Being called upon for full time service
Not long after South Africa joined the war effort, Cyril
enlisted as a voluntary soldier in the South African military service.
According to my grandmother, he felt it was important to fulfil his civic duty
and play a part in defending the British Empire during its time of need. As a
Jew, he was also greatly alarmed by the news from Europe. Despite stepping
forward as a volunteer, Cyril expressed, in a letter to his brother Arnold om
the 18th of May 1940, that he was "worrying a great deal about being called
upon for full-time service", Cyril assumed that if he was called upon for
full-time service, then he would "probably receive two months intensive
training here (in South Africa) and then proceed north" or that
"training will be given in Egypt or elsewhere."
Cyril advised his brother, Arnold, that he should not join
the military as "the Helfets have already made all the sacrifices
necessary with three out of four (brothers) signed on." He advised Arnold,
"If you are called up, you can prove that you are a key man and indicate
that you are the only male Helfet not serving either on A.C.F or full-time
basis. " Nevertheless, Cyril didn't believe that they would call on
Arnold, and if they did he should not oblige, as the family needed him to stay
in Calvinia to look after their parents as well as the family businesses. In
that same letter, Cyril wrote that "The motor business is going to have a
tough time... and the sacrifice is uncalled for." This was because, during
this period, automobiles and vehicles were limited and only a small number of
families could afford them. The war only made the situation worse, and the
Helfet family business would be at a great loss if Arnold also joined the war
effort.
Shortly after expressing his worries and concerns to Arnold,
Cyril received a letter on the 24th of July 1940 from the Rand Light Infantry
(The South African army infantry regiment, shortened to the RLI) that he has
been "instructed to report for full time service immediately. " This
urgency was due to the "above unit being mobilised."
Training for Battle and life in the training camp
In a letter to Arnold on the 27th of October 1940, Cyril
shared what day to day life looked like at his training camp in Middleburg,
South Africa; "We work from 7.15 am until 4.30 pm and later, often swim
before dinner, and then have a lecture or work afterwards. Generally, I am in
bed by 10.45 pm. During the day we do drill and PT, gun drill (i.e., mortars)
and like specialized work, general stuff such as musketry, anti-gas,
anti-aircraft, section leading tactics and a host of other subjects. Everything
is done according to carefully prepared programmes, and the latter have to be
compiled in part by the Training Officer and for the rest by the Specialist
Officer, e.g. I look after the detailing of the lessons and exercises for
mortar personnel." All of these training exercises were to prepare the
soldiers for what they were likely going to deal with in North Africa. This
included having to withstand as hell."
Due to "the assumption that the best units will be sent
up North, " Cyril expressed that there was a very high standard expected
from his Commanding Officer and Adjutant. In order to be a successful unit,
they would "spend two or more days per week in the field and do minor
operations. " Their training was described as hard work, with very little
spare time, with every week becoming more rigorous. They were expected to be
capable of "marching all day without water" and to be able to
"keep on battling under arduous conditions for weeks." They would
walk "ten miles on hot days without a drop of water or a smoke, then
smoke, eat, drink and rest for an hour and ten miles back again without
refreshment or smoking."
On the 22nd of November 1940 Cyril wrote to Arnold that they
would be "leaving for Premier Mine next Thursday or Friday for further
training." Cyril suspected that they will "probably be there for a
couple of months and then we'll be moved around from one camp to another."
From their new location in Premier Mine. Cyril expressed that they were all
"sick and tired of being at an hour's notice - no leave, kit always packed
and ready."
Journeying to North Africa
Shortly after writing to Arnold on the 24th of June 1941,
Cyril and his unit were sent by sea to the North of Africa for further training
and to contribute to the ongoing Campaign. He wrote, "We are at last
embarked on the greatest job of our lives. Surprisingly, I feel no excitement
whatever." This was due to the "anticipated thrill upon embarkation
being cooled off by the frequent delays and disappointments of the past."
Cyril described the vessel they travelled on as "hot as
Hell."46 He wrote, "The worst part of the terrific heat is the
stomach trouble caused by excessive perspiration and loss of salt."
