"There...... but for the Grace of God....."

MIDDLE EAST - 1941-1942

I have very little information about Dad's time in the  Middle East. All I know was that he drove an ambulance over there before being sent home on the "Orcades" in 1942 - "We sailed from Suez on the troopship "Orcades" late in January 1942, reaching Colombo ten days later where we stayed for a day". An ill-fated voyage which ended in the jungles of Burma.

Douglas Hayden Bell enlisted around the same time as Dad did and they were stationed near Gaza in a tent compound called Camp Hill 69. As Dad and Mum had built a house at Camp Hill in Brisbane before leaving for the war, I wonder if he was the orginator of the name and the 69 was wishful thinking on the soldier's part!!!  Doug Bell also kept a diary which mentions various visits he and Dad made to different places in the Middles East and they seem to have shared a friendship and an interest in the history and culture of the places they were moving through. Doug was  fortunate that he was transferred to another area just prior to departure. He took off from Suez a little later than Dad on the "Mendoza" to Colombo and then after a week or so boarded the "Orcades", which was on its way back from Java with nurses, troops and evacuees. They then sailed down to Port Adelaide - as Singapore had fallen. 

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Here are some of the photos taken by Doug Bell during his time in the Middle East and kindly sent to me by his son, Graeme. They are much appreciated and fill in a little bit more of Dad's story.