Since several of you enjoyed the fitters truck, here is another truck, with scorpion this time. Perhaps someone can explain the scale of the creature. As children, my sisters and I used to look at the album of photos and thought it was a dragon. It is inserted before Beda-Fomm and it looks to me as if the album is largely chronological.
Maisie Most scorpions were about 2 inches long - head to end of tail- and were often found in your boots first thing in the morning which led to the good habit of banging the boots heel wise on the ground to knock them out - no one wanted to suffer a sting from those insects - especially on the toes - it hurt…..one particular sport was to throw a few ants onto a Scorpion - the ants would try to get at the scorpions neck - the scorpion would bring it's tail around to kill the ant and at the same time kill itself…… it was all the fun we had at times... Cheers
My father had his close encounter in Tunisia during July 1943... as he recalled: “We bivouacked in a field outside Sousse on the coast south of Tunis while we waited for our next task. The weather was beautiful and we slept on the ground. I used a company stretcher for comfort. After a heavy night at the mess, I rolled into my stretcher after removing my boots and shorts. The next morning, I drew on my shorts and immediately felt an excruciating pain in my buttocks. I jumped up, pulled off my shorts and shook them. Out jumped a large scorpion. I jumped on it and killed it. The pain by now was intense. I called the transport corporal and asked him to drive me to the medical officer. I could not sit on the seat of the jeep, so lay on my stomach. I was taken straight into Doc Samuels who lanced the sting and put in some antiseptic crystals. He uttered some comforting words like: ‘You won’t die but you’ll be very sore for a few days.’ The week following, we had many O groups where Major Lofting invited all to squat on the grass: ‘Except the colour sergeant, who prefers to stand.'.......’” If only Tom had been around to give him some advice. best
Hi von Poop, there are some photos in the album that my father bought in Italy, but none of the earlier ones appear to have been 'bought in.' It's on the same paper and with same margins as the others. However, there's obviously some sort of fakery about it. It's been in the album since around 1946 or 7. It seems so silly now that we never asked, but it was just something that we never questioned, that Dad never wanted to talk about the war.
Maisie We weren't allowed to talk about the war for years - it was called "swinging the lamp " by those who stayed at home, and it's only fairly recently that the demands of history have seen the rise of many Forums from the BBC war series of the late 90's - but History has to be told… Cheers
Richard I was around but in Algeria whereas your Father was miles away at Souse in Tunisia…… no mobile phones in those days…we learned early about scorpions Cheers
same pic of that Leyland lorry here. http://www.canalzoners.co.uk/RAF%20Shallufa%20-%20R%20Plunkett.htm and http://www.rafweb.org/Sqn081-85.htm and here. http://balmaha.net/mnavy/raf_habbaniya.html
good day maisiefosse.m.yesterday.i enjoyed the fitters truck.and now scorpion and truck in the dessert.great story.sorry for the chap who got bitten on the rear end.if he still around he will be telling that tale at his local.great post.regards bernard85
During my spell in North Africa we got to know scorpions well. One favourite pastime was to find two scorpions and get them to fight each other by making a ring of fire in the sand, petrol being the fuel. The winning survivor was duly allowed to escape ! I also remember how we used to catch the scorpions by poking an ear of corn down the first hole in the sand and then when you felt you had a bite jerking it out with the scorpion now firmly attached. I suppose it was a question of little things pleasing little minds in those days Ron
That is a pretty ancient Leyland. Never seen a pic of that one in a WW2 timescale, but never say never..... Chris
I've never seen a pic of that sort of Leyland in the desert either. I do have a pic of a Morris CDF in Italy which was a prewar truck, but much more modern than the Leyland! Chris
