In Memory an Dedication to Martin Spirit counder of BSW

In Memory an Dedication to Martin Spirit counder of BSW

Operation Musketeer

President NassarThe post war strain on Anglo-Egyptian relations came to a head on 26th July 1956 when President Nassar announced the nationalization of the Anglo-French Suez Canal Co. The last British troops had left the area earlier that month because the Egyptians had made it impossible for the base to function effectively, which caused the British government to withhold new aircraft and equipment for the Egyptian forces. The Egyptians consequently went to the Eastern bloc for their needs which caused the Western powers to withdraw their support from Egypt's Aswan high dam project. This resulted in Egypt taking over the Canal.

3 Para on Gamil airfieldBritain and France reacted to this threat, which could cut off their remaining Far East colonies, strongly despite US opposition to an invasion. British civilians were evacuated from Egypt and the reservists were called up. The newly formed Israel joined the Anglo-French alliance. On 31st October, H.M.S. Eagle, Albion and Bulwark left Malta with the Helicopter Carriers H.M.S. Ocean and Theseus.  At 4.44am Transport command dropped six hundred men of 3 Para on Gamil airfield in Egypt. British troops had been committed to the Suez Crisis.

Please note that we have only touched the surface of the Suez invasion and will be adding more information to this site as time permits and we welcome any corrections to the above.

Suez: Graphic by Martin

The Invasion of Suez

Port Said attackedOn 31st October, with RAF aircraft already pounding Egypt, A Royal Navy Task Force left Malta comprised of H.M.S. Eagle, H.M.S. Albion and H.M.S. Bulwark carrying Fleet Air Arm aircraft and H.M.S. Ocean and H.M.S. Thesues carrying helicopters and troops bound for the beaches. The LST Lofoten, with men and equipment of No.45 Commando onboard, also accompanied the fleet with its escort of destroyers and frigates. Meanwhile, the cruiser H.M.S. Newfoundland encountered an unknown contact while on patrol at the southern end of the canal zone. The target, on being challenged, opened fire on the cruiser causing minor damage. The Newfoundland replied with her 6 inch guns and sunk the Egyptian frigate Domiat after six minutes, 69 of her crew being rescued.

Gamil airfieldAt 4.44am on 5th November, six hundred men of 3 Para were dropped from RAF Hasting and Valetta aircraft onto El Gamil airfield. They soon secured the airfield againstlittle opposition and achieved all their objectives during the day, and were reinforced when another drop of 100 men and equipment was made in the afternoon.

seaborne landingsThe Seaborne landings the following morning were at Port Said and the French held Port Fuad. Nos. 40 and 42 commando made an assault landing in LVTs (Landing Vehicle Tracked) supported by a number of centurion tanks. No.45 Commando was flown ashore by Six Whirlwinds and Six Sycamore helicopters from H.M.S. Ocean and Whirlwinds from H.M.S. Theseus, landing virtually unopposed, although a few pockets of determined resistance were dealt with by the Close Air Support which was always present.

British troops on the CanalBy the end of the day, the Allied forces had consolidated their positions and were confident that the Suez canal would be in their hands within the next 24 hours. During the night the first LSTs berthed at Port Said and began unloading their Centurion tanks . At that point, the Allies were forced to withdraw under pressure from the United Nations and Russia. A Ceasefire coming into effect at 2345 on 6th November. The troops began to evacuate on 7th December and the last troops left on 22nd December.

Please note that we have only touched the surface of the Suez invasion and will be adding more information to this site as time permits and we welcome any corrections to the above.

The War at Sea

On 2nd August 1956, a Royal proclamation announced the call up of all reservists and the retention of all troops due for discharge. All carriers at sea were recalled to port and Bulwark embarked her air group of three squadrons of Sea Hawks. The training carrier Theseus and Ocean were pressed into service as troopships, sailing at the end of July. Albion was dispatched to the Mediterranean on September 15th, with No.800 (Sea Hawk), 809 (Sea Venom), 802 (Sea Hawk) and 849C (Skyraider) NAS embarked.

carriersTheseus and Ocean had, in the meantime, returned home and were being equipped with more permanent accommodation for troops, Ocean also being fitted out with an operating theatre and extensive hospital facilities. The amphibious forces had been found to be totally inadequate for the projected amphibious assault. Only 2 tank-landing ships were actually in service out of a total of 32, the remainder having being mothballed, and only 12 could be made ready in time. The original target was Alexandria, but a political decision on 10th September changed this to Port Said. The plan was to achieve total air superiority before carrying out an airborne assault to secure initial objectives. This would be followed by a seaborne invasion to consolidate and secure a beachhead for the main assault. Troops and materiel would land under cover of naval gunfire support. The landings were scheduled to take place on 15th September, after two weeks of air strikes. The decision of changing the objective also postponed the landings to 1st October and then to an undetermined date.

Before Theseus and Ocean's conversion were completed, their role was changed to helicopter carriers. This enabled the initial assault to transport enough troops ashore in the first few hours to secure the beachhead. After carrying out exercises with their embarked helicopter units they sailed for the Mediterranean in mid-October.

As the British forces sailed for the Middle-East there were also convoys of merchant navy ships sent with cargos ranging from troops, to aviation fuel and other necessities for the forthcoming assault on the canal. The crews of the Merchant Navy ships were entitled to the Naval General Service Medal (with red and white ribbon), and the HM Armed Forces Veterans badge. As with all major naval operations accomplished by the Royal Navy in the twentieth century, none of this could have been accomplished withoyut the service of the Merchant navy and the ships.

On 29th October, the Israelis attacked the Egyptians in the Sinai and the British-French ultimatum was issued. HMS Ocean embarked No.45 Commando at Malta, while LST Lofoften took on board their equipment and heavy stores. On 2nd November the two ships with an escort of destroyers and frigates headed out into the Mediterranean. Hostilities commenced on 31st October.

The only 'action' that occurred at sea during Operation Musketeer was the following incident involving H.M.S. Newfoundland, a Fiji Class cruiser on 31st October;

While patrolling the Red Sea south of Suez, H.M.S. Newfoundland encountered the Egyptian frigate Domiat and signaled her to heave to. The Egyptian captain ignored this instruction and as the Newfoundland closed to 1,500 yards, the order was given to open fire. Despite the heavy weight of fire from the British warship, the Egyptians bravely returned fire until their vessel capsized. Aboard the Newfoundland, the Royal Marines were serving the 6-inch guns. Band Sergeant Evans and Marine Waite were among those wounded by two 4-inch shells from the Egyptian frigate that hit the Newfoundland while 69 of the Domiat's crew were rescued. The Newfoundland destroyed the Domiat's bridge and wheelhouse. The Domiat was finished off by HMS Diana, a daring class destroyer when it was thought the Domiat was trying to ram her.

The second incident involved H.M.S. Crane, which was attacked by four Israeli aircraft and in the ensuing gunfight, shot down one of the jets. The task force at the time in the Gulf of Suez consisted of HMS Newfoundland, HMS Crane, HMS Modeste and two French Ships (The La Perouse and the Gazelle). Prior to the engagement with the Jets, we were supposed to be relieved of the duty of patrol by the La Parouse, but both French ships refused to leave their Djibouti base.

RAF raids began on the same night, which were followed by carrier aircraft raids on the morning of 1st November against Egyptian airfields by Wyverns, Sea Hawks and Sea Venoms. By nightfall on the 2nd November, the Egyptian air force had ceased to exist, and on 5th November the first paratroops landed at Gamil. Whirlwind helicopters from Albion and Bulwark landed with urgent supplies and ferried out wounded troops. Pre-assault bombardment began the next day and as the landing craft left their mother ships, the helicopters were back in the air with more troops aboard.

The LVTs landed Centurion tanks to support the Commandos as they fanned out across the beaches. More waves of helicopters followed landing troops and ferrying out wounded men. The helicopters returned to the carriers to reload, taking only one minute to get the marines aboard, refuelling after every second trip. The LVTs continued their unloading as troopships in the harbour unloaded more troops.

Following UN intervention and threats from America, a ceasefire came into effect at 2345 on 6th November, and the evacuation of British troops began on 7th December with the last troops leaving on 22nd December.

Also See
British Ships involved in the Suez crisis
H.M.S. Jamaica Colony class six-inch cruiser Suez November 1956

H.M.S. Newfoundland

Engines


4-shaft Parsons geared turbines, 4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 72,500hp

Fuel


1,613-1,700 tons Oil

Speed in Knots


33

Length (ft/inches)


555.5'

Beam (ft/inches)


62'

Draught (ft/inches)


16.5'

Displacements (tons)


8,530 tons Standard; 10,450 tons deep load

Armament


Four Triple or Three Triple 6in/50 Mk XXIII turrets,
Four Twin 4in/45 QF Mk XVI HA turrets
and Two (Or Twelve) Quadruple 2 pounders pompom,
Six 21inch Torpedo Tubes (Unsure of Armament at this period)

Armour


3.5inch belt, 2inch on turrets, 4inch control tower and 2inch deck armour.

Crew Complement


980

H.M.S. Jamaica

Colony class six-inch cruiser

By James Robinson
ex Royal Marine 1947 to 1971
as relayed to him by his brother in-law
who served aboard Jamaica as part of the RM. contingent

HMS JamaciaAs early as 0400 hrs on the morning of the landing, Jamaica, Dutchess, Diamond and Decoy, steamed ahead of the landing craft, taking up station in line, Jamaica leading. The bombardment warships began their measured approach  to the beaches of Port Said. By first light on a clear morning, the hostile coastline of Port Said appeared. The marines on the 4 inch gun mounting  looked up at the fore-mast, as the brand new battle ensign was hoisted.  Jamaica, gently steaming straight for the beaches, began a slow turn to  port. The range was no more than one and a half to two miles.

Tension was  building, as the cruiser had still not opened fire, "why haven't the 6 inch opened fire", one of the Marines asked,  "the gunnery officer must have lost  his matches", the Marine sergeant answered, with a wry smile.

Once Jamaica had completed a ninety degree turn, Dutchess, Diamond, and Decoy,  steamed past her stern, closing the range to what seemed less than a mile, they also turned to port to lie stopped, parallel to the shore line. Eighteen 4.5 inch guns began a systematic, and deadly, bombardment of the landing area. During the bombardment, the tanoy system on-board Jamaica gave an explanation as to why the cruiser had not opened fire, "We have received orders from very high up, that no large caliber guns are to be used, the reasoning is to keep Egyptian casualties to a minimum". The news was greeted, throughout the ship, with derision, and fury.

"It's all right for those stupid politicians in bloody London, but what about  our lads standing by to go ashore"? fumed one of the marines, "so what's a few  dead Royal Marines as long as you don't hurt any Arabs or bust a few windows".

"That's the trouble with modern warfare", said one of the Marines with  contempt. But what really upset the marines, was not being able to support their mates ashore, The ships tanoy announced, "the helicopters you can see overhead are from the carriers 'Ocean' and Theseus', They are ferrying ashore men of 45 Royal Marine Commando. You are witnessing Naval History in the making. This is the first time helicopters have been use in an opposed landing".

The Last Drop

3 Para at El Gamil airfield

NicosiaBy the time the 3rd Parachute Battalion landed at El Gamil airfield, Operation Musketeer had suffered a series of last minute changes from it's  regional plan.  The airborne operation of the invasion of the Suez, called for a British parachute drop on Port Said airfield, El Gamil, and a French drop at Port Fouad. The British paratroopers were to secure the airfield, and then link up with the seaborne troops in Port Said. The airborne operation could not take place before the 6th of November, because the invasion convoys could not sail from Malta until the 31st of October. The French government, fearing that the delay would damage the operation, pressed for an earlier drop and an amended plan.  The British 16th Independent Parachute Brigade would still drop at El Gamil, but the French would now drop at Raswa. The British agreed to launch this updated operation on the 5th of November at dawn. This would mean the Battalion would be on the ground fighting for 24 hours before the main seaborne invasion arrived.

Flight to DZThe British operation was limited to just 600 troops of the 3rd Battalion.  The Battalion would fly from RAF air fields on Cyprus, but, because of lack of parking space at the airfields, and because of the older British aircraft, obsolete side loading Hastings and Valentines, the initial assault would be dangerously small.  One of the main reasons the British had to use these older aircraft was the United States, who were totally against any military action, refused to supply any help to Britain and France, especially in the form of Aircraft. Also, because of the shortage of aircraft, the Battalion would have to land with no heavy weapons support.  The plan allowed the Battalion eight minutes to drop all its troops and equipment at El Gamil, an airfield that was 1 mile long and only half a mile wide, bounded on both sides by water.  To avoid drifting in the air they planned to drop in 3 waves at  varying heights. The first wave would drop at 500 ft, the second wave, , the Heavy lift,  at 800 ft, and the third and last wave at 1,000 ft. This also met the Paratroops would be in the air the shortest amount of time possible.

DropEarly on the 5th of November, the Battalion boarded their aircraft in Nicosia, Cyprus. 3 Para would drop before the French.  Three companies, (A, B and C), and their suppliers, were lifted from Nicosia aboard  26 Hastings and Valetta's.  Protected by RAF fighters and ground attack aircraft, the heavily laden transports approached the DZ. at 0515, flying from the northwest directly into the sun. At 0715 hours, despite the delays, caused by the old side loading aircraft, 85% of the Battalion was on the ground within 10 minutes, having suffered only one fatality, and a few major injuries.



David Pentland / Cranston Fine Arts
Suez Drop, 5th November 1956
by David Pentland
David Pentland / Cranston Fine Arts

The above painting is available
on line athttp://www.war-art.com/
Please note that BSW dose NOT profit from any sales of this painting. We are very grateful to the people at
Cranston Fine Arts for allowing us to display David Pentlands work

Gamil AirfieldUnlike their French Allies, the British did not carry any personal weapons for using during their descent, and had to wait until they were on the ground before they could break open the containers that carried their small arms and ammunition. Many of the British paratroopers would have been killed as they landed on the open airfield, but the Egyptians, fearing a landing, had covered the runway with sand filled oil drums. These drums provided cover for the British paratroopers, and they were able to secure their weapons, reorganize, and move in to attack the defenders.

A Company rushed to secure the northwestern end of the airfield, encountering only sporadic resistance from Egyptian defenders. B company moved towards the Port Said end of the airfield, to block Egyptian reinforcements. The fighting was a short and bloody, hand to hand engagement all the way.  C Company cleared the airfield itself setting up a command post and defensive positions among oil drums strewn across the runway.  Within 30 minutes the objective was firmly in British hands. A second lift brought in the rest of 3 Para, and on the return trip the helicopters evacuated the wounded to the fleet offshore. During the day, 3 Para was attacked by French jet fighters. Fortunately the Battalion did not suffer casualties from this attack. Not the first time friendly fire would problems during Operation Musketeer.

Meanwhile, the French 2 RCP, who had dropped onto a smaller DZ. south of the Raswa bridges at 0530, had a very successful assault.  They landed in an incredibly short period time, 4 minutes, but had to fight to establish their hold, having dropped literally  on to the heads of the Egyptian defenders.  They advanced, and captured the western end of the Raswa Bridge by 0900.  The French dug in around their objective, sending out probing patrols towards Port Said. At 1530 they were joined by a second battalion, which dropped onto salt pans to the east of Port Fuad.  Meanwhile, a small detachment of British Paras from the 9th  Independent Squadron Royal Engineers, who had landed with the French first wave, conducted a reconnaissance down the canal towards Ismailia, but found no signs of the enemy.

cemetery. Crown Back at El Gamil airfield, 3 Para had destroyed all opposition at the airfield. Throughout the day, close air support from both British and French aircraft, supported 3 Para, who by now, were having great difficulty overcoming resistance around the nearby sewage farm, which also was home to thousands of mosquitoes, who proved to be more irritating than the Egyptians.  A big fire fight also took place at the cemetery and the Coast Guard barracks, on the outskirts of Port Said. By 1300 hours they're running short of ammunition, and the order was given to dig in.  They remained in these positions, under constant sniper fire, and waited for the morning to arrive and the seaborne landings to begin.

At 900 hours the next morning, the 6th of November, communications were established with the seaborne assault

force, who, were still 15 miles out to sea.  H.M.S. Ceylon was assigned as fire support for 3 Para.  A forward fire

control unit, which had dropped with 3 Para on the airfield,  now started looking for targets for the big guns offshore, but none could be found.

Moving into Port Said3 Para resumed its attack towards Port Said, from the direction of El Gamil airport. The French Paras, reinforced from the sea by the 1st Foreign Legion Parachute Regiment, and  a unit of AMX 13 light tanks. They were able to consolidate their hold on the important Raswa Bridge and Port Fuad.  House clearing operations continued throughout the day, but by 1200 hours Centurion tanks of A  Squadron, 6th Royal Tank Regiment finally linked up with the French. The Egyptian positions in and around Port Said were no longer tenable.

With all objectives taken, the emphasis now shifted to the main objective, the Canal. The plan was to advance down  the Canal road running south towards Ismailia.  A squadron, 6 RTR, with French Para support, began to move down the narrow causeway towards more open ground at El Cap without delay.  The 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment, who had originally been assigned this task, arrived  via the troopship Empire Parkeston, sometime in the afternoon of the 6th. The Battalion's disembarkation was delayed due to sniper fire and the sudden arrival of two Russian built,  T34 tanks only 200 yards from the harbour.  RAF and Fleet Air Arm aircraft soon knocked these out. Due to this delay in disembarkation, 2 Para did not assemble at Raswa until 1900 hours, to spearhead the advance.

British troops dug in. Crown The aim was to establish positions beyond the causeway by the time of the cease-fire, which the Allied General Command knew was coming. This would gain more room for maneuvering, should the fighting flare up again. 2 Para started their advance towards Ismailia at 2300 hours, accompanied by the tanks of A squadron, 6th RTR. British troops did manage to reach El Cap, about 40 km south of Port Said, by the time the cease-fire was announced. As the British troops dug in they realized, that they were just a few short hours from taking their main objective.

