The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.1981, Page 34

32
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
AUTUMN, 1981
and the ocean calm. Seven large ocean-
liners were with us all transporting soldiers,
one battleship and one torpedo-boat. In the
evening everyone gathered on the top deck
and Scottish Highlanders from Ontario
entertained us by playing their bagpipes
until rigging and rail-yard shook. When we
came closer to Scotland we were met by ten
smaller warships which directed us safely to
harbour.
“Scotland is a majestic and beautiful
country. England is only a pretty country,
the mountains are missing.”
The following letter was written in Eng-
lish to me October 16, 1940, but only ex-
cerpts are quoted.
“For six weeks after we landed we were
quartered in barracks on the outskirts of the
big military camp of Aldershot. During this
time we drilled a good deal and carried out
exercises of all kinds. We got all our equip-
ment shortly after we arrived, consisting of
a number of staff cars, the required number
of ambulances and many trucks for the
transport of men and material. For many
days we practiced loading and unloading
our lorries and had things so organized that
we could get ready to move, bag and bag-
gage, on a half hour notice.
“The period spent in Aldershot was quite
pleasant. Our barracks were comfortable.
There were small towns all around us,
where we could go to shows, coffee shops or
beer parlours. The only drawback for many
of the boys was that the people were
thoroughly tired of Canadian soldiers, due
to the bad behavior of the First Division.
They were far from sociable.
“Finally we got orders to move. These
orders came first as we were getting into bed
and we packed our kit in a hurry and formed
up in companies along the road. Then the
lorries moved up and each man mounted the
truck assigned to him. We moved up in the
dark and drove for, perhaps, half an hour.
Suddenly the convoy was halted and all
vehicles left the road, finding shelter under
big trees. Guards were thrown out and we
settled down for the night. Some of us slept
in our trucks, others lay on the ground
covered by their greatcoats and one blanket,
which a soldier must carry with him
wherever he moves. This was a miserable
night. We were cold and uncomfortable and
I was glad to get down on the ground, about
six in the morning, to stretch my legs and get
warm. All our transport was scattered about
the forest and here and there men were get-
ting up. At seven o’clock our field kitchen
brought up our breakfast, which consisted
of stew, bread and hot tea. Having eaten we
got orders to go back to camp to await fur-
ther orders.
“What happened this night is still a
mystery, but there is little doubt that the
invasion alarm was given, hence all the
haste and secrecy. This was early in Sep-
tember and coincided with the first big-scale
attacks on London.
“To make a long story short, we stayed in
barracks for six days after this false move,
then moved in broad daylight to our present
position, whose location I am unable to
divulge at present.
“lam now getting ahead of my story. A
few days before we left I got word that
Freyr’s regiment was coming to our camp.
You can imagine our excitement. As soon as
we knew they were in, we started off in
search of him and discovered that his bar-
racks were only about three hundred yards
from ours. After hunting for an hour we
finally located him, got all the Icelanders
together and celebrated on tea and jelly
rolls, such was the state of our finances!
Anyway we had a fine time.
“Our unit is now on field duty and we
look after a number of Canadian regiments
in this locality. Pretty soon we will have a
hospital of our own, for treating the less
serious cases of disease and injuries among
the troops. Just now we act as a main dress-
ing station only.
“We are now quartered in private houses