蜜芽传媒

Chapter 2

We passed by Gibraltar late at night and reached Port Said, Egypt at roughly mid day. As we assembled on the deck with our kitbags (flying kit in one and our usual air force tackle in the other) the blazing sunshine that greeted us should have been a warning of what to expect. To avoid carrying extra weight on our backs, most of us wore our Greatcoats. Needless to say, this was a mammoth mistake and it wasn鈥檛 long before we were all stripping off.

We then travelled over land by train to Cairo. The train seemed to be held together by string. It was a real mess with rickety wooden seats and absolutely filthy. It did pick up speed however but then every so often had to back up for several miles because there was only a single track and it had to let oncoming trains through. To pass time as we trundled by endless sand dunes, a few of the Airmen took pot shots with their revolvers at anything that moved. My gun was stashed away in my flying kitbag so I did not join in the 鈥渇un鈥�.

The course itself was quite easy and after several weeks, I passed out as a fully qualified air gunner but not before another near escape; during one particular practice flight I was sitting with the pilot and just as our wheels left the ground things started to go wrong. The aerodrome was surrounded by trees and instead of us gaining height to fly over them, we were heading straight for them. The pilot began to fight desperately with the controls and somehow at the last minute managed to pull the nose of the plane just high enough to clear the trees. We scraped a few branches but save for a few scratches to the plane, we were unscathed. We returned straight to base and my escape from the jaws of death grew ever more dramatic with each time the story was told.

Although we were stationed at Cairo airport not many of us went sightseeing, mainly because the city was out of bounds. On the odd occasion that we were allowed a visit, I spent my free day shopping (no not drinking - don鈥檛 believe everything you read about service men). In fact I was really pleased with my self because I bought a stylish pair of shoes for Betty. I posted them back to England and looked forward to seeing her wearing them. Cairo city itself was quite an eye opener. The streets were literally throbbing with beggars, many of whom were children.
Later in the day I joined up with the two Fred鈥檚 and we visited the Shepherds Hotel which had been commandeered by the British exclusively for British officers and NCO鈥檚. We settled in at the bar and found a table to sit at. As there were only two chairs I looked around and noticed a free chair at a table where two Egyptian officers were sitting. I asked them if I could take the chair and as one of them nodded I took it over to our table. Moments later the whole room seemed to explode as British Marines came running towards me brandishing guns. I think they asked me for my ID and what I thought I was doing. Luckily the other Fred鈥檚 stayed calm enough to explain my innocence. Apparently, one of the Egyptian Officers was none other than Colonel Nasser, who was later to become President of Egypt.

A few days after the course ended, we had an early morning parade. Everyone had to attend. In complete silence a pilot officer walked along the line of airmen and selected every tenth man. Nothing was said as the selected men were marched off the parade ground. The rest of us were dismissed and told to return to our quarters. Only later were we told that the majority of us were no longer needed for aircrew duties. Like many others I was demoted from sergeant to plain air craftsman - one of the shortest promotions on record ! The only redeeming factor was that I retained my sergeants pay, so I was not too displeased as you can imagine.

After a few weeks we were all sent to various camps to await our postings. In my case it took two months before I was eventually told that I was on my way to Habbaniyah in Iraq. For the first time though, my two colleagues were posted to different camps. The flight was in a Dakota Transport aircraft, one of the most dependable planes of the day. Unfortunately it had no seats, just air mail bags to sit on. After a while of just staring at the inside of the plane one of the other travellers decided to liven things up. To my horror he opened up the sliding doors and walked towards the rushing air. Unperturbed he simply sat on the edge and dangled his legs out. In fact
we were flying quite low and only about 100 mph. He beckoned me over and without further thought I joined him. Instead of staring at the inside of an aeroplane, I now stared out at miles and miles of sand.

When we landed I was instructed to report to my section officer. Having never worked in ground crew before I was somewhat nervous when I was ushered into the wireless Section Officer鈥檚 office. I stood to attention as I waited to shout out my name, rank and number. However, the Section鈥檚 Officers first words took me completely by surprised. He said: 鈥淒id you play football for anyone in civvy street ?鈥� For a few seconds I was lost for words but after he repeated the question I told him how I had played a few games for the Northampton Colts as a full back.
鈥淪o you can play at left back then?鈥滺is question was phrased more like an order.
鈥淵es, sir 鈥� I responded and from that moment on, my career in the RAF had been decided.
He told me to report to the stores to get kited out so that I could play in the match scheduled for that very evening.

I can鈥檛 remember much about the game itself, other than the skipper, Jock Sneddon (a Scottish International) telling me simply to have a good game. The left half was slightly more communicative but all he instructed me to do was to pass the ball to him every time I had it.
Of course, I did as I was told and in fact had quite a good game, I think we won 9-0.

