OPERATIONS BY THE ROYALS 1951-52
As Remembered
By Desmond Stickland – ex: Royal Dragoons 1st Btn 1950-52
On 12th October 1951, the Egyptian Parliament announced that they intended in the near future to abrogate the Treaty. There had been threats of this during the past year and plans were in existence for dealing with any civil disturbances. On the 15th October, R.H.Q. moved out in the evening on a Regimental exercise. At about 22:00 hrs. a message was received from Camp stating that stage 'I' of the order to take various security precautions was imminent. By midnight it was clear that the situation was rapidly deteriorating and arrangements were made to return to camp. By 08:00 hrs in the morning, stage 1, 2 and 3 had been implemented and ‘A’ Sqdn left camp for Ismailia for duties in the area of Port Said and Ismailia. All those on leave were recalled. ‘C’ Sqdn courses were stopped and instructions given that ‘C’ Sqdn should convert themselves forthwith to a Sabre Sqdn. By 10:00 hrs. information was received that serious rioting was taking place in Ismailia and that the NAAFI had been destroyed and attacks made on British property. Unfortunately ‘A’ Sqdn, although close to the scene of the riots, were not in touch yet with the Brigade HQ and were ignorant of the event. During the day Crusader Force was formed from Regimental HQ, with under command one Battery Fld. Regt., one Company Inf. Fld. Amb. and Detachment REME. In the afternoon instructions were received to evacuate immediately all families from Suez and to accommodate them in unit lines.
On the evening of the 18th October 1951 information was received that the Egyptian Army had sent a force containing some tanks northwards across the railway line in the area of Ribeiqui Station and Crusader Force was ordered out to establish a screen to protect the north-west side of the Fayid area. The force assembled in the area north of Fayid airport during the night and at first light guns registered targets in the desert and the RAF dropped leaflets instructing the Egyptians to withdraw immediately to the Erskine line. By 1300 hrs they had complied and Crusader Force returned to camp. During the next fortnight all local labour gradually withdrew, throwing a heavy burden on the British troops in the Zone. There were occasional attacks in the Ismailia area and ‘A’ Sqdn was fully employed guarding roads and line communications in this area.
On the 9th November, ‘B’ Sqdn moved to Ferry Point to relieve ‘A’ Sqdn and on the 12th November they had their first engagement when one troop which was doing escort to convoys between Ismailia and TEK was ambushed three times. They returned the fire and no damage was done. The situation deteriorated during the next week and it was decided to evacuate all British families from Ismailia. This was a considerable undertaking as there were approx. 600. ‘B’ Sqdn assisted in the evacuation and was also involved with riots in the town on the 17th and 18th November. On the 26th November ‘B’ Sqdn returned to the Regiment and was replaced by ‘C’ Sqdn who were fully organised as a Sabre Sqdn of 4 Sabre Troops. Instead of the period of rest which ‘B’ Sqdn had hoped for they found themselves engaged in the Suez area between the 5th and 10th December as a result of Egyptian attacks on the filtration plant in Suez. The whole Sqdn was placed under command of Wilforce, while one troop of ‘A’ Sqdn assisted in the cordoning of Suez. The period over Christmas and the New Year was fortunately quiet and ‘A’ Sqdn relieved ‘C’ Sqdn at Ferry Point on the 17th December During this period ‘A’ Sqdn were heavily committed with one troop in Port Said working with HMS Gambia and the remainder engaged in line patrols or within Ismailia. The line patrols were a thankless task which consisted of patrolling by night on the cable routes and endeavouring to prevent the Egyptians from digging them up and stealing the cable.
During the night of 17th December a bomb was thrown at an RMP Jeep near the Caracol. An officer was killed and the Jeep wrecked. Heavy fire was also directed at the party by Police inside the Caracol. One troop was ordered to recover the Jeep and report on the situation. Heavy firing was directed at the Troop until silenced by Besa and 2 pounder directed against the Caracol. The Jeep was then recovered and after another exchange of fire the Troop withdrew.
Another Troop was sent out to rescue an RAF convoy which was under fire along the TEK road, a short encounter ensued using 2 pounder and Besa, and the convoy escorted to safety. During this encounter the Fitters were en route to assist, and passing through Ismailia, fire was directed at them from a Mosque, this was returned with two Bren guns which silenced the snipers completely. Damage to the building testified to their accuracy. On 13th January 1952 there was an organised attack on BTE and the Sqdn was called out and fired their Besas for some period before quiet was restored.
On 15th January, 4 Troop of ‘B’ Sqdn under command of a Guards Battalion carried out a search of El Hammanda, a village near TEK where they were greeted with heavy small arms fire. The vehicles of the Troop leading the attack were heavily engaged and Trooper Ross, the driver of an armoured car, was slightly wounded. As a result of the operation they captured and disarmed 140 Egyptian Police, together with a Major-General of the Egyptian Police and his staff, who had unwisely chosen that day to come up from Cairo to inspect the unit.
On 19th January at 14:30 hrs. a huge bomb, concealed in a street barrow, was exploded on the YMCA bridge. A Troop of ‘B’ Sqdn engaged and accounted for three Egyptians. Later in the afternoon an armoured car was damaged by a bomb thrown from the convent in which Sister Anthony had been murdered by an Egyptian just previously. As a result of this a large scale search and clearance of part of the Allied Quarter of Ismailia was carried out on 20th and 21st January. The Para. Brigade conducted it, assisted by ‘B’ Sqdn, and as a result 12 Egyptians were killed or captured and about 80,000 rounds of 14mm ammunition, which had recently been stolen from the BAD, were recovered.
As a result of the deterioration in the general situation it was decided to disarm all the Egyptian Police. This operation was known as “Operation Eagle” and had been prepared two months previously. The Police and auxiliaries were stationed in the Caracol and also in the Bureau Sanitaire. Infantry & tanks approached the latter at 06:00 hrs. on the morning of 24th January with a troop of ‘B’ Sqdn in support. An ultimatum to lay down their arms was rejected and fighting started at 06:45 hrs. and continued until 10:00 hrs., at which time an infantry assault covered by tanks and armoured cars stormed the buildings. Casualties in this were 40 Egyptians killed, 12 wounded and 600 prisoners; the British casualties were 3 killed and 12 wounded. In the Caracol, although the ultimatum was rejected at 06:30 hrs. and heavy firing opened, the building finally surrendered with small casualties, only one being killed, 4 wounded and 500 taken prisoner. It was a direct result of Operation Eagle that caused the riots in Cairo on 26th January with heavy loss of life and destruction of property. Although British Forces did not intervene in the Delta on this occasion, ‘A’ Sqdn moved out in preparation to occupy Cairo in conjunction with an Infantry Division and remained at short notice to move until the 10th February.
Throughout the period from October to February, although the main activity was in the Ismailia area, a vast amount of hard work was put in at camp by R.H.Q. and the LAD and Signals. A large number of extra fatigues such as running Transit Camps, establishing road blocks, and doing local line patrols had to be performed. In addition many of the Regimental vehicles were doing large mileages and in some cases 100 miles a day. Only by working long hours and frequently at night was it possible to keep all squadrons on the road. The Regiment at times was split from Suez to Port Said with Sqdns under the command of two separate Divisions, so that the Colonel had to cover a large area when visiting squadrons.