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This contribution was submitted by Bill Spry to the People's War team in Wales and is added to the site with his permission.
Using our motor transport we were moving in convoy from one location to another before going into the jungle on 鈥渉ead load鈥�. In front of my jeep there was a tanker containing our water supply. There were six or seven African soldiers perched rather precariously on top.

While going over a narrow wooden bridge the African driver went too near the edge and the tanker overturned into the gully beneath a drop of about eight feet. I stopped and went down to investigate. The tanker was upside down and two men were lying beneath the cab. One was obviously dead and the other was yelling very noisily that he was caught by his foot and couldn鈥檛 get free.

I was the only British soldier there and the other Africans, all rather shaken and frightened, just stood there looking at me and obviously expecting me to do something. Petrol was leaking from the cap of the large petrol tank behind the cab and there was a strong smell of it in the air. A spark from the exhaust of one of the trucks still moving over the bridge could set the whole lot alight.

I did not want to crawl under the cab to help the trapped African, it was too dangerous. However with those Africans looking at me I had to do something, so under I went. Luckily the ground was fairly soft and using my knife I was able to dig the earth away from under his foot, thus freeing him.

Fortunately there was no fire and his only injury was a badly sprained foot.

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