RE, 10 RAILWAY SQDN 1950
ADABIYA BAY CAMP, MELF 16
Sent In By Robin Thorne - Written By A Friend a Long Time Ago
After we had completed our Army Railway Trade Training at Longmoor, we received our postings. Five of us had been posted to the 10th and most of the remainder on the course to Germany. On returning to camp, after our fourteen days embarkation leave, we left Longmoor on July 13th, 1950, for the transit camp at Barton Stacey and remained there until July 18th. During the few days we were there, we noticed a few sappers who had the same camel arm-flash that we had been issued with, (they had just returned from the 10th to be demobbed) so we asked them what it was like. Their reply was short and clear: “Blow your luck, mate!”
We left Barton Stacey and spent the night in London, sleeping at Goodge Street deep air-raid shelter. Next day, we went by troop train to Liverpool Docks to board the troopship S.S. Empire Halladale. We left there on July 19th for Egypt, calling at Tripoli and Tobruk on our way to Port Said, where we docked on July 31st. From there we traveled by train to Ismailia and then by lorry to Moascar where we stayed to two days before leaving for the 10th, the southern-most British Army camp in the Canal Zone, by lorry.
When we were passing Suez and approaching Adabiya Bay Camp, we realized that what our informants at Barton Stacey had told us about our posting was correct! We were passing the Shell Oil Refinery and the smell of the fumes coming out of it was foul. On our left hand side was the Gulf of Suez and on the right hand side you could see Ali Pasha’s fertisizer factory in the distance and the bare, barren mountains of Gebel-el-Ataka. In between was sand and gravel, with no vegetation apart from a few desert bushes.
We passed the RAMC medical stores then though the hamlet of Ataka. Further along on the left we passed the Adabiya and Ataka Military Railway yard at Chequers, then the Adabiya Docks. Half a mile south of this was our destination: 10 Railway Squadron.
We were very impressed with the smartness of the guard at the Main Gate, which we knew would be one of our duties in the near future. One advantage we discovered on arrival – you couldn’t smell the fumes of the oil refinery but you could smell the sea as the camp was right by the side of it.
We had to report to the O.C. Major G.C.L. Alexander the next day and he welcomed us to the camp and asked a few questions, the last of which was “Have you thought about signing on to become a Regular?”. My reply was “No, Sir” and in my thoughts was “What a hope you’ve got! I’m out of this place as soon as possible!”.
Our day would start with the duty bugler sounding reveille at 06:00; then the cookhouse call at 06:30. The next call would be “A quarter of an hour to get dressed” before morning parade and roll call.
The duty buglers worked 24 hours on duty and 24 hours off. They were also the M.I. orderlies and slept in the M.I.Room, which was opposite the Guard Room at the Main Gate. Anyone requiring an early call before 06:00 (owing to early train working, cook house duties etc) would see the Guard Commander the night before and he would enter you name, time and tent number in his book. If it was you, you placed a towel on your bed as an indication to the Stickman. On waking, you were required to sign his book.
Morning Parade and Roll-Call was at 07:30. Anyone who wanted to report sick would form up at the same time and be taken by Army ambulance to see the Medical Officer at Suez. This Parade was taken by the Duty Officer and Squadron Sergeant Major WO2 G.V.B. Harris, known to his men (unofficially) as “Bomber”. He was six feet one and a half inches in height, of military bearing, strict but fair. I can always remember him calling out on one morning parade to all those men whose K.D. shorts were more than three finger widths above the knee to get them lengthened.
When “Bomber” returned to Britain after completing his python, Staff Sergeant Lloyd took over as temporary Squadron Sergeant Major for about two months, until WO2 C. Woolford arrived. He had the longest waxed moustache I have ever seen! You could even see the tips of it when he was marching away from you. Apparently, when he was on the troopship coming out, a message was put over the tannoy advising all men who had moustaches over fourteen inches long, to wear navigation lights!
When Morning Parade was over and the men had been given their duties, a train would be waiting outside the Main Gate of the camp (where they also held the locomotive naming ceremonies) to take all men working on the railway to Chequers Yard and after working there we would return to camp by Wickham car (if one was available), or otherwise march back for our dinner. After we’d had our meal, we were more-or-less finished for the day, unless there were other duties to perform or bulling our kit in preparation for Guard Duty etc.. We would spend our spare time either lying on our beds, going for a swim, beach combing around the bay, or climbing the mountains. I spent hours buying and selling property in London – on a Monopoly Board – so much so that I probably ended up with enough qualifications to become an estate agent on my return home! (There were no estate agents in my home town in 1951 – how things have changed since!).
After August 1951, the amount of spare time we had was greatly reduced owing to the Egyptians refusing to move our rail traffic in the Canal Zone, and consequently, perimeter and check-post guards being posted in case of trouble. In the evenings we would write our letters home (putting nylons bought in Suez in between the pages for our girlfriends!), go over to Toc-H (where Joe was the manager), play table-tennis or solo, have a cup of tea and maybe poached eggs on toast, or go down to the NAAFI to see a film and maybe have a pint of Stella – if we had the money. We would then retire to our tents about 22:00 hrs.