During the Suez Invasion, 3rd Para had lost 4 dead and 36 wounded and  had taken 17 prisoners. The 3rd Battalion's drop on El Gamil Airfield  was the first and last combat jump by a battalion group, (Support Arms also jumped) since the 2nd World War.

Also see
Demob ?
By Walter Dinsdale Royal Signals
who dropped with Bde HQ 3 Para

Demob ?

By Walter Dinsdale Royal Signals

who dropped with Bde HQ 3 Para at El Gamil

The main thing I remember concerning Suez (without heroics) was my demob. I'd nearly completed my 5 years with the colours, taking the mick out of the 3 Para mates etc. and I left Cyprus for demob in good old Blighty. I left Aldershot for home in County Durham and four hours after arrival the police called with a message telling me to report back to Aldershot.

Next day back in Aldershot and then off to Portsmouth to embark on an aircraft carrier bound  for Cyprus. Here came the crunch. A certain Sgt. X decided to get a special license to wed his good lady and a group photo was taken by the press at the railway station. This photo then appeared on the front page of the Sunday Pictorial and was seen in Cyprus. We were on the boat and knew nothing about this.

After arriving in Cyprus I had the urine extracted by everyone I knew who I'd bragged to about my demob. This was when I became a member of H.Q. for Suez (but I still put my collar up whenever I drove into 3 Para lines). I was the radio technician, so on landing I would run like hell with whatever equipment I was lumbered with, check in, then I would run like hell again to get the ground to air communications going as the RAF had a taxi rank (Yep that's what they called it) of ground support aircraft waiting above . The next step was to open up a ship to shore link (rear link) and as the main gear whistled in then make do with what was left.
The photo here was taken during Eoka ops Cyprus 1956. It shows Field Marshall Harding talking to Col Crook ( 3 Para CO). From left to right. Wally Dinsdale, Cooper, Taffy, Field Marshall Harding and Colonel Crook

The photo here was taken during Eoka ops Cyprus 1956

It shows Field Marshall Harding talking to Col Crook ( 3 Para CO)


The Following is taken from THE WIRE  Royal Signals Magazine December  1956

On the morning of the 5th of November a force of aircraft took off from Cyprus carrying officers and men of the 16th independent Parachute Brigade group.  This force was designed to drop directly on the airfield and carried with it 11 jeeps and trailers containing wireless sets and four anti-tank guns to deal with the enemy tanks reported in the area of the DZ.

NicosiaThe Royal Signals party, which formed part of the T.A.C. Brigade H.Q., consisted of one officer and 19 other ranks.  These were Lt. M. J. Flynn, Sgt. Paxton, Corporals Baxter, Blake, Dinsdale, Griffiths and  Waumsley, Lance-Corporals Hudd, Ramsay and Green, signal men Saddler, Coomber, Paddick, Thornbury, Smith and Watson, drivers Aarons, Braid and Davidson.  In addition one French and two British officers were attached to make up the A.C.T. ( Air Control Team).  Signalmen Blackmore and Herrington dropped with the French Parachute force to operate the British liaison officers wireless set .  33 Parachute Field Regiment R.A. Signal Troop were represented by Lance- Corporals Bustedd and Bradbury and signalmen Bayer. They dropped with the F.O.B. party on the British D Z.

The dropThe drop took place at 0715 hours.  On the DZ. the enemy had placed 40 gal tar drums as obstacles to a parachuting force and on the north side, on the beach there were two rows of mines.  From the time the force jumped. they were engaged by small arms fire and as they landed the first bombs and shells fell on the DZ. The force rallied quickly at their RVs except for the leading company, which landed so close to the perimeter defensive positions that they were committed directly to an assault to by their Company Commander.

There were two pillboxes placed to cover the airfield and it was fortunate for the force that one of these was quickly overrun.  The second proved much more difficult to subdue.  This pillbox and the slit trenches nearby were cleared by 0815 hours.  The leading troops were then engaged by snipers from the beach chalets on the north side of the road leading to Port Said.  These too were cleared by 0845 hours.

Gamil AirfieldTactical brigade H.Q. established itself against the wall of an outbuilding next to the control tower to get what protection it could from mortar fire and from shells from Russian made S.P. guns which were firing on the DZ. After the roll call had been taken, it was found that Signalmen Paddick was missing  He was carried in later by stretcher-bearers having been wounded by a mortar bomb on the DZ. All the wounded were evacuated to two aircraft carriers and to Cyprus by naval helicopter and French Dakota.  Signalmen Paddick has since had his leg amputated above the knee. He remained cheerful and resolute throughout.

All parachute manpack wireless equipment arrived intact except for three batteries out  of the eight dropped.  The heavy drop was not quite as successful and all 3 WS 52 in trailers were damaged and unworkable but one trailer  provided a small reserve of 4 batteries  and one 300-watt charging engine.

Thus the tactical H.Q. was dependent solely on the WS 62 and with limited batteries and charging facilities it was necessary to restrict links to the Tactical Brigade H.Q. to the H.Q. ship to one. Despite all this, communication with the ship's H.Q. were established 20 minutes after landing. The first message sent was a request for evacuation of the wounded by helicopter.

The Tactical Brigade G forward  link was establish without difficulty and the French formation, which was under command, came up on this net using one of their own sets manned by Herrington and Blackmore.

Egyptian POW.Crown Air cover was available the whole time and the airborne force was able to call down aircraft on any target they wished to engage. Air strikes were very soon necessary. The first was on a heavily defended position in the sewage farm just off the airfield perimeter. The enemy was well dug in and had been subjected to several air strikes. The final strong points of the airfield defenses were encountered a few hundred yards further on, in a cemetery surrounded by a thick stone wall.  A defensive position had been prepared, hidden among and protected by tombstones.  This position was alongside the road and blocked the approaches to Port Said.  It was held by 30 Egyptian soldiers who fought most bravely and only after several  air strikes and a company attack was this position captured.

Crown The Battalion had reached the first block of flats in the residential area of Port Said and  Tac H.Q. had moved itself forward  to the first of the beach chalet's from which the snipers had been cleared earlier in the day.  By late afternoon heavy mortar fire was brought down  on the leading company and only lifted when the commander of the Port Said Garrison asked to discuss terms. The positions therefore remained unchanged  until morning when, the terms having been rejected, the assault landings were put, and the advance of  3 Parachute continued, this time in an attempt to link with 3 Commando Brigade, which had landed on the beaches about half a mile to the east.  During this period two MiG fighters strafed the airfield.

The link up was only a matter of time and the main concern of the Parachute Brigade Tac H.Q. was to make contact with the French Parachute force, that landed south of Port Said.  This was done by the Provost officer, who went by helicopter.

Meanwhile the remainder of the Brigade, having left Cyprus on the 4th of November, was anxiously awaiting news of the parachute drop.  By manning  the receivers on the LST which carried main brigade H.Q. the Signal Squadron first intercepted the real link to the H.Q. ship, while still 100 miles offshore and were thus  able to keep the Deputy Commander and his staff up to date with the position on shore.  Wireless silence at sea was broken at 0500 hours on the day of to the parachute drop, while the seaborne force was still some way out.  A WS 62  was immediately opened up on the deck of the LST and main Brigade H.Q. joined the G Forward Command Net.

When the rest of the Brigade Group was ashore, Main H.Q. assumed control and the normal ground role communications were quickly established.

The thing that will remain longest in the memories of the Royal Signals personnel who were with the parachute party ( apart from the smoke and noise ) was the efficacy of the WS 62, for which, it is only fair to state, conditions were ideal, and the vital importance of the WS BE 201. Without it no air strikes could have been directed and controlled.

We are very grateful to Wally for allowing us to publish his story and for forwarding the copy of  Royal Signals "Wire" Magazine giving us some much need details. Please take a moment to read about  The El Gamil Group by clicking on the banner below

By Sea, By Air

The Marines Go In

On 26th July 1956, President Nasser of Egypt seized the Suez Canal. The Chiefs of Staff were asked to prepare to retake the Canal. Lord Mountbattten offered a Royal Marine formation to hold Suez until three Divisions, or whatever Army formations, could be raised  to hold the Canal. The offer was not accepted, but a Brigade was to spearhead the seaborne landings, and took part in its planning,  from as early as August 1956. The timetable was long, and provided sufficient time for 40 and 42 Commandos to train with "C" Squadron, 6th Royal Tank Regiment,  whose Centurions would be waterproofed to land near "40" on L-day (Landing Day).

The Amphibious Support Squadron for the landings rose to 20 ships, including Frigates and Destroyers. No.45 Commando would be aboard  the Carrier H.M.S. Ocean, and Theseus, and as there were insufficient helicopters, would be tasked as a floating reserve, while 40 and 42  Commando landed to seize the Interior basin.

HMS BulwarkAt dawn the 6th of November ( L Day) , the invasion fleet took postions  8 kilometers ( 5 miles ) off Port Said, and began an hour long the bombardment of the Egyptian Shore positions.  All the troops taking part in the invasion had noticed that the press seemed to know more about their invasion plans than the troops did themselves.  British journalists had been publishing full reports of the forthcoming invasion in the British newspapers.  Not the sort of information you want to just hand out to the enemy. The night before the invasion, a prominent journalist from a popular English newspaper, who was aboard H.M.S. Theseus to cover the invasion, was pulled aside by members of 45 Commando and informed that, if they found out about any more security leaks in his newspaper, he would be "invited" to join the Marines in their assault,  in fact they would make sure he'd lead the advance.

The Marines come ashoreThe Troops of 40 and 42 ran in towards the smoke covered beach, no light showed from the shore, and a pall of smoke from burning oil  tanks hung over Port Said. Each Commando unit had two Troops in LVTs as the leading wave, with a second wave of Troops in LCAs.  The first line of 15 amphibians churned on to the beach, with 42 on the right and 40 on the left. It was just before dawn, and fortunately  there were no mines on the beach. There had been no SBS recce to check these beaches, probably due to the political risk.

As the bombardment and air attacks kept the Egyptians busy, the LVTs ran in, between the beach front houses. Fifteen minutes later, LCTs put the tanks ashore in Fishermen's Harbour on 40 Commando's left. Once the tanks were ashore, 40 was ready to move three Troops at H+90 minutes.  40 Commando advanced along the harbour to the Canal Company offices and Navy House, while 42 Commando advanced through the center of town to the Railway Station and British Consulate,  A troop was sent in with a tank as support, to rescue the British consul.  A naval gunfire observer in the first wave, called a down Navy gun fire on the Egyptian defenders in the Cassino, as the building disappeared under the smoke and dust, he cheerfully  signaled back to his opposite off shore  saying, "Everyone a coconut".

40 CommandoAccompanied by the tanks, 40 Commando now moved to their objectives between the Harbour basins, which were to be used for landing reinforcements for I I Corps, later in the day. To begin with, resistance was light, but it soon stiffened, and degenerated into urban fighting, grenades, tanks, and rifles at close range. The following morning, with the beachhead secure, 40 Commando moved down the dual carriage way, and the convoys came under fire from the side streets. The LVT's were on loan, and when called up, had no armour pinned on, over the weapons slots in the sides. X Troop captured the power station, and  A Troop engaged a stout group of Arabs in the market, while other troops expanded the beachhead.

45 taking off from HMS TheuseusAt 1600 hours, the helicopters on both Aircraft carriers were given orders to land the first wave of 45 Commando into Port Said with the Whirlwinds taking off first and then the Sycamores. Within five minutes all helicopters were airborne, flying low towards their target at 17 knots. The first wave of Marines were landed close to the statute of Ferdinand de Lesseps. As the Marines of the first wave safely disembarked from helicopters, the Whirlwinds immediately returned to the aircraft carriers, to lift more of 45 Commando into Port Said. All 415 men of 45 Commando and 25 tons  of their equipment, were lifted ashore by helicopter within one hour and 45 minutes. The helicopter's continued its to supply the Marines and evacuate casualties back to the ships offshore. One wounded Marine was back in the  ships and sick bay, 20 minutes often leaving the ship to go ashore.

Friendly fire caused casualties among the Marines, when a Royal Navy Wyvern attacked the Marine landing site with rockets. Members of  45 HQ company were hit by explosions from this aircraft, while trying to lay out identification panels. One marine was killed, and 15 others wounded, including the CO and the intelligence officer. 45 Commando now started to fight their  way towards their objective, which was, to link up with 3 Para, coming from Gamil Airfield.

By midday, 3 Commando Brigade, was ashore and had secured all its objectives, although fighting still continued in the town center, and at the canal company offices, for much of the day.  X troop, of 40 Commando, with the help of some Centurion Tanks, took Navy House at around 1500 hours. Before the attack went in on Navy House, FAA, called in by 40 Commando,  for an air strike on the building.  This air attack destroyed most of the building and set it alight. The Marines now did fierce battle with the  Egyptian defenders, killing 30 of the Egyptians, and taking another 20 prisoner.  The fighting around Navy House was the fiercest the Marines had experienced all day.

X troop hoisting the White Ensign at Navy HouseThe Commando's transport had been landed from H.M.S. Lofoten in time to reach 45 Commando in the early afternoon of L-day. A major fire broke out,  impairing the Commando's progress westwards, and they had to engage Egyptian troops. By the end of operations on that day, 40 Commando had sealed  off Navy House Quay, and X troop had a lively time with an Egyptian ammunition dump which had caught fire. Brigade HQ was spread between two blocks of flats on the sea front, and 42 held the beach area. X troop later joined A Troop at the Power Station. 45 Commando had been in defensive positions since nightfall, holding the area around Rue El Ghali Moukhtar, at the north-west corner of the town.

The French and British were ordered to cease their advance under increasingly hostile political pressure from America, but within a few days, a couple of Commando climbers had managed to put a green beret on the head of De Lesseps' statue some 40ft, (12m), off the ground. The Commandos held the town and kept the peace with patrols, until relieved by UN sponsored peacekeeping troops, the Commando were then withdrawn to Malta on L+8.

3 Brigade had suffered 9 dead and 60 wounded. The Brigade received six gallantry awards during the days action.

The Air war over Suez

ValiantAt the start of the Suez Crisis the Egyptians Air Force was reported to have up to 120 front line aircraft including 50 MiG-15s and 20 Il-28, both state of the art Russian aircraft. To combat this, the RAF assembled a considerable force in Cyprus and Malta. Five Canberra B6 and Four Valiant B1 squadrons at Luqa with no less than eight Canberra B2 squadrons at Nicosia, a force tasked with bombing the Egyptian air force out of its British built bases from which the RAF had been operating a year earlier. Supporting the bomber force were twenty four Hunter F5s of Nos. 1 and 43 Squadrons and Meteor NF13s of No.39 Squadron at Nicosia, plus Meteor FR9s of No.208 squadron at Ta Kali, Malta. A Venom strike force composed of experienced Middle East operators, Nos. 6, 9 and 249 squadrons had also arrived at Akrotiri in Cyprus. With British aircraft and helicopter carriers heading from Malta carrying Six squadrons of Sea Hawks, four of Sea Venoms and one of Westland Wyverns and their Wessex helicopters. Pictured left is a Valiant courtesy of Edd Draper from his Royal Air Force site

CanberraThe first RAF aircraft to take part in Musketeer were Photo Reconnaissance Canberras which flew reconnaissance sorties over Egypt on 31st october. That night, the RAF Canberras bombed Almaza just before midnight, also attacking various other Egyptian Air Force airfields although Cairo International was also bombed unintentionally. The Canberras were unopposed apart from some enthusiastic, but inaccurate, anti-aircraft fire. The Valiants joined the raids with 1,000lb bombs. On 1st November, No.13 Squadron flew reconnaissance sorties as Fleet Air Arm Sea Venoms and Sea Hawks attacked more military installations backed up by the Wyverns of 813 Squadron from H.M.S. Eagle. The Venoms flew over 100 ground attack sorties without opposition. More Canberra and Valiant bombing raids followed that night, including the bases of the Il-28 aircraft as targets. Pictured right is a Canbera courtesy of Edd Draper from his Royal Air Force site

By the morning, proof was that most of the Egyptian Air Force had been destroyed on the ground and the air strikes turned against the communications thereafter, while the Hunters provided cover for the Canberras as they systematically smashed Egypt's railway system and military barracks.

SeahawkThe 4th November saw more air strikes, and the Fleet Air Arm flew more than 350 sorties as Shackletons and Meteors maintained patrols over the waters between Malta and Egypt. RAF Transport Command dropped troops on Gamil airfield at 4.44am on 5th November. After this, the RAF continued its air strikes against Egyptian positions and covered the Marines and Army landings, some made by RAF helicopters. The entire Task Force withdrew when the United Nations condemned the invasion and the United States threatened the British Government with Financial retribution. A ceasefire went into effect at Midnight on 6th November, eight days later UN forces occupied British positions.

Please note that we have only touched the surface of the Suez invasion and will be adding more information to this site as time permits and we welcome any corrections to the above

.

The Helicopter in Suez

DragonfliesThe Suez Campaign saw the dawn of the helicopters role as an Assault Transport with British and French forces using their respective helicopters to transfer troops to the landing zone. The British and French employed the Sikorsky S-51 and S-55s, and Westland Dragonlies and Whirlwinds on CASEVAC (Casualty Evacuation) operations, General transport, communications and liaison duties.

Westland WhirlwindsHowever, the most significant role was used on the 6th November, when five hundred men of No.45 Royal Marine Commando were airlifted by helicopter from the two light fleet carriers H.M.S. Ocean and H.M.S. Theseus to land on a patch of waste ground beside De Lesseps statue in Port Said in the first helicopter-brone assault. The hcliopters were 8 Westland Whirlwinds of No.845 NAS, but these were reinforced by helicopters from a joint Army and RAF trails unit which had 6 Westland Whirlwind and 6 Bristol Sycamore helicopters. Immediately after the successful assault, the helicopters switched to the casualty evacuation role, with one Royal Marine, injured in fighting after landing with the first wave of troops form the carriers, being returned as a casualty by helicopter and arriving back aboard his ship just twenty minutes after leaving. CASEVAC operations by the helicopters also included the first combat air rescue, in which a Royal Navy Sea Hawk pilot was rescued from where he had landed some thirty miles inland.

