RAF 128 MU ABU SULTAN - 1954
"THE DEEP SEA DUMPING LARK"
As Remembered By Eric Amies
Just after I got to 128 MU Abu Sultan, all blacklisted bombs etc were being taken 20 miles out into the middle of nowhere and were being blown up. They were loaded onto AEC Matador Bomb Carriers and taken out into the desert – this was a long procedure. So the ‘Powers That Be’ decided they would use 3 Z Craft (old landing craft) and these would be loaded with the bombs at Deversoir and then escorted up to Port Said.
10 of us ‘bods’ had been detailed as “The Dumping Gang” and were attached to the Royal Engineers, 1 W/T Workshops, Port Said. So, as the loaded craft came up the Canal (one every day) my gang would take them out into the Med, way off the shipping lanes and then roll them over the side.
We would sail every morning at 07:00 hrs and dock back in at 19:00 hrs. This gives some indication on how many sea-miles we covered every day.
The first load arrived and we duly went aboard and set sail for the Med. If you can imagine an old craft with a flat bottom, loaded with tons of bombs stacked 3 high, going into deep, deep waters – just the thought of it now makes my toes curl!
Then the ‘Powers That Be’ decided that they would fit a compass and screwed it down in the wheelhouse. But this, of course, was done whilst the craft was loaded. So when we off-loaded out at sea and the craft came up out of the water the compass was useless and we found ourselves going round and round in circles, like a been in a bottle. Somehow we eventually managed to get ourselves back into the shipping lanes. At that time we had a Flying Officer who was in charge. Suddenly he saw a ship coming towards us and said “We’ll make for it” which we did. So there he was, shouting through a loud hailer but somehow he managed to get a bearing for Port Said!!
It was midnight before we docked – Thank you ‘Powers That Be’.
After getting lost in the Med, for all our remaining trips out to sea we were escorted by the sea-going tug board, Tanic II. She too was operated by a crew of Royal Engineers, always sailing on our Port Side, and for several sailings after that things went very well indeed. During the trips out we would be laying on the deck, reading or just chatting.
But one day we were loaded with bombs up front, then lots of cases of 303, followed by boxes of flares – all of course blacklisted.
Somebody came up with the idea that we should empty one of the flare boxes
(which were wooden), hang the box from the stern on a long rope and use the
303 ammo for pot-shots. Nothing wrong this that we all agreed so, there we were,
potting away at this box for several hours until we got near to the dumping
area. Someone then asked the F/O, “what about those flares Sir? Will they
sink?” With no hesitation he said, “Throw one overboard and we shall
soon see”
It must have been around September 1954 when we finally finished the deep sea dumping. It was certainly getting just that little bit rougher out there. People had told me that the Med could be like a mill pool but, on the odd occasion, it could be really rough which we found out one morning when we set sail. We had got about 3 miles out to sea when a gale blew up. The sea was rolling under our flat bottomed Z Craft and picking us up like a cork. The stern was coming right out of the water with the propellers shrieking like billy-oh. We were all of the opinion that “we were not going to make it today!”. We all looked at the F/O (still can’t remember his name) and it was decided that we should return to port. Once again, saved by the bell! The load was taken out the following day.
Thankfully, we returned to Abu Sultan in time for Christmas 1954.
Hopefully there are still some ‘bods’ out there that were in this ‘Gang of Dumpers’. Some names I do remember are: Bachelor from Newcastle, Fletcher from Sheffield, Coney and, of course, my good friend, Jimmy Gardner. Jimmy and I parted as 21 year olds whilst serving in Jordan together but recently met up again in Norfolk after 57 years