22 BBC Cdr Kimmins on invasion of Sicily

The days of exercising of preparation were over. What the men needed now was a chance to relax before the big moment. But North Africa, with its bombs, guards, ports, and miles of sand and olive groves, has much to offer in the way of dispassion.

Except one thing, bathing. And so were ever possible those camps were close to bathing beaches and the heavenly blue sea. On the evil sailing, those long sandy beaches might have been blackpool, Brighton or Coney Island, except that here there were no girls and no bathing suits.

Just thousands and thousands of men fighting fit their bodies and legs of dark mahogany. In the harbour, the ships, ignoring the terrific heat, held a naval regatta. That's how your fighting men, your husbands, your sweethearts, your sons, behaved on the eve of the greatest invasion in history.

As we rended good at sea, our own force looked almost big enough to do the job by itself. Scoring warships, big troopships with those sort of craft hanging on the David, and literally hundreds of other landing crafts steaming under their own path.

Beyond the horizon, there were other forces. Some even larger than our own. Approaching Sislet will arrive without dead on zero.