CASEVACThe Last action of the helicopter in the Suez campaign was involved in resupplying the H.M.S. Theseus which was running short of vital medical supplies on its way back to Malta after the Allied withdrawal. An RAF Shackelton drooped supplies into the sea from just 150 feet above sea level near sea marks dropped by the carrier. As soon as the Shackleton had passed, two Royal Navy Whirlwind helicopters, which were already airborne, picked up the waterproof container and had these safely aboard the ship within minutes of the drop being made. These operations resulted in the H.M.S. Bulwark being converted to a commando carrier in 1959-1960 to operate Helicopters instead of fixed wing aircraft.

Please note that we have only touched the surface of the Suez invasion and will be adding more information to this site as time permits and we welcome any corrections to the above.

HMS ALDINGTON M1171

By Lieutenant Commander J.D.Hegarty. MNI. RN. (Rtd).
Commissioned on 10th August 1956 at HMS DILIGENCE, Hythe, Southampton

.

ALDINGTON was not my first "TON". Prior to my appointment as 1st Lieutenant, I had served in HMS REDPOLE as Navigating Officer. REDPOLE was tender to the Navigation Training Establishment HMS DRYAD and during a routine training cruise in Scandinavian waters we collided with the Danish Royal Yacht DANNEBROG whilst leaving Copenhagen harbour. After an unscheduled repair, by courtesy of the Danish Navy, we duly arrived back in Portsmouth on one engine with the damaged shaft unceremoniously lashed down on our Quarterdeck!



HMS RedpoleForgive me if I do not spend too much time on the painful memories and undue interest paid on our arrival at our homeport, or the subsequent Board of Enquiry! Suffice to say, in no way did it affect my Captain's timely promotion, nor my appointment to a spanking new ship - ALDINGTON. However, before this, whilst REDPOLE was being repaired, we continued with navigating training in a CMS loaned from the Reserve Fleet in Portsmouth, and this proved an ideal prelude for my subsequent task in ALDINGTON as First Lieutenant on commissioning.  So, on a brilliant summer morning I joined ALDINGTON at Hythe, where I reported to the Commanding Officer, Lt. J.Tipping RN. The ship was berthed alongside the jetty at the M/S base HMS DILIGENCE. Nearby was HMS PENSTON, also to be commissioned, and both ships were due to join 108 M/S Squadron in Malta following the official commissioning ceremony. We were to become "Chummy" ships and our respective Ship's Companies enjoyed a long and enjoyable association.  ALDINGTON had been built locally, by Camper and Nicholson, a company with a reputation for producing luxury craft. I was delighted to discover our new ship was indeed of a high standard and as "Jimmy", with an excellent Coxswain in support, our preparations looked a dawdle. All was set fair. !

Mountbatten boardsIt was at this point, we were informed that the First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, accompanied by Countess Mountbatten, proposed to attend the commissioning ceremony. They were to be accompanied by Lady Patricia Brabourne, (Lord Mountbatten's daughter), who had launched the ship a few months earlier, (Aldington, in Kent, being the seat of the Brabourne family.) This would have been a signal honour for a major warship, but for a CMS to be so honoured, was very special. Inevitably, the ship was the focus of attention for the occasion and it involved meticulous preparations to meet the exacting and well-known standards of Admiral Mountbatten.



Fortunately, we were not allowed too much time to mull over likely problems or disasters. The Ship's Company did a great job. HMS DILIGENCE too, helped with personnel and advice, but the bottom line was down to the crew of thirty. It was very much an ALDINGTON occasion, with families and friends on board as guests. It promised to be a great day. With Earl Mountbatten attending, the event inevitably attracted Senior Officers from the Portsmouth Command, plus substantial media coverage. This required extra effort to provide appropriate facilities for our VIP's. Whatever fears I had, my doubts were groundless; ALDINGTON passed its first test, with flying colours.




ALDINGTON sailsThat evening, now duly commissioned, ALDINGTON and PENSTON, slipped from their berths, and headed down past the Needles into grey skies and an ominous sea enroute for Gibraltar. The passage, for the first few days was rough, and at one stage we were down to the Coxswain in the wheelhouse, Chief ERA on the engines and one Officer plus a Signalman on the bridge. As we progressed South the weather improved and this allowed us to commence our work-up programme, exercising minesweeping procedures, testing and proving new equipment, as well as, boarding drills, the latter, we knew, would be required for our duties with 108 Squadron on anti-EOKA patrols in Cyprus. A week or so later, together with PENSTON, we entered Sliema Creek in Malta to join up with our mother ship, "WOODBRIDGE HAVEN" and other ships of 108 M/S Squadron. On the personal side, this appointment was considered an "accompanied " job, so, in common with other crewmembers, it was necessary to make arrangements for wives, and families, to locate in Malta. The future looked bright, morale was high! Alas, foolish thoughts, the Navy does not quite work like that. We did expect a period of operations in Cyprus and, after a brief spell in Malta, we duly left the George Cross Island on passage to Famagusta, which was the base for our intended patrols. We realised before leaving Malta, that matters in the Middle East were causing concern, this was to do with the nationalizing of the Suez Canal, on the orders of President Nasser of Egypt, and a strong Anglo French force was being formed to counter the move. Clearly, the arrival of a large number of Landing Craft supplementing the large surface fleet, together with a number of Aircraft Carriers in the area was ominous. We sailed for Cyprus in company with PENSTON, and within days arrived at Famagusta,an attractive and pleasant port.  Shore leave was limited, and for security reasons, a number of areas, were "out of bounds", due to the threat from EOKA. Shopping trips were permitted, but those going ashore, had to remain in a group, with several armed guards in attendance. The King George Hotel was a favourite haunt as it was "protected" by the Army, and had the attraction of a very good beach nearby.

Ships CompanyWe patrolled the coast nightly, usually taking up station in a specified patrol area during the hours of darkness, our task - to investigate, and board, suspicious vessels in the area, searching for illegal arms destined for EOKA personnel. Sometimes these arms were dropped close to the shore in buoyancy containers and again, our task was to inspect, and recover these containers. This meant the Ship's boarding party had to be at standby throughout the night, plus sufficient hands available, to lower, and subsequently recover, the ship's boat. Invariably, it required the guns crew at their station. By virtue of the operation, there was a continuous call on the entire ship's company. Once daylight came, we were able to anchor for the day at some suitable anchorage, usually with a safe beach within reasonable distance, it provided the Ship's Company with recreational facilities during the afternoon. Forenoons, were used, to carry out the usual round of maintenance and cleaning duties. Our routine allowed us back to Famagusta on completion of each patrol period. This provided the opportunity to store ship, top up with fuel, and carry out tasks, necessary for the next patrol. Support was available from the small RN staff, based at the port. This routine carried us into the October period and we were now looking forward to returning to Malta where, hopefully, our families would have arrived from UK and would be settled in to shore accommodation. It was whilst we were in the middle of this routine, the "expected" happened. "The Suez Crisis", had materialised and orders for OPERATION MUSKETEER came through. 108 Minesweeping Squadron, was to combine with 104 Squadron, (which had arrived in Malta, from Harwich), for operations to support the landings at Port Said. The HQ Ship, HMS WOODBRIDGE HAVEN, would co-ordinate our efforts in this role. The Minelayer, HMS MANXMAN, was a vital element in the overall operation. "L" (landing Day) was to be 6th November 1956. MUSKETEER, was a major invasion of the Egyptian mainland, essentially to regain control of the Suez Canal, and ensure continued safe navigation for international maritime trade, through this strategic waterway. It involved British, French and Israeli forces and comprised an airborne assault, plus a shore landing in the strategic area of Port Said. Not contained in our orders, was a synchronised attack by Israeli forces on the Sinai area, to the East of the canal. The USSR supported Egypt in their actions and we could expect strong resistance from Egyptian Forces. To make matters more serious, our usual allies in the United States, were not supportive; in fact, they had expressed strong disapproval of the proposed action. The minesweeping task, was to clear the approaches to the canal at Port Said. Intelligence had suggested, Egyptian Forces had access to sophisticated mines, that, if deployed, would be a major threat to all craft approaching the entrance to the canal. It was also obvious to us; minesweepers would be required to lead the landings, sweeping the approaches, thus safeguarding surface vessels carrying troops and equipment, from such a threat. Mines of Russian origin were extremely difficult to sweep, and we could expect casualties during clearance operations. It is not my intention to describe in detail the operation; this is well documented elsewhere, it records the whole scenario more accurately than I can recall, some 45 years on. ALDINGTON duly took part in MUSKETEER, and remained in the Canal Zone over the complete period of occupation. Thankfully, the threat from mines did not materialize, and we sustained no casualties in that part of the operation.

Port Said-DeLessepsOnce the landings had been successfully completed, our tasks were more mundane, performing a variety of duties. It was necessary to recover the numerous Dan Buoy markers etc., laid to mark out the cleared approaches. This developed into somewhat of a competition between ships, as when the daily quotas allocated to each ship were achieved, the ship concerned, was free to return to Port Said. ALDINGTON did not do too well with this task in the early stages, until my Coxswain suggested, that the answer could be seen on the sweep decks of the other ships taking part. Investigating, I found, to my surprise, their decks were surprisingly clear, whilst our deck, used for stowing recovered Dan Buoys etc., contained enough concrete sinkers to ground the proverbial battleship! It took time and effort to recover those sinkers, attached as they were to fathoms of wire rope, whereas, if left in the mud off Port Said, they would not in any way, affect safe navigation, or the environment. The Coxswain explained; following this procedure would cost the taxpayer less, and the consequential saving in fuel oil and man-hours, would be of benefit to all. The point was taken, and without admitting to any sharp practice, we managed a number of early RTB's, during subsequent sorties! The main threat now, was sabotage; having successfully secured the canal it was imperative to make sure it remained navigable, pending it's opening to normal traffic. For this duty, the TONs proved ideal, Our size and draft, allowed us to manoeuvre in the confined space of the canal and we were able to patrol the area without difficulty, protecting equipment and installations, from untoward attention. We were also available to Army units, for liaison purposes, as they continued southwards to consolidate the security of the area. Militarily, OPERATION MUSKETEER appeared a success !.  Meanwhile, in political circles, the "war of words " went on apace. Russia, and the British/French Governments, were at loggerheads. Threats of a major conflict between the super-Powers, loomed ominously on the horizon. The USA, was insistent that we should cease the occupation and withdraw. Inevitably, without the tacit support of America, the die was cast and in due course, orders came through to suspend operations and withdraw from Egypt. It  was a period of intense frustration for all, but in due course, the operation went into reverse and the evacuation from Suez began. Troops and equipment, soon converged on Port Said for re-embarkation. Landing craft, ferried the men and materiel to the waiting ships in the outer harbour. To us, it appeared to go on forever, and French troops seemed to be taking away far more than they had landed with, I cannot swear to it, but I am sure we saw some rather smart Mercedes cars, being taken out on the landing craft. They were not in military colours either! Spoils of war? Perhaps! The withdrawal proceeded smoothly and on December 20th, with a final farewell to the statue of DeLesseps (soon to be destroyed ), ALDINGTON headed seawards and in company with other ships of the Task Force, headed for Malta.  On Christmas Day, we secured the ship at Sliema Creek in Malta, alongside other ships of 108 M/S Squadron. For those of us with families in Malta, it was a timely arrival, and of course, it proved a very special Christmas for us all. Unexpectedly, my time in ALDINGTON was drawing to a close; orders came through, requiring me to take a specialist course in the UK. But, I was not to break my association with the TON's right away. HMS BLAXTON was to return to Hythe and I was appointed First Lieutenant for the passage home. Sadly, I said farewell to ALDINGTON, and joined BLAXTON, commanded by Lt.Cdr F.Willis RN. In due course, we sailed for Gibraltar and the UK, in company with another minesweeper, which had mechanical problems, and needed an escort. Our speed was restricted somewhat, but we arrived back in Hythe, without further incident. It seemed very appropriate, that BLAXTON should secure at the same berth as ALDINGTON had used on commissioning. Sadly, my last duty, was to take BLAXTON to a buoy off Hythe, where she would await disposal. Fortunately, I did meet up with BLAXTON again, when, some years later, enjoying a sailing holiday in Ireland, my sloop was moored for the night in Cork harbour, whilst I stayed with family ashore. Next morning, we discovered the boat had broken her moorings during a gale. Luckily, the boat had been found drifting in the harbour, by a launch of the Irish Navy, and had been towed to the local base. We quickly went to recover the boat, which was unharmed, and to thank those concerned for her recovery. I mentioned my RN connections, and soon we were enjoying warm Irish hospitality. There were a number of Coastal Minesweepers at the base, which were being used as Fishery Protection Vessels by the Irish Navy. When I mentioned my connection with ALDINGTON and BLAXTON, our host looked surprised, pointed to one of the craft, now flying the Irish Tricolour, and said "Sure that's Blaxton, she is being well looked after"! Judging from her appearance, there was no doubt in my mind about that! Her new name - L.E.FOLA .

Following ALDINGTON, my next ship was marginally larger; the Fleet carrier HMS EAGLE with a complement of over 2000 men. During the commission we were honoured by a visit from H.M.The Queen accompanied by Prince Charles. The Queen had, as Princess Elizabeth, launched the ship at Belfast in 1946 and subsequently had always taken a great interest in the ship. Picture shows the writer being introduced to the Queen by Captain J.B.Frewen, Captain of EAGLE. (Later Admiral Sir John Frewen). Also in the picture is Rear-Admiral C.L.G. Evans CB CBE DSO DSC, Flag Officer Aircraft Carriers. Admiral Evans had a distinguished career in Naval Aviation during WW2, in particular the attack on the Italian Fleet at Taranto with Swordfish aircraft from HMS Illustrious.



EAGLE received the following signal from Her Majesty after she and Prince Charles disembarked in Weymouth Bay.

"I greatly enjoyed visiting Eagle with my son the Prince of Wales, at the end of what has been a happy and highly successful commission.   I was much impressed by the fine bearing of Eagles ship's company and by the high standard of flying. Please convey my congratulations to all officers and ratings under your command.

SPLICE THE MAINBRACE "



This rather rambling account of my brief service in Coastal Minesweepers, is essentially intended to correct omissions, which I have noticed in some websites dealing with the Suez and Cyprus operations. Scant mention is made of their participation.  Another omission, concerns the mine clearing operations conducted around the UK, of WW2 mines, which continued post war through to the 1950's. A hazardous and thankless task.!  Many "TON" readers, will have done more, served longer, and have experiences far more deserving of mention. I would be delighted to see such contributions recorded.

Lieutenant Commander J.D.Hegarty. MNI. RN. (Rtd).

We're very grateful to Lieutenant Commander Hegarty for allowing us to publish his story about his time aboard H.M.S. Aldington.

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Ton Class Association

The Assault on Suez

By James Robinson

ex Royal Marine 1947 to 1971

Dawn had broken, when the first wave of elderly amphibians (Buffaloes) headed towards the beach, driven by the men of the 7th RTR. Each contained thirty tight packed men, of either 40th or 42nd RM Commando or of a Royal Artillery fire control team with a link to naval guns. The elderly amphibians had left the holds of the LSTs two and a half miles out at sea, and had set off landwards with only the rims visible above the waterline.

The guns of the destroyers and frigates were shelling the beach huts and houses on the sea front to the right of the harbour entrance, with the beach huts ablaze providing a smoke screen for the Egyptian soldiers running out of the huts and screening the oncoming amphibians. Naval aircraft took over the task of covering fire as the amphibians drew closer to the beach, the naval aircraft coming in at ground level to take out the huts 200 yards ahead of them.

Reggio's LCAThe square hulks of the Buffaloes rose out of the water and roared up the beach, with extra speed from the absence of armour plating, which should have been but was not provided for and with Bren guns blazing to silence enemy machine gunners on either flank. The amphibians careered past the blazing huts where ammunition was exploding amid abandoned equipment and other items left behind by the Egyptian Army. The Buffaloes jerked to a halt. The men jumped out at commando speed, their green berets bobbing about as they swiftly and quickly forced their way into the Casino Palace Hotel.

The reserve troops came by assault craft, losing two or three men from machine gun fire as they ran across the beach, the only casualties of the beach landing. The Centurions of C Squadron, 6th RTR, soon followed coming ashore through 4 feet of water, where they took up fire positions covering the streets. The men of 40 Commando had the task of clearing the harbour and with 42 Commando, on the right, advanced through the town to seize the gas works and power station and link up with the French at the waterworks.

It had become clear that 42 CDO were confronted with a daunting task, demanding forbearance and courage. Darting figures were to be seen up every alleyway and through windows. Bullets were cracking at every angle, singly and in bursts, but only when a target appeared did the Marines shoot back. 42Cdo dropped snipers off at vantage points, and started to clear the houses one by one, while the Centurions gave valuable support. They fired belt after belt from Browning machine guns at located strong points, put down smoke to cover street crossings, and gave cover across open spaces by use of their hulks. 40 CDO made swift progress, capturing the main police station, and with tank support advanced up the road flanking the harbour towards the Canal company offices. 42 CDO once again met tough opposition in the main government building, from which a great number of Egyptians were ejected.

