STEAM AT WAR 4




In the second half of 1941 the Western Desert railway was extended westwards by a further 155 kilometres in order to deliver supplies and armoury nearer to the action zones. Mersa Matruh was located at the foot of an escarpment that presented a climb from the port too steep for the railway; therefore a branch off point 13 Km back at a place called Similla was selected. From there the track took a more easily graded circuitous route of 28Km to the top of the plateau to arrive at Mohalfa. The grade was 1 in 117 with an easement half way at Siquifa to accommodate a passing loop. Mohalfa was the intersecting point with the north-south road from Mersa Matruh to Siwa Oasis 240Km south into the Egyptian desert and the guardian point that prevented enemy forces from advancing via a route around the southern extremity of the Quatara Depression, itself a natural barrier against an invading army. Enemy scouting patrols attempting forays via carefully selected tracks through the swamplands were countered by the famous allied desert patrols.

I was a member of a small detachment comprising engine drivers, firemen, guards and camp maintenance staff based at Similla to work the train loads of railway building materials and equipment to the 10th and 13th railway construction units on the extension. Their work included the setting out of the marshalling yards, locomotive servicing and turning facilities at Similla and Mohalfa. Similla also became a water supply centre with an underground reservoir kept topped up from tank wagon trains brought from Alexandria. Two British army engineers billeted with our detachment tended this point. They issued the water to small tank lorries that served the multitude of field units throughout the war zone. Their equipment consisted of a small petrol engine driven water pump as well as an emergency hand pump to transfer the water to the unit tankers.

As soon as Mohalfa was functioning as a rail head squadrons of 28 to 32 armoured tanks were brought up by rail and off-loaded for the road journey to Siwa Oasis. We ran several of these trains over a two months period always during the early parts of the nights. The tank motors were started while approaching Mohalfa and on arrival the trains were quickly divided in half and pushed into twin parallel tracks with loading banks across the ends. The tanks drove over the lengths of the wagons to the ramps and away to the Siwa road. Meanwhile we turned our locomotives, reformed the trains and hastened out of there on the return to Similla. As though on cue enemy bombers would fly in and plaster the marshalling yard. Enemy agents supplying the information on these operations seemed to slightly miscalculate the timings for there were no incidents of trains or tanks being caught in the target area. There were occasions when departing trains had only just cleared the railhead when the bombers homed in and the tail end brake van could be seen in silhouette against the light of bomb flashes. Even the outline of the vulnerable and lonely brakeman was visible through the end doorways of his cabin. Following one trip when the action was too close for his comfort he joined us on the engine for the next night return but inadvertently stepped out of the frying pan into the fire. On the downhill run the engine brakes failed leaving us with only the tender hand brake and the engine-reversing lever to arrest a total runaway. Our passenger did not enjoy the ride at all as he endured the hazardous journey out on the cab steps clinging to the handrails prepared to bail out at our slightest show of doubt. With the now unloaded train we did have a reasonable measure of control. The practice is very destructive to the engine cylinders and valves because large volumes of ash and grit laden air are drawn down the exhaust blast pipe and pumped through the steam system into the boiler. This air overcomes the normal boiler pressure and is released via the boiler safety valves that roar horrendously throughout the event. American railroaders with their penchant for descriptive language call it “chewing cinders”.

STEAM AT WAR 3




The 130Km length of railway between El Daba and Mersa Matruh was divided into six sections with more or less equally spaced passing loops and manned station hutments. Train separation was maintained by a token system similar in its workings to the tablet system used on our own NZ Railways. Egyptian railway personnel continued to man all stations and small detachments of our own people duplicated the staff. There were five trains a day each way carrying troops, war materials, petrol and water westwards and returning with troops going on leave, damaged war equipment and Bedouin nomadic tribes people being removed from what was to become an active war zone.

The trains were manned by Egyptian State Railway crews consisting of engine driver, fireman and guard covered by our own crew equivalents. Mersa Matruh was situated on a most picturesque harbour. It had been a newly developed holiday resort sponsored by the Egyptian Government. The public buildings and private homes were all of art-deco style architecture. It had been reduced to a ghost town from persistent bombing and all civilians had been removed. There were frequent nightly air-raids by single high-flying bombers that contributed to broken sleep rather than further material damage.

