Description
Object description
His ms memoir (10pp) of his background and life as an engineer in the UK and India (September 1916 – 1939) and his service with the Royal Indian Engineers in India, North Africa and Middle East (1939 – 1943) notably extending the railway from Mersa Matruh to Tobruk, being wounded at Tobruk (early 1942) and his recovery in the 41st General Hospital outside Cairo, Egypt and his voyage by hospital ship to the UK via Durban and Cape Town in South Africa (no dates); being torpedoed in the Hospital Ship SS DUCHESS OF ATHOLL off Ascension Island (October 1942) on leaving Cape Town; his escape by lifeboat having been given directions towards North Africa by the Captain [Hans Ibbeken] of the U-Boat, U-178, which sank the troopship; and being picked up by the frigate HMS CORINTHIAN after three days in the lifeboat and taken to Freetown, Sierra Leone (October 1942) to await passage on SS CAPE TOWN CASTLE to Greenock in Scotland (no dates); and his subsequent recovery in Roehampton Hospital and posting to the War Office as Staff Captain as he was still unfit for active service (mid 1943); and commenting on his off duty entertainment, life on a troopship; "the absolute pandemonium" after his troopship had been torpedoed and began listing badly.
Content description
His ms memoir (10pp) of his background and life as an engineer in the UK and India (September 1916 – 1939) and his service with the Royal Indian Engineers in India, North Africa and Middle East (1939 – 1943) notably extending the railway from Mersa Matruh to Tobruk, being wounded at Tobruk (early 1942) and his recovery in the 41st General Hospital outside Cairo, Egypt and his voyage by hospital ship to the UK via Durban and Cape Town in South Africa (no dates); being torpedoed in the Hospital Ship SS DUCHESS OF ATHOLL off Ascension Island (October 1942) on leaving Cape Town; his escape by lifeboat having been given directions towards North Africa by the Captain [Hans Ibbeken] of the U-Boat, U-178, which sank the troopship; and being picked up by the frigate HMS CORINTHIAN after three days in the lifeboat and taken to Freetown, Sierra Leone (October 1942) to await passage on SS CAPE TOWN CASTLE to Greenock in Scotland (no dates); and his subsequent recovery in Roehampton Hospital and posting to the War Office as Staff Captain as he was still unfit for active service (mid 1943); and commenting on his off duty entertainment, life on a troopship; "the absolute pandemonium" after his troopship had been torpedoed and began listing badly.
History note
Cataloguer SNR