871 PLANT SQUADRON, RE 1948-51
As Remembered By Horace Roberts
I was posted to 871 Plant Sqdn in my early days in the Canal Zone from Suez Transit Camp - the year was 1948. I had my first Christmas overseas here. We were welcomed on our arrival by an electrical storm, the mother of all storms, it carried on most of the night and we got 'washed out' - all our kit was soaked as water ran through the tent like a river - I have never heard thunder like it!
I have many memories of 871. It was a somewhat isolatwd camp and situated close to the Big Flea mountain - if my memory serves me right, there were three mountains in close proximity; the Big Flea, the Little Flea and one we called the Table Top.
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We got quite a lot of attempted break-ins and raids on the camp as it was so isolated. Doing perimeter guard at 871 was not for the faint-hearted. We had the permeter wire cut on several occasions, theives got into the camp tent lines one night and all the greatcoats disappeared overnight.
The camps water supply was attacked quite often. The reservoir was on high ground outside the camp and one night the oil store was set alight, going up in huge flames. We had to put Mauritian Guards on the water supply reservoir - they were a bit trigger-happy and the Gaffers we had on night patrols had to keep their heads down at night. The Gaffers of course were Egyptians employed by the Army as night-watchmen and they would patrol the perimeter of the camp between the inner and outer wire fence. Each had a whistle and a stick - the whistle was to warn the guard if they saw anything but there were never any warnings!
Lots of Picards and camel trains used to pass the rear of 871, the camel trains were usually young camels with their front legs tied and young Egyptian boys drove them.
'Jeep Jockey' in MT Compound
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Me (Horace Roberts) with machinery
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Me, on board Armoured Bulldozer |
Anyway that was some of my life with 871. I was posted out to GHQ Fayid for a spell and then back to 871 and, finally, I was posted to 17 Field Sqdn RE in 1st Inf. Div. I was never still - I moved all over the Middle East, all the 'hot spots' and completed my 3 years tour of duty at a place called Derna in between Tobruk and Benghard after seeing Akaba, Jordan, Tripoli and many more places - doing my bit for England