Prisoners of war taken in the fluid battle fronts were temporarily held in compounds bordering the town. The Libyans who loathed their Italian masters were cheerful in their fate, needing only token guarding and supplied labour gangs serving the allied forces. The Italian and German prisoners had no love for each other and were secured in separate compounds where the Italians sang and endlessly erected grottoes to the Virgin Mary. The Germans looked sullen, angered and shocked that capture and imprisonment had become their fate. These prisoners were brought out on heavily guarded trains.

At this stage of the operation the 16th Railway Operating Company's function was to oversee the railway workings and tabulate day to day procedures in preparation for our take-over of the system as the war zone extended eastwards.

Two fatalities struck the company quite early. The first was an air attack on a moving train one afternoon when a flight of Messerschmidt fighters made a strafing run from the rear disabling the locomotive, wounding the Egyptian crew and the NZ driver and killing the NZ fireman. The second occurred in the night at a crossing station where a train crashed into the rear of a stationary train loaded with petrol. The NZ fireman and both members of the Egyptian crew died in the inferno. The NZ driver who had opted to ride in the tail-end brake van escaped injury.

On a turn on this duty following a night run to Mersa Matruh my return train was booked to depart at mid-day. In the morning a mate and I went for a swim in the harbour. While disporting ourselves we noted a train departing an hour earlier than listed and guessed rightly that I should have been on it. I checked out the form and found that a second train was about to depart in the mid-day time slot so without drawing attention to the irregularity I boarded that one. Evidently, the driver of my rightful train was making the most of the opportunity to spin out the journey and collect extra time pay. On the other hand my adopted driver may have been having thoughts about the not unusual evening air raids and hurried things along. The result was that we were held at every station long enough for me to consult with our men on duty and faithfully copy into my log sheet their records of the preceding train. Immediately upon arrival at base I hastened my completed document to the orderly room sergeant clerk who shuffled these bits of paper and who warmly congratulated me upon my promptly delivered and excellently detailed report. Upon one's perceived diligence and devotion to duty are one's personal records are enhanced!

STEAM AT WAR 2




About ten days from Freemantle we arrived at Bombay to be greeted by a most terrific thunder storm. The rain pelted down in such vast quantities that it temporarily defeated the exposed decks drainage systems and flooded up to the doorsills. The shafts of lightning boring into the sea all around were staggering in their intensity. We had two days of shore leave and experienced our first culture shock. A party of six of us hired a taxi at a cost equivalent of 60 cents each for an afternoon and evening tour of the sights of Bombay. We stared in wonder at the great Victoria railway station with its teaming itinerant life. We walked very thoughtfully around the grim tower of silence and noted its sixteen human corpse gorged attendant vultures.

We noted the end of the day suburban steam hauled trains literally bulging and spilling over with passengers totally filling the carriages and festooning the roofs and the locomotive running boards and tenders. The roof riders executed giant Mexican waves as the trains sped under track over bridges.

On the fourth day we set off across the Indian Ocean for the Gulf of Aden and passed through the Red Sea noting its barren shorelines and red rock coastal hills. We duly arrived at the port of Suez with its overpowering reek of petroleum from the giant oil refineries. We were taken off the ship onto barges and ferried to landings where we boarded trains for the three-hour journey to Cairo and shunted 16 kilometres to our encampment at Maadi within sight of the Great Pyramids of Giza and the ancient Dead City of Cairo.

We were kitted out for the summer that was drawing to an end and given orientation and routine procedures. We were about three weeks at Maadi awaiting movement out to the Western Desert. In the meantime the company was generous with leave passes that enabled us to travel into Cairo, visit the Great Pyramids, museums and ancient ruins. We made acquaintance with the Brazilian coffee bars, wine shops and small restaurants where Greek and Jewish hosts gave us top quality treatment. In those establishments we could eat good food and drink good wine in quietness and dignity.

. Through our time in the Middle East and the rare occasions that we were in the towns we found the canteens and social rooms run by the NAFFI, the YMCA, the Church Army and various patriotic organisations very welcome for their good clean food and recreational facilities.

The 16th Railway Operating Company was duly sent on the 320Km rail journey to El Daba in the Western Desert. There we set up base from which to monitor and eventually take over the supply train workings over the 128Km section of the Egyptian State Railways to Mersa Matruh, the existing western railhead.

