39 FIELD SQUADRON - RE 1953
As Remembered By Sapper Frank Briggs
'Bogged Down in the Sinai'
The pictures below show how bad it can get when you are bogged down in the sand in the Sinai Desert near the Gulf of Suez, when you do not have the right equipment; we had a shovel but no gravel panels to put under the wheel. We had to use our bedding and anything else we could find to put under the wheels. It took us about a quarter of a mile to get onto hard ground, the reason being was that there was a hard crust layer over the soft sand and, because I was towing a trailer, it was that which made us break the crust – with the weight of the trailer the wheels just sunk right down and held me back, and that was that.
It took us nearly all day to get out, so we put up our bivouvac and camped for the night. Each of us took it in turns for guard duties as there were Arabs wandering about and we did not want to take any chances.
Pictured here are:
Sapper Frank Briggs Driver, Cpl Jim Ectchals Wireless Operator & Major Webb-Brown
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EXPLODING LATRINES
In October 1952 to September 1953, I was stationed in Bindon Camp with 39 Field Engineer Sqdn RE and 25 Field Engineer Regt RE.
As it was such a long time ago my memory is not great, so if there is someone out there who can add to the story, I will be grateful.
Well, we had 2 Latrines. One near the Transport Park and close to the main road into Moascar, the other one was just behind the Guard Tents, also close to the main road. This one would be used when the other Latrine was full, the only difference was that some bright spark decided to have the side walls concreted – as we shall see later on in the story.
The time came when the Latrine was full to the top with S…t, they had all the toilet seats, the partition and the floor removed which left a great big pit full of sewage, and I am sure you can imagine the smell was terrible and what it was like for the people travelling up and down the main road!! A friend of mine who was with 46 Plant Fld Sqdn RE said they could smell it as far as Moascar Garrison.
The problem was how to deal with the situation – this is when my memory fails. As far as I know the Medical Officer had the idea of putting some sort of acid in to burn it but the RSM had other ideas. He got 46 Plant Sqdn (as told by my friend, Cpl Mike Smith) to send down a bulldozer, tons of sand and gallons of water to go into the pit. The bulldozer driver was Sapper Jones and his job was to push all the sand over the pit. He had to wear a mask but when it was nearly covered we could hear rumbling coming from the pit and knew what was about to happen; the bulldozer started to slip into the pit and the driver jumped clear just as the pit exploded from all the gases!! All the sewage went up in the air and covered the bulldozer, the main road and some of our tents. The smell was terrible, my friend Mike told me they could smell it as far as Moascar Garrison! I often wondered what name they gave our camp – maybe someone out there might know.
So now the second Latrine came into use. When then S...t got near the top the time came to dismantle it like the last one. The RSM had his own way again and did the same as the previous Latrine – the only difference was, because the walls were lined with concrete, as the pit got covered with sand the gases could not blow outwards so, yes, the sewage went even higher this time and covered the Guard Room Tents and the Main Road once again. This was the sort of life we had in the Canal Zone.
We gave the RSMa new name – Regimental S..t Major!!
Now I can not remember a new Latrine being built. I think there
was a Latrine between 39 Field Sqdn and 46 Plant Sqdn that we could use. Maybe
someone can help. Cpl Mike Smith said he can not remember any Latrines in that
part of the camp – so what did we use?