Letter from the war (Part 2)
By Rhiannonw
- 2550 reads
Freetown – strict orders not to throw
coins to the diving boys below
from deck.
Capetown – ashore
family hospitality, – more
and more fruit and steaks, bathing delight,
up Table mountain, with the sight
of Drakensbergs’ range far off.
Sailing north, passing Aden,
baked red rock, first camel seen;
colder weather, moving further
along the Red Sea,
then, at last once more on land,
at Suez: the years begin of living with sand,
sand in the bed, and in the clothes, sandy supplies,
sandy sheets and desert flies
dangerous heat, dangerous cold.
El Tahag* camp, on the Sweet Water Canal;
El Amiriya, (near Alexandria for club-, cinema-going,
and sights of things ancient and old)
goats and hens on village housetops cause surprise;
short visit to Tel-el-Kebir, with trip to Cairo –
seeing the pyramids’ awesome size,
and climbing;
then travelling on through the desert,
miles, and miles, on, and on, until breasting
a rise, seeing beautiful Mersa Matruh nestling
at the edge of the Mediterranean,
white war-damaged houses, palm trees,
deep blue sea, and lagoon loveliness;
pleasant time of hard manual labour,
good unity of workers in the sheer
long-term grind, – they feel and find
themselves more useful: building, building, –
until, (when the enemy seemed to be getting near),
demolition.
Relaxation –
swimming, and, on the lagoon,
service boats, a yacht, pontoon,
canoes, – a 10’ home-made sailing tub,
which they could use – mainsail, rudder,
collapsible keel and jib:
one night they sailed right down the lake,
but they couldnt make headway on the turn
against the wind – the tub too heavy, wide –
– ignominious return!
they had to push it all the way back,
walking in shallow water, close to the lagoon-side.
Water rationing:
half a gallon a day for person and clothes;
furniture fashioning –
table, chair, and bed, instead
of bare planks.
Suddenly: evacuation
of stores,
camp to be abandoned,
intense work for 4 days.
Main unit moved out by midnight
train, orderly flight,
but he stays
– rear party carrying on
loading stores at harbour,
necessary chore –
but little accomplished before
further word to return at once to camp,
then, – “get to the square in 5 minutes
with all your personal kit”,
time to quit –
off to Alexandria (Amiriya) they go –
who will enjoy his carpenterial triumphs now?
‘enemies’ he’ll never meet, befriend and know?
*these seem to be military camp names at the time, though not all identifiable on present day maps
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Comments
This is wonderful,
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Fabulous! I have similar
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Hi Rhiannon
Hi Rhiannon
I was waiting for this part two of your Father's adventures, and found it very interesting. And you say he went to Burma. I would be interested to hear about that too. My husband had family who lived in Burma and I wrote a book about it, but promised not to publish it while the daughter of the family is still alive. She's in a nursing home, and fairly senile, but other family members felt she would be upset to have a fiction-based story about her family available for anyone to read.
Jean
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I love all the details in
I love all the details in this. And how you show everyone much happier making, using their hands to improve what they find.
How well you describe the environment!
"Sailing north, passing Aden,
baked red rock, first camel seen;
colder weather, moving further
along the Red Sea,
then, at last once more on land,
at Suez: the years begin of living with sand,
sand in the bed, and in the clothes, sandy supplies,
sandy sheets and desert flies
dangerous heat, dangerous cold"
And this part, it must have been so frustrating!
"pleasant time of hard manual labour,
good unity of workers in the sheer
long-term grind, – they feel and find
themselves more useful: building, building, –
until, (when the enemy seemed to be getting near),
demolition."
I enjoyed the details very much and how you have conveyed youth and enthusiasm for living
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