Harry’s letter to my Grandmother, Sue is dated 5th December 1941, the eve of his departure on the troop ship HMS Warwick Castle from Gourock.
I have read that Churchill whose official residence had been protected during the Battle of Britain by the 79th AA battery had asked for the unit to be sent to Basra to support the 8th Army in North Africa. As the Warwick Castle headed south through the Irish Sea the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour and the fate of Harry and his men changed dramatically.
The War Office decided the 79th should be diverted to support Australia’s defence and the ship headed to Cape Town and then Singapore before transhipment of the troops and their guns to Timor to fight side by side with their Australian comrades before capture and imprisonment.
Harry of course had no idea of all this when he wrote “my sweetheart I will soon be back to you” – the characteristic and heartfelt hope of the departing warrior.
His letter is a most tender and beautiful expression of love and brings a tear on reading.
My Grandmother heard nothing more for nearly 3 years. Harry came back from the war but died soon after.
