Letter No. 4 12.6.42

KEEP YOUR MOVEMENTS SECRET

Letter No.4  Aust No. 34171

ACI COONEY JF

NO 3 Squadron

Royal Aust. Air Force

Middle East

12.6.42

Dear Mum,

This is just a little more unofficial news to add to letters No. 1&2. I have just returned to camp after spending a few days with the boys at the front. When I came back from Alexandria & Cairo I spent a day at camp & the next morning we left at 7 o’clock for Gambut, a distance of about 225 miles. We stopped at Sidi Barani for lunch & then went along a very rough road & stopped at Bardia to have a look around. The place has been bombed & shelled continuously for many months so you can imagine what it looks like. There is not one house that still has four good walls or a roof. Bombs & shells have fallen on all the roads & we had to dodge all over the place to miss them.

We passed the turn-off to Halfaya Pass & could see it winding up the mountains about 4 miles away.

We passed through Sollum & went up Sollum Pass. This pass was built by the Italians & is really a marvellous piece of engineering. It is a zig-zag road built on the side of an almost perpendicular mountain. From the top of the pass we could look down on Sollum Harbour & many miles east along the coast. There are several wrecked ships in the harbour that had been sunk during air raids..

Before the war Sollum was the pleasure resort of Egypt & the houses at the top of the pass, even though they had all been bombed, were still a beautiful sight.

A little further along the road we passed a large German cemetery. The graves were all layed out in rows & in the middle of them was a large monument. Most of the men were buried in July of last year.

When we left the cemetery we went out in the direction of Tobruk & passed through miles & miles of open country where one of the largest tank battles of the last big push took place. As far as we could see on either side of the road were rough graves of men who had been machine gunned while they were driving along. The majority of them had a rough wooden cross at the head but did not have any name on them.

We arrived at our advance landing ground late in the afternoon & after tea I met Billy Butters & had a few drinks & then went to bed.

The next day we went down to the beach camp where the boys have 2 days spell every 10 days. It consists of a few tents right on the edge of the beach & the lads are very thankful to get away from the work & have a rest.

“Bubbles” (Billy Butters)& I went along the coast about 4 miles to get some wood for the fire & on one of the beaches we found 5 skeletons. All the bones were whitened by the sun. They were probably the remains of sailors who had been drowned when their ship had been sunk. There was also a large number of unexploded mines washed up on the rocks. We left the next morning & arrived back at camp about 5 o’clock that afternoon.

I think that we will be moving up to Rayak one of the most beautiful parts of Syria as soon as this big push is over. I won’t be able to say straight out that we have shifted up there so if I ever say that the country is beautiful & green you will know that we are in Syria &not in Egypt. I know that is looking a good four months ahead but if I ever telegram & wish either you or Betty many happy returns you will know that we are getting ready to leave for home. Even if it comes around your birthdays, you will know what it means.

Anything else I want to write can go through the censor so I will close for now.

Give my love to Dad & Betty & regards to all the boys

Lovingly Yours

Frank x x