The Section Officer greeted me the next day like a long lost friend. He was delighted with the victory as it no doubt gave him something to boast about in the officer鈥檚 mess. He actually produced a bottle of wine and we formed a great relationship. At the end of our drinking session he told me to report to his office every day and help myself to the wine. I must admit, I wasn鈥檛 sure that he would remember saying that tomorrow, but, he did and every day from then on I enjoyed a glass or two. The officer told me about his family back home, I think I reminded him of his own son.

The next few months kept me busy - playing football. Not only did I play for the Station team but I had to organise the wireless section eleven. Not many of us played football so I think we only managed one win. I made the mistake once of playing two games on the same day. The searing heat soon had its effect and I can hardly remember finishing the second match. The next morning I paid my usual visit to the Station Officer鈥檚 hut to give him a report about the previous evenings match and as he was not there I started on the wine. The next moment the door burst open and in came the Station Warrant Officer demanding to know why I was in the hut. I think
there may have been a few expletives mixed in with his demands. I stood to attention wondering what on earth I was going to say, but before I had a chance to respond, the Station Officer came in and gave the Warrant Officer a right dressing down telling him that Fred could come to his office any time he liked. Although the Warrant Officer left with a flea in his ear I should have known that he would be waiting for me. When I came out of the hut he left me in no doubt at all that if I stood out of line just a fraction, he would gain his revenge. I made sure that I kept well clear of him from then on.

We were never allowed out of the camp so I never really learned anything about Iraq - apart from the fact that it was a very hot country indeed. I heard the news of the Japanese surrender whilst I was on wireless duty. It was a strange feeling. There were no great celebrations or shouts of 鈥渧ictory鈥�, but there was a tremendous feeling of relief throughout the camp. It also meant of course that I was one step nearer going home.

All too soon my posting came through and I had to go back to Africa. This time it was to Benghazi. After landing in Cairo I travelled overland in the mail van. The road took me through Tobruk and then through Libya. The roadside was littered with burnt out tanks and many other war machines - mostly German and Italian. The journey also took me passed several prisoner of war camps and even from the outside I clearly noticed that none of them had any guards on the perimeter fences. The driver of the truck pointed at the vast expanse of space all around and it was obvious why no one tried to escape, there was simply no where to go. On top of that, the prisoners had been told in no uncertain terms that if any one was missing from the morning roll calls, then no food or drink would be delivered to the camp.

Benghazi couldn鈥檛 have been more different from Iraq. For one thing, it was thankfully no where near as hot. It was also surprisingly green with an abundance of grass. I also had to do a lot more work and was given very little spare time. My job as wireless operator meant that I had to relay messages back and forth to Cyprus. As I had spent most of the past few weeks playing football, it took me a while to get up to speed.

Once again, sport took up most of what spare time I did get, although I did of course continue to write to Betty back home and send her sweets. It was the cricket season and after playing as wicket keeper for the wireless side, I was selected to play for the station team. I played twice behind the stumps and was enjoying myself no end until I had one of my front teeth knocked out by the cricket ball. After that I fielded anywhere, except wicket keeper. We were fortunate to have several ex-county players at the camp and finished the season as champions.

The football season started straight away and after my successes in Iraq, I managed to get selected for the station side. Luckily, our station commander was also a football fanatic and when a station game was on, the whole camp closed down. In fact, everyone was ordered to attend to watch whilst the players were treated like VIP鈥檚. I was appointed captain soon after the first game which meant even less duties as I had to choose the team. This did cause me a few problems because after leaving Cairo I was classed as an Aircraftsman and not a sergeant as I had left Aircrew. It was at this time that I made a good friendship with a fellow team mate named Dickie Richardson.

One game was quite remarkable. Before the game I was on wireless duty and overheard a sandstorm warning heading our way. We calculated the time of arrival at roughly half time. Naturally I ensured that we kicked against the wind in the first half. My team mates were quite horrified at having to kick against the wind but the ploy worked because the second half conditions were simply horrific. With the gale force winds at our backs we scored every time we moved forward. I can鈥檛 remember the final score but I am sure that every player on our team scored, except me. We continued to win every game after that and I and Dickie were selected to play against a visiting professional team from England. To say we were exited about the prospect of playing against real footballers was a huge understatement.
The day before the match I was ordered to report to the commanding officer. I assumed that he probably wanted to give me the benefit of his footballing experience, but I was in for a shock. He asked me if I intended to play in the match tomorrow, to which I of course responded in the affirmative.
鈥淪o you would rather play football than go home ?鈥� he asked.

Next morning, I was on my way to Port Said in Egypt. I boarded the troopship and was soon sailing back to England. When I returned home, after a few days of celebrations I asked Betty if she liked the shoes that I had so proudly sent her from Cairo. To my huge disappointment she said she hadn鈥檛 received them. It was only years later that Betty told me that she had received them but the first time she wore them in the rain, the soles had fallen off !

My four years of fighting for King and country was over. I was demobed the following March and went home to my family.

Fred鈥檚 war was over.

by
Michael.F.Parker

see also: FRED'S WAR
and FRED'S WAR-PART 2,Chapter 1
and BETT'Y WAR

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.