WORKING down the pit driving ponies to and from the coal-face left Donald Westerman craving a better life.

So, aged 18, he signed up with the army and found himself on a plane to north Africa.

But little did he imagine he'd end up sharing a beer with a Hollywood legend in the desert.

The 71-year-old, from Garforth, was a Lance Corporal with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) when he arrived at the Libyan capital, Tripoli, in 1956.

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They were sent to support a military attack on Egypt by Britain, France and Israel over access to the Suez Canal.

He said: "I was a pony driver at Ledston Luck pit near Castleford. I wanted to get out of the pit and see a bit of the world.

"So I signed up with the REME in 1956 as a regular.

"The Suez job was on when I went out and they were sending a lot of lads out.

"I was stationed at Tripoli which was the drop-off point for the trouble next door (Egypt). We were based at the Medenine Barracks, four or five miles out of the city.

"Our job was to service the cars and the trucks, but I also used to drive for the CO (Commanding Officer)."

In October 1957, when the Suez Crisis had subsided, the camp played host to a film crew who were shooting Ice Cold In Alex.

The film starred Sir John Mills, Sir Anthony Quayle, character actor Harry Andrews and starlet Sylvia Syms.

It is set in Tobruk, a Second World War British base, which is attacked by the German Afrika Corps.

A K2 Ambulance led by MSM Tom Pugh (Andrews) and nurses Diana Murdoch (Syms) and Denise Norton (Diane Clare) gets separated from the main retreat and is forced to flee across the desert.

Captain Anson (Mills), suffering from battle fatigue and almost an alcoholic and an Afrikaans-speaking South African officer Captain van der Poel (Quayle) who is hiding a dark secret, joins their escape.

Mills' character drives himself on by thinking of the ice cold lager he will order when they reach the safety of Alexandria, Egypt – the 'Alex' of the title.

Dad-of-four Donald said: "The workshops I was in painted the tanks and the ambulance and put the German crosses on the vehicles for the film.

"They need somebody to follow them into the desert in case they broke down.

"I remember I was getting ready to go to the workshop and my pal 'Jock' Smith said 'you're coming with me, get you're hat'.

"There was just the two of us from REME and some lads from the Royal Army Service Corps.

"We set off in the morning, about 10am, and it was about 4am the next day when we arrived at this old French police fort near a place called Murzuk.

"A lot of the roads were just sand tracks.

"Apparently Rommell said you'd never get a tank over the Garian Pass, but we did, although it was on the back of an American Diamond Tank Transporter.

"When we arrived they had beers waiting for us and we all drank around a table."

The retired engineer said: "John Mills brought his wife out. They built them small, makeshift bungalows. We just slept in tents, although they did build showers for us.

"Anthony Quayle and Sylvia Syms were a bit aloof, if I can say that, but John Mills was great.

"He'd sit down and have a pint with you in the restaurant which they'd built inside the ruins of the fort.

"There was a bar on the side of the restaurant with a dart board. I even had a game of darts with John Mills."

At one point director J. Lee Thompson turned to Donald and his pals for a little assistance.

He said: "I played one of three German soldiers who stumbled across the ambulance crew when they're burying one of the nurses.

"I was also dressed up to look like an Arab, with whiskers stuck on and blanket over my head.

"It's me and Jock who are filmed pouring sugar into the Germans' petrol tanks. You can see me, but Jock's got his back to the camera.

"There was also a scene when they're cranking the ambulance up a hill by hand. We were over the other side with an old Austin recovery truck pulling them up with a rope which was hidden in the sand.

"They gave us three pounds a day. As we were in the army we weren't supposed to get any extra. It just paid for my air fare home at Christmas."

After three weeks in the desert Donald and his crew saw the stars safely back to Tripoli.

He said: "We weren't invited to the premiere, although we never expected to be. I didn't see the film until much later after I left the army in 1960."

Now the grandad-of-nine, who went on to build power stations and own his own garage, looks back at his brush with stardom with fondness.

He said: "I have a video of the film and my grandkids got me a DVD of it. I've bought a little laser pen and tease them that'll I'll use it to point me out when we watch it again."

Donald lost contact with 'Jock' but would like him and the other veterans to get in touch. Contact Charles Heslett on 0113 238 8134 or e-mail charles.heslett@ypn.co.uk.