Different Regiment - Still A Waiting Game

Then it finally happened, til we, til one day we were told to get on the train and they took us down to Glasgow and we got on the Arundo Castle, which was a British troop ship, and we knew we were someplace, we didn't know where, we knew we were going someplace, and by this time we had our tropical gear, of course. And I guess about four or five days out when they knew there couldn't be any leak of loose talk, the officers were told where we were going and then we were told it would be Sicily. So, I can't remember how long an ocean voyage we had, I know we had to, there were rumours that we had to proceed out into the Atlantic, way out in the Atlantic because the Germans head brass had come out you know. So our convoy I guess took a detour out in Atlantic while we were swinging back into the Med.

Interviewer: What was the moral of the men as they realized they were going into action?

Oh, top, couldn't have been better, "Let's get at it." I mean, after all, this had been what three and a half years, ‘40, ‘41, ‘42 and a half of ‘43, we'd been sitting on our arses in England, doing nothing but training, training, training, training. We were well trained so it was gung ho and all the, you know, especially with Monty's 8th Army, couldn't have asked for better you know.
Interviewer: What happened next?

Well, before we got to there, we pulled in at Algiers Harbour, and I must admit I was really impressed with the white, all the white houses and the white cliffs, and a few of us are standing over the bow of this Arundo Castle, and lo and behold we see the track of a torpedo. Couldn't believe it, we're in harbour. And so help me it passed about, well from here to that wall, under the bow of the ship and hit some poor buggers over there, hit a ship over further. And, of course, we just up anchor and out of there, and we were, again being a Lance Corporal wasn't too pretty, you know. What was going on, but we travelled, I guess, for another day and half, two days, and then got to Sicily. And only half of our regiment was there, A Squadron, not even half, just one squadron. I didn't know this at the time until I'd read the regimental history later, I thought the whole regiment was there, but it was only our squadron that was there, and the regiment even hadn't, hadn't even left Scotland yet.