James T. Lingg - WWII
Page 6 - Enroute for England on the HMS Stratheden

We got on trucks again to be driven up to Augusta and there they put us on the HMS Stratheden, an English ship, on or about 21 October 1943. We departed 23 October.

During this time, they had been screening everybody out. I was very fortunate; my Army Records had never caught up with me in the 1^st Infantry Division. If they had, I would have been screened out and sent to one of the Divisions going on into Italy. I had been so "brain-washed" by the people of the 1^st Infantry Division; I wanted to stay in the 1^st Infantry Division. That was the "only Division" in the Army. There is a quote in the book Danger Forward which says it all: "It has been written, 'the First Division is the United States Army and millions of replacements'."

They let me stay in the Division and we went on to England. On the big deck at the rear of the ship, there were native troops being taken to North Africa, Guhkhas and other nationalities. We weren't allowed down there but they were the most fearsome looking tribesmen I've ever seen. These were the people we later fought along side of in France and I really learned to respect their ability to fight. Our superiors were afraid if we got down with these troops we'd get into trouble with them and then we would be in trouble.

We arrived at Algiers and the native troops unloaded but no American troops were allowed to debark.

I can remember, in order to avoid German submarines, we came all the way back to within 50 miles of the United States coast. We thought we were going home and I thought "Oh boy! What a deal, I ain't even fought and here I am on the way home!" We went all up the coast then we turned out to sea.

The most notable thing while we were on this ship was that we were fed boiled mutton pretty much every meal and in many cases, the skin hadn't been cleaned of the fur, so most of us Americans had a hard time eating the food.

We had tea and bread with butter given to us about 10:00 in the morning and again in the afternoon. That was our basic fare. We had a P. X. where we could buy a few things on the ship but their chocolate was so sweet it was easy to get sick. I spent two or three days with a stomach so queasy I could hardly move. When that straightened out I didn't have any problem but I stayed away from their mutton and didn't go to their snack bar for the candy.