We left Durban on the troop ship the destination still un-known. After a few days at sea the weather started getting hotter. Jimmy had worked out that we were sailing North and said that we were probably going to end up in Egypt. As the days went by it got hotter and hotter. Below decks where we slept was unbearable, you could hardly breath at night making sleep impossible. The OC realising this got permission from the captain of the ship for us to sleep on the decks at night. This was a great relief for us and very pleasant to be in the fresh air instead of being cooped up below decks.

After a week of sailing our officers informed us of our destination. We were told that the following day the ship would be docking at a place called Assab in Eritrea on the East coast of Africa. The Battalion was being sent to support British, South African and Indian troops who were mopping up the last pockets of Italian troops in East Africa. The South Africans had carried out a stunning campaign against the Italians in Abyssinian, capturing Addis Ababa in April. Our job, using our carriers was to help round up these last small pockets of Italian resistance. The next morning we docked in the port of Assab, which looked alot different from Durban harbour.

We spent most of the day unloading the carriers and other equipment from the ships hold. It was late at night when we finally drove through the town to our designated barracks. These turned out to be the old Italian army barracks. The barracks had a roof on them and that was about it, no doors, windows and no running water, it was hotter than hell, but we made the best of it realising that we could be here a long time.

We were given a few days to acclimatise to the hot weather and to get rid of our sea legs, then it was time to head into the interior. For two days we traveled on the hot dusty road to a place called Gonder, which was an Italian fortress town ontop of a very high mountain, on arriving at the foot of the mountain, it was soon realised that the carriers would not be able to cope with the steep rocky terrain so we dismounted and started to climb. The O.C. had told us that they did not expect the Italian in the fort to put up much resistance because they were the last Italian troops left in the area, because of this fact the O.C. had given orders before we had left Assab that the battalions should put up a good show for the Italians, so we were climbing this huge mountain in full parade kit including kilts and the pipes leading us all the way up. If the Italians had not already seen us coming they could certainly hear us.

The higher we climbed the more we started to struggle. The air was very thin at this altitude, plus we were all still a little unfit for being at sea for such a long time. Padre Smith, the battalion Padre climbed with us and was constantly giving us words of encouragement. I noticed that that bugger wasn't carrying a rifle and full pack. Nearing the top of the mountain an Italian spotted us and started to log a few mortar rounds at us. This was my very first time under fire and I wasn't as frightened as I thought I might be, I was far too exhausted from the climb to care and was only too pleased when the order was given to halt and to take cover. We were in no danger because the enemy mortar rounds were falling well short of us. The O.C. obviously thought that we'd had enough for the day and ordered the battalion back part way down the mountain, hoping that the Italians would be in a better mood the next day.

On our way down the mountain we entered a densely wooded area . It was now getting dark and suddenly out of no where a huge "fuzzy wuzzie" stepped out of the woods. He was a huge African with guns and bandoliers all over his body, he seemed very pleased to see us and gestured with his hands that he had killed many Italians lately, he was wearing Italian army boots. He made us follow him to a clearing in the woods where his village was. Here we were greeted with more fuzzy wuzzie's also armed to the teeth. This was the first time I had ever seen a native and it was all very fascinating to me, a young man from the cold North East of England.

The O.C. decided that this would be an excellent place for the battalion to rest for the night and defensive pickets were sent out and the cooks got to work. Myself and some of the other carrier platoons were invited by one of the fuzzy wuzzie's to sleep in his long hut, this seemed a great idea at the time, anything was better than sleeping on the jungle floor which because of the rain lately was very muddy. Me and the lads bedded down for the night in the hut, sleeping on goats skins given to us by the fuzzy wuzzie. I had only been asleep for 20 minutes before I realised that I had some unwanted guests. The goat skins were crawling with flea's and I had been bitten all over my arms and legs. I now also realised the terrible smell that prevailed inside the hut. This was because the natives kept their live stock underneath the hut - goats, sheep and pigs. Eventually the smell and the flea's drove me out of the hut. Outside I went up to the nearest tree, loosened my belt all the way and then tied myself, using my belt around the tree so I could sleep standing up. This was not to be. The tree I had picked was inhabited by a large family of monkey's who now started to protest very loudly. There was no sleep for Sid that night.

The next morning the battalion once again advanced up the mountain. The Italians had had all night to think about their situation and now seemed to have a change of heart, there was no mortar fire this time and we could see white flags flying over the Italian defenses. The O.C. went forward with the R.S.M. and accepted the Italian Commandants surrender. There were about 80 Italian soldiers that came out of the town. They were all in very bad shape after being without proper rations for so long. We found out later that they had been living on bread made from grass.

Myself and the rest of the carrier platoon were ordered to escort the prisoners back down the mountain and "we'd only just climbed up the bloody thing". The rest of the battalion entered the town to search for any hidden weapons. It took most of the day to descend the mountain with our prisoners, because they were so weak from malnutrition. At the bottom of the mountain we loaded the Italians in the trucks and waited for the rest of the battalion to catch up, which didn't take long and we soon set of back to Assab.

It took about 2 days to get back to Assab, we handed the Italian prisoners over to the Provo's, the battalion then returned back to the Italian army barracks where we started from 4 days earlier. Two of my mates, Tom and Davey (names changed) had been acting very suspiciously on the journey back from Gonder. Now that the Officers and N.C.O's were not about they let me and the other lads in on the crime of the century. They told us that while searching Gonder for weapons, Tom and Davey had wandered into the Italian bank, finding the bank safe open they proceeded to stuff their pockets and ammunition pouches with as much Lira as they could, they then walked calmly out of the bank making sure that they were not spotted by any Officers or N.C.O.'s. That night we counted out their haul, it came to about 400 pounds in English money, which was alot in those days. Tom and Davey were good blokes and shared their ill-gotten game with the rest of us. All I can say about that money is that we were drunk for 3 weeks and I was glad to see the back of it all!