| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Event and Information | References to Appendix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camp 149 Haifa. | 1st Jan., 43 | O.C. decided that until further notice Company Funds would (1) Pay the cost of all Liberty Lorries; (2) Provide a free stamped air mail Letter Card for each man every fortnight. | ||
| 4th Jan., 43 | A very succesful Company Whist Drive was held. | |||
| 10th Jan., 43 |
Signal received from 15 Area asking for date Coy. will be able to move
to Egypt. All ranks very keen and after consulting C.R.E. 63 and Area O.C.
gave 15th Jan. as earliest possible date.
Lt-Col. Palmer-Cook arrived at 10.00 hrs. with Major Willoughby, the O.C. 739 A.W. Coy., R.E., who are to take over the works in Haifa from the Coy. |
Appendix 1. | ||
| 11th Jan., 43 | Farewell letter received by O.C. from Brigadier Dixon, Chief Engineer, Palestine. | Appendix 8. | ||
| 12th Jan., 43 |
Company Kit Inspection.
Section Officers of 739 A.W. Coy., R.E., vistied works sites in Company with Section Officers of this Company preparatory to handing over. All ranks are sorry to leave another job before completion, this one at present being 20% complete. |
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| 13th Jan., 43 |
Signal from 15 Area giving details of movement for Road Party.
The boxing of stores and preparations for handing over go on apace. |
Appendix 2. | ||
| 14th Jan., 43 |
Signal received from Movements Levant giving movement details for rail
party, Haifa-Amirya.
All lorries loaded up and ready to move off and all accomodation stores handed over to 739 A.W. Coy., R.E. A farewell visit was received from Lt-Col. C.A.W. Pegler, R.E., 67 C.R.E. Works, with Major L.T. Keiller, R.E. The Officers' Mess this day was one long round of old friends coming to wish the Company good-bye and good luck. |
Appendix 3 and 3A. | ||
| Amirya Transit Camp | 15th Jan., 43 |
The whole of the Company moved out from Nesher Camp, Haifa, en route Egypt.
The Road Party, of 16 vehicles under Lt. Kilner with 50 men, moved out to time at 06.00 hrs. amidst rain and darkness. Movement Order Appendix 4. The Rail Party under the O.C. with remaining Officers and 170 men was moved to station in 2 buses and 1 3-ton truck: each making two journeys, and moved ex Haifa East station at 13.45 hrs. Difficulty was experienced in packing Company into the space provided, but a fair measure of comfort was eventually achieved. |
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| 16th Jan., 43 | Rail Party arrive at Alexandria Main station at 14.00 hrs and was transported to Amirya Transit Camp in ten lorries. | |||
| 17th Jan., 43 | News was obtained that there would be a stay of some days at Amirya and 10% of party were granted passes to Alexandria. | |||
| 18th Jan., 43 |
Road Party arrived at Amirya at 09.00 hrs all compete but with two trucks
on tow. Repairs immediately started.
Fruther 10% of Company on pass to Alexandria. |
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| 19th Jan., 43 |
All men of Company who had not been out were given pass to Alexandria.
Signal received that Company was to work under C.E. Aerodromes. |
Appendix 4 and 4A. | ||
| 20th Jan., 43 |
O.C. visited by Brigadier Stokes, C.E. Aerodromes, who gave a general
talk on the work to be undertaken.
Movement Orders received for Road and Rail parties for onward movment. |
Appendix 5. | ||
| 21st Jan., 43 |
Rail Party under Capt. Ridd and three section Officers left Amirya station
for Torbruk at 08.30 hrs after waiting in pouring rain for 3 hours. No food
was available for this party until 17.00 hrs.
Road Party under Lt. Kilner moved out at 06.00 hrs. The O.C. travelled by road independantly from this stage onwards. |
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| Berka, Benghazi | 22nd Jan., 43 |
Rail Party arrived at Tobruk at 10.30 hrs and marched 2 miles to Transit
Camp. Lorries being provided for heavy baggage.
The first taste of desert water was had here and nobody appreciated Tobruk tea. O.C. stayed the night with Company. |
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| 23rd Jan., 43 | Rail Party moved out of Tobruk Transit camp in ten lorries and proceeded to docks where they embarked on H.M.T. Princess Katherine for Benghazi. This proved to be the most comfortable part of the journey and the ship sailed at 20.00 hrs. | |||
| 24th Jan., 43 |
The Rail Party arrived at Benghazi at 14.00 hrs and was immediately
disembarked in a Z craft.
The trip proved quite uneventful except for 2 depth charges dropped by the escort in the middle of the night. On stepping ashore thet [sic] were met by the O.C. who had arrived the day before and obtained billets and arranged for transport. At first sight the billets appeared impossible being rather knocked about and extremely filthy. However in a few hours they had been cleaned up, food and cooking utensils obtained, and it was apparent that the Company was going to be very comfortable. |
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| 25th Jan., 43 | This day was spent settling in, obtaining stores, and making contacts. | |||
| 27th Jan., 43 |
The Road Party arrived at Benghazi Tranist camp with all lorries, but
with one on tow. This lorry had broken down at Bug-Bug and spares
being unobtainable had been on tow ever since. An interesting event had
occurred on this trip; Fluff, No. 1 Section dog, gave birth to five
puppies at Mersa Mutrah.
Visit by Col. Bonn, D.C.E Aerodromes. |
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| 28th Jan., 43 |
No. 4 Section under Lt. Kilner moved out at 08.30 hrs to Appolena on
detachment to build an operation room and to prepare Appolena with its
buildings as a rest camp for the R.A.F.
No. 2 Section under Lt. Hunter moved out at 11.00 hrs to Driana on detachment to erect an operation room for the R.A.F. |
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| Berka, Benghazi | 28th Jan., 43 |
The remainder of the Company commenced work on extension and repair
of aerodromes as follows:
No.1 Section on Berka III No.3 Section on Berka I 1 Cpl. and 20 men were supplied to Berka II to undertake the supervision Indian Pioneer and local labour on the laying of a mix in place runway. |
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| 30th Jan., 43 | The Cpl. and 20 men at Berka II were attached to 74 Works Section R.E. for accomodation, rations and duty. |
Source: National Archives WO 169/10755