In the Desert Today (selected verses)
What did I see in the desert to-day, In the cold, pale light of dawn? I saw the Honeys creaking out, Their brave, bright pennants torn; And heads were high against the sky, And faces were grim and drawn. …
What did I see in the desert to-day, In the cold, pale light of dawn? I saw the Honeys creaking out, Their brave, bright pennants torn; And heads were high against the sky, And faces were grim and drawn. …
CHARLES WESTCOTT was a sapper in the Royal Engineers, laying and clearing mines. At the 2nd Battle of Alamein he was responsible for clearing the path for the tanks to break out. In 2012 he visited the battlefield again for the …
There’s a Devil in the dawn – Horrific spawn of last night’s hideous moon, That hung above the gun’s inferno And smiled on men who died too soon. There’s a Devil in the dawn – See him fawn on those …
Gordon Wallace, from Australia – a proud supporter of his country and the Empire, he signed up as a volunteer. He was a sergeant in the 2/15th Infantry Battalion, Australian 9th Division. The infantry experienced some of the worst casualties. …
John was in the maintenance unit for the Western Desert Air Force. He visited Alamein for the 67th anniversary in 2009. He recalls his first impressions of Egypt and along with Harry, reads ‘M.E. …
Tony (I) Celner, an able linguist, was chosen to work for Intelligence Corps. His role was to interrogate prisoners of war as they came off the battlefield. As a young Lance Corporal in his early twenties, …
A universe of space, infinite sands, Unbroken line to mark off cloudless blue. A shimmering heat that plucks the very life Of withered thorns which strive and stretch out shoots Groping in vain to take a hold on life. The …
OWEN ROBERTS, gunner Owen was a troop leader in the gunners during the North African campaign. An architecture student, he used to draw sketches of military vehicles during his time as a soldier. Nature plays a vivid part of …
HARRY GARRETT, GUNNER Harry Garrett, 96, was a sergeant in the 51st Highland Division, in charge of a gun team – a dangerous job, he was blown to unconsciousness several times, and his best friend, Ebenezer Lee, killed …
(This anonymous poem was blown by the wind into a slit trench at El Agheila, Libya, during a heavy bombardment). Stay with me, God. The night is dark, The night is cold: my little spark Of courage dies. The night …