May National Service continued (Final)
I still had one little skirmish with the army. I received a letter with a money order detailing what was due to me, and saying that this was "in full and final settlement". I immediately wrote a letter back on the lines "like heck it is". I don't know why I did it, but when I was made up to full corporal I made a note of the date and number of the regimental daily order on which it was published. I had never received any extra pay for this promotion, and the "final payment" made no mention of it. The fact that I was able to quote this information meant that I received another money order literally by return of post, bringing matters to a satisfactory close.
Chapter Seven
There are two "happenings" missing from this narrative, mainly due to the fact that I cannot recall exactly when they took place, although the memory of them is very distinct. The first of these was rather unpleasant. I was due to be on guard duty that evening and I was preparing my uniform ready for the guard mounting parade and realised that I was becoming very "woozy" - almost to the stage of being unconscious. Someone fetched the orderly sergeant who told me to report to the medical room as "special sick". I managed to get there, but found the room locked, so I just sat on the step feeling very sorry for myself. Eventually an orderly arrived to prepare for the next sick parade, and immediately telephoned for the medical officer, who arrived quite quickly. He told me that I had malaria and would have to go to the GHQ hospital. He then left, and I was in the hands of the orderly who, after making many phone calls, told me that he could not get any transport and I would have to make my own way about a mile up the road to the hospital. I think I answered him in a civil manner but he got the message that I was not capable of walking and I would sit there until someone came to fetch me It was not too long afterwards that a small truck arrived to give me a rather jolting ride to hospital.
When we first arrived in Egypt it was a malaria free zone, but after about six months we were all issued with mosquito nets which we were ordered to use for our sleeping, and given further instructions as to how we should avoid being bitten. Obviously, the mosquitoes were sometimes ahead of the game - despite rolling my sleeves down and covering myself up, I think I got the "bite" when kipping down for an hour on night duty at the telephone exchange. I have to say I was well looked after in hospital There were six of us in this small ward, and our days were ruled by a rather attractive matron with flaming red hair. Obviously there was a bit of banter between us and matron, but we soldiers knew how far we could go, because the question of rank came into things - after all, she carried the shoulder-crown of major so in the end what she said was law!
I don't remember how long I was in hospital, but the period following discharge was bliss! Two weeks of "excused all duties" including correct dress, followed by a further two weeks of "light duties". I quite relished relaxing on my bed during the day, when the orderly sergeant came on his inspection of the lines and as far as he was concerned I was untouchable. One day he came accompanied by the regimental sergeant-major, and it was obvious that not being able to criticize me went very much against the grain.
The second "happening" was leave. There wasn't much of this on offer during my time - we were always being told that leave was a privilege, not a right. Occasionally there were periods when leave was available in Cairo, but this wasn't regular due to the fact that conditions there were not always of the best for British soldiers - even in those days there was quite a bit of anti-British feeling. There were a few conditions if you were successful in getting this leave, the most obvious being that you had to wear civilian clothes at all times. You were not to go alone, and all the passes were issued in pairs. You also had to stay at one of the nominated approved hotels. One of the friends on my shift and I applied for a week in Cairo, and it was eventually granted. We were issued with all the paperwork and rail passes, and then a couple of days before our departure my friend informed me that a course he was booked for had been brought forward and he was off on that. Somewhat deflated, I wondered what to do and decided that as I had all the documents in my hands I would go alone. I did wonder if there would be any comebacks on my return, but that wasn't my uppermost thought at the time.
Early on the departure morning I was at the little railway platform, and mounted the incoming train, bound for Cairo The only other person in the carriage was a well dressed "business" man, complete with briefcase. It was not long before I was taken back to that first train ride when we had just arrived in Egypt and some of the soldiers were being skillfully relieved of their wrist-watches. Every so often, an Arab "urchin" would come into the carriage and silently offer the "business man" a watch. He would carefully examine it and reach into his brief case and give the boy a few coins. This continued throughout the journey, and I deemed it prudent to be permanently looking in another direction each time the corridor door opened!
My first impression of Cairo was the huge railway station, with vast tiled walls. It took me a while to find my way out of it, and found what looked to be a respectable taxi to take me to my nominated hotel. Fortunately all the staff spoke English, and a young Sudanese house-boy took me under his wing and introduced me to some of the other guests. This hotel was used as a "rest and relaxation" place for BOAC staff (there's a name from the past - British Overseas Aircraft Corporation). They stayed there for a short while before changing their flights and rostas. It was here that I met Anita, a BOAC stewardess who was having a three day break before changing from internal African flights to a Far Eastern one. Anita had a Greek father and a French mother, and I have to admit the resulting mix was quite attractive! Whenever the name Anita is mentioned I get a quizzical look from my wife Betty, and I don't think she believes me when I say that the main attraction of knowing Anita was that she arranged for me to have the use of a BOAC car, complete with chauffeur. My little Sudanese friend arranged a guide for me, and so I was able to tour Cairo in style, with the climax being a visit to the Sphinx and Pyramids. When I see this great wonder of the world on TV today, I am appalled. There are of course hundreds of tourists, but the tarmac roads, the bus-parks, the complete commercial exploitation of it all - it makes me appreciate that I saw it then, and I would never want to go back. In the late 1940's it was all in its natural state - all in the windy desert. The only other people I saw beside my guide was another Arab on a camel, and in the distance a shepherd with half-a-dozen sheep at a small well. I was able to explore at will, without constraint, although of course at that time the tombs were not opened up for visiting. Just wandering around I was able to think of how it would be all those centuries ago and I really got the feel of the place. How todays visitors get any inspiration from how it is presented now I do not know. To have a further night-time visit and to see it again, but under the wonderful Egyptian clear, starry sky was an experience almost out of this world. Like all holidays it was soon back to earth with a bump, and a return to the regular army routine.
