match to the very end before turning it upside down and then light the next match. We formed a chain behind him to locate vacant beds dotted around the camp. Next morning the wash area was quickly filled, the water began to slow then to a trickle and stop. Two hand dippers of water were salvaged. Twenty eight of us washed shaved and cleaned our teeth in those.
Notifying the NCO of the situation was met with sheer disbelief.
Next stop, Gebel Mariam halfway to nowhere to produce a sample to identify possible typhoid carriers.
A permanent staff cook said "Don't worry fellas, you'll be here for two weeks. No one produces a sample before that"
No one did
The last day, before being posted, two of us drew the short straw to whitewash the approach walls to the camp. I suggested we complete the task that afternoon.
Huge mistake.
The irony of the situation was we were slaving away in midsummer heat, while some thirty yards away the Guard House detained six prisoners who were probably laying in their pits, idly twiddling their thumbs.
"Oh well."
"Them's the breaks."
Topic: General (Read 4492 times)