On
the 24th April 1943 No. 980 Balloon Barrage Squadron had been at
Abadan refinery for almost 12 months and was given orders
to
pack up and get readied to move to Port Said.
The
men of the squadron had made many friends with the locals and many locals
had been employed to
do things like washing for the men of the
squadron.
On
the 7th May all M.T. (Motor Transport) Sections left for
the Transit Camp at Habbaniya.
On
the 8th May the men worked hard packing stores and loading them
onto the barge.
On
the 12th May all the balloon kit was taken. Because of the heat and the
tides the men were ordered to parade at 4.45 a.m. in full marching
order.
At 4.45 a.m. they paraded then marched to the Jetty where they got on a
barge and were taken out to the paddle steamer. They moved
off
about 7 a.m. and they docked at Khorramshahr for the night.
On
the 13th May they spent the night as comfortably as they could on
the "old tub". At 6 a.m. they started upriver for Basrah. They
arrived there at
10
a.m. and had breakfast at 10.30 a.m. They then entrained at Basrah. About
noon they left Basrah for Baghdad. They were on the train all day
and
many men slept on the floor.
On
the 14th May they arrived in Baghdad about 6 p.m. and waited a
while for transport to take them to Habbaniyah but the Commanding Officer
came
up before they had left and told them that there was a change of plan and
they had to go to the Transit Camp Baghdad. They went there
and
waited until noon until they found the men some tents.
On
the 15th May they left Baghdad at 10 a.m. in convoy for
Habbaniyah and arrived there at 2 p.m.
The
men settled in and some went for a swim in Lake Habbaniyah”.
On
the 16th May many men were up at 6 a.m. and went for a swim in
Lake Habbaniyah. They were at the Transit Camp for a rest”.
The
next two days were easy and restful with the men watching Flying Boats land
on the Lake with mail.
On
the 18th May the men had their F. F. I. (Free From Infection)
medical examination and were told they would be leaving on the next day.
There
was a long awaited Pay Parade.
On
the 19th May the men were delayed and told that they would
definitely be leaving on 29th May. They were told to parade at 5.45
a.m. and
be
ready to leave at 6 a.m.
On
20th May the men had all their kit packed and were ready at 5.30
a.m. They got on the lorries and were told to make themselves comfortable
as
this would be their home for 5 or 6 days. The convoy consisted of eighty
lorries. As they travelled some ended up overtaking the slower ones.
Some
were achieving 25 miles and hour others up to 40 miles per hour. They
travelled all day and stopped for half an hour for Tiffin and then
carried
on until about 3.30 p.m. when they stopped for the night at Waddi Mohdi, a
staging post, out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but
desolate
country as far as the eye could see. The sun had made the sands hard and
sun-baked but the men made their beds on it and slept until
5.a.m.
They had breakfast at 5.30 a.m. and they left at 6 a.m. on the 21st”.
As
the second day passed they stopped for Tiffin as usual. There was nothing to
see all day and so the men played cards the best they could
in
the back of the wagons. That night, they filled up with petrol from jerry
cans and stopped at Putbah, a staging post for the night.
On
the 22nd May they set off again for the third day. There was
nothing to see as usual. It was like being in the middle of the ocean. They
finally
crossed
the Trans-Jordanian that night and stopped at H.4, a staging post, just
inside the border for the night.
On
the 23rd May they travelled through the Trans-Jordan desolate
country full of rocks. It looked like Iraq, and as far as you can see
desolate
countryside.
The flat terrain began to show some distant hills. They stopped at Mafraq, a
staging post. Despite the desolation each night a guard
was
posted and the men shivered with the cold. The guard duty put on every
stitch of clothing including a blanket around their shoulders.
On
the 24th May the men were up at 4 a.m. and they left at 5 a.m. It
was hoped to finish the journey that 5th day. They began driving up into
the
hills now, with nothing but big rocks at the side of the road. They planned
to stop at 9 a.m. for breakfast, but just before breakfast they
came
into something they could hardly believe. Yesterday the countryside had been
a mass of rocks, but now it was green and gold with grass and
wheat.
With the dew on it on the plant life it smelt lovely. After breakfast they
started off again and were delighted to see the Jordan Valley.
They
continued climbing uphill for some
time and then they descended with the men relishing the sight and smell of
agriculture.
As
they went down one part of the road they could see the front of the convoy
going along the road about 1,000 feet below.
After
a long day they arrived at R.A.F. Gaza, Palestine at 8.p.m. that night.
On
the 25th May the men were told to be on parade this morning at 10
a.m. to be ready to move at 2 p.m. At 2 p.m. they were taken to the station
and
left Gaza at 6 p.m. They entrained and spent all night on the train, and
they got off the train at 9 a.m. the next morning. They were at
Kasfareet,
Egypt. The Squadron had been split into a road party and a train party. The
road party arrived at 11.45 a.m. and the train party at 8.30
a.m.,
they had arrived at No.21 Personnel Transit Camp, Kasfareet. From 26th-27th
May they remained at the camp before being sent to new
postings.
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