Coming ashoreBrigadier R. W. Madoc, 3rd Commando Brigade, then decided to bring in 45 Commando to start the task of clearing the streets in between 40th and 42nd Commando. 45 Cdo taxied in with a mighty roar made by the assorted fleet of twenty-two helicopters and landed near the Casino Palace. Their Commanding Officer, Lt.-Col. Tailyour, had escaped being hit by many bullets when he landed in the sports stadium that had not yet captured, but had less luck when a naval plane, misdirected by control, dived and opened fire on his men after they had began the task of house clearing and he was one of the nineteen casualties inflicted. 42 Cdo also had a few losses from this strike, but had no complaints about the very accurate strike against the government building that enabled them to gain possession. At about 9am, with Lt.-Col. Norcock commanding, he re-embarked two troops of 42 CDO into the Buffaloes and with tank escort, ahead and behind, led them full tilt up the Rue Mohammed Aly, a wide road flanked by high houses. Egyptians opened up from windows and side roads at some points with women and children around them, and the tanks blazed back with their Brownings and the Commandos with Brens from the top of the Buffaloes. Two anti-tank guns were blasted out by the tanks and more overrun, as they emerged into open territory at the end of the road. The Buffaloes followed with some dead and wounded when the gas works were captured, and then a fight near the prison from which the inmates had been let loose. Egyptian troops were in considerable numbers but soon dispersed from an air strike; the route was clear now to the French at the waterworks. Egyptian self-propelled guns had made an attempt to break out along the causeway, and an air strike was called in to knock them out.

Meanwhile, on the west side of Port Said, C Company, 3rd Para, had resumed their advance. A self-propelled gun had been spotted and engaged by a destroyer. C Company had gained a block of flats and captured the coast guard barracks without great difficulty. A Para patrol, probing forward towards a hospital, came under heavy machine gun and mortar fire, and had four men hit including an officer and sergeant. The fire came from the Arab quarter and the Paras brought up an anti-tank gun to silence the firing. A cool and daring evacuation was made of the wounded by the Para Field Ambulance. The Paras consolidated their hold on the building and kept close watch on the Arab quarter. They could see the refugees streaming along the bund across Lake El Manzala. Although there were many soldiers amongst the refugees, the Paras let them go for fear of hitting civilians.

Meanwhile, a reconnaissance was made of the harbour, headed by minesweepers. Although the harbour was littered with sunken ships, the entrance had not been blocked and it was possible to bring in the tank landing ships with engineering equipment and the remainder of 6th RTR, once a wall had been demolished to allow the tanks to get ashore to get to the assembly point inside the town. The Canal company office was finally taken by 40 Commando but they had run into heavy fire from the warehouses between it and what had been navy house next to the berthing bay. The 20-pounders of the Centurions dealt with the outbreak of firing from the warehouses and the Centurions shelled for about 10 minutes. Even then 40 lost two officers killed and three Marines wounded. To reach the French at the waterworks, A Squadron, 6th RTR, made a detour around the station to come in along the road cleared by 42 Commando.

The Egyptians in the navy house were cornered, and fought desperately. 40 Cdo called for an air strike by naval aircraft on the Navy's old home. The strike went in just as darkness was falling and with superb accuracy using rocket fire. Weird wild figures were seen to be blasted out of windows while flames gushed forth from out of the building. Rather than attack again in darkness and at the end of a long day, 40 Cdo sealed off the area and next morning recovered thirty dead and twenty prisoners from the battered building.

That evening Gen. Stockwell gave out orders for the next part of the operation; starting on the next day, 16th Para were to break out from the causeway and capture Abu Sueir Aerodrome, and the French were to launch an airborne and waterborne assault on Ismalia. During this time a message had been sent out from the HQ ship, HMS Tyne, that there was to be a cease-fire as from midnight. There were about six hours to go before the cease-fire, and Brigadier Butler, with the Paras, gave the order, "Full steam ahead" to the tanks at El Tina, to make for Ismalia, some 38 miles distance. Again, overwhelming force had to be assembled, and not until later did the advance begin, being held up by roadblocks that slowed down the progress of the tanks. They reached El Cap a few minutes before midnight and the cease-fire. Brigadier Butler and his Paras were sorely tempted to go on to the objective, but journalists had tacked themselves to the column and would no doubt reveal any violation of the cease-fire.

Back in the UK, the Prime Minister, Anthony Eden, was applauded by his supporters, and not until President Nasser was seen to emerge as the political winner was anger expressed at stopping the troops from going on to take all the objectives. They were imbued with the will to fight, and had no cause for remorse, as they did what their political masters expected of them.

There was no clear cut ending to the battle in Port Said, and sniping continued through the night from the Arab quarter. When daylight came, 3rd Para had one final firefight before entering the Arab quarter and linking up with 42 Commando. Resistance had been stifled, and the search for weapons hidden in shacks began. In the Arab quarter alone fifty-seven 3-ton lorry loads of weapons had been recovered in the course of a day. The assault on the Canal had ended, and now began the task of policing until the troops of the United Nations could take control.

On the 9th of November 1956, Brigadier Madoc, of the 3rd Commando Bde., and Brigadier Butler, of the 16th Parachute Bde., were informed that they would be leaving Port Said on the 12th-13th-14th November. The Parachute Brigade to Cyprus, the Commando Brigade, less 42 Cdo, to return to Malta, while 42 joined the Brigade in Malta 10 days later before returning to the UK.

It may be of interest, that the commandant, General, Royal Marines, Lieutenant-General C. R. Hardy, who, not in a position of operational command, wished to accompany his Marines into battle, and was seen moving among them giving words of encouragement

.

HMS Counterguard

Suez November 1956
By John Holland

I was the telegraphist aboard the LCT (Landing Craft Tank) HMS Counterguard. Each LCT carried one telegraphist and one signalman amongst a crew of thirty-four. The crew of the Counterguard assembled at Portsmouth Barracks (HMS Victory) prior to our train journey to join the ship at HM Dockyard Barry - South Wales. I'm not certain if all the LCT crews joined in the same way and at the same place. I do recall, however, that our ship had to be towed to HM Dockyard Devonport due to the fact that our engines were not functioning. The ships were cocooned and in mothballs and as I recall I couldn't even get into the locked radio office until we got to Devonport. A lot of work had to be done before we were fit to sail.

Eventually we sailed for Malta via Gibraltar and at our destination loaded army vehicles and personnel. The passage to Suez was fairly uneventful although water rationing was imposed and this meant that dhobeying had to be done on the end of a line trailed over the ship's side. This worked quite well for the matelots but unfortunately when the army lads tried to copy us they found that their knots weren't as reliable as ours and many a line was hauled back inboard minus it's original contents.

The LCTs were as follows:

HMS Bastion (L4040)

HMS Buttress (L4099)

HMS Counterguard (L4043)

HMS Parapet (L4039)

HMS Portcullis (L4044)

HMS Rampart (L4037)

HMS Redoubt (L4001)

I'm not certain of the numbers of all the LCTs but one of them was LCT 4099, another LCT 404?, and the missing number I do not know. I believe HMS Anzio (LST) was also at the landings. I would be very interested to know if anyone has a list of all the Royal Navy ships involved.

The photograph is of HMS Counterguard entering Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta November 1956.

The photograph is of HMS Counterguard entering Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta November 1956.

A Medic with the Tanks

By Ronald Amberry

Ronald Amberry

Members of 6RTR in CyprusI had a good posting at Tidworth Military Hospital but in mid August I was posted with 1 doctor, 1 sergeant, and 4 ambulance medics to the 6th Royal Tank Regiment, which had recalled reservists. After 2 weeks our battalion was up to strength enough to go on manoeuvres with the Marines on the ranges. In mid September the battalion was put on orders to make ready to move to Tilbury Docks. Lowloaders were moving tanks to the docks, as the main body set about making sure that everything was doubled check for moving. There were Alvis Saracen APCs that had been converted to ambulances that would be ready for us in Malta. The main convoy set off in the second week of September and the LCTs were ready to move in the last week. As the ship rock and rolled its way through the Bay of Biscay heading to the Med, it broke down for 12 hours, and then onward for a total of seven days before finally arriving at Malta. There we stayed in a tent camp and in general sun bathed the last week. In October we packed up and embarked and the LCT left as soon as the doors were shut. The number of ships waiting to enter and exit the harbour was a sight to see. Out in the open sea, ships of all naval types, aircraft carriers and cruisers plus many escort ships some at anchor, some on the move. Slowly our LCT made its way to the side of a cruiser or frigate type ship and off we went.


Last day of training 1956 Last day of training 1956

A CRUSE DOWN THE MED

Medical stores had been loaded on in Malta, so it was down to the Saracen to make it all ready. Extra packs had been loaded so that any one who was running short could be supplied. Peter, the driver, was great with me keeping my confidence up, as I didn't really know what to expect. I had dealt with injured soldiers, some fatal, but a tank with it's small opening if any one needed a medic was a real challenge. This was my main concern, so Peter got me a spot were I could do two or three dummy runs, and even the tankies gave me some great advice on the easy way in and out. Over the next few days it was check, check, and check again, as the tanks were started. Each day, I spent time in the ship's medical centre, going over procedures in the event of a tragedy but putting my faith in the good lord that it didn't. Nightly blackouts made the outline of the other ships a wonderful sight. One night one ship got too near to ours and there was an all mighty boom throughout the ship as the lads slept. The result in a 2 foot by 2 foot bunk was a lot of head butting on the metal bunk panel of the top bunk and so I spent the next hour seeing to many cuts and bruises and listening to a lot of cursing.

PORT SAID

November 5, the ship made it's way slowly with our escorts. A lot of time was spent down amongst the tanks with the crews checking everything in order to make a quick move should it be needed. The sky always had jets screaming by or helicopters moving around from carrier to ship, or carrier-to-carrier. To look out to sea with all these ships was a comforting sight. A tankie had got hold of a radio so we had a running commentary as the Paras took hold of the airfield. Early the following morning, after a night of roaming the ship with our nerves on edge, the tannoy sounded to muster at our designated area. As we were getting our small packs on, the guns from nearby ships opened up with an all mighty boom and our ship shook with each salvo. One tankie shouted, "Stay on deck in case the bloody thing sinks". With a nervous laugh he headed for the tank deck followed by the other tankies all joking as they went to their stations saying, "Hey Bones, great dart thrower, but I don't want to see you until this bloody 'vencher is over". I waved and moved out of an open door leading to the deck. As another salvo was let loose, the power of the guns left my body shaking. One old sailor helped me in and said," Get down to your vehicle or you'll be left behind". Peter came up," Come on Ron we're heading for the beach".

Down on the tank deck it was alive with energy. The lead tank commander, Captain Pratley, met us as we arrived at the ambulance,"Ok lads"? He handed a grid map to Peter pointing to this and that. Peter was nodding as they went over the roads or possible back ups the tanks would make. Turning to me he said," Remember any orders must come from me. Any questions just give me a buzz on the radio." "Ok sir, no worries", I replied. "Good luck lads", then he was gone. Getting to the beach took forever as the booms of the warships' guns stopped and started. Orders had gone out that there was 'No Smoking' on the tank deck, so we opened doors, moved boxes here and stretchers there just to stop getting edgy until finally the ship stopped. To the noise of the main doors starting to open, daylight came flooding in and with the doors wide open the gantry start to lower. The tank engines started up, radios came alive checking vehicle code names and their check out complete the tanks slowly moved out on to Egyptian soil.

TANKS ON THE MOVE

Only through the driver's armoured open flap could you see the tanks on the move, with turrets moving slowly, alternately in sweeps as they moved into position. The sound of gun fire could be heard as the tanks set off to their grid locations at speed to help units needing back up. The radio crackled constantly as the lead command tank entered the edge of town where large blocks of flats, some hit by the ships' bombardment, had left them in a pretty bad state as well as other surrounding buildings. The tanks stopped, fanned out, and then moved slowly forward. From where we were, well to the rear, a movement was seen in front and we could just make out a squaddie on the tank outside radio link. The tank turrets moved into position as the radio crackled. Peter said, "Cover your ears". As the tanks sent rounds off, they started moving slowly forward. The only problem was that there were only 3 small windows as the front driver's cover had been closed so it was difficult to see what was going on. The main fighting was seen as we moved following just behind number 3 tank and the heavy gunfire was alternating between numbers 2 and 3 tanks. The column came to a halt and a bang on the door made me wake up from looking through the widows.

I opened the door and a medic stood there. "Any large packs to spare? Can you help with some small injuries", he asked as I gave him some spares. I looked at Peter as he had been on the radio to the lead tank, "Go Ron. We're here for some time till some building has been cleared". Heart pounding, I grabbed my large backpack and some small medical packs and opened the two doors. I made my way following the Marine medic. About six lads were behind a wall looking at the squaddie with his arm held out. "A bandage and I'll be fine", he said. His tunic sleeve was torn and red with blood. "6 stitches", the medic shouted as the booms came near, so I got on with the job, cleaning the 6 stitches and putting on a small arm pad bandage. "Thanks", said the squaddie and pointing to the torn sleeve, "Got some plaster? Don't want that flapping about". I got a roll of plaster and ran 2 strips around his arm. "Right. See you", and picking his rifle up he moved off. The next one a leg, then a foot." You alright there", I asked as the medic was working on an injury that looked in a bad state. Within a few minutes, four lads arrived with stretchers. "I'm off", I said and left to hop on to the ambulance."Ok?" asked Peter. "I think we are off by the sounds of it, how did it go"? It came to me and out came the ciggy box."Ok, but them poor buggars run around the rubble and get shot at". The radio started up and the tanks moved off down to a main crossroad where more messages came from the commander of number 1 tank. I was looking out of the rear door, watching the infantry at work, moving in snake like fashion around the tanks, when Peter called," The boss said shut that bloody door before you get your head shot off". "Bloody spoil sport", as I closed the door. "How the hell did he know, being in front", I asked Peter? "Got eyes like a sh-- house rat", he laughed. Then the noise quieted and the only noise was some gun fire well off to our right.

MORE TO COME

As the tanks turned right we heard the crackle of machine gun fire hitting the lead tank and then whoosh. An anti-tank rocket flew past but only hit a building. Numbers two and three tanks moved to the side to engage. Down the road were some 40-gallon drums stacked two high, but not for long as the next round of gunfire started with each tank sending one round down to the drums. There was a lot of confusion as anti-tank rockets flew past without exploding, from a three story building up the road. "The idiot firing forgot to prime the rockets", Peter had said. The radio was red hot as we could hear the Marines going house-to-house. Peter stopped behind two tanks nearest to the building leaving enough space for me to get out and see to injuries. There was a only one lad with a leg injury so we put him on a stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance, closing only one side door, and making sure that the others were alright. The tanks were moving slowly to work in tandem with the Marines. I carried on working on him and any others that jumped in to get a bandage or two then off they would go. I told Peter to get on the radio to let them know we had a serious injury on board but the message came back that we had to pick up some injuries that were a few minutes away and then a tank would escort us to the Medical Clearing Station area there and back. The radio gave Peter the information he was waiting for as we stopped outside a building door. Out came some stretchers and one sitter with his arm in a sling.

Loaded, we moved quickly away, looking after the needs of the lads, making sure that their injuries were cleaned and pads were applied as we tried to make them as comfortable as possible. When we arrived, the tank stayed outside the Medical Clearing site as we unloaded the stretchers and picked up the replacements. We were waiting for another lorry to move, when a head popped in. "Enjoying yourselves", asked the frame of Sergeant Taffy? "Great time, but I could do with some more fags". In two or three minutes we started moving off slowly and he jumped onto the carrier and took the last seat where there were a couple of boxes of Camel cigarettes. "Any chance of a lift", he asked? Peter nodded as the tank moved off after some chat between Peter and the tank commander and we set off at a rapid rate back to our given grid reference. I asked Taffy where he was heading, him being a Para medic. "To the airport", he mused. "Thats not on this road as this is the way downtown", I replied but he had been here before as he shouted to Peter to slow down at the next crossroad so he could hop off. "See you", and with a wave he was gone. The tank escort slowed as we arrived to join our unit only to find another tank troop had joined up and Marine officers were in discussion. That gave me time to take stock of the packs and stores we had. Peter had a walk and came back with a pot of tea." Just what the doctor ordered. Having a ciggy and a pot of tea. What's up out there?" I enquired. The radio crackled. "I'm sick of that bloody thing", said Peter and answered the radio. "You're needed at two tank", he said as I put on my large backpack and taking a small pack, I scrambled out and ran to the tank. "Not life threatening, it's just a cut knee", a tankie said so taking only the small pack I dropped into the tank. "Hi bones. The knee got in the way of the recoil and I took the skin off a bit." He was cursing his luck, as he had been a gunner some years.

Cleaning up the blood it looked worse then it was and as he had to move his leg, I put a gauze Vaseline with pad and plaster strips so he could still have full movement. "Need a trip to the Medical Centre?" I asked, leaving it up to him. "Not on your bloody life. I'm feeling better already." I left him an 'm' tablet and as I went to leave the tank commander asked about him. "Patched it up. He's got good movement, so I left it up to him. He's tough as old boots, Sir." He laughed. "I'll see him later just to make sure." Just then a medical Land Rover arrived and out stepped this lieutenant. He came right up to me and started ranting about who gave me permission to work on injuries, other than looking after tank crews. Before I could answer, Capt. Pratley appeared and gave him one almighty rollicking and told him, "Get the hell out of here before I cut your ba--s off." In his hand was a sword; "I give all orders out around here." The lieutenant left like a bat out of hell.

JUST ONE DAY

After the meeting of minds, the tanks split up with some moving to a large block building said to be under attack by infantry or Marines. We set off up a main road, taking in some streets, I suppose they had ideas of where pockets of Egyptians were waiting for our troops to advance, with the odd exchange of fire and we were watching for snipers as they were in small units in buildings of all sizes. The optimal formation was Marines and tanks moving side by side. If the Marines couldn't get the enemy out then the tanks did. Late afternoon, after some fierce exchanges, and some runs to the Medical Clearing Centre, the tanks moved towards a single block of shops where you could see a few men with goodies in there hands legging it away up the street. As they were no threat they were left alone but their own soldiers were shooting at them. Then they turned their fire on the tanks.

