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I want people to know what it was like to be on a troop ship in the Mediterranean, with torpedoes all around. I was 19 at the time, in 1943.

I was on a ship that had sailed from Liverpool to North Africa. There were thousands of us on borad. We trained in Tunisia, preparing to invade Sicily.

We slept in hammocks -- a hundred or so to a level. We kept fit with PT. We were on basic rations -- no alcohol! But they did give us chocolate.

The worrying time was the three weeks spent simpy getting there. You had time to THINK about the U boats that you knew were out there -- you heard about the other ships that had been torpedoed. There was little to do but read magazines, books and letters.
It was liveable -- but I was anxious. You just kept asking yourself -- how would I get off if anything happened?"

THIS STORY WAS SUBMITTED TO THE PEOPLE'S WAR WEBSITE BY JOHN YOUNG OF ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ SOUTH EAST, ON BEHALF OF CECIL GODDEN. IT HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE SITE WITH HIS PERMISSION, AND HE FULLY UNDERSTANDS THE SITE'S TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

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