RAF 107 MU KASFAREET 1950-52

"9EE DRAFT - DESTINATION EGYPT"

As Remembered By Michael A.J. Scarrott

The sea was calm and smooth as the troopship M.V. Empire Pride made her way to the smudge on the horizon, which grew larger every minute. As we drew close to the shore the ship slowed down, a pilot boat came alongside and a pilot came on board to guide us through the entrance of the Suez Canal. The pilot took us past Ferdinand de Lesseps, a statue standing on the right hand side of the canal watching the ships arriving and departing from Port Said. We anchored opposite Simon Artz, which I found out later was a large store selling just about anything that was pricey. Another familiar figure was close to our mooring, an illuminated figure of Johnny Walker, the time was 16:30 hrs. We were warned to keep an eye on our belongings and not to take photographs. Armed Egyptian police came on board and walked about the different decks.

At 17:30 hrs, we were queuing up to get our money changed into local currency, Piastres but called ‘ackers’ by all servicemen. By 18:30 hrs it was dark but that didn’t stop the natives in their bum boats selling their wares. Various smells came wafting over the ship with the evening breeze, burnt diesel oil, hot cooking oil and aromatic incense. Horse drawn vehicles were going up and down the road, a wire chain mesh fence ran the whole length of the water front and every twenty yards there was an armed guard dressed in a multitude of uniforms – khaki, blue, and white, police, army or what? During the hours of darkness the area was lit up by floodlights. Inside the enclosure were some chandlers stores with their owners names on which looked familiar, mostly British show business names – one I can still remember was ‘George Formby’. The hour was late as we went below deck to find our hammocks. I crawled on hands and knees under hammocks swinging at different heights above my head. I found my hammock without any trouble, laid out underneath our mess table where I’d slept every night of the voyage.

Friday, 10th March, reveille was at 03:45 hrs, after a wash and shave hammocks were rolled up and handed in, we were given a chitty in exchange. Breakfast was at 05:00 hrs. The RAF disembarked at 06:45 hrs and one unfortunate airman dropped his kitbag whilst going down the steps and it fell into the drink. At the bottom of the steps, LCT’s were waiting and boarding them in the choppy water was very dicey while juggling with two kitbags.

We were ferried to the dockside where we were paraded in full marching order, next to a field of grass which was being rolled by a big roller pulled by a lot of Arabs – when they reached the end of the field they stopped and the Rais man had to use his whip to them moving again. To see grass in Egypt was an unusual sight, but this was a cricket pitch for the Army stationed at Port Said.

A flight sergeant came and told us to shut up and listen, the following personnel are posted to Deversoir, fall in here, then followed various other camps in the Canal Zone – Abu Sultan, Abu Sueir, Fayid, El Hamra, then Kasfareet at which a loud booing commenced, whereupon the F/Sgt said “hold on a minute, it’s not as bad as it’s painted, I’ve been there”. He then commenced to call out the names on his list, “Ashenhurst, Budge, Sheppard…….” The list seemed unending.

We were then marched to a railway siding where we sat down on our kitbags. We heard a train coming and turned to see a steam engine belching black smoke out of its chimney stack, the wheels were whizzing round but not gripping the track. We boarded the train and were warned to be careful using the toilet, as what went down was liable to come back as the toilet was over the axle. As the train clattered along we passed palm trees, cactus and mud huts, we saw scruffy looking cows and some camels. We stopped at every station along the track, scruffy dirty natives of all types came to beg, steal or sell, shouting “backsheesh, backsheesh”, then we were on the move again. We would see ships gliding through the sand dunes and we were told the canal ran parallel to the railway but we couldn’t see it.

Our last stop was in the middle of nowhere. As we got off the train a convoy of vehicles appeared and formed a circle. Airmen armed with Sten guns jumped down from the cabs and ordered us to get aboard the vehicle quickly. As the convoy began to move, clouds of dust and sand rose into the air from the trackless desert. We soon reached the road and the ride was much smoother. We were travelling alongside the railway. I saw barbed wire fences on both sides of the railway, every so often there were towers with searchlights in them. We came to a level crossing with a chain stretched across it, an Arab dressed in rags came out of a hut made from old large corned beef tins he took the chain down and we crossed over the railway track and came to the main gate of 107 MU Kasfareet. We drove straight to the square in the centre of the camp.

As we disembarked from the vehicles I could see airmen leaving the cookhouse carrying mugs of tea. An airman came onto the square with a bugle, played a fanfare and shouted “Hooray! More guards!”

This was to be my home for the next two and a half years. 10th March 1950 to 7th July 1952

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