THE DAY THE RAINS CAME
SHANDUR – 1947
The rain certainly came and the whole of the camp suffered devastation. These photos show the RTR, under the command of Capt Simonds, trying to rescue their belongings. I believe it rained constantly for 24 hours then stopped as quickly as it started. Not another drop of rain fell for the rest of our stay in the Canal Zone.
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ISMAILIA - OCTOBER 1952
Gerald Gregory, ex: RAF Ismailia - Air Traffic Control Centre remembers clearing up after the rain of October '52
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SUEZ GARRISON - NOVEMBER 1952
There is a mathematical certainty about a Summer’s day in the Canal Zone. The sun rose quickly in the morning and hung all day in a cloudless blue sky before going down quite suddenly in the evening. The heat was never-ending and the summer seemed to go on forever, not a hint, not a drop of rain and how we missed it.
At HQ Suez Garrison one November afternoon in 1952 my after-lunch
session of Egyptian PT was suddenly ended by riot of sound outside, shouting,
whooping, singing, laughing - it sounded as though a very wild Christmas party
had got completely out of hand. I left my pit at the double and ran out of the
tent. I shall never forget the scene. It had just started to RAIN, the first
rain for seven months, and there on the sand outside their tents the whole camp
was going wild with joy, dancing, yelling, waving their arms and laughing as
the rain soaked their clothing or ran down their bodies – for most had
stripped off and were quite naked –looking up at the sky with mouths open
wide so that the water could run down their throats. “They’re behaving
like savages” I thought disapprovingly, but only for a moment and stripped
off to join in the orgy.
- A.J. Perry (John of Croxley)
T.E.K. - DECEMBER 1955
Bryan Walmsley remember his hut (Hut 19) in the flood of December 1955 at RAOC 10 OD TEK
