About a week after my return, Major Sidebottom informed  Sgt. Ken Cheater (of 5 Troop and our Rover Crew Leader)  and myself that we had been Mentioned in a Despatch for  Distinguished Service. After offering his personal  congratulations, the Major went on to tell us we were  recipients of Britain's oldest military honour. To this day I do not know exactly why I received an Oak Leaf, however, I suspect it was something to do with carrying Major Russell to safety as both Bill Wheatley and Alan Hughes were later told that they too had been Mentioned.

Guard Duty

While awaiting further orders, the Regiment had been given the responsibility to guard both a Prisoner of War Camp and a large haul of captured German equipment located north of Rimini. The former a few hundred yards from the Adriatic, the latter somewhat further inland.

A couple or so days following the Anniversary Dinner, I was given command of the guard at the entrance of the main encampment which housed several thousand POWs. Although it was for a whole week, it was a cushy job as all we had to do, twice each day, was to escort groups of 500 prisoners to the sea for a swim. In rows of four led by the camp's senior NCO, who always gave me a snappy salute, they were counted out guarded by just a couple of my chaps - an hour or so later they were counted back in - never was an escape attempted!

On another occasion, I was in charge of the guard (a twenty-four hour duty only) on the store of German equipment. It covered a few acres and was surrounded by a high fence designed primarily to keep out the local populace (who cast envious eyes upon the contents particularly the mounds of tyres) rather than to stop prisoners who were maintaining the equipment from escaping.

The Great Debate

With the announcement that a General Election had been called, our CO, Lt. Col AWA Llewellyn-Palmer DSO MC, had instructed Squadron Leaders to have meetings with their troops for the purpose of emphasising the importance of casting a vote. Consequently, Major Sidebottom decided that he, acting as moderator, would conduct a debate on the pros and cons of the two political parties. Having reached this momentous decision, he asked (or should I say "ordered") Jimmy Wiggins to head the debating team for the Labour Party and myself for the Conservatives.

A couple of days later the Squadron gathered to hear the two teams, each of three, swing into verbal action. I wish I could record that my team was the winner, regrettably it was not so - Jimmy Wiggins and his team correctly forecast the defeat of Britain's wartime premier, Winston Churchill!

Back to School

Although the war with Germany was over, Japan was still undefeated, consequently there was no letup in ensuring that the Regiment was kept "Up to Snuff." One morning, while I was aboard Ballyrashane busily going through netting procedures with the Squadron's other tanks, someone popped his head through the turret to tell me that Skipper wanted to see me as soon as the netting was completed. Dutifully parading as ordered, I was astonished to be told by the Major, as the Regiment was not expected to make a move in the immediate future, I had been selected to go to an Army Formation College which had been established in Perugia, for the purpose of furthering my "higher education." Skipper went on to tell me that I was to leave in a couple of days, but he did not say (nor did I ever find out) why I was one of the few from the Regiment to be so chosen. Perhaps my team's defeat at the "Great Debate" had something to do with it!

Early on Sunday morning, 1st July, I boarded transport Perugia bound. While on the way, I recall thinking of words uttered by Jaques, a character in Shakespeare's "As You Like It." Although I wasn't feeling quite as was the "Whining schoolboy" who crept "unwillingly to school," I must confess, I was not exactly enamoured with the prospect of being cloistered in some dusty classroom for heaven knows how long.