However, he felt he was fortunate as he was not in the "overcrowded and
closed-up cabins at night." This meant that he could get more sleep during
the night and have more room for himself compared to some of the other
soldiers.
The heat was a serious problem on the ship, and he once
again wrote about it in a letter to his parents on their sixth day at sea. He
wrote that "the tropics are hot enough at this time of the year, but at
night with portholes, deck windows, etc securely locked, it is really tough.
The girls feel it especially badly. In my cabin a well fitted out
"cabin" class one - there are five beds instead of two. The men are
more or less similarly but less luxuriously housed. I was lucky to get the best
bunk - under the portholes - and at 5.30 am we open up with a great sigh of
relief. The poor blighters in the bowels of the ship are allowed to sleep on
the limited open deck space available."
On the 2nd of December they disembarked at Port Tewfik, in
Egypt. They spent the following night at a camp in Port Suez and then came on
to this Base camp (located in Helwan in Egypt), arriving three days after the
balance of the regiment.
Life in Egypt
Once they arrived in Egypt, the soldiers were allowed the
opportunity to explore Cairo (the capital of Egypt), and this gave Cyril the
chance to do plenty of sightseeing and take photographs of many of the famous
places in Egypt. In a letter to his parents sent on the 2nd of December 1941,
he talked about what he had done so far, and he wrote, "on Sunday I
visited Cairo and spent several pleasant hours sightseeing. Visited two famous
mosques, and they are so beautiful inside that it is useless to attempt to
describe them. Suffice to say that the lofty and symmetrical dimensions, the
tasteful stonework of coloured and white marble and alabaster, the wonderful
gold leaf painting and gold and metal trellis and other fittings transcend any
works of art in any field I have thus far seen. But the streets leading to
these marvellous edifices are more typical of Egypt - squalor, poverty,
beggars, filth, hopeless overcrowded slums, and alleyways. And even in the
mosques, mercenary hangers-on charging money for the hire of slippers, money
for guides, money for seeing various tombs, tips, tips, tips-the battle cry of
Egypt. The westernized part of Cairo is fairly clean and modern. 'Old Cairo' is
District Six as it would be if all building regulations for the area were
cancelled, no repairs could be carried out and no sanitation services were
available. Port Suez is comparable to the worst part of Old Cairo, Tewfik
somewhat better. The glamour of the East insofar as it spells rice, over-crowed
living conditions, begging and commercialization, leaves me stone cold. But
that is the unpleasant side. Now for the other. The weather is cold, the air
cool and crisp, the nights really lovely in bright moonlight. The pyramids from
afar look imposing and immediately I have the opportunity I will visit them,
the sphinx, various renowned museums etc. More of Egypt anon,"
During his time in North Africa, Cyril continued to spend
his free time getting to know Egypt and went to many places and cities around
Egypt. He took his "Brownie Reflex" Kodak camera with him on his
journeys and sent many photographs to his family along with the letters he
wrote.
Cyril's unit was positioned in a base camp near the city of
Helwan in Egypt which was located on the banks of the Nile River. During the
early part of the 20th century, the city was the site of RAF Helwan and was a
major British airbase. The camp was spread over a large area and was
"pitched on sand, and conditions are typical of Northern Africa. "
The weather during December overall was "cold and fairly
satisfactory," however it was still extremely unpleasant "when a dust
storm comes up."
During December of 1941 Cyril attended a "large Tank
school for Tank officers and other ranks." He was the only South African
member in the whole depot, and he found that the course he was on was "a
tough one and of a technical nature. " Nonetheless, he found it extremely
interesting and enjoyable, as it overlapped with his prior knowledge of
automobiles, as they studied "armoured cars as well as tanks on the
course."
In January the following year, Cyril left the tank school
and continued his studies at the Royal Armoured Corps school, where he was sent
on a Specialist Tank Course. He was the "first man in the U.D.F. (Union
Defence Force) to do this course," and took great pride in his role.
Cyril hoped that through completing an extensive amount of
training and completing this course on Tanks and automobiles, it would allow
him to "go places and do things", as although he had been serving as
a full-time solider in the military for over 15 months, he had not yet
experienced any active combat.
