Southern Africa

Defending the Cape Peninsula

Much of the coastal area south of Simonstown in the Cape Peninsula was out of bounds and you could not go...

Tommy's War

Washing, shaving and showering was to be done in sea water, with bloody awful soap. As your arse is hot,...

To El Alamein Via Capetown

We sailed from Gourac in Scotland on the Duches of Athol. There were 5000 troops on board and the journey...

An Incredible Coincidence: Essex Lads in Cape Town

Not only were they Essex lads but lads that I had gone to school with, coming from Burnham and...

Love Story, Troopship Through the Tropics, and Good Food

and I didn't know where I was going or when I'd hear from her, but in South Africa when I had my...

Evacuation with a Difference

Our food was served in large army tins, and we then had to wash them up in tubs of water. When D-Day...

Letter from South Africa.

This is a letter sent from E. Risborough to Mrs Warren from South Africa. Reproduced by Ipswich Museum with...

Fifteen Bouts of Malaria - a Fortunate War

During this time I became fluent in Urdu — and suffer 15 bouts of Malaria. It was brought home to me...

Smoke In Their Eyes

The chief flying instructor - called me into his office and reported that my bomb had gone through the roof...

Experiences in Cape Town During World War II

However, it was romantically exciting, when the troop ship docked in Cape Town to fill up with fresh...

Pupil Pilots Under Advanced Training

As a team, we maintained Miles Master aircraft for the use of pupils and instructors for the purpose of...

Pygmys and Pipatone

Mr. Pipotone is Italian but he lived in Tunisia for most of his younger life when he was old enough he...

Teaching Radio in South Africa

My father, now deceased, spent most of the war as a RAF sergeant in South Africa. He had learnt to be a...

Becoming a Navigator

Eventually I arrived at Foggia in Southern Italy for Christmas 1944. This is not to detract from D-day but...

Lost in South Africa: Then Found

My uncle Augustas, whose middle name was Carole - he was at the battle for Tobruk, in the midddle east... I...

Nazis in South Africa

My grandfather Carl Percy Knothe, being born in South Africa and brought up with an English backround...

Germans Come Ashore on Cape Peninsula Beach

At Seapoint on the Cape Peninsula, there is easy access to the beach from the sea....

Hero Great Dane

This story may already have been told, but it is important to me as I grew up during World War Two on...

'Borrowed' Perspex: A Love Story in South Africa

When my grandfather was stationed in South Africa with the RAF, he met my grandmother, a Sgt in the South...

Picture for Cabin13

This picture goes with the story 'Cabin No. 13'. It was probably taken after Beryl came out of...

53 ASU travelling across the desert in Egypt

53 ASU travelling across the desert in Egypt...