Now is an appropriate time to introduce Corporal Stevenson's trusty staff, Privates Jamieson, Murray and Spiers of the Army Catering Corps. Only twice, during our sojourn in Algeria, did the Corporal and his team fail to live up to the Corp's motto We Serve, admittedly through no fault of theirs. The first occasion occurred when Cpl. Stevenson introduced us to M & V (Meat and Vegetables supplied in large tins) conning one and all by saying that Irish-Stew was being served. Only on one further occasion was he subject to such cries of outrage. Despite valiant efforts by his staff to dress up the dish, M & V was served with distressing regularity in all its grey and glutinous glory and, to quote Alfie Bass of the BBC's TV show Army Game, "In such small portions!"

The feelings about M & V were not confined to just we of 'B' Squadron. David Fallis, of 'A' Squadron and the Mustang Rover Crew, put pen to paper composing verses for publication in the Crew magazine Davy's opus,, is reproduced as an addendum to this narrative.

The next time that wrath fell upon the head of B Squadron's Chef Extraordinaire happened when, for some never explained reason, tea for quite some time was rationed to half a cup per day!

Before we pass on to the next topic it must be recorded that for nearly the whole month of November eggs were served with almost every meal. A cargo ship, homeward bound from New Zealand, docked in Bône as one of its cool-chamber stowage units had ceased to function. Rather than letting well over a million eggs go to waste, every unit within miles of the port received an over-abundance of them. During this time, the local Arab populace must have wondered why the bartering with them for eggs had suddenly ceased!

Laying Heads Down to Rest

Having become accustomed to sleeping under the stars or in the shelter of a Churchill's lean-to tarpaulin, it came as a pleasant surprise when tents and mosquito nets were issued.

Crews not commanded by an officer were given six-man tents, other Crews being given two two-man ones. As Bangor was now the 2/IC's tank, we were in the latter category. Being somewhat envious of the Crews in the six men tents, with their superior headroom, we decided to create a model bivouac of our own. Having decided that Dick and I should share one tent and Alan and Gordon the other, we discussed the best way to increase the headroom. Of the two possibilities, Dick and I decided to raise the tent, using longer poles, for better ventilation. The other two opted to dig a trench over which the tent would sit. This settled we then decided to pitch both tents, with the entrances facing each other, about six feet apart and, as a finishing touch, a tarpaulin was strung up for a canopy.

Before long the Squadron had, although tented, a "village" of its own. As will be seen anon, in opting to raise our tent, Dick and I had made the wiser choice!