Journal 2008 - The Journal Royal Highland Fusiliers - The Royal ...

successes slowed down the terrorists for a spell. They didn’t takekindly to losses. If they’d known that Hawkeye was aboard one of thetrucks that one of them bombed, perhaps they wouldn’t have tried.Entertainment at Kantara was almost non-existent due to its location.However morale was always good (you can’t keep a good Jock down).There were some good turns; ie we had a Frank Sinatra, a PerryComo and a budding Andy Cameron – and also our share of chancers;but they all helped to keep things together. The highlight of ourentertainment was our tombola, ably run by WO2 Shortt (I think hehad missed his vocation), and there was a film show once a week andswimming trips to the coast at HQ at Dhavlos. I do not remember anyoutside entertainers coming while I was there.One swimming party got stoned going through a village. Iremember it was Sunday. On the way back it got stoned again,only this time the stones seemed to pass over the transport, andhit some locals sitting outside the taverna and breaking a lot ofwindows. Guess who got the blame for that? Other incidents tookplace with injuries but fortunately no more serious incidents.Back to the TavernaThe taverna was some fifty yards from the guardroom at the entranceto the camp and had a landline which could be hooked up with a fieldtelephone and give us a connection to HQ at Dhavlos. One of my dutieswas to check this weekly, which I always did on a Sunday afternoon.I always went by myself, which in hindsight was very stupid; it wasroutine that got a lot of people killed. However I always took the sparevalve box of the C41 radio with me. It comfortably held a half bottleunder the top layer of valves (this was my introduction to Ouzo).This was a secret I kept to myself for over 40 years until I toldWillie Furey one night. He gave me a row for not telling himthen. It helped me through the nights; I always did the nightshifts as I did not do patrols.I really enjoyed my time at C Coy, a great bunch who I had a lot ofgood times with. The sad times were still to come. Once again I wason the move, this time to A Coy at Mersinniki.Able Company. MersinnikiI moved to A Coy in June 56 and stayed withthem until we left on January 4th 57. I wasrelieving Cpl McDougal who returned toDhavlos. A Coy always considered themselvesthe best Company in the Battalion and Imust admit the longer I was with them themore brainwashed I became. I made manygood friends in A Coy which friendshipshave endured to the present day. A Coywas situated at Mersinniki in a ForestryCommission camp. It was in the pass aboveLefkoniko and on a main road to Famagusta.George Ward on guard.Initially commanded by Major Ottewill, with Lt Mack (not to beconfused with Willie Mack the cook) and 2Lts Best and Maclachlanas his Platoon Commanders, the command later changed to MajorHendry and 2Lts Helm and Mason joined the Company. (MajorHendry even eventually acquired a 2IC, Captain Donnelly, the first ACoy 2IC for over half a year). CSM Stobie had taken the Coy to Cyprusbut after a few months at Mersinniki left for HQ Coy in Dhavlos andwas replaced by CSM Sievewright. Luckily CSjt Ramsay was therethroughout and the Sergeants were Kindness, Kenyon, Hutcheon,Milligan (at least two of whom had been for some time Corporals andActing Pl Sgts). There had also been Sgt Breslin, who left for HQ asProvost Sgt, and Sgt Tervett who left for C Coy. All, with some verycompetent Cpls and LCpls, capably looked after us and our welfare.[Editor: Especially CORPORAL McGrory. When 1 Platoon’s Acting PlSgt, Cpl A D Kenyon (Cushy) was in hospital after his platoon’s ‘visit’ toAkanthou LCpl McGrory took over. As such, he commanded the guard atMersinniki’s gates when 1 Pl was on duty. One day the CO (Lt Col F B BNoble OBE) drove in. The 1 Pl Guard of course presented arms but Freddiedidn’t just touch his bonnet in response. “The Guard Commander should be aFULL Corporal,” he dictated. LCpl McGrory immediately rose in rank.]The Signals Platoon at A Coy wasrepresented by myself, Charlie Shanks,Speedy McDowell and John Pollard.The camp was well situated for our purposeand the terrain was reasonably flat. Therewas a fair amount of activity in the area andthe patrols were kept at it. Patrols continuedaround and well beyond Mersinniki and atleast [Editor: some of (!)] the terrain wasmuch flatter there. However we were nowmoving into the high summer and thetemperature was sometimes hitting 35 deg C,so it was no joke chasing about in that heat.Charlie Shanks.A Coy also had the job of guarding andpatrolling the area of Trikomo Monastery for Speedy McDowell.reasons which I don’t recall. Various incidentsoccurred while I was at A Coy. A swimmingparty was attacked as they drove throughthe Lefkoniko Pass. A bomb was thrownfrom the top of a bluff with no injuriesprobably because the transport was movingapace. Fire was directed at an area and whena party reached the spot blood was found butthe injured had been removed. [Editor: There John Pollard.also was what may have been a separate incident.(It was certainly earlier.) A 1 Pl “swimming party” (allowed to swim IFeach participant would bring back a filled sandbag to heighten the rampartsround the Pl Area) was driving along the coast road when a wired 25-pdrshell was detonated under one of its trucks. (Luckily the latter was a 1-tontruck with an apparently armoured bottom. No one was injured.) Anotherswimming party was bombed while in the water. Fortunately it landedin a stream close to where 2Lt Helm was sitting reading a book. Hewas covered in mud but again fortunately no one was injured. [Atleast one A Coy swimming excursion was interrupted by the detonation of a“bomb”, probably another 25-pdr shell, in the water by means of wire andbattery. One swimmer was quite (or very) near at the time but the water seemsto have blanketed the explosion. At the same time or shortly afterwards aninquisitive and very intrepid soldier fished out a wired but unexploded 25-pdrshell which had been lying on the sea-bottom. This was taken back to camp– and of course immediately blown. (Its demolition, considerably annoyed theIsland’s RAOC Bomb Disposal Squad. Demolition was their territory)]Swimming/bathing parties were by no means routine but werefairly frequent – and usually used the same stretch of beach (withsentries posted on the cliffs or bluffs above). Both the localityand A Coy’s route to it would have both been well-known to thePanhandle terrorists. (Sorry! Freedom fighters!)70 THE ROYAL HIGHLAND FUSILIERS