The Suez Canal Zone of Egypt

Suez Canal,  near El Qantara

British troops had been in Egypt since 1882 and in 1914 the country became a British Protectorate until it gained its independence in 1922, with Britain being
allowed to keep a military presence there.  In 1936 an Anglo-Egyptian treaty was signed which agreed that the British Military should remain in the country but
be concentrated in the Suez Canal Zone area, the Zone effectively remaining in British hands for another 20 years, finally withdrawing completely by July 1956.
Soon after the Second World War, in 1946, the Egyptian government made certain demands for a revision of the 1936 Treaty, one of which was the immediate
withdrawal of all British troops.  This was the time of the ‘Cold War’, with Russia amassing her troops near the Turkish border with a possible threat to the oil
fields in the Gulf, and there was general political unrest all through the Middle East, both of which could threaten the safety of the Canal.  Britain regarded the
protection of the Canal, an international waterway, and the free passage of ships, as being paramount, therefore could not agree to the unreasonable demands
made by the Egyptian government and insisted on complying with the terms agreed to in the 1936 Treaty.

In 1951 the then Egyptian Government unilaterally declared the 1936 treaty void, abrogated it, and ordered its police and troops to start harassing British troops
in the Zone. This harassment escalated into more serious terrorist (‘Fedayeen’) activities against British personnel and property and resulted in the ‘Emergency'
period of October 1951 to October 1954.  The situation became so serious that towards the end of 1951 the garrison in the Zone was increased from about
20,000 troops to 80,000, plus equipment, in just ten days, the swiftest ever build-up by the British Armed Forces in peacetime.  Service families ‘living out’ were
hurriedly evacuated to the safety of guarded camps, or even in some cases, back to Britain.  Some families arriving at that time from the UK on the Troopship
'Empress of Australia' were returned home on the same ship without disembarking.

From 16th October 1951 to 19th October 1954 the troops were on an ‘Active Service’ situation, it was a dangerous time and many lives were lost through
organised terrorist attacks on camps and vehicle convoys, sniping, abductions, murder and sabotage etc.  It is estimated that around 70% of the British Armed
Forces stationed in the Canal Zone during this Emergency period were Conscripts completing their ‘National Service’ and were not fully trained in anti terrorist
fighting. For years it was called by many as ‘The Forgotten War fought by a Forgotten Army’, but in July 2003 the British Government decided that, after a long
campaign by Suez Veterans and their numerous supporters, those who had served in the Canal Zone from 16th October 1951 to 19th October 1954 were to be
awarded the General Service Medal or the Naval General Service Medal with ‘Canal Zone’ clasp, 50 years after the event.  A large proportion of the names included in the Roll of Honour list are entitled to the medal and it is hoped their next of kin will apply to have it awarded.

Because of incomplete records it is doubtful we will ever know the exact number of people killed as the result of terrorist activities. British Service personnel and
members of their Families, Commonwealth troops and Civilians also lost their lives through illness, accidents and disease due to the poor conditions that prevailed.
These persons are included in the list, as also are those Servicemen who were in an aircraft that crashed in Malta, 18th February 1956, killing everyone on board.
These Servicemen were returning home from Egypt on finishing their tour of duty in the Canal Zone. Also listed are the Civilian crew of this plane.  Remembering
the service pesonnel who were abducted and/or killed whilst in the Zone but have no known graves, those of which we have details are also included in the lists.
The names of those who died and were buried in 1955 are included as it is almost certain they would have been stationed in the Canal Zone during the Emergency.

A great amount of research and work has been done to compile and present this list and it is as comprehensive as we can judge. Unfortunately many details of this
period have been 'lost', were never recorded, or are not available to us. We do apologise for any person that has not been listed and for any wrongly spelt names
or typographical errors.

The four cemeteries mentioned in this Roll of Honour are:
The Fayid War Cemetery, The Suez Canal Zone, Egypt. (Listed as - 'Fayid' - in the Cemetery columns.)
The Moascar War Cemetery, The Suez Canal Zone, Egypt. (Listed as - 'Moascar' - in the Cemetery columns.)
The New British Protestant Cemetery,  Cairo, Egypt.
The Military Cemetery, Imtarfa, Malta.

Acknowledgements:
We would like to give our sincere and grateful thanks to the following:
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission for allowing us to re-print names from their data base, also for permission to use their  photographs of the Cairo
and Imtarfa Cemeteries.
Suez Veteran Ted Sparrow for his great help in carrying out extra research and supplying us with the Names collated  into the different Regiments, Corps and Units.
Suez Veterans Evelyn Norton and John Dodd for supplying us with some of the cap badge images, and Mr G. L. D. Alderson, author of  'Cap Badges of the
British Army 1939 -1945' (ISBN 0951421638), for allowing us to reproduce from his book other cap badge images used.
Suez Veteran Tony Tolan for allowing us to use his poem.

Much more of the history, events, personal accounts and pictures of this time in the Suez Canal Zone are published elsewhere on our website.
Aye, John (Jock) Marrs and Richard (Dick) Woolley.
© May 2004.

The Four Cemeteries

   
Fayid War Cemetery.  Suez Canal Zone.


   
Moascar War Cemetery.  Suez Canal Zone.