Item list and details
1. Photo of Fred Goodin
2. Photo of King's Royal Rifles in 1943, Dad (rear right) with his men in the desert
3. Photo of this storyPerson the story/items relate to
My father Frederick Goodin volunteered for active service at the start of the 2nd World War, eventually joining the King's Royal Rifle Brigade (KRR), which was sent out to Egypt to help hold the line in the North African desert campaign, leading to the Battles of El Alamein. They sailed in convoy on the Union Castle Line's liner, Stirling Castle. The convoy had to cross the Atlantic, almost to the South American coast, to avoid enemy surface raiders and submarines, before rounding the Cape of Good Hope, sailing up the east coast of Africa and into the Red Sea. The Mediterranean Sea, being a hotly-contested war zone, was too dangerous for any convoys.
Dad spent all of his active time in the deserts of North Africa. He was in a fighting unit and his weaponry consisted of the standard .303 calibre Lee Enfield rifle and a Bren gun. His main responsibility was field maintenance of all the transport elements; in other words, it was his job to keep all the vehicles moving. One day, Dad and his men were ordered to collect a loaded ammunition truck that had broken down in 'no-man's land'. He and his troop drove out to the stranded truck and, under fire, firstly pulled it round so that the engine was facing away from the enemy. Dad could then work on the engine with the bulk of the truck between him and those shooting in anger in his direction. This left him vulnerable to 'friendly' fire from individuals who considered it good fun to use the truck for some small arms target practice and to keep the mechanics alert. While he was working on the stranded truck, his troop took shelter in their lorry in the shade of a small oasis. The enemy had continued firing on the Allied lines, and suddenly fired into the oasis, scoring a direct hit on the lorry. Dad had managed to get the ammunition truck's engine restarted, but before he could get moving, he had to remove body parts and flesh from the engine and radiator grill. He brought the truck back to his own lines on his own.
When the troops were not on the move, they would form a defensive square, in a similar way to the old 'wild west' where a wagon train would form a circle of wagons as a defensive formation. In the desert the army would form into a defensive square, called a Retna Box and lay a minefield around it. This was considered almost impregnable for short term stopovers. On this singular occasion, however, enemy tanks attacked before the minefield was established, and the Retna Box was overrun. Only eleven men escaped, Dad being one of them. He said that, at 6'-2" tall, he surprised himself just how small he could make himself when crawling along a waddi (a shallow depression in the desert sand) to escape after the disaster.Person who shared the story/items
David GoodinRelationship between the subject of the story and its contributor
My DadType of submission
Shared online via the Their Finest Hour project website.Record ID
113085
