TRYING TO GET HOME
As Remembered By John (Jack) Currier
Our demob date was Nov. 1st . Late in October 53 our Chief Clerk excitedly told me to round up my pals Bert Farrer and Bill Spicer – we were flying home the next day!
On arrival at Fayid Air Transit Camp we were given the disappointing news that, because of fog in the UK, there would be no flights home that day. So began an agonising wait and we were almost homesick for our camp at 1st Infantry Workshops which we had only said goodbye to a few hours ago. I had never seen so many flies as there were in the dining room at that Transit Camp but thankfully the next morning we were allocated a flight home on a ‘Skyways York’ and early evening we took off from Fayid for Stansted with a stop over at Imtarfa Barracks in Malta.
Next morning back at Luqa we hoped to continue our flight home but prior to take off the pilot found we had problems so it was back on the bus for another bumpy ride to Imtarfa.
Even earlier the next morning we were back again only to find the crew busy examining the plane with torches – they didn’t like something so it was back to Imtarfa again for us.
We finally took off the next morning and all was going well until with Sicily in view an engine cut out and the pilot decided to return to Malta. We made an emergency landing on three engines and this time our stay at Imtarfa would be for several very long and monotonous days where we were tortured by the incessant chime of the bells in the clock tower chiming the quarters of each hour day and night. Luckily we were given permission to go into Valletta and do a little sight-seeing.
The next morning we were awoken by a big kilted sergeant – We were finally going home! This time there were no problems and we landed at Stansted in the pouring rain. How green the fields looked as we came in and thankfully we didn't have to spend any time at Goodge Street, the deep shelter which served as Air Transit