On arriving at Wickham Market some fifteen miles north-east  of Ipswich, we were more than pleased to find ourselves  billeted in regular army buildings (rather than in Nissen huts)  located in the grounds of Glevering Hall. Shortly after settling  in, extensive maintenance was ordered for all vehicles of 25th Army Tank Brigade of which we were part. Later, we found out why!

While Ipswich and Colchester were favourite places to go on a day pass, I twice seized the opportunity to visit my paternal grandmother who lived in Bushey, near Watford. While there I would also visit my aunts and uncles, particularly Uncle Frank. (Unless, dear reader, you are a cricket fan do not click on his name).

After a quiet celebration of Christmas, HQF Troop was treated to a rather wild display of how to enjoy Hogmanay by our man from Bonnie Scotland. Next day saw a flurry of activity with the arrival of some hundred or so officers and ORs among who was Lt. A. H. Kerr who subsequently remained in the UK in charge of Home Details. On the day following, it was announced that the Regiment would be going overseas. So, once again, drivers went about doing the job for which they had accumulated much experience - loading the tanks on to flat-beds for transportation to West Coast ports.

A few days later the Regiment was paraded before the CO, Lt. Colonel D. Dawney. Without telling us whither we were bound, he did say that everyone would immediately be going on leave, except for non-Irish personnel who were to become part of the Home Detail. The assumption that we, of the Home Detail, would be staying in the UK, proved to be incorrect when we met with Lt. Kerr, after the parade was dismissed. Informing us that he was OC of the Detail, he then told us that our job was to load the tanks on to ships in Birkenhead, Cardiff and Swansea after which, if time permitted, there might be a few day's embarkation leave. The reason given, as to why we had been selected, was due to the travel time necessary for personnel to go on leave across the Irish Sea. Hopes that 'B' Squadron tanks would be loaded in Birkenhead, next to my home town Wallasey, were dashed on being told we were going to Cardiff.

At the loading berth, after ensuring that the ship's davits could handle the weight of a Churchill tank, loading commenced. As we were just four in number, we split into two pairs of a driver and guide. The first pair operated on the quay positioning the tanks so that slings could be affixed to shackles, one in front, two in the rear, by stevedores, so they could be lifted aboard. To provide a bed for the tanks, the ship's holds had been loaded with coal upon which large balks of timber were placed. After the slings were removed, each tank was manoevred to its allocated position by the second pair. This done each tank was then shackled to points on the ship's bulwarks, loading being completed in two days.

Shortly following the return to Wickham Market came the information that we were being transferred to the Royal Artillery and that our berets would be replaced by forage caps. While no explanation was forthcoming, strict instructions were given that the change of unit was to be considered top secret. There was much conjecture as to why having just loaded the Regiment's tanks aboard freighters - later it became known that the issuance of forage caps wearing the RA badge was an attempt to conceal the departure of a Tank Brigade and its arrival in Algeria. The general belief was that we were emulating the Heavy Machine Gun Corps of World War One, however, whatever the reason this writer would now be wearing the fourth of his five cap badges!