This was no Blue Monday for us today! The boys were astir at an early hour, tents, "bivvies" and tarpaulins disappearing like magic and eventually, with everything that could possibly be carried stowed aboard our convoy of 70 odd (some very odd!) vehicles, the squadron moved off, leaving behind only the pilots and the Engineering Officer to arrange for the final disposal of the aircraft that could be flown and which remained on the 'drome.
The convoy, despite its strange assortment of vehicles, legal and"acquired”, which gave it all the appearance of Barnum’s come to town, set a cracking pace – we just couldn't get away from BU AMUD and all that it meant quick enough! With a good road beneath us we were passing BARDIA in the early afternoon and were heading along the coast road until we turned slightly inland and struck FORT CAPUZZO, Battle-scarred keypoint in several desert "pushes”.
Here we branched off for SOLLUM, pausing awhile at the signpost which marked a short-cut to HALFAYA. The road here was bumpy and apparently heavily mined on both sides, and our progress was correspondingly slow. In the late afternoon we found our progress barred at a control post in the hands of a unit of the S.A. Police who had only a few days previously been engaged in mopping up operations. We could not obtain permission to proceed further by way of HALFAYA PASS and so we camped here for the night.
All the “flyable” aircraft of the Squadron, some of which "shot up" the convoy on the way, arrived at AMRIYAH early this afternoon, with the exception of one whose engines seized up. This aircraft landed safely at 0.21, scene of our early triumphs and disappointments in this campaign.