I lived in Tobruk 67-70. Aged 10-13. Went to school there. There was still lots of reminders of the war. You could walk just out of town, pick up bullets, AA rounds, helmets from both sides. All the detritus of war. Even in town you could still find small things left over. The odd bullet, belt link mebbe 2-3 links long etc.
Just on the outskirts of town there was a walled off area about the size of a football pitch. We called it The Bombdump because thats exactly what it was. 500 lb Bomb casings, arty round casings, steamed free of explosive, Tank hulls, trucks, wagons, shattered arty pieces, millions of bullets, rounds, of all sizes and the most interesting, for me, the shell casing from AA guns. These had no round attached they were just the case, crimped off at the end. But some still contained cordite, mebbe 1 out of 10. Cordite looks like pencil lead about 3 mm long, the cases rattled when shook.
I used to empty a few cases out while sitting on a huge pile, 6 foot high and 20 foot long, of these things. Sat there shaking one after the other. Yep, thats got some. Right Ill have that. Nothing in that one, over me shoulder with it. Save it all up until I had a few pounds and then go and create some story with my trusty ole Action Man. Something requiring a fuse being lit, breaking into a bank, blowing up sub pens, sneak attacks to blow a building up etc etc. Cordite burns like those fuses you see in the old films, sizzling along the floor. Lots of smoke, yellow flame, v nice effect This doc brought it all back but its hugely interesting in its own right.
Joined: Apr 2001 Posts: 121,480PanzerMeyer
Pro-Consul of Florida
PanzerMeyer
Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,480
Miami, FL USA
I would love to visit some of the famous WW II battlefield sites in North Africa like Tobruk, El Alamein and Kasserine but now with ISIS running around that part of the world no freaking way.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
Yep, me and my sister would love to go back for a visit. Mebbe 5 years back but certainly not now. Side note: We were there when Gadaffi took over. Lots of soldiers with fixed bayonets everywhere. Surprisingly little gunfire. SOme, but not much.
Its a shame though. Mebbe in a 10 more years. We lived in Tobruk town, not far from King Idris Palace. A ramshackle, concrete, 3 bedroomed house, dirt streets. Next door neighbours kept 10-12 goats in their house. Theyd bring one out occasionally, onto the street, cut its throat and we knew wed have a proper party that night. I went to the RAF school way out in the desert at El Adem. Came home at lunchtime and turned into an arab street urchin. I was fluent in Arabic at the age of 11. My best mate was called Mohammed. Roaming the streets like any other arab kid, in a gang, barefoot.