March 1942

A sandstorm blew all day. We had a couple of alerts today but Jerry kept well away. Alec Murdock was on duty yesterday at the railway during the air raid and he was hit on the head by a piece of shrapnel but nothing much. I am on patrol tonight so I shall once more be watching the dawn break in the morning.

What a lovely day break. The sandstorm seems to have subdued although there is a slight breeze blowing. I am going to try and get a few hours sleep now.

Woke up to find the sandstorm blowing as much as ever. I met a lot of Tommies tonight.

A lovely morning but it came up very cloudy towards midday. I had a game of Rugby in the desert. It is the first time I have ever played it. I am on petrol tonight and what is more it is raining, but I do not mind that as it at least keeps the sand down for a couple of hours. Up to the time of writing there has been no enemy air activity over us. Got orders to be ready to move forward.

It rained all day and night and was given orders at 11 o’clock tonight to be ready to move forward into Libya with three of my men as an advance guard to our company at 6 o’clock in the morning so I have now got to pack and get my men ready. I have been waiting for this and any day now I think there is going to be a big rush in Libya and this time we shall drive the Germans right out.

We moved off at midnight and passed within 30 miles of Sedi Barrani and then turned into the desert and then had a whale of a time getting stuck and digging out again. It took us two hours to go 50 yards, so we put up for the night.

We dug ourselves out and continued on our way after getting stuck about 30 times. Jerry bombed the convoy for breakfast. Arrived at Machiefa late tonight and there met the rest of the Battalion and also put up for the night.

Jerry bombed us at 4 o’clock this morning. Stukka and machine-gunned us again at 10 o’clock. We moved out at that same time in desert formation and the whole desert seemed alive with trucks for as far as the eye could see. We did about 50 miles and then dug in for the night.

We were on our way again at 7.30am. We crossed into Libya at 3pm. At around 4 o’clock we passed Sidi Rezegh and for as far as the eye could see were just tanks and trucks all burned out and soldiers graves.

I was transferred to C Company this morning so that means I have to leave all my friends behind and so I spent the rest of the day being re-equipped. I was given a new Tommy gun and 600 rounds, a Bren Machine gun and 100 rounds and about a dozen different kinds of grenades, deadly things to even look at. Tonight there is the usual digging a hole for oneself.. It is terrible when humanity comes to that. Every time you move a few yards you have to dig like mad for fear that Jerry may come over and straffs you. I have even seen a man digging through rock with his bear hands to get a little shelter while Jerry has been machine-gunning us and it is surprising how deep he has dug too.

We are still at El Adain and I did nothing all morning except load all my magazines. We were not worried by Jerry today but in the distance I can hear artillery blasting away. The water supply is terrible, we get ours from Tobruk in cans and then it is salted.

I cut Ted Wilson’s hair this morning and made a good job of it too, it is wonderful what you can do when you have to. I also wrote a letter home. Now as I am filling up this diary there is a dogfight going on above me between one of our fighters and a German Messesmicht. As I lay on the ground writing I have my Tommy gun next to me and if that Jerry comes low enough I shall fill him so full of lead he would sink like a battleship. One or two fellows have cracked up and their nerves have gone completely, but the most of us are always ready to give him a go whenever the chance comes.
We found a German Ammo dump this afternoon, and spent all afternoon exploding German Grenades. Many are no good to you whatsoever here and we have got plenty of money but nowhere to spend it! Oh! I long for a good old beer again.

We went out in search of a “Bir” (a bir is an Egyptian water well) We walked for about 5 miles through the desert and found one with plenty of nice water, thank God for that. We were told we were moving up into the front line tonight but was later told it was cancelled temporally for today so it may be tomorrow. It is getting terribly hot here in the western desert now and there is nowhere one can get any shade.

Got on a truck and went to Sidi Rezegh this morning. What a mess. I took a snap of 7 German tanks in a row, all smashed up, some still have German bodies in but they are busy burying them now. For just as far as the eye could see are graves, tank and trucks in one mass of twisted metal. I also went to an aerodrome, which we captured, from the Italians and there were 25 Italian planes on it. When our tanks advanced onto the drome they just ran their tanks over the tails of the planes and damaged them enough so that they could not use or fly them again. And now, there stands all these planes without tails. Tobruk must have got a terrible hammering today as I could hear their guns going all day and I could also hear bombs exploding. Two Jerry fighters came over here today and machine-gunned us a little bit but I think we got one of them.

Went to Tobruk today. I came in from the south and as you stand on top of the escarpment Tobruk seems to be right below you with the harbour first and then the town built up on the other side of the harbour and beyond that the Mediterranean sea. The town is very closely built with narrow streets, not that there is very much left of the town but it is built up the slopes of the hill from the harbour. The approach to the town is very nice from the south as you wind down the hillside. I went to a church (Catholic) and it had been bombed to pieces and all the walls were shelled with big holes in about 10 feet wide and yet neither the alter nor the statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary were not touched. It is incredible. This afternoon Jerry was over and he had no sooner gone when the whole sky was black with our planes. More than I had ever seen before. The fighter played in ad out the bombers like a hen with her chicks and it was impossible to try and count them. We got stuck into 2 bottles of whiskey tonight and all got a little bit light. Beer is just as hard to get as water but whiskey is very cheap. I have heard that 9 men were caught in yesterday’s machine gunning.

