Skip to content
  1. Do it online
  2. Login
  3. Have your say
  4. My Durham

Our online forms will be unavailable from midnight on Thursday 20 March until approximately 8.00am on Friday 21 March so that we can carry out essential maintenance. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

The heat was unbearable


In spite of sandstorms in North Africa or freezing rain in Italy, soldiers living for weeks at a time in tents or slit trenches had to keep clean and maintain their personal hygiene. Washing dirty bodies and clothes, shaving, digging latrines and avoiding disease were all vital if the health of these soldiers was not to suffer.

Eric Murray

Eric Murray's biography (PDF, 46 KB)

Eric remembers the heat of the North African desert in 1944.

Eric Murray's transcript (PDF, 31 KB)


Robert Hawksworth

Robert Hawksworth
Robert Hawksworth's biography (PDF, 51 KB)

Robert remembers sandstorms in North Africa in 1941.

Robert Hawksworth's transcript (PDF, 32 KB)


William Virr

William Virr's biography (PDF, 47 KB)

Remembers snow, mud and rain during in Italy in late 1943.

William Virr's transcript (PDF, 124 KB)


Fred Cottier

Fred Cottier's biography (PDF, 50 KB)

Remembers the problem of sanitation in the Arakan in 1943.

Fred Cottier's transcript (PDF, 29 KB)


Joseph Clark

Joseph Clark
Joseph Clark's biography (PDF, 50 KB)

Remembers the ingenious 'Desert Rose' in North Africa in 1942.

Joseph Clark's transcript (PDF, 34 KB)


William Ridley

Robert Hawksworth
William Ridley's biography (PDF, 50 KB)

Remembers the luxury of a two-minute shower at Gazala in 1942.

  

William Ridley's transcript (PDF, 31 KB)


Leslie Thornton

Leslie Thornton
Leslie Thornton's biography (PDF, 50 KB)

Remembers using petrol to dry clean clothes in Italy in 1944.

Leslie Thornton's transcript (PDF, 30 KB)


William Cornell

William Cornell
William Cornell's biography (PDF, 49 KB)

Remembers malaria precautions in India in 1943.

William Cornell's transcript (PDF, 39 KB)


 

Durham Light Infantry banner Durham Light Infantry banner - mobile version


Share this page

Share on Facebook logo Share this page on Facebook Share on Twitter logo Share this page on Twitter

Print

Print page logo Print this page