Alexander and Alice Black's War

My grandad, Alexander Ralph Black, was in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC), based in North Africa. He was very mechanically minded, an expert in batteries and electronics, and could fix anything. He even designed and built a fire engine.

Grandad was attacked in the desert. See the photo of the lighter made from the propellor. The lighter meant a lot to him because the propellor was from the plane that came after him.

Grandad had to move camps and visit Italy. When the troops were lost, grandad used Italian to find out where to go, by contacting locals, and they eventually got to the camp. Grandad managed to dodge parades and attacks and had his own workshop. He was close friends with an Italian prisoner of war, called Angelo; they used to sit at night and teach each other Italian and English. Grandad used to put on shows to keep the troops' morale high. He would wire up the stage to put the lights on. He said that there was lots of alcohol, and everyone got drunk!

On 8/6/1946, aged 23, grandad was discharged. Grandad had actually enjoyed the war: befriending a lot of locals and learning the local languages.

The contributor also told a story about her grandad escaping bullets on a bike by rolling over.

Grandad's RAOC number was 7625694.

Gran, Alice Black (nee Murdie), was a country girl who volunteered in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). She was part of the 205 HAA (mixed) training regiment. Gran enlisted aged 18 and became lifelong friends with another women called Alice. She predicted where enemy planes would be flying and helped to aim the gun at the enemy. She worked with men, which was quite unusual for the time.

Gran's army number was W/79300. Gran did her training in Dalkeith and was based in Coventry and in a tent in a marsh in Essex where they tried to shoot planes down. She used to sneak away to London on leave. Gran made lots of friends, most of the lifelong ones were Scottish. Gran received a P10 for her war service.