MEMORIES OF 1st BTN OXS & BUCKS, EL BALLAH
As Remembered By David Wood
When Colonel Nasser abrogated the Treaty in 1951, the 1st Btn Oxs & Bucks Light Infantry were rushed across from a pleasant and peaceful Golden Sands Camp at Famagusta to a really awful empty sand covered camp at El Ballah. Four events from those days have stayed with me:
The Provost Sergeant
Early on, Sergeant Hornblower, the Provost Sergeant, accidentally fell in the
Sweet Water Canal.
There were some who hoped he would catch the dreaded Bithynia. No such luck,
he shook himself down,
had a shower and was as right as rain. He ended his career as a Major Quarter
Master.
The Deserter
One evening the Provost Sergeant brought in a soldier from another battalion
who said he was taking a motor cycle to Port Said for repair (with hindsight,
an unlikely story). We gave him a meal and a bed for the night.
Two or three weeks later a couple of Military Policemen asked me, as Adjutant,
whether I remembered the incident. It transpired that the soldier had exchanged
his motorcycle and Sten gun for a supposed passage to the UK. The RMP had found
him, dressed in a galabhia, sitting in a coffee shop in Port Said.
They undoubtedly saved his life. Later he was court marshalled for attempting
to desert.
The General
During his visit the General told us that he had lost part of his shaving kit
and asked if we could find him a shaving brush. There was no NAAFI in which
to acquire one but the 2nd In Command found a 1/9” brush behind the bar
in the Officers’ Mess. To his disappointment, the General declined his
offer and made it clear that he was looking for something more up-market. Rumour
had it that he later organised an RMP raid on Simon Asty’s Emporium in
Port Said where he obtained a badger-bristle brush – No doubt he paid
for it!!
The Bath
The ‘powers that be’ decided that there should be a general re-shuffle
of units in the 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions. We had to leave our by now tidy
camp and move to awful former mules lines, down wind from an oil refinery, at
Port Suez. Our relief, from a battalion of Foot Guards, arrived complete with
a 3 tonner loaded with a full size white enamel bath. It was explained to us
that it was “the Colonel’s bath” and wherever he went, it
went too!
Conclusion
This piece has purposely dwelt on the lighter side of life in the Canal Zone.
There was a much more serious one, both in my battalion and in other units and
services. Amazingly, it took over 50 years for a well-earned GSM to be awarded
in recognition of the years spent in the Canal Zone.