As a tankie put it later, "You don't take a tank on with a pop gun." A little 'tit for tat' then all was quiet. We had a stop for orders, and we were talking to one tankie over a pot of tea. I asked, "How on earth can you ride in a tank?" His reply "Makes it easy if you're mad as a hatter." We chatted for a while and then it was mount up, and move 'em out as Capt. Pratley, with sword in hand, gave a swish then a point forward. As dusk was falling, the tanks slowly moved to the outskirts of a crossroad leading out of Port Said. A large building was the ideal place to laager and after an inspection the tanks deployed. Machine guns were set in place on the roof of the building. After a bit of a hot meal and a pot of tea, while the tanks were being worked on, I went to see about doing guard duty to the amusement of a few of the lads. "Ever fired one before?" asked one. "Five rounds so don't get within range of me." With a pack of ciggies and large mug of tea, I went to the roof to change with a tank guard. "Do you know what to do?" he asked, looking at the gun on a tripod. "No. I just pull that trigger I think." He laughed as he went away for some food. I sat looking at the sandy colour earth that had shadows dancing, playing tricks with the eyes. What a bloody day. One of the tank lads came up asking if I was alright and chatted for a short time. They had worked hard all day so a bit of time for them to relax was alright with me. A couple of hours later I was relieved. Down in the ambulance I tried to sleep but like many others, the mind was reliving the day's events.

THE CEASE FIRE

Cease-fire came in the early hours, but the tankies kept their post on alert. After a wash and a meal, things looked different as the sun rose. The tanks moved into different positions and spread out more for effect. Midday brought out the gift sellers. What a resourceful people the Egyptians are, out there selling their wares as if we were tourists. I met up later with the rest of the medics but that soon came to an end as we where sent to help with any injuries, no matter how trivial. I helped a few with cuts and bruises. Over the next few days, ambulances were slowly detached from their units as the 'moorhouse' thing was going on. We were sited near the place where units assembled to embark for home. The last memory was the death of a young infantry lad in an accident. I left 12 November 1956, and ever since I have remembered that young lad and what the war had all been about.

An Operating Theatre Medic in Port Said

by
Jack (Tex) Halliday
(ex cpl R.A.M.C.)

I was a twenty-two year old, married, corporal in the R.A.M.C serving my National Service working as an operating theatre technician at Catterick Military Hospital, Yorkshire, and my wife and I were expecting our first child on November 18. Life was good, my posting was reasonably near home, and I enjoyed working in the operating theatre. Sometime during September 1956, I was sent down to Mytchett, in Surrey, to take part in training exercises.


Get a Grip of Them

While I was there, the on/off political situation over the Suez Canal was brewing. R.A.M.C reservists were being called up to join us, which was very funny at the time, as some had long hair and objected to army discipline again. Because I was an NCO, I had to march them to and from different areas, which was not my scene at all, (as I acquired my stripes by obtaining my qualifications for my job in the operating theatre, and not by ordering personnel about) especially when marching past RSM's who were shouting at me to get a grip of them, as the reservists were slurring their feet and going out of step intentionally.

The Suez Situation

My good friend, Geordie Edmundson, a native of County Durham, (hence the nickname Geordie) and I were given a 48hr weekend pass to return home, and thereafter, because there was no immediate concern over the Suez situation, we could return to our unit at Catterick Military Hospital. On the Sunday I said goodbye to my wife and returned to Catterick. Monday was a normal days work in the theatre with several operations etc. at 24:00hrs that night, what happened next was to change my life.

Corporal Get Your Kit Together

I was about to get into bed when the orderly sergeant burst in and said, "Corporal, get your kit together, you have to be on a train to London at 03:00 hrs". I was joined by the rest of the theatre team comprising: a surgeon, Major Cowen; anaesthetist, Captain Thompson (I think his name was); a sergeant, Les Runeckles; Geordie and another private, (can't remember his name). We were bound for the depot at Mytchett, because some of our kit was in store there. As there was no time to organize us in f.s.m.o. (full service marching order), Geordie, I, and the third guy quickly grabbed as much as we could carry, I tied the laces of my second pair of boots together and hung them round my neck. We were in complete disarray. We then jumped into an armoured vehicle and were whisked to Lyneham airport, where we were then taken to a shed, which had an earth floor, where we were to spend the next few hours. We had a meal and then tried to catch up on some sleep, lying on the earth floor, until we boarded a prop plane to an undisclosed destination, which turned out to be Malta. The flight was a slow nightmare, and almost every one was sick, due to the turbulence. I fell asleep and somehow awoke with a badly sprained ankle. "Just my luck", I thought! The main concern for me was the fact that I was not allowed to inform my pregnant wife or anyone else of the situation before leaving, as every thing was top secret.

On the Way to Malta

Transport was awaiting us at Malta Airport to take us to the docks, so we collected our kit from the plane hold, boarded the army lorry that stopped at the side of a huge ship, which was the aircraft carrier HMS Theseus. With boots hung around my neck, holding various pieces of kit, and limping from a sprained ankle, I hobbled up the steep gangplank and was surprised to hear voices shouting, "Come on Tex, where the hell have you been"? These were personnel from Mytchett, who I was surprised to see were already on board and were looking down on us.

Life on Aircraft Carrier Theseus

As we boarded the ship in Valetta's Grand Harbour, we were surprised to see that 45 Commando were on board, as were other personnel. They must have thought that we were a real mess when we were walking up the gangplank, as they had also been looking down on us. So our life on HMS Theseus began, none of us knowing what lay ahead.

I was issued with a 'Welcome to Theseus' muster card, (which I still have). It stated: Mealtimes; breakfast 08:00, dinner 13:00, supper 19:30, and a cup of tea available from 15:30 to 16:30. Table number 41.

A stroke of luck that night enabled me to leave the ship and ask a Maltese man, who had a small boat, to take Geordie and I across the Grand Harbour to the NAAFI, where I bought a letter card to send to my wife. I wasn't allowed to disclose the destination, but told her it would soon become apparent.

Malta was heaving with all three military services. The gut was the place for all to be, as all the night clubs, bars, etc., were down this street, with military police posted at both ends. We ventured down together. As this was our first experience of nightlife in a foreign country, it certainly was an eye opener for us! We witnessed drunks, fights, and prostitutes. One lady of the night was trying to help herself to a very drunk soldier quite near to us - what a wild night!

Next morning the carriers, Ocean and Theseus, slipped slowly out of the harbour, and all the personnel were lined up around the perimeter of the ships as they left Valleta for the open sea, where we discovered that our destination was Suez.

The Theseus was zigzagging across the ocean on its journey to Port Said, a tactic used by the navy, I was informed, because we were being shadowed by an unidentified submarines. As I learned some 40 years later, from the book 'Suez: The Seven Day War', written by A. J. Baker, the submarine was an American one, which popped up hoisting the US flag. The story was that the main assault force had also a brief interchange with the Americans that might have been more serious. The presence of a submarine was detected by one of the destroyer escorts, which promptly moved to attack. As it did so, the submarine surfaced and hastily hoisted a large United States flag before sailing on the surface down the convoy. Its presence was queried by the headquarter ship, HMS Meon, which signalled, "Why don't you come and join us"? To which the reply came, "No thanks, we're holding your coat this time"

The Helicopter Hanger

Life on board Theseus was an interesting experience. My sleeping quarters were in part of the helicopter hanger, which was later to be filled with the returning casualties, while during daylight hours the 45 Commando were busy target practicing into the sea, cleaning and maintaining their weapons and kit with very strict discipline involved at all times. Finding our way around at night was rather hazardous. Once outside the hanger we were in complete darkness, as no smoking was allowed because of the blackout. There had to be no visible light whatsoever, therefore avoiding cables and various equipment on the side of the aircraft carrier en-route to the ablutions was dangerous to say the least, as the carrier was heaving and rolling in the rough sea. Fortunately I wasn't seasick, as some were.

Our eating arrangements were in the same area as the Commandos and we alternated with them for each meal. One morning I was asked to report to the Commando sergeant, who gave me a rollicking because, one of my men had left a small spot of jam on the stainless steel table. This should have been left for them as they left it for us, always immaculately clean, as also were the floor and seats. Big apologies from me, "It won't happen again".

Everyone was speculating and discussing what the outcome would be, and wondering if it would be the start of the Third World War. You could sense the tension and concern of the personnel in the air, not knowing if they would return. It was a very frightening experience, especially as we were all so young. Theseus came to a halt during darkness, and all we could see were planes coming in low. The skies were lit up with fires burning, smoke everywhere, and guns firing. The smell in the air was like plot night back home, which was strange as it was November 5.

Next day, November 6, at dawn I went up on deck to take a look around and was absolutely amazed to see the huge number of ships of different types as far as the eye could see.

Port Said to be Shelled in Five Minutes

An announcement came over the tannoy that Port Said would be shelled within five minutes time and would continue for forty-five minutes. Big guns opened up from further out to sea and we could feel the vibration from the sea throughout the ship. After approximately ten minutes, a further announcement stated that the shelling would have to cease, as shells were bouncing on to the French who were round at Port Fouad.

RMC Prepare for Airborne

After the shelling ceased, the command was given for the Commandos to prepare for an airborne assault by helicopter. The tannoy was continually repeating messages stating, "Strictly no naked lights handling av gas, av gas, av gas, no naked lights" (aviation fuel).

The massive elevator was bringing helicopters up onto the deck from the hangers below, each one being fuelled and readied for the assault, the Commandos climbed aboard and with a deafening roar, one after another, they took off.

Within twenty minutes of them leaving, the helicopters were returning with casualties, and an order was given that we were needed below. This was the point where I witnessed my first real life war wounds. The first patient was one who had lost a lower leg; he was covered in sand so I did not know what nationality he was, but I think he was French as his language was different to ours. As he lay on the hangar bunk with forceps hanging from his arteries, he motioned that he would like a cigarette, which someone kindly gave him. As time went by there were so many casualties, that our sleeping quarters had to be used as a hospital ward. Some of them had terrible injuries, and after some time treating them it was alarming to discover our dressings were running in short supply. We wondered how this could be in a war situation, so consequently we had to remove dressings from some minor wounds, sterilise and use again, applying them wet.

In the Cover of Darkness

Later that day of the 6th November, in the cover of darkness, we scrambled down the side of Theseus, descending precariously down some kind of webbing ladder into a landing craft, which had pulled alongside. There were about thirty medics on the craft and an order was shouted, "Keep your heads down and wait for the next order". We were all silent as the craft pulled away heaving up and down, rocking from side to side, the front end blocking our vision as to where we were heading, and each one of us with his own private thoughts. I vividly remember the red glow in the sky, maybe from an oil terminal, the noise of aircraft, helicopters flying to and from ship to shore, and the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire. The choking, foul smell of smoke was all around us. Next there was this grating sound underneath the front end of the LCA, the front was lowered, and the immediate thought was, is this going to be like the Second World War landings where you were likely to get shot on the beach? We were ordered to run up the beach to the road, cross the road, and go into the building opposite. With heads down, crouching low, struggling with our kit, stomachs churning, and hearts pounding, we made our way as quickly as we could over the soft sand. As we were running Geordie said very bravely, "I'll stick with you Tex". I replied, "Don't rely on me, I'm bloody scared too"!

Casino Palace Hotel
Casino Palace Hotel

The partly destroyed building across the road was the Casino Palace Hotel. We entered very cautiously following orders by someone we couldn't see, who had a torch, as there were no lights because there was no power on in Port Said. I remember ascending a very wide, wooden staircase to a long corridor, with very wide wooden floorboards, which were covered in broken glass and debris and rooms were on either side of the corridor. The next order was, "Put your kit down where you are and put your head on it and try and sleep until daylight". During the night I was awakened by a door opening behind me and a figure appeared in a long white gown. I thought," Am I dreaming or seeing a ghost"? Then a female voice said, "I want to go to the bathroom". I then realised that civilians caught up in the war occupied the rooms. Next morning further investigations revealed dead people in some of the rooms, and the beds had been urinated on to prevent us using them

The night seemed endless, sleep was virtually impossible, the broken glass on the floor offered little comfort, and intermittent gunfire echoed all around us for most of the night. When morning finally arrived, I took a look outside. To my horror I saw several dead Egyptian soldiers scattered about in various positions. They had been fully armed and each wore a flat bag, which contained what appeared to be a large oatmeal cake.

Hanging Bulbs and Coffee Boiler

Our first job that morning was to find somewhere where we could operate on the wounded. The bar area was quickly adapted to an operating theatre, although the conditions were very bad. The windows were broken and covered in muslin. We were short of water, light, and medical supplies, so we improvised the best way that we could. Our power amounted to some bulbs hanging from two pieces of crossed wood, suspended from the ceiling, powered by a generator. The tea and coffee boiler on the bar top was very useful as this was used to sterilise the instruments. The water had been brought ashore in jerry cans and was very limited. Under those conditions we operated day and night treating both Egyptians, including women and children, as well as our own casualties - nationality did not matter and casualties were treated in order of condition, all on an equal basis. The surgeon (Major Cowen) was brilliant, whatever the casualty he handled it quickly and efficiently. Sergeant Runeckles and myself alternated between sterilising the instruments and assisting the surgeon. The large photograph taken by a war correspondent illustrates the set up. I am on the left. Note: no proper masks or headgear, as we had to improvise with muslin round our faces, due again to the lack of proper supplies.

Agony and Pain

All the wounded were in a big room to the left hand side of the bar, while most were laying on the floor, some were on stretchers waiting to be attended to, and the dead were taken outside into the large garden to await burial. I remember seeing about four dead Commandos on stretchers with their green berets placed over their faces in a separate corner of the garden. I don't know where they were taken, but they were certainly not buried by us. Their bodies would probably be taken home at some point.

A large deep trench had been dug out of the lawn and a few bodies had been placed into it. The most traumatic part of my service in Port Said was carrying a beautiful young woman, on a stretcher, outside to be buried. As we could not walk into the trench, we had to roll bodies off sideways, and the sight and sound of bodies hitting each other brought tears to our eyes. It is a memory that has stayed with me ever since.

A small flat back, red and white Coca-Cola wagon backed up to the trench with several rigor mortised bodies. One body, whose hand was missing, had a nice gold watch on the forearm. A person nearby said, "I am having that watch". I quickly intervened telling him all removable jewellery had to go in a special box for the deceased effects.

Towards the end of my stay at the Casino Palace one of the reservists said, "Hey Tex, I have just been across the road to the water bowser", which was parked across the road, "and some bugger took two pots shots at me from the direction of the Casino Palace". On investigation an Egyptian sniper was discovered and brought out of the cellars and disarmed. He looked relieved to be out of it as he seemed to be tired and hungry, and he must have been in there for a few days.

Lt. Anthony Moorhouse

At my time in Suez, there was a Lt. Anthony Moorhouse, whom we understood was involved in a situation that went wrong. Apparently due to his own ego, he was kidnapped and at a later date found dead. There was much speculation at the time about how this could have happened, and it was of special interest to me as his family at that time lived in the next village to me, which was only five minutes away from my home. Although I did not know him or his family personally at the time, we never found out the true story.

Along the Coast Towards El Gamil

After a few days we moved to set up hospital in a beautiful, big building with marble floors at ground level, which were immaculately cleaned by these tall men wearing long robes tucked between their legs, squatting down with a large cleaning cloth. On asking what nationality they were, I was told that they were Sudanese. This building, 2ccs (casualty clearing station),  was further along the coast road towards El Gamil Airfield. The building backed on to the beach where there was much spare land at either side, and a high wall surrounded it. It had a large, sandy area between the building and the perimeter walls. The area was big enough to accommodate latrines, which were simply large holes in the sand with a plank across, and we sat there side by side. If you were not careful you were in the shit! On one side of the building the Catering Corps set up a small kitchen and dining area under canvas. This was good as we were provided with hot food, but the only problem was that you had to eat it before the flies did.



A large room containing a stainless steel sink was the ideal place to make an operating theatre, but we needed an operating table and a washing machine for the laundry. We visited a small local hospital nearby, which was partly demolished, but the operating table was in good condition, so we took it with us. Sergeant Runeckles and I were given permission, with an armed escort, (to prevent looting) to enter any unoccupied house to find a good washing machine, which we quickly found in the second house we entered. We then had a good set up to carry out the many operations. Casualties of one form or another came in every day, and one of the main casualties, I remember, was a high ranking officer, (can't remember his rank or name) who had been sprayed with bullets from an automatic weapon, from his lower legs to the upper part of his body. Amputated limbs were taken outside to be buried deep in the sand within the perimeter walls, and as flies were a menace, this had to be done pretty quickly. We worked in this manner up until the time we left.

Unfortunately, due to our location, which was some way away from Port Said centre, we didn't get the chance to visit cinemas or shops or meet any of the local people. We stayed in the grounds mostly, but towards the end of our stay we were able to take a dip in the sea, which was very nice. I remember the time when two reservists were wheeling and dealing through the bars of one of the locked iron gates of the perimeter wall. We had a surplus supply of green army blankets and these were passed out through the gates in exchange for English money. The blankets were in demand with the Egyptian locals and this was a good racket for the two guys, until there was an attempted stabbing of them by one of the locals. I'm not sure of the details and how this came about, but it certainly stopped the illegal trading! One day some of our guys on the roof of our building were throwing sweets down onto the road for the local children, when a donkey and cart passed by with some sacks of corn/wheat which were spilling on to the road, and the children began to scoop up the corn/wheat where it had fallen amongst the donkey dung, when a passing Egyptian policeman, on foot, pushed them away with his rifle butt very roughly - these kids must have been starving to do that.

The 22 November

A nice surprise for me was to receive an army telegram, to say that my son had been born on the 22 November. I celebrated with two mates, and we had some chocolate, hard tack biscuits and a bottle of beer each, which we had saved - one happy day.
Telegrams

The Evacuation and Christmas
HMS Duneras

We worked and lived there until we left Port Said on the troopship Dunera on the 22 December, but before departure we witnessed that the French had looted cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and everything that they could. They were loading them on to their ships, which they were allowed to do, as opposed to us, as from the beginning we were instructed to behave properly and nothing had to be looted. Witnessing a beautiful, new, undamaged Citroen and a Mercedes being hoisted on to the deck of a French ship, made me think that I would like a car like that back home in the UK, at the same time thinking if it were mine I would not want some foreign person stealing my car. Christmas and New Year were spent on the Dunera with parts of the West Yorkshire and Royal Scots Regiments. Needless to say, the Yorkies celebrated Christmas and the Scots celebrated New Year. This resulted in our New Year and Christmas being occupied stitching scalp wounds and other minor injuries caused by bottles and fists.

