For six weeks the Regiment was harboured at Hamman Lif, a small town on the southern shore of the Golfe de Tunis at the base of Cap Bon. Viewing this mountainous peninsula we gave thanks that it had not become a redoubt into which the Afrika Korps could have withdrawn as was earlier feared. The probable reason being the absence of usable roads to the small villages on the thirty-mile long cape one of which can be seen in the picture.

The large numbers of abandoned German and Italian vehicles, everywhere to be found, became a hunting-ground for each tank crew seeking personal transportation. Dick Hayward and I came across a beautiful Bugatti Open Tourer only to find, on opening the bonnet, the distributor cap to be non-existent. After searching in vain for the cap we eventually settled for Lancia diesel powered open-deck lorry which Dick, being the expert mechanic he was, fine-tuned the engine. The fun the crew of Bangor had, swanning around Northern Tunisia, was not lessened when later we discovered that "our" Bugatti had been salvaged by another tank crew.

Alas, the use of personal transport ended two weeks later when the Army Command issued orders that ALL Axis vehicles, by a certain date, had to be handed in. Taking the order literally, before the deadline, the Bugatti became a British vehicle when it was repainted, appropriately numbered and ceremoniously presented to the OC for his personal use. The car stayed with the Squadron while in Africa but I cannot recall whether it was, in fact, shipped to Italy.

Other than trips into Tunis the most pleasurable experience was swimming in the clear waters of the Gulf. A favourite activity was diving from the stern of a badly damaged small ship, aground just off-shore. On one occasion I hit the water narrowly missing a swimmer who turned out to be from my home town in England. Of course we spent much time reminiscing about old times. I was not aware that he had written home about the incident until, some month's later, my parents sent me a cutting from the local paper, The Wallasey News. Sadly, I lost the cutting and, while home on LIAP (Leave in Advance of Python) in May 1945, a visit to the paper's office to obtain a copy, unfortunately, was unsuccessful.

There was much evidence around the area of Hamman Lif showing how well the French settlers had practised agronomy. Fields of tomatoes, water-melons and groves of fig trees, such as the one in which 'B' Squadron's tanks were harboured, being examples of how even barren land could be made to bear fruit. Several brave, but unwise souls, feasted upon the unripe fruits to fall prey to what our American allies called Montezuma's Revenge.

The tranquil days abruptly came to an end when the Regiment and Brigade HQ bade Tunisia farewell in the final days of June. After first loading the tanks on transporters, Bedford 3-tonners set off carrying their crews on a journey of some three-hundred miles to the west.