THE GERMAN DESERTERS WHO JUMPED SHIP IN 1953
As Remembered By Jack Maddox ex: 16 Para Brigade 1951-53
From El Kirsh the Canal is hidden by the dunes and totally invisible from the camp. The passing ships were a constant parade with their funnels and upper decks sailing serenely as it appeared across the sands, north and south, in a single line convoy. The channel here is as its narrowest, a single carriageway, only 200 feet wide between the banks. At El Ballah to the north and the Bitter Lakes to the south the waters were wider and there they anchored to allow those going in the opposite direction to pass. Then the lights changed again and they continued their journey.
During the summer when we ceased work at noon the Canal became our Lido, and we’d spend many hours in the water and viewing the parade of passing ships. The ships were very close to us on the banks of the narrow channel and we shouted ribald comment and jocular abuse at the troopships going southbound for Malaya and Korea.
The northbound evoked a different response. They were going home and triggered different emotions. Instead of “Get your knees brown!” we would call to the lads on deck “Any room for us?” and things like “Tell me ma I’m fine”. As the ships passed and moved on their sterns the name and port of registration came into view. ‘Liverpool’ – my home town.
Because of the narrow width of the Canal at El Kirsh and a relatively shallow draught there was heavy and extreme displacement of water as each ship passed. The water levels at the banks fell and exposed the Canal bottom and then with a rush came roaring in a flood down the sides of the ship as the Canal filled again in its centre. We were generally out of the water when the ships were passing for it was a ‘hairy’ experience if you were not.
We were joined on the banks one day by two escapees from the French Foreign Legion. They were on a trooper going to French Indo China (Viet Nam) where a full scale war was in progress between the French and the Communist Nationalist Army. This would last until 1954 when the French capitulated and withdrew after 100 years of occupation. The Americans with none of their experience and knowledge of the country and who were funding 80% of the cost of French operations there then decided that they themselves could deal better with this perceived Marxist threat. What followed is well chronicled.
Our two new buddies were German and didn’t want anything to do with Indo China and, by jumping into the Canal, were with us in seconds. They knew how badly things were going in Indo China and had decided to desert. The Canal is at its narrowest at El Kirsh and with Brits on the nearby bank it was the last chance they would get. A better chance with the British than the Egyptians they figured. So here we were, altogether in a complex situation. They were illegally in the country. No passports, no visas and in a proscribed zone. To whom should they be delivered? The civil authority was the Egyptians but the Canal Zone was under British authority. The French, who would like them back for return to the Legion, had a Consul in Ismailia but no civil or military authority. The nearest German Consul was at Port Said.
We took them back with us to camp and handed them over to the guard who installed them in the cells whilst they awaited the Duty Officer. The escapees’ English was non existent but one of our NCOs who was married to a German girl was brought in and everything became clear. But what to do?
The matter was referred to Brigade and a sensible solution followed a couple of days later. Meanwhile they joined us for meals and slept in the guardroom
As we were the legal authority in the Canal Zone we had the freedom to go anywhere without any restrictions or hindrance from the Egyptian Police, so our two refugees were taken up the canal road to the Army Transit Camp at Port Said where troops on the move waited for their ships. The problem was now that we had no Germans in transit and these were, from our view – civilians. The German Consul was alerted to the situation and arranged passage for them on the next homeward bound German registered ship arriving in the port. The refugees were delivered to the ship by the Army and sailed away on the next tide.
A lot of rules had been broken but it all ended well. The Peace Treaty with Germany for WWII for example was still unsigned at this time and the status of Germans was unclear. It could have been a further complication but the Army with its traditional low respect for politicians and diplomats had settled the matter in its own way, quietly and satisfactorily. They didn’t really like deserters but neither did they have much respect for the French. The memories of France’s rapid capitulation in 1940, leaving England exposed, was still in the memory.