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Age
20 Years

28th October 1943

This morning we awoke to see Mount Etna on the horizon! Even at such a distance, it towered high above the horizon & was very clear & pronounced. The clouds appeared about half way down its visible height. As we progressed, the Southern tip of Sicily appeared — a stretch of low-lying land. A bay separated this from Mt Etna, & contained Catania. It is strange to think back to the time when the 8th Army was so valiantly fighting for the Mt Etna defences, & also to imagine the 8th Army’s landing on this very coastline! It is also strange to remember & Malta convoys that were so repeatedly attacked here & had to so frequently to turn back. There was a case of 2 2nd R/O who were transferred — by order of the STO — from a ship in P. Said to another ship leaving for Malta. Another convoy was leaving Gib. at the same time, also for Malta. The P. Said Convoy had to turn back, & the 2 ops were killed outright when a bomb blew all the bridge away, & killed the Commodore, his staff, the Old Man & all the mates!

We are now making for the Bizerta rendezvous now that we have parted company with the Italian ships & joined up with about 20 American Liberty ships!