Corp. Gordon Warren Davies' wartime memories

My father Gordon Warren Davies was born in 1918 and served in the Airforce in the 39th Squadron.

He was sent for training as an airframe fitter in Silloth, Cumbria and was away from home for five years during the war. His job was to mend and maintain the aircraft, and he travelled extensively in the Middle East. They had to camp out in tents in the desert, where scorpions, spiders and sometimes snakes would end up in their tents for shelter.

His job sent him to many places during the war. He worked out that he was sent to 26 areas of operation including Egypt, North Africa, Crete, Italy, Sardinia, Jerusalem, and spent three months on Malta during their siege. Food was very short then and his weight went down to 11 stone. He said that what the cook couldn't do with a tin of corned beef wasn't worth knowing! When he was there in Malta he helped to keep their three biplanes in the air. They were called Hope, Faith and Charity.

He told of one incident, when he and his mate Nobby were left to guard the small airfield while the squadron were in action. All they had was a Sten Gun with a bent barrel, between them! They hid in a trench when a rogue German Stuka landed and hoped he would see he was in the wrong airstrip! He did and soon took off.

When he was in Egypt, he and a fellow airman actually climbed to the top of the Great Pyramid in Giza. It was hard going because of the height of the stones. You certainly can't do that in modern times.