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.