I was woken up at 1 o’clock this morning by an officer who wanted my machine gun and Tommy gun as two of our platoons of my company had just received the order to move forward. They moved off at 2 o’clock and have gone right into the front line. I don’t know when my platoon is going forward or what they are going to do with us. The men are all in a hell of a mood and very impatient. They want to know what is happening. We never hear any news these days. We just get left stranded in the desert. We have no transport and no protection from the sun, which is getting hotter by the day. Another fellow and myself found a truck this afternoon so we pinched it and went and found a water hole so we filled some cans up and took it back to our platoon and then returned the truck to where we had found it. Meanwhile no one had even missed it.
Jerry was over us again today, but we are so fed up with everything that we did not even pay any attention to him.

There is nothing more to write about today of course. Jerry made his usual attack on us but we take that with a pinch of salt now. A dust storm blew all day. The food is running low and the fellows are in a funny mood. And I don’t blame them. Oh! For a bit of shelter, this exposure is getting me down. I have not as much as had a drop of water near my body now for about 3 weeks.

A sandstorm blew all day. I did nothing all morning. Received some post and also a parcel this afternoon, it is the first for some time. Jerry never came near us today but we could hear him giving Tobruk the works. The whole of the 2nd division seems to be coming up here now. Some of them arrived here this afternoon and are right along side us, so we may be straffed by jerry tonight, still, that remains to be seen. The boys sure made short work of my tuck box from home. I had hardly opened it when they had polished it off, but I don’t mind as one seems to develop a type of comradeship after you have been her for a while.

I did nothing most of the day. Was told tonight that we were advancing on the Germans tomorrow, in the form of three columns. Two advancing from Gargla and the other consisting of the 50th division cutting down south and then southwest and so cutting off the Germans from the rear. Anyway, we shall see tomorrow if it materialises. Tobruk got it blazes knocked out of it tonight, we could see it in the distance. The whole sky was lit up with bursting shells and we could hear the bombs exploding.

At different times today the whole sky was black with bombers and fighters. It is incredible and there were a couple of dog fighters. We here feel terrible. Exposed in the barren desert with no shelter whatsoever and all we can do is just stand and watch and hope for the best. An aerodrome to the east of us in the Sidi Regigh area was ablaze half the night with flares.

There’s a terrific sandstorm blowing and I can’t do anything. Jerry hung around us all night. Every now and then there were burst of fire and bomb explosions.

The whole atmosphere is thick with dust and one cant see 20 yards in front of you. I look as though I have not seen water for a year and I feel it too. My beard is on the better side of a week old. I did a lot of shooting but there was very little air activity today.

The wind is still blowing. We were paid today but could not spend it so it is of no use to us. Two of our platoon went out on petrol tonight and were straffed with a few casualties. Tobruk got the blazes knocked out of it again. It is getting hotter everyday with sandstorms blowing all the time.

I saw a treat of a dog fight today between two Jerry and two of our planes which resulted in the two Jerry planes been shot down as well as one of our kitty-hawks. Ted Wilson and I got a truck today and slipped into Tobruk where we bought two cases of whiskey at an army store. We sold a lot of it and then got stuck into the rest, consequently the whole of our platoon was drunk before it got dark. It will soon be full moon so we know what to expect. Even now Jerry flies around us all night long just waiting for someone to show light so that he can give us the works. We just lie and listen to him and hope for the best. It is my son’s birthday today.

The worst sandstorm I have yet known blew all day today. I tried to write a letter but found it impossible. Everything is covered with sand. Ted Wilson and myself got stuck into the whiskey. The sandstorm is terrible, we are all covered with it. We have a 25 mile no mans land between our front line and the Germans. We are waiting for them to start pushing and they seem to be doing the same so I think we shall be sitting her all summer. Jerry flew over all night.

The sandstorm died down a bit today but its still blowing. We changed our position a little today. One of our fellows got wounded from a German flare today, he was cut badly on the hands and leg. We bandaged him up and sent him off to dressing camp station. There is a constant flow of lorries and transport all the time, day and night. We are massing a terrific force here. Jerry flew over us all night

The sandstorm finally stopped. I did not do much all day. Jerry came over us a few times in the morning but nothing started. I was writing a letter to my wife at 5 o’clock when Jerry started machine-gunning us. Oh! It is a rotten feeling and took me a full minute to realize what was happening. When you write about it, and read about it there seems nothing in it, but when you see the bullets falling all around you, you start to think things, he is trying to kill me. All this runs through your mind.
More troops came up all day. Machine guns, cannons, tanks. Jerry has not a hope of breaking through us now.