Chapter Eight
There shouldn't really be another chapter to this story, but the army had a nasty sting in its tail - it hadn't finished with me. When I received my demob papers I was informed that I had been placed on the "Z Reserve". This was the norm for all National Servicemen - we didn't really think much about it, we realised that in theory we could be quickly recalled back into service, but we didn't expect it to happen, but for me it did.
The carve-up of territory after World War Two left some unsatisfactory situations, and one of these was the country of Korea. Korea was divided in half with Russia having control of the North, and the Americans the South. This meant that North Korea became an armed communist state, whilst South Korea went the democratic way. In 1950 North Korea, with the backing of the Chinese tried to unify the country by crossing the fixed border and invading the South. Britain and America were alarmed that this could develop into a major conflict affecting further areas and gave its full backing to resisting this invasion. Large numbers of British troops were committed to fighting in Korea which left our forces somewhat depleted in other hotspots of the world, and the government decided on the recall of some of the Z Reserve. It was not intended that they should be full combat troops, but rather that they would be trained so that they could quickly take over the jobs of regular soldiers in this country, freeing them for overseas. So it was that the name of "Jordan" was pulled out of the hat!
I was ordered to report to a camp in Dorset for two weeks during that summer. My employer was half expecting this to happen, so he was not surprised. I don't know if he was happy with the government instruction that he had to pay me for those two weeks. Arriving in Dorset, the small number of us brought to the camp found that we had been attached to the Territorial Army who were on their annual two week training. We were the first of the recalled Z Reserve, and I don't think they really knew what to do with us. During that two weeks we appeared to be connected to those responsible for defence of attack from the air of southern Britain. We spent a considerable amount of time in control rooms which plotted the position of aircraft, but never really did much actual work. We had the usual parades and weapon training, but it was all a bit half-hearted and we felt that all the time it was a case of "what shall we do with them next?". I understand that later on they got this Z recall more organised and subsequent returning soldiers had quite a hard time of it during their fortnight.
As for us, it had been decided that the "training" would end with a big exercise. I cannot recall what it was all supposed to be about, but for myself and another member of the group, we were to be installed in a remote field with a portable 20 line switch-board, and pass messages from one section to another. Early in the morning we were taken in a truck with our switchboard and the driver and his mate connected it up to wires that had been thrown out into the hedgerows the day before and we were told that we would be picked up in the evening. It was a glorious day, and we decided to make the most of it and we would divide our time into two shifts. If things got hectic, the second member could be brought back into the fray. Soon after our arrival the buzzer sounded on the board, but answering the line concerned there appeared to be no-one there. For the rest of the day, nothing happened at all - not a call. I don't know if the wires were cut in some distant field, if there was something wrong with the board, or if the exercise evolved so that we were not required. My abiding memory therefore of my recall into the army in 1950 was laying back on the grass on a warm sunny day with blue skies, overlooking the fantastic beauty of Lulworth Cove. The perfect way to end my National Service!
Afterthoughts
In those post-war years it was accepted that we would all be serving for two years in the armed forces. It was an unsettling time, because it meant that a lot of us never really settled down to deciding on our future working life. Between leaving school and our call-up, it was a bit of a wasted period because we felt that we had to get this National Service out of the way. However, we had no choice and looking back on it now I have to ask what influence did it have on me? I think that for me, and a lot of others, it meant that we grew up quickly. It was a rapid transition from teenager to man. At the time we felt it to be an annoying disruption to our lives, and the one thought was "let's get this out of the way and back to a normal routine". So - did I regret it? The answer is probably surprising - No! It was a time of comradeship, a concentration of learning, dealing with undreamt of situations, a feeling that at least in my particular sphere I was doing something useful. I met men from every walk of life, all becoming as one when in uniform, I saw places and was put in situations that would not have happened but for the army.
At the time we were all longing for that boat to take us back home, but looking back on it now I appreciate my time as a National Serviceman. I could have done without the dysentery and the malaria - the aftermath of these affected me for a number of years afterwards, but in the main it wasn't a bad period of my life at all.
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Opening chapters
Chapters 2 and 3
Chapters 4 and 5
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