Weekly Update No 2

Progress this week could be summed up as, "slow and steady". I have managed to steer away from EOKA and concentrated a little more on the Second World War.

I came across a very interesting forum, the link to it is here:

http://www.ww2talk.com/

And from there I have managed to make contact with individuals or their families who Spent time on Cyprus during the War.

Material from that line of research will be slower maturing, but I will place something on here in good time.

The promised material from Owen Roberts arrived, and I enjoyed looking through it. Owen joined 105 Battery, part of 31 Fd Regt RA in Cyprus in November 1942. The Regiment had been badly beaten up at the Battle of Alem Hamza. The Regiment had acquitted themselves well, but had been overrun by Axis Forces and suffered heavy losses. Many of the soldiers from the Regiment had been taken POW and you can read a very brief account of the adventures of one of them, Sir William Bulmer, who'd been a Troop Commander with 31 Fd Regt RA, in his obituary here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9803712/Sir-William-Bulmer.html

In any case, Owen joined the Regiment as they were licking their wounds and his materials contain two items, extracts from a book that he wrote called "31st Field Regiment RA, A Record", still available on Amazon at £14.55. Followed by extracts from "On Two Fronts", by Antoinette Moat, again, still available on Amazon at £7.52. This is an account of her Father's career, Major Arthur Galetti RA, who arrived in Cyprus in the spring of 1942 and assumed Command of 105 Battery. Major Galetti would be killed in action the following year, winning a posthumous MC.

I cannot place extracts from Antoinette Moat's book on here, as I need to contact her first for permission, but Owen is happy for me to freely use extracts from his publication. I pulled two short items from the material he sent me. The first paragraph is a brief description of the Island as he remembers it, and another brief paragraph that shows the effect the island had on war weary soldiers.

Then a British Colony, Cyprus is some 120 miles long and 50 miles across at its widest point; it lies about 60 miles South of Turkish Asia Minor and 100 miles West of Syria. At the time its population was predominantly of Greek origin, with a minority coming from Turkey. It is a mountainous island - the Troodos Mountains dominate the western half and there is an extensive highland backbone along the North Coastline - with fertile plains; it has a pleasant climate, winters have warm days and cold nights and the summers are very hot. It has exotic colouring and everywhere there are groves of orange, lemon and olive trees, intermingled with grape vines. The uplands are well wooded and it has the spicy fragrance (text indecipherable) of so many of the Mediterranean Countries.

To the Regiment, following its near destruction at Alem Hamza and the subsequent remarkable escape of its remnants from Benghazi, Cyprus was indeed heaven. Instead of the previous plan, which had scattered the defenders in small groups covering the ports and beaches, General Tuker concentrated his forces in a central position to provision and ammunition the colony, to withstand seige and to use the Troodos mountain block as a defence ‘keep’. A diverging system of roads linked the central plain with all likely invasion beaches, so allowing reserves to be moved quickly against any invader.

“Owen Roberts, 31 Field Regiment RA, A Record”

Any soldier who has spent time in night ambushes, whether for real or on exercise will recall the smells of Cyprus on a warm summer night. I'm no spice expert, but the smell of sage or thyme can take me back in an instance.

So a picture of Cyprus during the Second World War is starting to emerge, as a place that was used to allow troops to requip, train and regain their strength, before moving into more intense theatres in North Africa. Apart from a short period after the fall of Crete where the threat of invasion became almost a reality.

I also trawled the Imperial War Museum archive and found some interesting photographs,the link is here:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search?query=Cyprus&submit=&items_per_page=10

My daughter is at University in London, and she has agreed to be my research assistant, paid of course, (there is nothing so mercenary as a starving student). Her first task will be to trawl through specific Regimental War Diaries, housed at the National Archive at Kew, I'm not sure if she knows what she is letting herself in for.

Weekly Update Number 1 - Slightly Late!

My intention was to submit an update Blog every week, to inform everyone as to the progress being made, (or not), and highlight any stumbling blocks, however fate intervened last week, in the shape of a new job, preventing me from putting finger to keyboard - apologies.

Firstly I received 4 or 5 responses to the small advertisement I had placed in Gunner Magazine from individuals who had served in Cyprus and were willing to share their experiences with me. Emails moved back and forth and I then received a submission from "Tam", a former 26 Regt RA Sgt who had been on the way to Aquaba as part of the "Firefighting" Brigade, where, having staged to equip and train in Cyprus, were then diverted to help with the EOKA campaign. I will publish excerpts from his very interesting story here eventually, but like all things I need to do some cross-referencing to make sure our facts are correct before doing so.

I had also received an email from a former 31 Fd Regt Soldier, (Owen), who served during the Second World War from 1942 - 1945. Owen joined his Regiment in Cyprus where they had been withdrawn after receiving a severe mauling by the Afrika Corps at the battle of Alem Hamza. Since his email we have spoken on the phone and he has placed in the post several photographs and an account of his experiences which I not only look forward to reading, but sharing with everyone else. I would love to get to meet him and may attempt to do so later in the year.

My research efforts in the last two weeks seem to have become EOKA focussed - that is where the wealth of material exists on the internet, and very interesting, (and in some cases incredibly sad), it is too. I am conscious however that I am not writing a story about the Gunners versus General Grivas, but something with a wider context.