Get Your Uniform Cleaned Up Corporal

On arriving in Southampton, all our kit was checked for arms and ammunition due to the fact that some personnel had picked up various small arms. These were naturally confiscated and we were then transported to Mytchett Barracks for things to be sorted out and for us to return to our respective units, in my case Catterick Military Hospital. Before leaving Mytchett everyone attended a parade and were inspected by base personnel who hadn't left the base at all. One Sergeant said to me, "You are in shit order, you are a mess, get your uniform cleaned up Corporal". What this idiot didn't realise was the fact that the uniform I had on, I had worn continually for most of the time in Suez, consequently it was bloodstained and not up to army standards. Due to the lack of operating theatre clothes, the team and myself had to partly wear our uniforms. Back at Catterick life carried on as before and I stayed there until the end of my service.

After all these years have passed, I was only 22 at the time and my wife had our son, Christopher John, on the 22 November while I was still out there, so I can never forget where I was.

Jack (Tex) Halliday
January 2002

"صورنادرة من بورسعيد وقتها ".

.
[align=center]Training
[/align] Passing out parade
Mounting guard
"P" Company
At Aldershot 1954
25-Pounders
25-Pounders firing

We were in Cyprus on anti terrorist operations in the Troodos Mountains when we were recalled to base. The newspapers gave details of the Suez landings, which caused much amusement. Our subsequent briefing was exactly the operation reported. So much for surprise. The assault when in exactly as planned, there was heavy fighting the cemetery and the sewage works and a lot sniping in Port Said where the arms had been dumped in the streets and the locals called to rise up against us

"صورنادرة من بورسعيد وقتها ".[/align].

   Off Port Said
   The Invasion starts
   Warships of the coast of Suez
   Warships of the
   coast of Suez
   LST about to land troops
   Looking towards the docks at Suez
   Port Said.
   Note the block ships
   Port Said
   French Gun
   Boat in the Canal
   HMS Ulysses
   (F17)
   Entering Harbour
   Unknown Troop Ship
   Helicopters fly in
   Statue of De Le Sepp

Whilst still on the outskirts of Port Said we were informed that there was a cease fire at midnight. The front was very narrow being a causeway with the Canal to our left and an impassable salt marsh to our right. The only area to deploy in was at El Quantara 20 miles away down a single road. We piled onto every available vehicle with infantry riding on the guns and drove south at high speed. We eventually reached El Cap where we halted just short of our objective and dug in. Our observation post was up the canal signal towers right on the gun line. It was so congested at the front that the gun wagon lines moved back to El Tina some distance away. There were skirmishes with patrols in spite of the cease fire, and at first light we observed the build up to our front. Resupply presented a problem, our battery "borrowed" a launch and used the canal. Another cannibalised a motor cycle and fitted it to a hand card on the railway. We had a close liaison with the French Foreign Legion on the other side of the canal where a few unofficial joint excursions took place at night. The confusion caused in the Egyptian lines next morning were a joy to watch. Our only casualty was 3 ton of ammo lost in Port Said

[align=center]
"صورنادرة من بورسعيد وقتها ".[/align]

   Ashore
   A Captured Russian
   SU 100 assault gun
   Inside the SU 100. Note the instructions in English
   Sgt Bu****l takes a Egyptian POW
   Suez The start of the Airborne Invasion
   Captured LMGs
   More Captured weapons
   25-pounder dug in at El Cap
   97 Battery OP at El Cap
   "I hope they take me home with them"
   Tanks roll in, bottom right
   Just washing off the dust
   HMS Lawson (War Prize) of 33 Para Field Artillery
   HMS Lawson. Skipper Dave Bu****l (Right)
   "Next stop Charing Cross"
   Arrival of UN Troops
   Some battle damage.
   I wonder if his insurance will cover it ?
   A Railway along the Sweet Water . Now run by 97 Bty
   WO2 cooking up his curry
   "Look Sarge a couple of wheels and a new engine and its as good as new"
   Captured Weapons
   Captured Weapons
   Bedford 3 ton truck, blown up in 1 Para's lines *
   Crossing the Sweet Water Canal.
   Troops under the Palm trees
   Taking a rest along the Sweet Water Canal.

* This lorry was hit by a ****l while passing through 1 Para's lines. Both the lorry and the driver survived the ****l, but the crates on the back of the lorry caught fire and when we ambled up to the lorry to see what was happening we found the lorry driver standing on the back of the lorry with a Pryeen hand pump fire extinguisher trying to put the fire out. The young driver was worried about getting into trouble if his lorry was damaged. After a bit of 'micky taking' we asked him what he was carrying. When he replied that it was ammo he was pulled off the lorry and every one dived for a slit trench. Moments later there was a very large bang and the lorry went up.
1 Para's lines were amongst some wooden beach houses and when we stuck our heads up we found that there were a couple of the beach houses on fire. We all felt that we were overexposed and looked for ways to put the fires out. There were not enough containers to carry water in, so some bright spark suggested that if some of us threw a hand grenade into the burning building and at the same time this just might bring it down, then we would shovel sand on to it and put the fire out. The officer agreed and a number of Paras produced hand grenades and on the count of three chucked them through the nearest window. There was a clatter of glass and a number of dull thuds as the grenades hit the woodwork and bounce backed around our feet. Again there was a rush for the slit trenches, and those that got there first were nearly squashed by the late comers jumping in on top of them, and those that were late were so far out of the trench that they had no cover. There were a number of bangs and we checked that everyone was OK, and by luck they were. We looked at the beach hut. It was still standing but with a lot more holes in it and was burning brighter then before. The officer now considered that he had a very lucky escape and given the go ahead decided that it would be best to let it burn. At least it would keep us warm during the night

I served in HQ 3Cdo Bde in 1956/7 and in 45 Cdo RM in Malta/Aden 1960/61. My participation, at that stage of the Suez operation, was zero.  I was one of the many who were flown out as reinforcements via Malta.  I later collected the photos which were going the rounds in the unit sometime afterwards as an historic reminder of the event.  After all these years, I'm not certain that I've got the story behind the photos correct. The picture on the right is of myself on the 350cc Matchless we used as Dispatch Riders in HQ 3 Cdo Bde RM. A square number! Tomas


45 Cdo lands from Ocean & Theseus with AW Sqn on horizon.
45 Cdo lands from Ocean & Theseus with AW Sqn on horizon.


Lt.Col Tailyor, CO
Lands from a Sycamore
Lt.Col Tailyor, CO Lands from a Sycamore


HQ 3 Cdo Bde RM - Attack HQ
Left to right, Cpl Chegwidden, Capt Smith (BSO,) Cpl Norris, and an Egyptian Major being interrogated
HQ 3 Cdo Bde RM - Attack HQ Left to right, Cpl Chegwidden, Capt Smith (BSO,) Cpl Norris, and an Egyptian Major being interrogated


40 Cdo RM
Beach landings.
(Photo given to me by ex-Mne Allan Buckley).
40 Cdo RM Beach landings. (Photo given to me by ex-Mne Allan Buckley).


The Beach Huts.
Centurion tank destroys the beach huts to clear them of snipers.
The Beach Huts. Centurion tank destroys the beach huts to clear them of snipers.
The Beach Huts. Centurion tank destroys the beach huts to clear them of snipers. The Beach Huts. Centurion tank destroys the beach huts to clear them of snipers.


Beach huts.
After the beach huts were flattened by the Centurion they were set alight.
Beach huts. After the beach huts were flattened by the Centurion they were set alight.
Beach huts. After the beach huts were flattened by the Centurion they were set alight.


Burning buildings.
Some shots of the oil refinery
and beach huts burning
Burning buildings. Some shots of the oil refinery and beach huts burning.
Burning buildings. Some shots of the oil refinery and beach huts burning. Burning buildings. Some shots of the oil refinery and beach huts burning.


The Billets.
Right hand picture shows arrival of UN troops.
The Billets.
The Billets. The Billets. Right hand picture shows arrival of UN troops.


HMS Meon
Commodore AWs Headquarters ship



Troopship Dunera

The papers were full of the crisis over the Suez Canal, and it was almost a relief when, just as I was about to have an August Bank Holiday off, a telegram came to report the next day to Aldershot, for a recall to Colour service from my Class A reserve category.  I went to the office and told them.  "This isn't very convenient", they said.  I exploded and told them it wasn't all that much of a thrill to me either. Luckily I sat my evening class O Level exams just before the call-up came through! Back in uniform again, we drove three-ton lorries all over the country, carrying ammunition and stores to various ports, mostly Cardiff and Southampton, for the great expeditionary force.  It was quite a lot of fun, as several times we drove convoys through the heart of London at night completely ignoring traffic lights, and when we were held up, housewives would come out with tea and bikkies for us.  Most of the time I was based at Maindy Barracks, Cardiff, and Smoky Joe's Cyprus Cafe in Bute Street was the favourite watering hole.  I remember a few good nights out at the Seamen's Mission, where a motley assortment of all colours of people had a whale of a time dancing to jazz records.  We were very short of cash, but scrumpy rough cider was only 4d a glass.  After covering most of the country collecting stores of all kinds, we ended up at the REME barracks at Stansted, where our own trucks were sprayed with a sandy colour ready for the desert.

Eventually we loaded up our own ship in Barry Docks, the SS Marshall (I think she was Red Funnel Line out of Liverpool) and a really desperate old rust bucket she was.  She carried three-ton trucks loaded with tank ammunition and a deck cargo of the same plus crated jerry cans of petrol.  We sailed on Guy Fawkes Night from Barry, so we had a pyrotechnic send-off. There were about eighty drivers aboard, mostly reservists but also some National Servicemen. Generally speaking none of us had anything to lose, so we were a pretty bolshie lot.  A Major Nightingale was our commanding officer, and we were half of an 'Independent Transport Column' belonging to the Suez effort.  The other half of the Column was on a much faster ship, an LCT (Landing Craft Tank) and left a few days after us, passed us in the Mediterranean Sea, got to Suez, did the job, and passed us again in the Med on their way back while we were still ploughing slowly towards Egypt.  In fact, we were running into a storm for several days in the Bay of Biscay.  While the ship was being loaded there had been a strike by the riggers, trying to make a few quid from the national emergency, so the loaded trucks in the holds were not properly fastened down.  When we started rolling badly, over forty degrees in fact, the trucks started breaking loose.  Every time the ship rolled there was a shuddering crash as everything in the holds went from one side to the other, and on deck the ammunition (I think 20lb-er) was jumping out through the truck canvases and rolling around the decks, where the petrol in the jerry cans was leaking out steadily. Luckily there was plenty of seawater washing around as well. After the worst rolls there was a long wait before the ship righted herself, the crew all looked terrified and we were definitely in real danger of foundering.  The Bosun went below in the early stages to attempt to lash the cargo, but broke a leg fairly quickly, so after that they decided to head into the wind and just let it roll, and we did this for three or four days.

Our quarters were at the top level of a cargo hold, where standees, four layers of steel beds hinged to pillars between floor and ceiling, had been rigged by the same blokes who did the trucks, and the whole lot was breaking loose in large chunks.  As the ship rolled we were looking straight up the steep stair/companionway to the deck and seeing solid green water - not a pretty sight, especially as everyone was rolling around in their own mess, as there was not a man who wasn't thoroughly sea-sick!  The army cooks had been provided with chicken hut kitchens bolted to the outside decks, with no fiddles on the stovetops, and they did their best, but the results only went flying, so they had to give up trying.  What a journey! We called at Gibraltar for bunkering, then on to Malta.  There were attempts to discipline us into blancoing our kit and polishing our brasses, but we soon put a stop to that by throwing every bit of cleaning kit overboard.  The CO ranted, "There is enough room aboard this ship to clap you all in irons." He must have been reading too many Hornblower books, as who would have driven the trucks?

Arrived in Malta, we were brought stern on to the quayside in Valetta Harbour, and an attempt was made to sort out the tangled mass of machinery below decks.  It didn't last long, as there was a strike of riggers in Malta as well (also taking advantage of our national emergency!) and so gash dock labour and the ship's own derricks were used to warp the trucks up and over onto lighters alongside.  When they brought the second or third truck up, the little wizened chap on one of the swinging warps on the boom ran out of line and let go, and as the end whizzed through the blocks, the boom swung across, hit the superstructure and bent, and the loaded truck dropped about a yard, snapped the wire, and went straight through the lighter below, direct to the harbour bottom, where it probably lies to this day, ammunition and all! The following morning we tried to get under way.  The tug towing us out was late arriving, so the stern lines to the quay were let go, and we pulled out to the bow anchors.  Unfortunately a ship had arrived in the next berth during the night, and her anchor chain was fouling one of ours, so we swung gently round the harbour on the scope of our chain, bouncing none too gently off several other ships.  One was being coaled by men carrying baskets up a ladder, and they ran for their lives. One or two ships had officers jumping in silhouette like cartoon drawings, telling off our captain through loudhailers in fairly strong language.  We laughed till we cried. What an outfit!

When we got finally clear we steamed on for Suez.  Although radios were not allowed we did have one or two aboard, and had been following the BBC news with much interest, so we knew that we were going to arrive too late to be of any use.  However, we arrived off Suez knowing that hostilities were over and done with.  A fleet of ships of all sorts were moored in the roads, including destroyers and aircraft carriers.  There we lay for ten whole days with no idea of what was to happen next.  Mail arrived a couple of times via a minesweeper that did the rounds of the shipping every day, and we were much buzzed by aircraft from the carriers.  Eventually our leader, Major Nightingale, scrounged a lift ashore on the minesweeper to try to get some orders.  While he was ashore a nasty swell developed, and by the time the minesweeper brought him back, it took several attempts to come alongside bending itself badly against our ship's side.  Poor old Nightingale, commonly referred to as 'Tweety Pie' was a bright green after a couple of goes, no doubt feeling very lonely on the minesweeper's foredeck as he tried to grab the Jacobs ladder, and we kept up a loud barrage of 'drown, you b-------, drown', which can't have been much help. He finally made it, and once he had recovered his composure, addressed us from the poop.  The bad news was that he had no orders for us, and the good news was that he was to fly back to the UK from our next port, and would see us again, probably in Blighty.   The ship got under way.  We watched anxiously, as the ships wake going one way meant Cyprus, the other way meant Malta and the way home.  A cheer went up as the wake curved to the right.  We had already suffered rude gestures from the other half as they steamed past us on their way home, while we still struggled to arrive.  We did our best to enjoy a bit of relaxation, but attempts were made to occupy us usefully in chipping paint on the upper parts of the ship were abandoned, as it was soon discovered that gratings and ironwork in general were in such a state that there was nothing left under the paint except brown rusty dust, so that whole sections of gratings and upper works in general were disappearing entirely under the chipping hammers, which hardly inspired confidence in those parts of the ship which were under water!

Newspaper clippingWe finally pulled into Southampton Roads under Cowes two days before Christmas Eve.  I was on fire picket that night and managed to sneak a good scrub in fresh water in the ship's officers shower during the small hours of morning, as we had been washing in seawater for weeks without any salt water soap, and we were all covered in masses of boils.  I had lost two and a half stone in ten weeks.  When we got ashore we were taken to Netley Hospital, overlooking Southampton Water, where we were reunited with Major Nightingale.  He told us that we would not be allowed home until the ship was unloaded and all the equipment signed for.  We had a conference amongst ourselves, and a message was passed to Major Nightingale that as far as we were concerned, he had until eight o'clock that evening to change his mind, as we were off home in the morning, allowed or not.  He returned eventually to announce that after consultations he had changed his mind, and in the morning we were driven off in three-ton lorries howling a few last insults at the major, who must have been very glad to see the back of us.  How he got on with writing off the damaged and missing equipment, I have no idea.  We spent one more day in the army after Christmas leave, handing in our kit, and then were discharged to Civvy Street.  I had done an extra month the first time, and now had a further four months service from the Reserve- my last call-up, thank Heaven!

The entire Suez incident was a complete fiasco as far as we could tell.  At the time one fell into the trap of thinking 'those in charge must know what they are doing', but hindsight and history tells that the powers that be really were utterly, completely incompetent, and that our private impressions on the ground of utter chaos and incompetence on a huge scale, were absolutely justified.  Can anyone tell me why we loaded hundreds of wheelbarrows onto ships, and hundreds of Elsan toilets, when troops were leaving for a short, sharp desert campaign?  I have had no faith in the public image of leadership, or in the mostly ludicrous coverage of anything by the media, ever since.

Martyn Habberley

Joint Experimental Helicopter Unit (JEHU) came into being at RAF Middle Wallop in 1955. The purpose of the JEHU was to examine the use of helicopters in an operational role. Little did they realize but the unit was soon to gain some very operational experience.
The JEHU was the first joint Army/RAF unit to be formed since the end of the Second World War. The unit was commanded by an Army Lieutenant Colonel (J. F. T. Scott TD) with a RAF Squadron leader (Danny Kearns) as his second-in-command. The unit was made up of two flights (12 aircraft in all). One flight operated Whirlwind HAR2s and was commanded by a RAF Squadron leader, the other operated Sycamore 14s and was commanded by an Army Major (Francis Gramham Bell of the Army Air Corps). All interservice rivalries were put aside as the soldiers and airmen worked along side each other to gain experience in a common interest, the role of the helicopter in combat and the support of ground forces.

