We anchored in Bombay harbor, and all the troops disembarked… It was now time for rest and relaxation…..a verbal message was passed on to me…..someone wants to meet you ashore…. it was a most unusual request….. and the alarm bells started to ring in my head.

 

He arrived whilst I was sipping a drink in the plush décor of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel…...impeccably dressed…an Englishman with the accent of an Eton scholar…not what you would expect of an Intelligence Agent working in the field…..

“ we’ve been informed of your assignment in Aden……jolly good show”

 

I looked him in the eye

 

Would you believe that my only motivation was to survive…..he responded……Survival is the name of the game…….a quote that still echo’s in my head to this day …..would you like to join our organization he asked…..my father’s advice surfaced …..Go on your gut feeling son……the sounds of gunfire in Aden were still fresh in my mind so I declined…..this didn’t prevent him from giving me another assignment…..there was a double agent in their midst….I was a new face and more likely able to get the information they wanted to stop him….the assignment succeeded but it was full of tension…..fortunately I got through it without injuries…

 

Troops had embarked after being relieved from fighting the Japanese in the jungle….. They were all in very bad shape physically and mentally….war is hell !!!.....my ship sailed via South Africa homeward bound to England….two assignments had occurred in such a short time span….. were was it going to end…..I would request a transfer to another ship to try and buck the trend…