SNOW IN THE CANAL ZONE?
YES, IT DID SNOW!
Charles Agar ex: RAF Dog Handler writes: - We only had snow in the Zone in January 1949 unless there was more there after mid-January 1950 when I left for Iraq. They reckoned it was the first time in 70 years but I think it was all guess-work as most Egyptians couldn’t accurately tell you their own age!
Des Bowen 1951 writes: - Yes, I remember the snow falling in Egypt. I was in RAF Abu Sueir at the time and in our billet, probably off duty as we worked 24 hour shifts in Signals, when a shout came from outside, “Hey, it’s snowing!”
Oh Yeah! Pull the other one, we all thought and then somebody looked out the window. “He’s right, it is!” We all dashed outside to see this rare sight, for Egypt anyway!
The next day, Abdul, our bearer, said that the people in the village dropped to their knees either in fright or thanking God for this rare and beautiful sight. He didn’t, he said, because he was Christian and didn’t do such things!
Another time, (I don’t remember when) we had a big storm. For two days beforehand the sky turned black and then came the rain, so hard we wondered if the roof of the billet was going to fall in. Then came the hail and finally the lightning and thunder. It went on all day and into the night. This time the local village was washed away because the houses were made of mud. I don’t remember how we got down to the Signals Centre to work or to the Mess for meals but we must have and I doubt if we had waterproofs (or maybe we did).
Ian Wright ex: REME/3 RHA writes: - “Snow in the Canal Zone”. It snowed in the winter of 1954-55, just for an hour or two. Glad to see it also snowed in 1951. When I tell of my experience nobdy believes me!