Westland Whirlwind H.A.R


Aircraft Type:
Search and rescue or Light transport helicopter
First Flight:
15/8/1953
Entered Service:
1953
Powerplant:
One 600hp Pratt and Whitney R-1340-40
Speed (Km/h):
110mph at sea level. cruise: 85mph
Range (Km):
360 miles
Rotor Diameter (m):
53'
Length (m):
41'8.5''
Maximum Take Off Weight (Kg)
3,090
Crew:
3
Notes:
Details for H.A.R.2 version. 8 passenger payload

Military thinking at the time decided that the most probable way to deliver heliborne troops was from an aircraft carrier. So the JEHU began to learn how to land and take off from the Navy's floating airfields. The dimensions of an aircraft carrier's flight deck were marked out on a runway at RAF Middle Wallop. Pilots and crews spent many hours practicing landing and taking off in this small area, which was something that had not really been done with a whole flight of helicopters before. Ground crews also practiced moving aircraft around to fit all 12 on the small deck area. As soon as the unit had mastered this, it was time to try the real thing.
On the 1st of October 1955 JEHU flew out over the Solent to meet the Light Fleet Carrier HMS Theseus. For the first time the Whirlwinds and Sycamores of JEHU were about to land on a moving carrier. Although the pilots were now used to the size of the area they would be expected to land on, the reality of how small the carrier was came as a shock to most plus the fact that their landing area was now moving. After flying along the starboard side of the carrier the first Sycamore made a normal circuit and then lined up for the final approach. A Batsman on board Theseus indicated to the pilot the spot where he should land and the pilot made a perfect landing followed by the rest of the unit in turn.

Bristol Sycamore



Powerplant:
One 550hp Alvis Leonides 73
Speed (Km/h):
127mph at sea level: Cruise at 105mph
Range (Km):
431
Service Ceiling (m):
4,389
Rotor Diameter (m):
48'7''
Length (m):
14.7 rotors folded
Maximum Take Off Weight (Kg)
2,545
Guns:
None
Bombs etc:

Crew:
2
Notes:
Specs for H.C.14. Can carry 2 or 3 passengers or two stretchers. The Sycamore served in Borneo, Cyprus and Malaya
JE

HU spent the next 12 day aboard Theseus practicing approach, landing and taking off. At first this was carried out by individual aircraft then working up to whole flight (6 aircraft) operations and finally both flights (12 aircraft) taking off as a unit and returning. On the 12th of October JEHU bid farewell to Theseus and returned to RAF Middle Wallop having completed a total of 611 deck landings and over 163 flying hours.
The Suez Crisis was now hotting up and as JEHU returned to RAF Middle Wallop Theseus embarked the 10 Whirlwinds of 845 Squadron Fleet Air Arm and sailed for Malta, leaving the members of JEHU feeling that they were going to left out of any possible action. With this in mind the CO stood the Unit down for 3-day rest. However, someone at the War office had other ideas and placed JEHU on 48 hours stand by ready to embark on HMS Ocean.

HMS Ocean left England and passed through Gibraltar on the 30th of October. On her flight deck sat the 12 aircraft of JEHU with 21 officers and 103 other ranks. Also on board were the 120 men of Four Five Commando. The unit was now designated Joint Helicopter Unit (JHU) the word experimental being dropped to help morale. Ocean exercised in the eastern Mediterranean until she was ordered to Malta to embark troops for the Suez Landings.
The fleet arrived off Port Said in the early hours of November the 6th. Squadron Leader Danny Kearns was to lead the Whirlwind flight and Major Francis Gramham Bell the Sycamore flight. Unit CO informed both officers that they were to land their Marines at de Lesseps Square. Bell asked the CO where exactly de Lesseps Square was and could they have a street map of Part Said? The CO replied that no he did not know where the Square was located and there no maps to be found. Not a good start. However, Bell's mother had recently passed through the Canal while returning from Malaya and had sent her son a postcard of the Statue of Ferdinand de Lessep. So JHUs first action was guided in with the use of a postcard.
The JHU and 845 Squadron ferried in the main body of 45 Commando in their Whirlwinds and Sycamores, landing on a patch of waste ground beside de Lesseps' statue. The helicopters encountered no incidents in their landing. The helicopters were from then on kept busy evacuating casualties to the carriers offshore and bringing in supplies. A Whirlwind of the JHU carried Lt. General Campbell Hardy, Commandant-General of the Royal Marines, to Gamil.
The helicopters were busy throughout the day evacuating 37 casualties including two Egyptians to the carriers, and ferrying many French casualties to Gamil from where they were airlifted back to Cyprus for treatment. A doctor was flown ashore with medical stores and fresh water among other stores. In addition to 45 Commando, the helicopters landed 23 tons of stores and equipment in the first day.
The JHU alone ferried 178 men and 12.5 tons of stores from HMS Ocean to Gamil airfield in the first two and a half hours.
Please note that we have only touched the surface of the Suez invasion and will be adding more information to this site as time permits and we welcome any corrections to the above.

Part I
By Angus Jones
Ex 42 Commando R.M

I was only a National Serviceman in my teens, but I think the training I received was of a very high standard. It may interest you to know that in my recruit's handbook, it said that we should treat older people with respect, and also not whistle at strange girls...
At one time, in Port Said, an old lady, wearing black clothes from head to toe, became tangled up in the barbed wire while taking what she thought was a short cut. With some difficulty I at last managed to untangle her, and then helped her across the rubble. Later, my Mother sent me a picture from the English magazine "Picture Post", which I am sure was of this incident. However, they had put a caption on saying, "Don't cry, the shooting is over for now", which of course I never said
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Part 1
The Suez Crisis Breaks
Towards the end of 1956 I was at Stonehouse Barracks, which had probably been built about the time of the Napoleonic Wars in Plymouth. It certainly gave that impression.

The stone floors had large hollows worn in them from generations of boots, and the wind whistled through the gap between this and the bottom of the doors. Bugle calls seemed to give orders continuously throughout the day, making it sound like an old time cavalry fort. I had just successfully completed five weeks of a six week JNCOs course. I was then asked to consider some form of specialization
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Stonehouse Barracks
2/56 J.N.C.O.s Course


My first choice was to become a swimmer-canoeist. This would involve training as a frogman, and also a parachute course. I passed the preliminary selection test to go on the course and the future was looking good. At this point the Suez crisis broke out and my orders were changed. I was told to report to 42 Commando at Bickleigh and here we worked up a sweat on the Devonshire Moors. Finally the unit received orders to proceed to Malta to join up with 40 and 45 Cdos.
Sleeping on Deck, under the Big Guns
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At last 42 Cdo boarded HMS Cumberland, a heavy cruiser, for Malta. Now a cruiser is designed as a fighting ship, not a troop transport. Our vehicles were secured on the decks, and with approximately 600 extra men on board, the ship seemed quite crowded. My accommodation was in an engineering workshop, and I slung my hammock next to a lathe. This was quite a bonus, as I could use the light attached to the lathe as a bedside reading lamp.

On the first day at sea, a CPO took a group of us below decks to allocate jobs for the brief voyage. As we descended into the ship, Marines were detailed off for various jobs. By the time it was almost time for me to be detailed off a job, we were deep in the bowels of the ship. Here it seemed very hot and stuffy, the air smelled oily, and the throb of the engines seemed very loud.

I began to feel sick, and managed to call out, "Chief". Then I made a dash for the iron ladder, and after several more ladders, I soon found myself at the ship's rail. After this I found my sea legs, but never did find the Chief, to get allocated a job. Then we began to feel better and the journey became easier as the weather got warmer, and we slept on deck, under the big guns.

I made a sketch of one of the TCVs secured to the deck, to include in a letter home. Sadly the original sketch has been lost, and only a very poor photocopy survives. Most of the detail of the ship's superstructure, as well as the caption has been lost.




It is still possible to make out the deck planks, and to the left of the TCV, part of the ship's rail, and also part of a davit for a lifeboat. After a few days we arrived at Valletta Harbour

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Click to enlarge
At Last in Malta


At last in Malta we moved into our accommodation at Mtarfa barracks. The heat made the training more difficult. The ground seemed dusty, rocky and hard. The sweat left dark marks on our shirts, where the cross straps had been. Our faces were drenched with sweat, but our mouths and lips seemed very dry. This made whistling almost impossible, as we moved backward and forward across the island. There was one consolation, however, the sea was never far away and the crystal clear water soon washed away the dust and cooled us down. Another bonus was that when you washed your clothes, they seemed to dry in a few minutes.


After we had repainted the outsides of our helmets
desert colour, we never wore them again





The M'Tarfa Barracks in Recent TimesStraight Street Valetta
Straight Street in Valletta was a notorious street. As a result it was known as the 'Gut'. It was very narrow and mostly at that time it contained bars, eating places and souvenir shops.

Shortly after our arrival we went into one of the bars to see if the stories we had heard were true. The stories had not been exaggerated. The girls in the bar were very crude. A description of our visit would be unsuitable for the public domain. After that Lofty and I gave the bars in the Gut a miss. However the eating places there had good food, a favourite being steak egg and chips. I never saw any cattle on the island, only horses pulling garries (a sort of horse drawn carriage used as a taxi). I wondered where the steak came from.

I did have a ride in a garrie, but the driver did not seem to take a direct route. Finally on arrival at my destination I only paid the driver what I thought that the fare should be. I told him that I had not asked for a tour of Malta. The Royal Navy did have Shore Patrols (RN Police) in the Gut. These patrols were normally just a couple of men.

As far as I could make out They mainly rescued sailors who were a bit drunk and returned them to their ships. By rescued I mean saved them from the Maltese Police who had a reputation for rough handling. At one time I did see a French shore patrol in the Gut. It was composed of about 8 men. Once I had to do a shore patrol in Valletta. It was the day before pay day so things were pretty quiet. We just drove around sipping orange juice.

I did visit a bar outside Valletta one time on my own. Inside was a sailor a bit under the weather. He told me that one of the girls working there had taken his silver crucifix. I told the manager that he had better get the crucifix back for the sailor in a hurry or he would have problems. Although I was alone he complied rapidly. The green beret I was wearing was like a magic charm. .He would not relish the possibility of a group of commandos coming to 'sort' his bar out
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Grapes gunshots and water melons

We had noticed a vineyard on our travels. Later we decided to sample the grapes. Arriving at the vineyard and just about to try the grapes, we came under fire from a shotgun. Needless to say we beat a quick retreat. The fact that we did get a chance to eat any of the grapes, was probably for the best. Eating unwashed fruit in Malta could result in catching a bout of 'Malta Dog'. This is a form of diarrhea and although the effects do not last long, it strikes very rapidly. Maybe the experience of coming under fire, would be of use later.

Concerning the countryside, there were many low dry stone walls. Care had to be taken during training, not to damage any of these walls. It was said that if damage was done, the owner would pull down a bit more, to increase his claim for compensation. During the season we were there, there did not seem to be much in the way of grass. There were lots of water melons growing and we became fed up with getting water melon for dessert
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Old Memories

Malta was an interesting place full of history. There were traces there of Romans, Crusaders, Arabs, and French colonial style buildings, as each wave of invaders had left their mark. One of my favourite pastimes was to go swimming under water with a friend. On one occasion we came across some locals collecting sea eggs.

They had wooden boxes with glass bottoms, and were using long wooden poles with an iron end (shaped like a pig's curly tail), to collect the sea eggs. Using our facemasks and fins, we soon filled all their boxes. The locals, however, although impressed with our speed, did not seem interested in adopting our new fangled ideas of collection.

They were appreciative, however, and offered us some of the catch. The sea eggs were almost black on the outside and covered in very sharp spines and when broken open they were bright yellow inside. However, being very English, we declined to eat anything that was not familiar to us. During our time in Malta, we also had a cruise North for training

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Malta Oct 1956

Valleta Harbour

A Cruise to Sicily

About the end of September we learnt that one or more LSTs were going to load vehicles and go on a training run to Sicily. They also had room for some passengers, so Lofty and I volunteered to go .We had thought that a cruise in the Mediteranean, might be a bit of a holiday, compared to foot slogging round Malta.

The LST HMS Anzio had a flat bottom and rolled like a pig. The food and accommodation left much to be desired. I woke up in the middle of the night, and found myself lying on a stretcher in between some vehicles. For a moment I could not work out where I was. Just prior to our arrival in Syracuse orders were given that we were not allowed to wear our green berets to go ashore. The locals were not supposed to know that we were commandos.

So we wore our KD shirts and longs and our best white topped caps with the red band around. White blancoed belts completed our ensemble. To all intents and purposes, we now appeared to be sea service marines. We changed our money into Lira, the rate of exchange was 1000 Lira = 11 shillings and four pence. Then we made our way to the gangplank eager to get ashore.

There was some delay here as a Naval SBA (Sick Berth Attendant) had a suitcase full of medical supplies, and was handing out handfuls. We gave this a miss and soon were on dry land. As usual Lofty and I were together

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Grapes postcards and wine

The first thing we found out was that The Italian language was quite incomprehensible to anyone that had not learned Latin. Now we were poor as we were only National Service men, but the locals seemed even poorer. Some grapes in a shop caught our attention. The problem was that we did not really understand their money or the metric system of weights. A decision was made to buy nine pence worth of grapes, so we worked out what ninepence was in Lira and handed over the money. We were surprised to receive in return a giant brown paper bag full of grapes. More like a small sack really.

Then it was off to find a Post Office, to buy postcards and stamps. There was a long queue and we seemed to be making little progress. Striding to the front of the queue I held up my open Naval Pay and Identity book, and called out "Politsi Militari". The people moved back and we were promptly served. Then it was off to find a drink as we were getting parched. The beer was a ridiculous price, so we were compelled to make do with wine, which was very cheap
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The girl in the red dress

Suitably *******ed we started off again. Suddenly we found we were surrounded by children. They were all shouting in Italian and 'almost English'. "Una sigaretta per papa", and "You want to meet my sister" ? Well our supply of cigarettes was limited, and we did not want to meet their 'sister'. So how do you get rid of a load of kids. Sudden inspiration, pick the biggest kid to get rid of the other kids for you then you only have one kid to get rid of. So we set off again, this time with one kid, and decided that a cinema might be a good thing.

Spotting what appeared to be a movie poster, with an illustration of a girl, we pointed it out to the kid. He immediately seemed to understand, and signalled us to follow.

His route seemed to be taking us out of town, which seemed odd. Arriving at some cottages near the sea, he presented us to a young lady in a bright red dress. Some how she managed to get across that her husband was out fishing. The offer was a packet of 20 English cigarettes for services to be rendered.

The kid had obviously misunderstood about the poster. We were not inclined to accept her offer, but she had obviously tried hard to make herself presentable in her gawdy dress. I felt sorry for her, so I gave her a packet of smokes anyway.

The next problem was how to get rid of the last kid. I managed to get him to understand that we wanted to go swimming at a place where we could dive into the sea. He took us to a place with a low cliff and sufficient depth of water beneath for diving from the top. I then indicated to him that he should dive into the sea first, which he did. By the time has had swum back and climbed up the low cliff, we had disappeared
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An Italian army barracks

As Lofty and I were strolling along a street, we came upon an Italian Army Barracks. There were sentries on either side of the entrance, armed with semi-automatic rifles. I went up to one of the sentries and started eyeing him up and down. Suddenly to my surprise the sentries snapped to attention and presented arms to us. In the British forces the present arms is only used as a salute for Majors and higher ranks.

Now the trick is to quickly evaluate a situation, and take advantage of it. I turned to Lofty and said, "Don't laugh, just keep a straight face and follow me". Then I gave the sentries my best impersonation of a sloppy army officers' salute, and strolled in through the main entrance as though I owned the place. Next I found the guardroom and mostly with sign language indicated that they must turn out with their weapons for my inspection. This they did, and still managing to keep a straight face, I started to move down the line of soldiers, inspecting their semi-automatic rifles
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Word must have got around that the barracks was being inspected, as a senior Italian officer turned up. He must have wondered what the hell was going on. I just ignored him and continued with my inspection trying to tell them that their rifles would be no good in the sand, and that our bolt action .303 rifles would be better.

The officer jibbered away and suddenly all hell broke loose. He thought that I was telling them that the Ities were no good in WW2, and that the British had kicked their butts. We managed to get out in one piece and laughed all the way down the street. This episode did not cause a diplomatic incident. Maybe the Commandant was too embarrassed to complain. A barracks full of Ities did not worry us. As you must know a marine 1st class outranks an Italian Major, and I hope that he remembered that, after we had left
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Cigarettes and knives

At one point while ashore Lofty and I were surrounded by a group of men that appeared to be armed with knives. They were trying to get us to sell them cigarettes. I can't remember how we got out of that one. Maybe it was our size that saved us. Later at the end of our stay, somehow one of them got aboard HMS Anzio with a knife that he was bringing to Lofty. Lofty told me that he had to hide, so that the man would not see him.

Lofty did not go ashore again after that. Anyway our time in Syracuse was just about up. By October 2nd we were back in Malta
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LST Training

LST stands for landing ship tank. The LST is larger than the LCT (landing craft tank), and has a number of LCAs hung around the outside rather like lifeboats on a liner.

The LCAs (landing craft assault), each hold about 30 men. At the time from memory, I recall the following LSTs in Malta:- HMS Reggio, HMS Stalker, HMS Striker and HMS Anzio. We boarded an LST. I am not sure which one and eventually dropped anchor, close to the shore. Next we climbed aboard one of the LCAs and were then lowered into the sea. The LCA had its full complement of 30 men. We drove round to the bow of the ship and found that the bow doors had been opened and the ramp lowered
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HMS Striker L 3616 Landing Ship Tank (LST)


Pulling alongside the ramp, more men on the ramp climbed aboard our LCA. I might mention here that all the men now aboard the LCA were in full combat gear, complete with weapons.

The LCA was then driven back to it position below its davits, coupled to the lifting gear and hauled back up. Now instead of receiving instructions to climb out, we found that the LCA was being lowered back into the sea. It was back to the bow again and more men climbing into our LCA from the ramp. A drive back to our lifting gear and couple on again, then once again haul up. At this point I was beginning to have visions of the lifting gear breaking and all the men ending up in the sea. Equipped as we were, we would sink like stones.

If you ended up in the sea, you would have to struggle to get your fighting order off as you sank. You would do your best to hang on to your weapon. Not really a pleasant scenario. The addition of more men to our LCA was repeated a few more times, until no more men could be squeezed in. Each time it was repeated the lifting gear seemed to creak and groan a bit more.
So the question remains. Were they trying to test the lifting gear to destruction point, or were they trying to test our nerves?

