205 GROUP HQ RAF ABYAD
MT SECTION 1953-54
As Remembered By Richard (Dick) Woolley
Just before I joined up, my elder brother who had served in the RAF Police, gave me the advice “Get into a trade where you are not always confined to one place”. Having just passed my civilian driving test I managed to get into the RAF as a driver, this, I thought, should be just the job. After the square bashing, being on the Coronation Route Lining Force, which was classed as our flights passing out parade, and having completed trade training, was posted to the Suez Canal Zone and arrived at the MT section of 205 Group HQ RAF Abyad in August 53.
After a few early hiccups: one of which was taking an officer to RAF Fanara and instead of waiting for him I returned to Group HQ straight away, it was a slightly irate officer who later phoned the MT section wanting to know the whereabouts of his transport!! Well, it was my first run and didn’t know then that ‘TCD’ meant ‘Till Completion of Duty’. From then on I soon got to know the ropes and found my way around the Canal Zone. For me, driving around the Zone was far better than being in some workshop or office all the time. I was pleased to have taken my brothers advice. Thanks to the RAF I was seeing places and things I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. I was enjoying it. There was one particular transport run that was much sought after by the drivers, one that was usually given in turn to those who had really got their knees brown.
During the summer months, there was an RAF rest camp by the Gulf of Suez for
officers and their families. Depending on the conditions at the time, this could
either be at Ain Sukhna, or Bir Udeib. On two occasions when deciding which
site to open for the summer, the beach at Ain Sukhna was covered in black sand
flies so Bir Udeib was favorite. Whilst the officers had to pay to stay at the
camp, drivers stayed there for free. In fact because it was treated as a non
official duty run as opposed to official RAF duties, we were actually paid extra
for it. The normal routine was to go down soon after work on Fridays and return
Sunday evening. Some of the officers gave us a tip, never a large amount, but,
“Here lad, get yourself a few drinks while we are down here”. RAF
Bir Udeib was built between the shore of the Gulf and the cliffs, and because
the camp was not permanent, it was, like a lot of camps, all under canvas. When
the drivers had off loaded the passengers and their baggage, we had no more
duties to carry out until time to return to our unit. The time then was our
own.
Did you notice how MT sections had a certain smell of their own, a mixture
of hot rubber, oil, diesel, petrol and sand? I sometimes experience this smell
now on a hot day when I’m near vehicles, it triggers off many happy memories
of my time in the Canal Zone.
In 2001 I searched these two places on the Internet – Ain Sukhna
is now a busy port and Bir Udeib is a very popular holiday resort....................
A lot can happen in 46 years!!