This is an entry in a year-long project to post-blog the demobilisation experience for British servicemen at the end of the Second World War. See here for an introduction to the project and here for a brief overview of the demobilisation process.
Punch reports from 'somewhere in Egypt':
I must admit that the tendency is for people to talk much more about going home than anything else. A man's Age Group can almost be guessed from the expression on his face. The first few Age Groups have of course already gone and the others who are in Groups up to 11 go about with springy strides and indulge in a good deal of hearty laughter, which maddens to a point of frenzy those who have just arrived from England ...
People between Group 11 and Group 21 are also cheerful, but a little quieter and more cautious. They talk in an airy way about being quite satisfied if they are at home in time for the Wembley Cup Final of 1946. They do not boast of their hopes, because they know that there is many a slip between the cup and the lip. But they write home to their wives and give directions about having their civilian clothes overhauled and negotiations entered into with the garage proprietor to see whether the car is beyond hope. Particularly optimistic members of these groups are even renewing golf club memberships.
The 21 to 25 Groups are perhaps the most restless. The original premature suggestion that the Middle Twenties would be out by the end of the year caused jubiliation, but when this was altered to the 'very early twenties' there was a strong reaction, and people in 23 Group and upwards were heard to remark that personally they thought it was absurd to want to go home in mid-winter. For health reasons next May or June would be much better.
Beyond about Group 28 men are still buying maps of Japan, and a plumber in our mess is even studying Chinese ...
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