Leaving for 'the blue'
On the 7th of April 1942, Cyril left on very short notice
for "the blue" (the blue was the name given for the battle zone by
Cyril in his letter to his parents). Cyril concluded his course, shortly before
being attached to the 4th Armoured Regiment and was sent to help fight directly
against Rommel's troops in Libya and in Egypt.
The Journey to the war front consisted of traveling in
first-class compartments, cattle trucks, and numerous military vehicles. He
rested at an abandoned axis hospital. Before being discarded, the hospital was
"used for diseased cases, diphtheria and such like ailments." Cyril
described the hospital as "strewn with evidence of a very hurried
departure" which gave him "a strange feeling of unreality" when
walking through it. The axis forces using the building left behind many
vehicles, equipment, ammunition, and other materials during their hurried
evacuation.
Cyril's involvement in active combat in North Africa
Cyril spent the majority of his time on the front lines as
an armoured car troop commander. He described the job as busy, exhilarating,
physically demanding, and energising, due to the role including 16 hours of
labour every day. In a letter to his brother Arnold and his wife Edna, he wrote
that being commanding officer is a "comparatively lowly job with little
chance of promotion, but it is a really useful contribution to the war effort,
and fairly exciting." His tasks in the regiment frequently changed between
being on forward patrol, where he reported Whilst being on the front lines,
Cyril "experienced being in the target of many different types of weapons
and ammunition." There were many close encounters, with
"machine-gunning from the air of large calibre armour piercing shells
fired over open sights.
As well as completing their job of receiving and reporting,
Cyril's regiment captured quite many Axis prisoners. These were mainly German
soldiers, or as Cyril called them, the "Boches" or "Jerrys"
(these were slang terms used during World War I and World War II to describe a
German or a German soldier). Rommel's troops made numerous attempts to
"liquidate or capture the armoured car troops or merely to chase them
away", but were unsuccessful.
On the 8th of April 1942, around 2,700 Allied soldiers from
the "2nds A Division" were captured by the enemy in the small town of
Mechili, in Libya. Cyril mentioned in this letters that he was "terribly
upset" to hear about this. However, this was only one of the many series
of battles in the campaign that were won by the Axis forces.
On the 28th of May, Rommel's forces attacked the British
divisions, defeating the 8th Army within two weeks and taking Tobruk on June
21", along with 30,000 Allied prisoners. By the 1st of July, German troops
had pushed the Allies back to El Alamein, where they managed to stall the Axis
forces in a series of desperate counterattacks, in what became known as the
First Battle of El Alamein. Despite the great loss of British land, Cyril still
called the outcome of the battle a "success", as although many men and
considerable amounts of equipment were lost, the Allies succeeded in their main
task of protecting the Suez. As well as this, Cyril estimated that between 300
and 400 German tanks were destroyed in the operation.
To Cyril's surprise, life in the field and especially in the
camp at El Alamein, was significantly different to the camps he spent time at
in South Africa and Cairo. At his current camp he felt as though there was a
sense of equality and that every soldier was treated fairly, no matter their
rank, race, or nationality. This "primitive existence," as Cyril
described it, meant that "officers and O. R's (Other ranks) receive the
same rations, allowance of water etc."
Cyril explained that the Allied forces had many "soft
skinned vehicles," that were no match for the imported German Tanks and
vehicles. He described the Allies' automobiles as "having undergone
terrific trials, and the mileages [being] comparatively high." Due to
this, he spent a lot of time repairing the vehicles and doing everything
possible to keep them in the field. He would periodically leave the front lines
and go back to Cairo to do repairs on vehicles, and he would spend a lot of
time assessing all of the new and reconditioned armoured cars, to see if they
were fit for the front lines.
At one of these periods while Cyril was in Cairo, the whole
of his Headquarters Squadron was captured in an unarranged ambush. Cyril was
meant to be with his regiment and was specifically asked by his Colonel to
remain with him as he needed technical assistance, but since his Colonel was so
excited by the "news and peril," he forgot about his request, thus
leaving Cyril safe in Cairo. He describes how his unit were "practically
defenceless" with their unarmed vehicles, and due to a terrible dust
storm, they had very poor visibility and "ran right into the enemy, "
Cyril stayed in Cairo, as he was sent from the General Headquarters (G.H.Q) to
spend some time in a tank workshop in preparation for the arrival of the new
South African division in North Africa. Once Cyril received this news he had
"very mixed feelings" about it and life soon became
"comparatively uneventful." Cyril hoped that he would be able to
re-join the 4th regiment, but he didn't think there was much hope.