It was terribly hot today. Jerry and Italian planes were all over us all day and Tobruk was bombed and machine-gunned continuously for 24 hours. Right up until late tonight I watched bombs falling on Tobruk and the anti aircraft batteries here put up a terrific barrage. The sky was thick with shells bursting and at night it makes a wonderful sight, but also quite frightening, but we are used to it now. I got tired after a while and went to sleep even with all the noise going on. There were two enemy planes that I saw myself shot down. The one was shot down by us with a Bren gun while he was machine-gunning us, he was a German. The other was shot down in a dogfight with one of our fighters. It was an exciting sight, our fighter only gave him two bursts with his machine guns and that was enough to send him racing through the sky at a terrific speed with smoke pouring from him. The pilot bailed out at about 10 000 feet and I saw his plane go into a power dive from that height at about 800 miles per hour nose for earth. There was a terrific explosion and flames went several hundred feet into the air and in a matter of seconds the plane was burned out. We caught the pilot who happened to be Italian and full of bounce too but for him the war is not over.

The heat is now getting quite unbearable and I am not looking forward to a summer in this barren, desolated desert. The flies swarm around you in their millions and altogether there is not a thing of any good that can be said about this place, but still although we don’t want the place we cant give the Germans a chance to land here or before long they would be in Cape Town and then some of our friends in the Union would be able to experience what it is like to be under Nazi Rule instead of under the carefree protective wing of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
I am sure they would not have two languages but would have to learn German and definitely not their own government but would be oppressed and treated the way traitors deserve to be treated, the language they don’t understand, a machine gun in their backs.

The more I see of what happens from day to day in Europe and the rest of the world and even in our own ranks here in the army and compare it with all the rotten propaganda they have shoved down us in the past and at present, the more I look to and upon Communism as a deciding factor in a new world order which has got to come about after this war. George Heard in South Africa has my profound admiration as he seems to be the only one able to get right into the back yard of our Capitalist and hit him right where it hurts most. He always manages to bring to light their sore points, the points they don’t like brought up. George Heard has my vote and many more so wake up democracy and do something about it because the men who are fighting this war are wide awake and shall start asking questions when this is over and also, “What you are going to do”. My suggested solution to assist the world in a better international collaboration is, I am afraid this is where I turn once more to my communistic feelings but yet truly believe to be the only solution and that would be to pool the resources of the world and there by allowing all the races, creeds and nations as equal share in its wealth and riches. By doing this I see no reason for any more wars and there by assist the advancement of civilization and humanity. After all why should the capitalists of one country control its wealth, for example the House of Lords and the rulers of Britain. I should not write like this because after all I have pledged myself to fight for democracy but after a few months isolate, desolate life a man starts to think about all these things and also asks himself questions and the more questions he put to himself, the less he is able to answer. Well these are the questions that are going to be asked after the war and that shall have to be answered then. It is up to everyman who has offered his life in this struggle to stand together after is and demand that they be answered.

Tobruk has been raided and bombed for nearly the whole day today with also a couple of dog fights over us, but even that is getting so regular now, we are beginning not to notice it. – We call ourselves civilized and yet this wonderful human brain which mankind has cultivated is being used wholly for the purpose of inventing something more colossal and more devastating to destroy one another with and to tear one another to pieces with instead of using it to a more beneficial purpose in assisting mankind. – Usually I complete the day’s diary the following morning but this afternoon I had so much on my mind so I just resorted to writing and this is the result. The whole of the S. African army is now in the front line and every day brings more and more reinforcements and thousands more troopers as there is just one continuous stream of traffic every day.

Today it is four months to the date since we embarked on a ship at Durban. Oh! How I wish I was out of this desert and back there. Tobruk was plastered with bombs right through the night and most of the day today, which has been a miserable day with sandstorms blowing from the east. We are massing a terrific force of men, guns and tanks up here now and I don’t think Hitler has ever got a hope of smashing through us. One of our tanks I saw at Sidi Rezegh, which has been knocked out by a German Anti Tank gun, still had the dead English Tommy sitting in the drivers seat in the same position as what he was in when he was killed 4 months ago. Of course he is all decayed now and all his flesh has rotted off. They should have somebody to go around and bury these poor men who have given up their lives so, so nobly for their country.

Four months ago today to the date we sailed out of Durban harbour and said goodbye to South Africa. I shall never forget it as long as I live. It seems more like four years ago to me and little Benoni seems so far away back to my darling wife and son. Not much activity today. There is a halo around the moon tonight, which is very bright, as a matter of fact I am writing by it. The halo around the moon warns that it is going to be dusty tomorrow. As I write now I can see Tobruk getting bombed in the distance. It will be full moon tomorrow night so that means next Friday is Good Friday.

My yesterday prediction was right. There is a terrific sandstorm blowing today. We are working out a strategy we could adapt in defending different localities on a sand model when bullets started flying around us from some unknown source. Bummed an egg tonight from a fellow. He got some from a wandering Arab, so I got a little tin and made a fire and fried it myself. Tonight ends another month, that brings me one month nearer the time when I shall be going home.