Description
Object description
A ts memoir (188pp plus introductions), published by his family and entitled 'Hiscock's Grand Tour: The War Diary of a Somerset Bank Clerk', using his original journals, illustrated throughout with photographs and images of documents and other items, and with forwards by him and his family, starting in May 1942 with his time in Catterick as a Signalman in the Royal Corps of Signals, just a month after the birth of his first son, Charles, prior to his embarkation in QUEEN MARY, the voyage to Egypt via Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Cape Town, South Africa (May – June 1942), conditions on board, arriving in a camp near Cairo, descriptions of the camp, first impressions of Egypt, trips into Cairo, transferring to a reinforcement camp near Alexandria (August 1942), his first drive into the desert, posting to a 50th Divisional Signal Company, Royal Corps of Signals (50th (Northumbrian) Division) (August 1942), poor conditions and flies, his first experiences of enemy bombing and shelling (September 1942), sand storms, moving forward to the line near El Alamein, the opening of the 2nd Battle of Alamein (October 1942), the pursuit of the retreating Germans (November 1942), seeing Italian corpses, being sent to a base hospital in Tel El Kebir with jaundice and subsequent convalescence in a camp near Cairo (November – December 1942), transfer to Kantara, Christmas in Maadi, crossing the Delta to Alexandria on Boxing Day, sailing to Benghazi, Libya, arriving in time for New Year (January 1943), being posted to a new unit (not named, but still in 50th Division), moving to Regima, rain, moving west to Sirtie (March 1943), and then to Tunisia, spending days with the Cheshires (2nd Battalion Cheshire Regiment), moving to Wadi Akarit (April 1943), moving east and arriving in Tobruk (May 1943), returning to Egypt, boarding a ship in Alexandria and sailing to Sicily (July 1943), thoughts on Sicily and Mount Etna, being strafed by fighters in Lentini, descriptions of the landscape, seeing the invasion of Italian mainland, (September 1943), leaving Sicily and returning to the UK (October – November 1943), based in Suffolk (February – March 1944), guard duty and time in the New Forest (April – May 1944), crossing to France from Southampton, landing in Normandy (17 June 1944), based in Bayeaux, moving to near Mont Pincon (August 1944), crossing the Seine, crossing into Belgium (September 1944), buying a primus stove, taking part in Operation Market Garden, entering Nijmegan (October 1944), sleeping in barns, moving to Dixmude (December 1944), the 50th Division being broken up, posting to 37 Med W/T Section, returning from home leave with a new Division (3rd Division?) (February 1945), hearing the crossing of the Rhine (March 1945), crossing into Germany, seeing the devastation of earlier fighting, the difficulties of non-fraternisation, fears for a drawn out end to the war, grief at the death of President Roosevelt (April 1945), the death of Mussolini, his quiet celebration of VE Day (May 1945), anti-climax afterwards, re-reading Shakespeare with new understanding after his experiences, sending Swallowtail butterfly eggs home, based in Brussels (with Independent Jewish Brigade) (October 1945 – April 1946), spending Christmas with a Belgian couple, M and Mme Missair, their friendship and his visiting them often, life in Brussels and sightseeing trips in Brussels and other cities in Belgium, the book ending with a brief timeline of his life, 1910 to 1952, including details of units he was attached to though not mentioned by name in his journal. Throughout he uses very poetic language to describe the landscapes, flora and fauna, with his particular interest in birds and butterflies, his musings on life, nature, comradeship, religion, and the countries he visits.
Content description
A ts memoir (188pp plus introductions), published by his family and entitled 'Hiscock's Grand Tour: The War Diary of a Somerset Bank Clerk', using his original journals, illustrated throughout with photographs and images of documents and other items, and with forwards by him and his family, starting in May 1942 with his time in Catterick as a Signalman in the Royal Corps of Signals, just a month after the birth of his first son, Charles, prior to his embarkation in QUEEN MARY, the voyage to Egypt via Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Cape Town, South Africa (May – June 1942), conditions on board, arriving in a camp near Cairo, descriptions of the camp, first impressions of Egypt, trips into Cairo, transferring to a reinforcement camp near Alexandria (August 1942), his first drive into the desert, posting to a 50th Divisional Signal Company, Royal Corps of Signals (50th (Northumbrian) Division) (August 1942), poor conditions and flies, his first experiences of enemy bombing and shelling (September 1942), sand storms, moving forward to the line near El Alamein, the opening of the 2nd Battle of Alamein (October 1942), the pursuit of the retreating Germans (November 1942), seeing Italian corpses, being sent to a base hospital in Tel El Kebir with jaundice and subsequent convalescence in a camp near Cairo (November – December 1942), transfer to Kantara, Christmas in Maadi, crossing the Delta to Alexandria on Boxing Day, sailing to Benghazi, Libya, arriving in time for New Year (January 1943), being posted to a new unit (not named, but still in 50th Division), moving to Regima, rain, moving west to Sirtie (March 1943), and then to Tunisia, spending days with the Cheshires (2nd Battalion Cheshire Regiment), moving to Wadi Akarit (April 1943), moving east and arriving in Tobruk (May 1943), returning to Egypt, boarding a ship in Alexandria and sailing to Sicily (July 1943), thoughts on Sicily and Mount Etna, being strafed by fighters in Lentini, descriptions of the landscape, seeing the invasion of Italian mainland, (September 1943), leaving Sicily and returning to the UK (October – November 1943), based in Suffolk (February – March 1944), guard duty and time in the New Forest (April – May 1944), crossing to France from Southampton, landing in Normandy (17 June 1944), based in Bayeaux, moving to near Mont Pincon (August 1944), crossing the Seine, crossing into Belgium (September 1944), buying a primus stove, taking part in Operation Market Garden, entering Nijmegan (October 1944), sleeping in barns, moving to Dixmude (December 1944), the 50th Division being broken up, posting to 37 Med W/T Section, returning from home leave with a new Division (3rd Division?) (February 1945), hearing the crossing of the Rhine (March 1945), crossing into Germany, seeing the devastation of earlier fighting, the difficulties of non-fraternisation, fears for a drawn out end to the war, grief at the death of President Roosevelt (April 1945), the death of Mussolini, his quiet celebration of VE Day (May 1945), anti-climax afterwards, re-reading Shakespeare with new understanding after his experiences, sending Swallowtail butterfly eggs home, based in Brussels (with Independent Jewish Brigade) (October 1945 – April 1946), spending Christmas with a Belgian couple, M and Mme Missair, their friendship and his visiting them often, life in Brussels and sightseeing trips in Brussels and other cities in Belgium, the book ending with a brief timeline of his life, 1910 to 1952, including details of units he was attached to though not mentioned by name in his journal. Throughout he uses very poetic language to describe the landscapes, flora and fauna, with his particular interest in birds and butterflies, his musings on life, nature, comradeship, religion, and the countries he visits.
History note
Cataloguer SJO