I have just unearthed an ink sketch that is clearly based on an incident and I am wondering if it is possible to identify what it represents. It is clearly in two parts, Coming in and Going out. The Coming In part shows four British NCOs arriving in style in a tropical destination that has both palm trees and cacti. The driver of the car appears to be wearing a fez. In the Going Out section, four NCOs (three NCOs and a Warrant Officer) are sitting in what may be a felucca while a fifth man sings in the bow. The pennant has the numbers 4 & 2 either side of a flaming grenade and as one of the sergeants has a similar grenade above his chevrons it may represent a Royal Engineers Field Company. My first thoughts were that it represented something like arriving in Singapore during peacetime and escaping by boat in wartime but this is conjecture. The sketch is signed by S? G. Ivatt which may help to date it. Any thoughts would be welcome.
Pure speculation BUT this was the only S G Ivatt I could find. NAME: Sydney George Ivatt BIRTH: Apr 1904 - Ely, Cambridgeshire DEATH: Dec 1963 - Brentwood, Essex NAME: Sydney G Ivatt SPOUSE: Minnie Dunn MARRIAGE: Dec 1930 - Rochford, Essex 1939 REGISTER TRANSCRIPTION 8 Wallace Street , Southend-on-Sea C.B., Essex NAME DOB OCCUPATION Emily Dunn 26 Jun 1870 Unpaid Domestic Duties Sydney G Ivatt 04 Mar 1904 Bricklayer - Working for AAD Minnie Ivatt 10 Oct 1905 Unpaid Domestic Duties Marjorie E Livings (Dunn) 26 Jan 1914 Domestic Duties Sorry, this record is officially closed. NAME: Minnie Ivatt BIRTH: 10 Oct 1905 DEATH: Oct 1991 - Brentwood, Essex 1 son, born 1935 - married 1959 - living in Basildon, Essex, 2004
Many thanks for that. I have found a Henry George Ivatt, 1886-1972, who served as an officer in the RASC during the Great War but he doesn't seem to fit either.
Simon, It's curious they are driving through a landscape with a prevalence of wild cactus. The distribution of naturally occurring cacti can be seen in a Wikipedia map. Of course they have since been introduced into other areas by people and become naturalized so maybe not helpful in narrowing down a locality for the sketch? Cactus - Wikipedia Regards ...
Indeed, it is the presence of both the cacti and the driver with the Fez that makes me think that it was not drawn in the Far East. The Fez says Middle East, Turks or perhaps King's African Rifles.
High Wood - Yes - we lived in Singapore for a few years and there were no cacti there. Or people wearing a fez.
And no Feluccas either I am willing to bet. The cartoon may represent what may have been a day's boating on the River Nile for some off duty NCOs and have no other significance whatsoever.
Best guess on the cactus species is prickly pear (Opuntia). It grows well in the Mediterranean area including Greece and Crete where the 42nd Field Company R.E was posted for a time. That is of course if Idler's unit suggestion is on the right track. Perhaps after the invasion the group evacuated from Crete in a small boat? Wild guess I know ...
Hopefully we are not running down a dead end street with 42nd Field Coy RE. There's an account by Major E. F. Parker (Teddy) who I believe was the CO of the 42nd titled "How I Was Captured" on Issuu here: How I was Captured: The War Diary of Teddy Parker CBE At the time of their surrender he was in command of 2 and 3 Sections only. 1 Section under a Lt. Furnish was detached to the Heraklion Force and he makes no mention of their fate. Only a few Officers made a dash for it on the morning of May 31st,1941. Also there's the book "The "Four-Two"; scraps from the history of the 42nd Field Company, R.E." published in 1952 under the editorship of A.H.M. Morris who may have been the new CO after the 42nd was reformed in Egypt. It might be hard to find at a reasonable price. The "Four-Two"; scraps from the history of the 42nd Field Company, R.E.: Amazon.co.uk: A H M Morris [editor]: Books Regards ..