However! Firstly there is a very interesting and informative site on the internet, who's editor has put together pages that gather history and anecdotes from former servicemen who have served all over the world since WWII, and well worth a browse for any of you, who like me, have been involved in conflicts from Northern Ireland to Bosnia, to Afghanistan. The link to the Cyprus page is here:

http://www.britains-smallwars.com/cyprus/index.html

I spent some time combing this site, and having been given permission by James the editor, I have manipulated their databases, extracting the information relevant to the Gunner story.

The first database covers those Gunners who died during the EOKA conflict. The conflict is said to have commenced on the 1st of April 1955 and finished on the 1st of December 1959 when a ceasefire was agreed.

This database can be found by following this link

Roll of Honour

And my thanks go to to David Carter who complied the original list.

This list does have holes in it and if you can help with filling them in please do not hesitate to get in touch. I'm also grateful to another website lastrp.com and David Hamilton the author. David has very kindly allowed me to use material from his website in my research, and again his very informative website is well worth a visit.

I have been attempting to compile a list of British Army units stationed in Cyprus, and will publish a list when I have more meat on the bones - to date it is full of holes and I would be loathe to put it out for public inspection - I do feel a trip to the Royal Artillery Museum coming on though.

Britain's Small Wars website did allow me to compile a complete list of those Gunner units who have served under the UNFICYP umbrella, and my compiled list can be found here:

UNFICYP, RA Units

The final little gem I came across was a website dedicated to those Gunners who served in 188 Radar and Searchlight Battery RA. The compiler, David Nicholas has, again, very kindly allowed me to use material from his site in my research.

188 Radar and Searchlight Battery RA

This site allowed me to make contact with several former members who served in Cyprus, and again, I look forward to reading their story.

So, two weeks worth of research, but I have lots of ground still to cover, I'll report back, God willing, next week. I leave you with the image below which shows the main gate of "Ubique" Camp, 188 Battery Headquarters Cyprus, (Thanks to David Nicholas and John Wood).

Introduction - (Draft for comment)

So why would a Gunner be interested in Cyprus? Well, I think it is fair to say that my association with the Island has lasted for all of my Army Career. In my time I've swam in it's blue waters, hiked across it's demanding and extensive mountain range. Performed badly on ski's at its highest point, met some wonderful people either side of its divided border and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of soldiering in this sunshine paradise.

My fascination, however, did not start from my first arrival at RAF Akrotiri. It began much earlier than that, at the age of 13 when I was allowed, finally, to join the Hinckley Squadron of the Air Cadets. Spaced evenly down the Nissan Hut walls were several RAF recruiting posters, and I would often find myself standing in front of one particular image. The scene is an aircraft "pan", bathed in hot sunshine. In the background are the blue waters of the Mediterranean  which serve to frame that venerable warrior of the Cold-War, the "English Electric Lightening". In the immediate foreground is an image of an Airman sporting desert boots, khaki socks pulled to the knee and those off grey shorts so beloved of the RAF. He is shirtless with a great sun-tan, and screwdriver in hand is engrossed in doing something technical to the inner workings of another Lightening.

It wasn't the task in hand that fascinated, it was more to do with the "Sunshine" nature of the posting, next to that impossibly blue water - now that's living.

Once I joined the Army and The Royal Regiment, my first overseas trip was to Cyprus. I stepped down from a C130 Hercules at RAF Akrotiri into an early Autumn sunset, where the temperature was still a balmy 70 degrees fahrenheit. RAF personnel stood about dressed in those self same desert boots, knee high socks, and lightweight shorts and shirts, a mode of dress I never actually managed to rise too. This was Exercise "MOONBASE", later to become "LION-SUN", (more on this later), and designed to last for about 4 - 6 weeks, making the most of the training opportunities that the Island has to offer.

I have since calculated that I have spent almost two and a half years in Cyprus, made up of "LION-SUN", two tours with the UN and an attachment to Headquarters British Forces Cyprus, (HQBFC), in order to deliver training to staff there.

But let me take you back to  my original question above. Unlike other locations that I have served; Gibraltar, Hong-Kong etc. The Gunner presence is indistinct and hard to find. In Gibraltar, Guns and Gunners are, quite literally, "Ubique", (everywhere for those of you who escaped latin at school), and the same could be said for Hong-Kong at one time, (perhaps not now). Yet how can this be of Cyprus, which occupies a key strategic location in the Mediterranean and for this reason would have to be heavily defended - and such defence will always include Guns, Artillery is the King of the Battlefield after all. Additionally, there is no doubt that Gunners have bled and died on that island, as witnessed by the gravestones at Wayne's Keep Military Cemetery. And yet the presence is muted, if apparent at all, and it is this story I wish to uncover.

So join me - comment, collaborate, submit, criticise as you will - all are welcome, but I promise no accolades at the end - an acknowledgement at best, but another chapter of Gunner History is recorded before it is too late.

Welcome

Welcome to my Blog! The Blog is aimed at those individuals young or old, military or ex-military and even the odd civilian, who wishes to contribute to my writing project aimed at recording the History of The Royal Regiment of Artillery in Cyprus, from around 1916 to the present date.

On these pages I intend to publish interesting anecdotes as they arrive, photographs and links to those pages deemed relevant. It will also serve to update contributors, of which I hope their may be one or two, as to the progress of the finished article/pamphlet/book/tome, depending on quantity and quality.

Positive comments and criticism will always be welcome.

"Ubique"