This brings to mind another time when I went swimming with Lofty. Anchored out in the bay was an LST. The bow doors were open and the ramp down. Men were diving off the ramp and swimming around close to the ramp. We decided to swim out to the ship. About three-quarters of the way there, the men swimming in the sea climbed back on to the ramp and disappeared inside the ship .As the ramp was still down we continued swimming towards the ship.

On arriving at the ramp, someone was shouting that we had delayed the ship.We called back that we were not from the ship, but had swum out from the beach. They were not happy about this, but there was nothing they could do. They were unable to tell which service we were from. Lofty does not recall this incident, but it must have been Lofty with me, as no one else would have swum out that far
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Operation Hamilcar and Musketeer

The original name for the assault to reoccupy the Suez Canal was Operation Hamilcar, The vehicles were all resprayed desert color and marked with a large white 'H'. Later the operation was renamed 'Operation Musketeer', but vehicles continued to be marked with the 'H'. The photo shows Marine (D) Raymond Thurston of 42 Commando RM standing by his Bedford truck at M'Tarfa in Malta.

The (D) indicates specialist qualification driver. The 'H' marking on the truck can be clearly seen. On the nearside of the truck front can be seen the number 56, which is the unit marking of 42 Commando. On the far side would be the red dagger on a black background. Similar markings would be on the truck's rear. The white lanyard worn by Raymond indicates 42 Cdo RM. The other two commando units, 40 and 45 Cdos each had their own colours for their lanyards.

The three commando units formed The 3rd Commando Brigade. Members of Brigade HQ wore green lanyards. Garter tabs when worn, matched the colours of the lanyards

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RM 42 Commando Vehicle Signs




RM Thurston M'Tarfa
2009 R.Thurston


Death of a pilot

This concerns a place in Malta which sounds like 'Ine toe fia', could it possibly be Ghajn Tuffieha. In my time it was just open ground covered in small rocks. It was near cliffs. We used this place to fire live ammunition. Sometimes it was difficult as children appeared from nowhere. I think that they may have been collecting brass cartridge cases to sell as scrap. The children should not have been there as it was a very dangerous place. We were shooting towards the sea. We had a look out on top of the cliff. His job was to warn us if any ships or boats came into our line of fire. We would then have to stop shooting for safety reasons.




I had an LMG (light machine gun). I could not fire lying down, as there were too many small rocks in the way. Dave Howard was my No 2 on the gun and I got him down on all fours, and rested the gun on his back. I started firing and some of the hot cartridge cases went down the back of his shirt. This caused him to start wriggling, and I told him that I could not shoot straight if he didn't keep still

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With My Bren Light Machine Gun
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Later some jet fighter aircraft from one of the Royal Navy aircraft carriers flew low over our heads. They were practicing low level support for us. Then one flew so low over us that it almost knocked our berets off. He was heading for our lookout on the top of the cliff. It disappeared out of site over the top of the cliff. Next thing there was a big orange flash and lots of black smoke.

We guessed it had crashed and ran towards the cliff, then climbed down to the beach below. The face of our lookout man at the top of the cliff was as white as a sheet. He was too close to see what had really happened, and thought that the plane had fired rockets at him.
The beach below was covered in pieces of electrical wire.

The biggest piece of the plane that I saw, looked like a radio set. In the sand I saw a shiny white thing covered in black. I poked it with a stick but it was not part of the pilot. In the sea we saw a dark roundish thing. Could it be the pilot's helmet. We swam out to check. No it was just the tyre showing from one of the aircraft's wheels.

Later we found out that there was no pilot in the aircraft when it flew above our heads. It was said that a warning light had come on in the cockpit. The pilot had called the aircraft carrier on his radio and was going to eject. The canopy came off the cockpit as it should have done, the ejector seat .was fired into the air, again as should have happened.

The seat should then have fallen away from the pilot and his parachute should have opened. Unfortunately these last two things did not happen as they should have done. We did hear later that men from one of the other commando units had found him in or near a cemetery, still sitting in his ejector seat.

There is an entry in the Fleet Air Arm Roll of Honour which appears to match the above eye witness account. Acting Sub Lieutenant G.J. Meredith was piloting a Sea Hawk off of HMS Bulwark (810 Squadron). Date of death is given as 04/10/1956. Cause of death reads "Killed after ejecting following fire warning light. Aircraft crashed vicinity of Malta. Possible premature manual separation
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Urban warfare training

One day we were broken into two groups, attackers and defenders. I was selected as a defender. The defenders took up a position in what appeared to be caves. The attackers threw in thunders flashes. The flash made it hard to see for a few seconds, and the bangs in the confined space, made our ears ring. However we would show them that we were tough, and that their little fireworks would not move us. Next they resorted to dirty tactics.

They threw in green smoke grenades. We ran out coughing and spluttering, tears streaming down our faces. Around our mouths and nostrils, we were stained green. I vowed next time that we played that game, I would be an attacker not a defender. However the next time we were all attackers, but this you will find out later.

Another day the troop of 50 men was assembled for a lecture, the topic was Booby Traps. It was given by a Captain, who gave a good presentation. At one stage he passed round an object. The instructions were quite clear, "Examine it carefully, then pass it to the next man". When it reached me I had a good look at it. It was a ****llic object. There was a short thin cord attached to one end, and at the other, some detonating cord with a few knots tied in it. I assumed that it was some type of spring-operated detonator. It had been passed about 3/4 of the way around, when there was a big bang.

I looked across and saw Lance Corporal Gurney, a former soldier, with a surprised look on his face. Smoke was coming from his lap. If I had been able to lay a bet that day, on who would fiddle with it, I would have won a fortune. Who else would try and blow their fly buttons off
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Training with the tanks

At first sight the Centurion tanks of the 6th Royal Tank Regiment were an impressive sight. The Centurion was the main British battle tank after WW2. I did not like standing near these 50 ton monsters, as they could spin round very quickly and squash you flat. I thought that the driver may not see you if you were standing close to the tank. However I suppose that the tankies knew what they were doing. The only thing that I can recall about this training, was sitting on top of the hull getting rides. It would be wrong to say that I enjoyed this. Just sit on top and hope that they did not traverse the gun turret during the ride. From memory there was a hot exhaust that could give you a nasty burn if you came into contact with it.
Lofty's recollection of the training was that we had to hop on them when they were mobile, avoiding the hot exhausts of course. The purpose of this being to drop a grenade of some kind in the hatch on top, then sit on it. I assume that you closed the lid first. He recalls trying to touch the silencer with his boot. His boot immediately started to slide as the rubber sole of his SV boot started to melt.

When the time came to put this into practice the Egyptian Soviet made tanks were not mobile. They had dug them in and used them as fixed gun positions. Anyway, if I had managed to drop a grenade through an open tank hatch, there is no way that I would have remained on top of the tank.
We Boarded our LST

At the end of October, we boarded our LST in Valletta Harbour for the purpose of another exercise. There were a large number of other ships also getting ready for sea. For reasons of security it was not mentioned that this was anything other than an exercise but it is interesting to note that UK newspapers were already publishing the current events. The 'Daily Sketch', of October 31st, stated that British Commandos had boarded assault craft in Valetta Harbour the previous night and it also made mention of convoy after convoy of armour prepared to sail. It stated that a routine exercise had developed into an emergency move eastwards and that ships had been told to shun the canal. The liner Straithaird had been diverted to Aden, and the Straithmore to Malta to await developments, instead of passing through the canal
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On board the LST, the sun continued to set over the stern (more times than we had expected), and some of the old hands had already expressed an opinion about where we were going. At that point we were shown aerial photos of a beach, and given lectures on first aid. We were also told that if anyone got hit in the water, to grab them by their webbing and drag them ashore, dropping them off on dry land. Shortly, someone must have obtained the authority, to explain what we were up to. At this point I wrote a letter home.

Somewhere I still have the letter, complete with the Naval Censorship stamp on the envelope. On the final night on board everyone checked their equipment carefully
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My Story and the Landings

On Sunday 4th November some of the Marines attended Communion. On the night of the 5th we were cleaning our equipment and fitting it just right, also loaded our gear into our small packs, and our weapons were cleaned, and lightly oiled. In addition to the amount of ammunition in our pouches, we were issued two thin, cloth bandoliers, each holding 50 rounds. All this ammunition had to be checked in clips of 5, to ensure that the rims of the cartridges were in the correct relationship to one another. That night I slept well and almost resented being woken up at some ungodly hour the next morning

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Cloth Bandolier to Hold 50 Rounds of .303 Ammunition





Members of 42 Commando in Casual Dress on the Deck of HMS Anzio on the Day Before the Assault on Port Said. Lofty is on the extreme right.
2009 H. Leader

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REVEILLE WAS PIPED BEFORE 0400 hrs
On Tuesday 6th November 1956 reveille was piped before 0400hrs. The men of my section had a good breakfast, for you never knew how long it was going to be before you got the opportunity to prepare some more food. As our gear had been prepared the night before, it did not take us long to assemble on the deck correctly rigged.

At Dawn on the LST

At this point I became aware of the most beautiful sky I had ever seen. It was dawn, not sunset, yet the whole sky looked a reddish orange.This gave a pink reflection from the grey hulls of some of the ships, but many of the ships were like black silhouettes against the reddish background. It really was a beautiful sight.

Looking towards Port Said, the buildings in the distance did not appear as tall as I had expected. Towards the R.H. side of the city was a column of smoke about 1000ft. high and jet fighters were screaming overhead, to hit selected targets with rocket and cannon fire. Quite a few of the ships' guns were also joining in. Out here it seemed very noisy and it seemed to stink of gunpowder.

The ships were not permitted to fire ****ls over a certain calibre - 4.5 inch - on orders from London, and each ship was limited to the number of rounds they were allowed to fire.

We were soon boarding our LCA. The LCAs were suspended from the davits, like lifeboats on a liner, which were then lowered into the water and unhooked. In almost no time at all, the LCAs from both sides of our ship had formed a line, parallel to the beach, and now began to head in that direction. My position in the LCA was at the rear of the centre row. This meant I would be 10th out of this craft. As the men jumped into the sea, they would be jumping alternately left and right, to avoid a concentration of men in front of the ramp

The Landing

The landing craft each held 30 men, and on the way in each one of the rows of 10 men got a chance to stand up and look at the beach ahead. When the order to drop the ramp came, there was some complaining, as we were much further out than what we had been told we would be.

The water was therefore much deeper than we expected. I had put my cigarettes in the very top of my small pack (level with my shoulders), but later in the day found that they were just a soggy mess. The water was too deep at first to run towards the beach, even though bullets were splashing in the sea around us. At this time nobody seemed to get hit
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L.C.A. - A3. Note ramp rollers
not needed on 6/11/



L.S.T. Guns. Goes with LCA Pic.
Both Valletta Harbour



Combined Operations
badge on
the funnel


Exposed Position & Not Enough Men Ashore

At last we were on dry land and moved forward towards the beach huts, where we stopped just before the road under the last of the huts and there we took up firing positions, lying in the sand under the last of them. In front, on the other side of the road, were the first buildings of the city.

The floor of the hut was about 5ft. above me, and my only cover was one of the hut's legs, a vertical piece of wood about 4 inches square. We were in a rather exposed position, and needed to cross the road and start clearing the buildings on the other side of it. However, at this point we did not have enough men ashore, and had to wait for more men to come ashore from the landing craf
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The man lying next to me, on my right, was so close that I had trouble operating the bolt of my rifle and I asked him to move a bit. At this point a machine gun started firing from our right front. The bullets hit him in the right shoulder, came out below his left waist, and must have just missed my feet
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The Fez and a Pair of Dark Glasses

On the first day of the landing we had paused at a school that had a balcony running the length of the building, on the opposite side to the beach. A low wall at the bottom closed in the balcony, and glass divided into small panes above that. Square concrete columns were evenly spaced along the wall and I was sitting on a chair obtained from the classroom behind me and I was partially behind one of the columns, looking out over the city. It was a good view. By this time I was the proud possessor of a maroon fez with a black tassel. I started to daydream, hoping I would get home for Christmas.

Then I was home with my dark suntan, wearing the fez, complete with a pair of dark glasses. Suddenly, a bullet shattered one of the small panes of glass near my head but luckily none of the glass hit me. However, I had learned a lesson. Even when you are taking a break, you have to concentrate on what is going on around you
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Now as you know even soldiers have to eat, sleep and go to the toilet and this was the first time I had seen this type of toilet, which consisted of a hole in a tiled floor. On either side of the hole, the tile patterns indicated where you should place your feet, while squatting over the hole.




This arrangement may have been satisfactory if you were wearing a galibya, but was totally unsuitable for the way we were dressed. Some inspired genius with foresight must surely have designed this, with the express purpose of slowing down people like us. Then another pearl of wisdom came to mind. There was something worse than getting shot in the head, getting shot in the head while trying to use one of these toilets
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My Mouth went Dry

The section, of about 11 men, was taking cover behind a low wall, from memory, just over two feet high. Behind us, somewhere, was the beach and the other side of the wall was a large open grass area. On both side of the grass area were roads leading from the beach into the city and we would eventually advance up the left hand one. In front of us, on the far side of the grass square, was the blank (no windows) end wall of the building that ran between the two roads.

As I crouched behind the wall, I anticipated the next order. It would be, "When I give the order, jump over the wall, and run like mad for the cover of the blank wall of the building in front of us." The firing was coming from the roads but to my horror the order was not what I had anticipated. The actual order was, "When I give the order, climb over the wall and advance in extended line", which meant walk not run. My mouth went dry, as we were going to advance slowly across the square ahead
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Over the Wall with Fixed Bayonets

However, an order is an order. When the order was given we climbed over the wall, and with fixed bayonets walked towards the safety of the end wall of the building ahead. By some miracle we were not fired at during this time, and we eventually had the cover of the end wall.

We then moved along the wall to its left hand side ready to continue the advance up the street on that side. Firing was coming down the street in our direction, but the end wall still gave complete cover. The next move was to rush round the corner and into the first available doorway or cover there might be. You couldn't peep round the corner first, as you would most likely get a hole in the head.



Click for larger image and description
Fortunately, this time we could run not walk. The first two men dived round the corner. Immediately the firing intensified, but we had no idea if they had been quick enough or not. The next two men dived round the corner and disappeared from view, and again more shots were fired towards our corner. The next two dived round the corner with more shots in our direction
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My Turn with Jock

Now it was my turn with Jock and I thought by now they must have got their aim. I also wondered if any of our section was lying in the road round the corner, or had they all made it. Now you always have to look on the bright side and the good part was this. Jock and I decided when we would start our run, not the people up the road who were doing the shooting and this was the advantage we had. We looked at each other, and knew it was time. We dived round the corner, bullets whistled past us, but in no time we found ourselves in some flats just round the corner. We were quite pleased to find that we were still in one piece. So on with the job, street-by-street, building-by-building, and room-by-room.

I was surprised to find that opposition and organization was not as strong as I had expected. Also the accuracy of the shots fired at us left much to be desired. Sometimes the air was full of bullets, and still we did not get hit, although I know in fact that there were casualties. I often think that if I had been in a building looking towards the beach and the sea, that the butt of my rifle would have had so many notches that it would have fallen to pieces
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CDOs knocking a window in at a girls school

I also think that the objective was to secure the city, inflicting as few casualties as possible (civilian & military) and I also don't think that the Egyptians were enemies as such. Some of the Marines were of the opinion that instead we would have been better employed assisting the untrained, under equipped, Hungarians in their uprising against the Russians
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The First Night in Port Said

It had now been dark for a while. We were creeping as quietly as ghosts through some back yards. Suddenly, the quiet was shattered by a burst of Sten fire. Either somebody's weapon had gone off by mistake or, perhaps, they had incorrectly identified a stray cat as a legitimate target. Who knows? Now everybody in the surrounding area would be alerted to our presence
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Later that night we found an empty house. The object now was to stop the advance, and there was a rumour of a ceasefire. I was selected to unlock the door. Now it is always easier to explain what to do. The instructions were clear; you place the muzzle of your rifle against the keyhole of the Yale lock and then press the trigger. It is harder to do it yourself. There was a loud bang and a neat, round hole had appeared about a 1/4" away from the keyhole. Amid comments of, "Can't you even hit it at point blank range?" I gave the door a push, the door swung open, and I later found the complete back of the lock down at the far end of the corridor.
After ensuring that we were indeed the only occupants, some minor modifications were necessary to adapt it for our use.

The large front window provided a reasonable view, and you could just about see anything moving in the dark. The curtains were taken down and a large table was laid on its side, close to the window. A double mattress was obtained from another room and laid in front of the top of the table.

This firing position was the best that could be done but it probably would not stop a bullet. Even though we were pretty tired that night, we did not get much sleep. We heard what sounded like multiple rocket launchers. Could it be some form of counter attack? This would not be to our liking as our section was only armed with small arms. However, the night passed without incident, as the ceasefire appeared to be in place.

The Rifle, the Water Bottles and the Bodies



Egyptian Military Police Armband

The next morning I was again selected for a job. This time I had to collect all the water bottles from my section, and go for a stroll to find water and replacement ammunition. I stepped cautiously out of the front door, my rifle at the ready, and the water bottles must have been on cross straps or I would have been unable to carry them all.

A body lay in front of our window, and more bodies lay further down the street. In the distance I could make out a red Coca Cola lorry collecting bodies. On the way back it was harder going, with the water bottles full, and laden down with the replacement bandoliers of ammunition for the section. Fortunately for me the ceasefire seemed to be effective where we were.

Part II Life in Port Said...After the Ceasefire

The above-mentioned article has been compiled from extracts and photos from personal E-mails to Yahia Al Shaer,my former opponent, and now my friend. If you find anything in this article of interest, then credit is due to Yahia who overcame my reluctance to publish with his pressure, perseverance, persuasiveness, and insistence that it should be published.