North Africa

In the Army Now

As we, the First Armoured Division, were pulling in and the Seventh were pulling out, the Germans started...

Long Range Desert Group

THE DESERT WATER RATS - A Young Stokers Story

Quite a number of arab workmen were completing a conversion of Hopper to Sweeper, and the black smoke was...

The Lost Years - Chapter 4 (2)

By Christmas we had covered about 500 miles forcing the Italians ever-westwards and Wavell's force had...

War Memoirs with the 12th Lancers — May 1939-Dec 1941

I remember being detailed to drive a prototype Scout Car which steered on all 4 wheels, having a little...

Memoirs of a Chindit

At the same time enemy forces were infiltrating into Vichy Syria, even closer to the British rear, so this...

Diary of a Colonial Administrator

Lots of little boats kept coming alongside all day and flying boats were continuously taking off and...

Wartime Nursing in North Africa and Italy

At Sousse we worked extremely hard, admitting nursing casualties from Sicily and Southern Italy and spent 3...

Desert War Diary Extracts of Gilbert Wilson

Apparently the Germans came through a gap in the minefield, one army went north to Acroma — Tobruk...

Ubique and Unique - the story of the Lincolnshire Gunners

The Germans had almost over-run their positions when two British tanks appeared, hull-down, to give the...

A Boy of Kent in the Desert War

Over the next few years Jack was shifted around a variety of camps run by both Italians and Germans - a...

Aircraft Salvage in the Desert

From where we were we moved down to a place near Suez and our job was to repair and salvage aircraft which...

Tommy's Story

His father was George Heslington Bage and his mother was Sarah. Tommy was the first one of twin boys, his...

Flight to Heliopolis Part One

From there we were told to go down to Portreath, near Lands End, then make our way to Gibraltar, refuel...

An “extra-ordinary” soldier - WWII Memoirs from Dunkirk to Stalag XVIII C — Part 3

DCC had heard that his parents and younger brother had been bombed out of their home in London; he set off...

Jack's War

Jack and many others of the battalion felt that many of their losses had been sustained through tug pilots...

Memoirs of a Gunner - Chapter 2 - Harry Wood

My only rations were water, tea and sugar, no food, so as night closed in, I made a fire with petrol and...

Overseas Service with the Royal Corp. of Signals

We had embarked again on the landing craft, this time en-route from Italy to Corsica - I really spent quite...

Harry's War - Memories of a Rifleman in Africa and Italy

El Alamein At the battle of El Alamein I was with an echelon of 12 guns, as a portée driver. He...

The Bush Shirt

Having first been inspected by our own orderly sergeant and declared ready we like Cinders went off to the...

Part 2 RAF Pilot Training : Geoff Wright: Egypt to Bulawayo

PART 2 RAF PILOT TRAINING IN WW2 THE STORY OF GEOFF WRIGHT, EGYPT TO BULAWAYO....

Post-Dunkirk Memoirs of Sgt (later W.O) 7346129 Norman Smith RAMC

After his death his sons added to it with their mother's story and the years that Norman and Irene...

Escape from Mersa

In the darkness vehicles became so hopelessly mixed that trucks and men of different units travelled...

Life in the Services 1939-46, Chapter 4

We then pressed on to La Goulette, where I found myself with a Petty Officer and two other ratings in the...

The Life of a Desert Rat Part 2

29th June, had to go sick having lots of problems with haemorrhoids due probably through having to crawl...

A Rifleman in North Africa : Part 2 - Prisoner

We had picked up the pilot officer when the Jerry guns had gone into action just before dark: apparently...