Touring Palestine with the Jewish Soldiers Club
Towards the end of September of 1942, Cyril believed that
the Allied troops had "got Rommel pretty well taped." Over the next
few months, the news on the front lines was still very good and Cyril felt it
would be a good time to go with the Jewish Soldiers' Club on a tour to
Palestine (now known as Israel).
Cyril left Cairo by plane on the morning the 2nd of January
1943. He landed in Tel Aviv airport and drove 30 minutes to Tel Aviv beach. It
had been a long time since Cyril experienced a Shabbat, so at first, he could
not "understand why there were so many people strolling in apparently
aimless fashion about the streets of suburbs and town", and why "all
shops were closed, and few buses and taxis were running."
He stayed in a private Officers' Club run by the Jewish
Ladies Hospitality Committee and from there he was able to explore Tel Aviv. He
found the "atmosphere extremely congenial and interesting" but
remarked that the cost of living in Palestine during that time was
"terribly high."
Out of all the various places Cyril visited during his time
abroad, he was amazed with the fact that Palestine had made such
"phenomenal" industrial progress. He journeyed from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem where he went to the "Leumi, Jewish Agency, and Keren
Hayesod", and he saw "Herzl's room, the Golden Books, and other
places of interest. " During his time in Jerusalem, he also went to
Jerusalem’s most modern synagogue and attended a Shul service.
Cyril went to Bethlehem for the day with a "service
men's sight-seeing party." They were shown the Church of the Nativity,
"the much fought over manger where Christ was born, " and found that
there were "religious relics dating back to the time when Adam was a mere
stripling." He went to various other famous sights in Bethlehem, before
returning to Jerusalem that night.
Cyril continued to tour through Jerusalem, seeing the Old
City and visiting the Wailing Wall, touring the streets, as well as also
visiting many other famous tourist locations - many of which are still
frequently visited to this day. Whilst Cyril was in the Old City, he noted that
"(1) my wanderings in Egyptian bazaar quarters are admittedly not
comparable to the Old City by any manner or means, (2) my ignorance of Biblical
and ancient history, and (3) my predominant motive in visiting Palestine - [was]
an urge to see what Zionism had accomplished.
On the 8th of January, Cyril left Jerusalem and went to
Haifa and found that the "natural scenery is glorious" there. Two
days later he travelled to Tiberias and explored the shores of lake Tiberias,
Lake Kinneret, and the Sea of Galilee. In Tiberias he stayed at an Israeli Kibbutz
(Afikim, as he called it). Some of the jobs and activities in progress at the
Kibbutz were "farming, a large box factory, laundry, shoe making and
repairing, dressmaking, blanket weaving and very efficient engineering,
motor-repair and black smith." He noted that there was little to no
privacy and that some of the "manners are very crude." After his time
in the north of Israel, he travelled back to Tel Aviv to get ready to return to
North Africa.
Overall, Cyril's final Impression of Palestine could be
summed up as follows: "There is little Anti-Semitism among the Jews, but a
great deal of Anti British, a certain amount of Anti-German-Jew and
Anti-Romanian-Jew feeling. Some national groups are not as anxious to learn
Hebrew and be absorbed as the majority would like them to be. On the whole,
however, the country surpassed my expectations, and I found the national
shortcomings diminished, and the virtues enhanced. The social atmosphere is highly
intelligent, well-read, highly cultured, warm, and understanding. There is
little or no snobbishness, an appreciation of the dignity of human labour, and
a tremendously powerful labour movement. In fact, I liked the country so much
that with a guaranteed four figure income I wouldn't mind trying it for a
while, or even longer than that, if I could master the lingo," Cyril ended
up purchasing a property in Palestine, but it is unknown what happened to it.
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