The Main Gate guard comprised of a junior NCO as Guard Commander and four Sappers. They would form up on the Square at 08:45 in battle order to be inspected by the Duty Officer and the Squadron Sergeant Major who would pick the smartest Sapper to become the Stickman. There was difficulty in picking this man out as the standard of this guard was so high. If your small pack and pouches were not up to standard, you would try to borrow somebody’s better ones and buy him a drink for the privilege rather than being given any extra guard duty for not being up to standard. The new guard would then march to outside the Guard Room where the old guard was formed up on the beat and they would present arms to the new guard, the bugler would sound his fan-fare and the Guard Commanders would then exchange keys etc. When this had been done, the new guard would present arms to the old guard, the bugler would sound the call and they would march back to the Square, to be dismissed, each man having been on duty for 24 hours, either at the sentry-box or marching on the beat for two hours, dressed in drill order, before having four hours in the Guard Room: 2 hours on, 4 hours off. The Stickman was excused these duties, becoming the general “gopha” for 24 hours spending the night by the telephone in the Squadron Office. These guard duties occurred about twice monthly and were followed by 24 hours off.
The other duty that came round on a regular basis was fire picket. A junior NCO and four men reported on the Square at 18:00 hours to go around the camp checking that all fire points had full water drums and all fire-fighting equipment was in place and perform any other duties required. One of these was to set out chairs in the NAAFI on the night a film was being shown. The advantage of this was that the fire picket team had the best, most comfortable chairs, situated in the front row! Films were supplied by the Army Kinema Service (A.K.S.), the projector being operated by Spr. Geoff Cox of the 10th.
Morning Parade on Saturday was held for inspection – “Get you hair cut! – drill and military training, which would normally be finished by midday. After dinner, if we had enough money, we would catch the Canal Army Bus Service from the Main Gate to Suez town. This bus was run by the Royal Army Service Corps. When in Suez you could only visit the “In Bounds” area, unless you were dressed in civvies and were prepared to push your luck with the Military Police! When you walked down the street you would see a notice by the side saying “Out of Bounds” and you foolishly went past this notice at your own peril. While in town we would be able to change any British money sent to us in letters from home into Egyptian currency – piastres. The Egyptian money-changer sat with his case of different currencies at the side of the main street. I don’t remember the rate he charged but it was not a lot and I expect he was glad to have £ sterling. We could then go off to shop for films, leather goods (which were quite cheap) and nylons for our girlfriends back home. I became quite a good expert on what denier to choose! They were much appreciated by my wife-to-be as they were unobtainable in Britain.
We dodged the shoe-shine boys and the rogues who pestered us to bet our money for their watches at the toss of a coin, knowing full well that they would always win the toss! Their constant pestering was a bit of a pain. We’d make our way to the NAAFI club in Suez and call in for a drink or walk to Port Tewfiq, then maybe go to see a film in the open air cinema and finally catch the Canal Bus back to camp, arriving there around 23:00
Sunday was more or less a day of rest, unless you had other duties to perform i.e. cook- house, guard, fire picket or railway duties. There was no morning parade. A lorry was laid on for anyone who wanted to attend the R.C. or C of E churches in Suez. Normally about half a dozen would turn up. Others would go over to Toc-H to listen to ‘Forces Favourites’ on the wireless, or maybe do a spot of fishing off the stone jetty, or catch crabs and take them to the cookhouse but a lot would just spend the day relaxing on their beds. Looking back, we all wasted a lot of time and missed opportunities through it. With hindsight we could have done a lot more and seen a lot more while we were there.
One of our sergeants was from the Royal Army Educational Corps and he used to try to get us to take the Army Certificate of Education exam, held in Suez on 15th December 1950. If we had wanted a better knowledge of Arabic, no doubt he would have made arrangements for lessons on that too! He organized a tour to the Shell Oil Refinery on March 24th, 1951 but unfortunately this was cancelled due to a fire. Then on May 5th,1951 he arranged another to Ali Pasha’s Fertilizer Factory but very few of the men took advantage of these trips.
I was lucky that my mate, Frank Hart, the camp pay-clerk but a draughtsman by trade, made enquiries and subsequently arranged for five of us to travel by train to Cairo and stay at a hotel for four nights, to see the Pyramids and Museum etc. in April 1951.
I’ve just remembered that when we first arrived at the 10th, Bomber asked us if we would like to join the Royal Engineers Old Comrades Association, which we all did, paying for a year. I think life-membership was about £5 but we couldn’t afford that! The REOCA put on a Robbie Burns dinner at Suez on January 25th, 1950 and also a fete at Fayid on August 4th, 1950.
There were a number of Egyptian civilians who worked in and around the camp – the barber who could give you a very close shave with his cut-throat razor on Friday afternoons, saving time (ten minutes extra kip!) the following morning, shaving for Parade – one laundryman who didn’t have a steam iron for pressing our clothes but improvised by filling his mouth with water and blowing out a fine spray in front of the iron – Joe, the aforementioned manager of Toc-H – the manager of the NAAFI (whose name I have forgotten – the boys working in the cookhouse railways per-way gang etc.
When I was called up for National Service in 1949, I thought “What a Life!” and hated it. But we were told by some NCO that after a while you would forget the bad times and only remember the good ones. But I can now honestly say that he was right and when I got demobbed, had it not been that I was courting my wife, I might even have contemplated signing on!
I hope the above has brought back some good and happy memories (and not too many bad ones!)