22nd Battalion 2NZEF

"Vrai et Fort"

Home ☰

045025 Raymond HARRISON

Raymond HARRISON was not in the 22nd Battalion, but was a signaller with the Corps of Signals. He worked closely with the 22nd Battalion on many occasions and there are photographs of him with 22nd Battalion men. He trained at Trentham and then was sent to Egypt as part of the 8th Reinforcements on HMT 55 (the "Acquitanina") departed Wellington on 11 December 1942. Most of his photos are from his time at Trentham, then Egypt with a few from Italy.

The ship was referred to as H.M.T 55 in military records and it set sail on the 11th of December 1942. 5505 troops were on board, from all over New Zealand. This group made up the 8th Reinforcements destined for Egypt. Officers were given cabins and the troops had 3-tiered bunks set up in the stateroom. The ship sailed across the Australian Bight after deviating a long way south, then up to Perth where they were held off-shore for about two days from the 19th of December. The ship set sail again on the 21st, zig-zagging before reaching Aden, Yemen on the 2nd of January. Sometimes they had escorts from Norwegian and Kiwi destroyers during the journey. Reaching Port Tewfik (located near the settlement of Suez), the troops disembarked on the 5th. Upon disembarking they stood around for several hours and watched Egyptian wharfies being pushed around by whip-wielding overseers, a completely new and rather shocking experience for the Kiwi soldiers. A troop train set off at dusk to Maadi camp, arriving in the early hours of the next morning and in complete darkness. A meal of stew was served and they were allocated large huts which housed 20-30 men. Straw palliasses were placed on the floor with bundles of blankets. During the next few days dental and medical examinations took place, the men were fingerprinted, inoculated and lectured on various subjects. They commenced intensive training – route marching etc. The weather in Egypt at this time (just after Christmas) was not particularly hot so the hardship was not great. Men would go off to a wide variety of courses, Ray and Mick's courses would have centred around signals and radio, as well as general army courses. They could see the pyramids from the camp, some 10 miles distant. Sandy desert was everywhere with a few cultivated trees dotted around and the river Nile alongside the camp. There were two large pyramids, one smaller and the famous Sphinx in view. Ray claims to have climbed one of the pyramids.

Ray and Mick were initially assigned to NZ Signals School in Egypt. On the 17th of May 1943, they were moved from NZ Signals School direct to 4 Signal Squadron. 4 Signal Squadron was formed in early 1942 as a new sub-unit to provide communications for the 4 Armoured Brigade. Ray and Mick were possibly associated with the 22nd Motor Battalion which was a sub-unit of the 4 Armoured Brigade. The 4 Armoured Brigade was also made up of the 18, 19 and 20 Armoured regiments. Ray and Mick had originally joined the Territorial Signals as drivers and were trained as wireless operators/drivers. They were posted to the 4 Armoured Brigade as wireless operators and the driver part of their rank was dropped.

Around this time Ray sent a letter home to his cousin Joyce, dated 23rd of May 1943. He Writes:
“We have seen all of Cairo and Alexandria and Mick spent a weekend in Palestine, (I hope to see it myself before we move). Having plenty of interesting things to see and do makes the time pass very quickly. We have been here almost five months but it doesn’t seem anything like that time. We go on manoeuvres every so often and see a bit of the country that way. On one such occasion, we crossed the Arabian?? Desert and camped on the beaches of the Red Sea, up to Sueg??, and back to Cairo. Cairo itself is always interesting, every time we go in we see something new. The Egyptians are very friendly and will go to great lengths to explain anything especially if there they think there is the slightest chance of them being rewarded. Life at the Brigade is rather free and easy compared with that at the Signal School. The day's programme is briefly this: up at 5:15 am, followed by a cup of tea at 5:30. At 6:00 we commence half an hour of physical training. At 7:00 we parade for inspection and roll call. Breakfast is at 8:00 and at 9:00 we have a session of wireless practice until 12:30. From then on the time is our own. It is far too hot in the afternoon for anything except swimming and we get plenty of that in the baths. I will not go into the heat, sand and flies, you will no doubt have heard that tale of woe many times. Our uniform is totally different to anything that the army issued in New Zealand. We wear shorts, and bush shirts which are not tucked into the trousers and have four pockets instead of the customary two and are worn with a belt. The beret (exclusively on issue to armoured brigade personnel) completes the disguise. I doubt if you would know me. Where our next move will be I have no idea but the sooner it comes the better, everyone will be pleased. No matter how pleasant life may be in a foreign country, one always wants to be on the move. At home, it is just the opposite. We are both in excellent health but naturally waiting for the day when the war is over and we can go back home again.”

Training at Trentham

Raymond HARRISON	On Devonport ferry before the war	Ray in front of a bell tent
		Tent lines at Trentham
	A kit inspection at Trentham	Tent lines at Trentham
	March past at Trentham	Tent lines at Trentham
Training with the heliograph at Trentham	Mess tents, Trentham	Probably banks of Hutt River
	Probably Trentham. The tall hedge is where many of the formal group photos were taken.

Egypt: Maadi and Cairo

An overview of Maadi Camp	An overview of Maadi Camp	A wadi behind Maadi
Shafto's picture theatre in Maadi camp	Probably the inside of Shafto's picture theatre	Raymond, probably at Maadi
After a swim	Rays' caption "Don't know who these jokers are."	At Maadi
Train at Maadi Station. This train took the men into Cairo.	The swimming beach at Stanley Bay, Alexandria.	At the Pyramids
At the Pyramids	Camel riders waiting for unsuspecting sightseers at the Pyramids
	Local Cairo gentlemen	The Ibn Tulun Mosque. The oldest mosque in Cairo
The Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Cairo		Crowds in Cairo
Roof tops in Cairo	Cairo ?	Cairo
Feluccas on the Nile	Woman on roadside with heavy load on her head	Look like a bunch of bananas
Ray beside a slit trench in the desert	Ray on leave in Venice	A casa in northern Italy. Ray is 6 from right. Officer far left is Capt. TP McLEAN of 22 Battalion. Armuored car on right was used as a communcations vehicle
	Ray, front right, with the crew of a Sherman tank. It appears they are swapping out the engine. The tank has a 17 pounder gun, up-armoured to give parity with the German Tiger tank.