We follow Randles from his carefree pre-war days, through the fighting and sandstorms of the North African desert, imprisonment in Italy, escape and re-capture and finally, his joyous return to his family in South Africa. The full story follows, in two versions.
The version in the first window below is the original scanned version of the story. In the second window below is the transcribed version in plain text. Alex Irvine Fortescue for his help, encouragement, research and photos. Gill for looking after the letters for years. To all my siblings for their encouragement with this project. Rae Nash for editing this book and for her encouragement.
Recommended reading:. Dad was their much loved first son and the brother of Peter and Ann. He was just 18 years old when he was persuaded by his mates from Greytown, Dave Short and Jinks Chennels, to join up.
War had broken out in Dad was therefore only head boy for half a year. I am sure he jumped at the chance to fight for what he believed was right. Whatever his parents may have thought, can only be imagined. There are 7 letters to his parents during his time preparing for active service. After that he wrote nearly once a week to his parents when he could. The letters are now nearly eighty years old and are flimsy and delicate. Dad and his mates were stationed at Premier Mine in Pretoria for their basic training.
They were issued with gas masks and taught how to use them. In their off time, they played hockey and rugby. They completed the wiring of the Italian prisoner of war camp at Zonderwater near the diamond mining town of Cullinan. This had been originally designed for the Italian prisoners of war. On the first Sunday of November, the Italian community held a service to pay tribute to the Italian soldiers imprisoned at Zonderwater during WW2. It is this paying tribute to part of our history that many South African Italians are able to appreciate the history of their fathers and grandfathers.
