I was then posted to Donnington in Shropshire, K camp being the holding camp for troops due to go overseas. I was given embarkation leave and returned to K camp where we were kitted out for a tropical climate. During May we embarked on the train to Port Glasgow during the night. We made one stop, which of all places was Blackburn, although we were not allowed out of the train. We arrived at Port Glasgow and immediately marched up to the awaiting ship, which was the “New Holland”. After standing out in the Clyde for a few days whilst the convoy was assembled, we set sail and my last view of Britain was Ailsa Cragg, a rock prominent in the Irish Sea.
The voyage was uneventful as we passed Gib and through the Suez to the Red Sea. We arrived at Bombay and, after a day or two whilst we were being processed, we embarked on the train on the Friday morning June 15th. We travelled continually to Calcutta on the Sunday morning and then left on the Bramaputra River and then again on another train, finally arriving at Chittagong on the Wednesday morning. We had no chance to get acclimatized to the conditions and it was extremely hot and humid. If one put down their kit bags for any length of time, they were likely to be attacked by huge ants which had a very nasty bite. Quite a few of us very soon went down with dysentery, which was very unpleasant. However, the colonel in charge of the base ordnance depot at Chittagong immediately promoted the sergeants and staff sergeants to Warrant Officer Class I, which was a very nice surprise, as I had been a staff sergeant for quite some time. It also meant quite a substantial increase in my pay and I was able to make an additional allowance home to Alice, who also received an increase in her separation allowance. Her mother very wisely advised her to invest it in the bank for future use. After a day’s rest for recuperation from our journey from Bombay to Chittagong, which had been very tiring, and, not used to the excessive heat, we were allocated to the work in the ordnance depot. I was transferred back again to the Small arms section, which I had passed out on my courses in England. This was more use to me than Wireless and Signals, as I was conversant with the Small arms parts. During my time at Chittagong, I had a nasty attack of impetigo, which meant I was in the military hospital for a couple of days. I was treated with some antiseptic and my face was covered with black spots which helped to treat the skin disease. One is very prone to diseases in India, that part now being Bangladesh, formerly Bengal. I became friendly with another WOI named Eric Taylor. He came from Sheffield and, after some months, till November to be exact, we were informed our unit was to be transferred to Singapore.