TIME TO GO HOME
David Watts, RE 8 ESBD & 2 Port Detachment
Most of my short Regular Army career in the early 1950’s was spent sunning myself along the banks of the Suez Canal ‘protecting’ Britain’s gateway to it’s fast declining Empire. For 18 months I was based at the vast R.E. depot at Fanara and for a year I was on detachment (all eight of us) in the Docks of Port Said where we dealt with incoming and outgoing R.E. stores, ranging from small boxes of spares to cranes and bulldozers.
During my sojourn at Port Said I saw and, at times, boarded all manner of shipping – Troopships, Cargo vessels, Tankers, Warships and Passenger Liners including the brand new P & O “Iberia” on her maiden voyage to Australia.
All good things must, of course, come to an end and, as dembob was fast approaching, I returned back down the Canal to H.Q. to await repatriation and resist the attempts to persuade me to sign on further. Unfortunately it transpired that there were no aircraft available to fly us home which was probably a blessing in disguise for the troop carrying workhorse at that time was the Avro York and it had an annoying habit of falling out of the sky on occasions. Troopships were also at a premium and so we were all packed into trucks and carted all the way back up the Canal to Port Said where we embarked onto a landing craft. As we had been told that no Troopship was available we were somewhat apprehensive at our present mode of transport for it’s a long way to the U.K. on a flat bottomed boat!
Our fears, however, were soon dispelled when we found ourselves alongside the “Iberia” on her way back home from “Down Under”. As we climbed aboard we were greeted by a large number of young members of the opposite sex lining the ship’s rails – a welcome sight for we young lads after two and a half years of black garbed Egyptian “Bints”, a rare glimpse of a well built member of the W.R.A.C’s and the occasional belly dancer.
And so off we sailed to Blighty. Two berth cabins (sheer luxury after spending all our stay in Egypt in a 4 “berth” tent), Stewards to wake us each morning with tea and biscuits (a change also from the once a year visit by the hierarchy at Xmas with a mug of what passed for tea laced with a liberal amount of rum). We also enjoyed the luxury of Fine Dining with the paying passengers (I’ve still got the Gala Menu) and plenty of John Collins in the Cocktail Lounge.
A great way to finish ones Army Service and a “fitting” reward for all I had done for Her Majesty and, believe it or not, I’m still cruising with P & O and even called in to Port Said on a recent trip.
A small anecdote:-
During my sojourn at the base depot in Fanara I worked in a “Yard Office”
(I wasn’t a real Engineer) and on our stockholding was an extremely large
packing case containing – The MELF gallows. Lo and behold, while talking
over old times with Bert Martin, who apparently was stationed just down the
road from the Depot, it transpired that, by coincident, he was required to make
a replacement part for the said gallows. It’s a small world.
David Watts