At our base camp the company embarked upon a programme of internal assessment with the object of identifying commissioned and non-commissioned officer material and examining the potential of all ranks to see that square pegs and round pegs fitted the appropriate holes. Whilst I bore the ignoble rank of "Sapper" all the way through which gratified my wish never to be placed in a position of authority over my fellows, especially in the army, I managed to enjoy as it turned out, periods of relative freedom of movement in some circumstances. Emerging from the interview covering previous work experience, because of my engineering trade background I was offered the choice of remaining with the locomotive running section or opting for the locomotive maintenance section. At the same time an officer invited me to become his batman. Of the three options, I did not want anything to do with engine maintenance work. It was dirty, repetitious and confined one to a fixed area. Of the batman's job, this officer was a respected man with high professional engineering qualifications. I probably would have derived some benefit from sharing his company, but I did not feel geared to such duty, therefore declined. I stayed with the locomotive running section for which I had joined the service.

STEAM AT WAR 1




This series is drawn from my unpublished memoirs titled “One Sapper’s War”.



Following on from the outbreak of war in 1939 the first and second echelons of the second NZ expeditionary forces had departed for the Middle East and United Kingdom. By early 1940 the third echelon to form the final grouping for the main body was being inducted. The Minister of Defence sent notices out to railwaymen calling for volunteers in forming a railway battalion to consist of two operating companies. The exercise was conducted in some urgency and the units thus formed became the 16th and 17th Railway Operating Companies of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Forces. Each contained 380 troops holding the skills necessary for train running operations. I became a member of the locomotive section of the 16th Railway Operating Company. My proudly borne regimental number was 27452 and my rank, the ignominious title "Sapper". In fact we were field engineers and wore the field engineers' puggarees on that curse of our lives, our lemon-squeezer hats. Within a week we were in camp at Hopuhopu, a damp and foggy place on the bank of the Waikato River between Ngaruawahia and Taupiri. We were issued with kit, 1911 vintage Lee Enfield 303 rifles, given a crash course in parade ground drill and sent home on embarkation leave.

The sailing date was deferred following the sinking of the Auckland Vancouver liner Niagara by German mines laid off the Northland coast. Our destination looked set for France but two or three weeks later we were again prepared for embarkation when France was over-run and Dunkirk became a legend. There was talk of disbanding the railway battalion, however, another two weeks saw us onto a troop train for the overnight journey to Wellington to board the troop ship Empress of Japan, which in convoy with the then new Mauritania and Orcades carried the third echelon to the Middle East. Later when Japan came into the war the name Empress of Japan was changed to Empress of Scotland. She was a steam turbine ship of 26000 tons and there were 3500 troops onboard. Our unit was accommodated in a hold at the stern on "D" deck almost on the water line. The portholes could not be opened in rough weather because they frequently dipped beneath the waves. Access was via a cargo hatch with a jury-rigged timber stairway that spiralled down to our quarters. We slept in hammocks that had to be unrolled every night and slung from ceiling hooks so closely spaced that one had to squirm up between the others to get into one's own. Once having mastered the art of getting into them without tumbling out the other side it took three nights to adapt to lying in the enforced banana shape. Finally exhaustion took over and we actually achieved comfort in them. The noise from the propellers and drive system was horrendous and in the first few days we felt quite overwhelmed by it. We were fed three meals a day in one of five half-hour sittings. We took our places in the dining room in accordance with the code on our boarding tickets. We were in transit for thirty-one days and served thirty-one rabbit stews and sago puddings with a Sunday treat of sultanas added to the sago. For all of our waking hours we carried our life preservers that added to our personal bulks in the crowded conditions. Fortunately on the voyage we had no cause to use those much cursed encumbrances. After ten days of chronic seasickness for some, mild to none for others and reactions from three inoculations we arrived at Freemantle. We experienced withdrawal symptoms when the horrendous noise from the propelling machinery was replaced by the relative silence of the berthed ship. We were given shore leave for part of the thirty-six hours that the ship topped up with supplies, presumably more rabbits and sago as the diet continued the same for the remainder of the voyage. We sailed next morning into the Indian Ocean and heading generally Northwest celebrated the traditional ceremonial crossing of the equator and noted the shoals of flying fish leaping from the sea and gliding on their large pectoral fins away from the passage of the ship.