The Royal Air Force in the Canal Zone

Airfield Defence

Of all the bases and Armed camps in the Suez Canal Zone during the "Emergency  " 1951-54,  the most difficult to defend (with the exception of 10 BOD )were  the large  airfields with their huge hangers, and long stretches of runways.   This  would mean a Perimeter fence of a few miles and that entailed Searchlights,  and longer patrols by those on guard duty, and like the Army everyone was on  the Guard-duty roster, and took his turn with the members of the RAF Regiment when it came up.  Also the famous "Inlying Pickets"  i.e. a standby in case  the Air-field came under attack.

The Inlying Pickets usually consisted of  armed personnel, who  would take their bedding down to  a waiting area, and  with their rifles beside their beds slept in full Battle-dress , to be on  call in case of emergency.   Should this happen, their job was to protect the  Tent lines and the aircraft, the perimeter fence being protected by those on
guard duty.    It should also be noted that Pilots of the RAF patrolled the  Canal Zone and beyond, day after day, in their Vampire and Meteor Jet  aircraft to ensure no surprise attacks by either the Egyptian Air force or  Army.  The following are some of the many incidents that occurred during the  "Emergency".  But it  puts  everything in correct perspective just how  unstable things were during that time frame.

Rock Apes in the Canal Zone

By Rabbi Burns RAF Regiment

Rabbi served 12 years in the RAF Regiment from 1954 to 1966. He served in Egypt, Cyprus, Aden, UK, Cyprus 2nd Tour, Libya, Malta, UK, Singapore, Borneo, and UK. He was Demobbed April 1966 at RAF Catterick.
The first picture Peter is of myself netting in the 31 set at 0500hrs or first light stand to on El Firdan Airfield in 1955 on an exercise with the Vampires and Canberras of the Middle East air force from Cyprus and Malta and Aden. Who were attacking vulnerable points such as airfields and camps in the Canal Zone and we were providing the Light Anti Aircraft protection this is B3 Gun Position at the north end of the airfield. 34 LAA Squadron, which is the one I was on, was the inner ring of guns and 26 LAA Squadron was the outer ring.
The second picture is of myself on the left and Corporal Jock McLeod on the right and the Face in the Windscreen is  Colin Alen who looks like a mock peering out of a hole in a bad apple. We are holding our breakfast, which consisted of a packet of hard tack biscuits and a tin of bully beef and a tin of cheese with a small tin of mixed fruit jam as a desert. It was taken on the road to the Monastery at Mount Sinai on a run, which was a jolly for the Officers, and their wife's from the Squadron it was about 90 miles from the monastery when this picture was taken. We had just stopped for a brew up and to have breakfast when it was taken and we were about to set up the kitchen for the Zobbits and their wife's

Guard Mounting

On Garry

On Jetty

On Launch

On Launch

"If it moves, shoot it"
by Hamish Campbell RAF

As I approach three Score years and ten, I remember the Suez Canal Zone when I was just a 20 something young RAF clerk.  We lived in tented accommodations for over a year, and I remember that Abu Sueir  was just like a huge Internment Camp. In fact today's prisoners would have it a lot better, than we had it out there .

On Christmas eve 1953, I was on Guard duty when  my guard post came under heavy fire from a  LMG in   Abu Sueir village. Unfortunately that week, the powers that be  decided that our Lee Enfields would be no use against what  was expected  to be  an attack on the Camp, so they gave us Greener Shotguns.  Have you ever fired one of these bastards?

Anyway at 11.50 on Christmas Eve, whilst I was on Beat No 8 someone on the other side of the wire opened up with a Bren.   The rounds were going way over my head, but although I could see  the flashes from the weapon , there was damn all I could do with the stupid Greener.   Any old way, after the station Sirens had had their say, along came the Security Officer, a Flight LT Hemstock, accompanied by the  Education Officer a Flight  Ayres.   They nearly got their Bloody heads  blown off, because by then I was in the "If it moves, shoot it" mode.

Anyway off they went and after a few more mags of LMG fire, and things went quiet I later heard that these two officers went into the village of Abu Sueir, shot the guys ,who were firing into the Camp, and retrieved the stolen Bren. This true story in the RAF  Operation Record (RAF Forn 540), dated around that time.

I have other stories to tell, not the least of which  is of the abysmal conditions in which we lived.  I send this to you in the hope that perhaps, that if I rack my brain I can come up with more Graphic Pictures of what we Veterans had to put up including WOAS.  I have no intention whatsoever  of seeking compensation for trauma, getting shot at, stoned, spat at etc.

Hamish Campbell.


RAF airmen receive infantry weapons training  This is a letter received from John Grant, who served 2 years in the Zone.
 
Soon after my arrival in the Zuez Canal Zone, I found myself  detatched with other "moon-men" on an intensive G.C.T. course, the first of  several, at six-monthly intervals.  The instruction was superb-  WWll veteran 
RAF Regiment Senior NCO's , who treated us as rational adults.   First time  round your rifle was zeroed, after which it was "your" weapon, the one you  always drew for guards, parades etc, and it was re-zeroed on each subsequent  course. 

Musketry was everything, and we fired about 60 rounds per day,  improve, improve, improve.  The same applied to the Bren LMG, and I reckon I could still field-strip one and re-assemble it in the dark. Thus if attacked, RAF  Abyad could muster a defence force of about 4,500 weapon-competent blokes, and our little bit, 205 group- compound, was very organised- we had defensive positions to the East and North (the South and West abutted RAF Fayid.  I was No2 on a Bren Team, but our masters, bless 'em, had set us behind the Rifle Pits, with only a 15 degree arc of fire.  No Communication trenches, just weapon pits.  (Eat your heart out Beau Geste) I cannot argue with the philosophy of "every man a competent rifleman", but what I am whaffling towards if we were merely there to replace local  employees who had withdrawn their labour, why the great stress on soldiering? 

Thinking about it I received more formal weapons training than I ever did 
on my trade, which i learned "on the job" 

John Grant

John was involved with the RAF Bus Transport during his "hitch" in the Canal Zone. More to follow.


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