'SUEZ VETERANS ASSOCIATION'
A page for reports and photos showing what overseas members get up to.
| My name is Tolan -Tony Tolan - and
as the SVA Overseas Representative I do my best to keep in contact with
all the members living outside the UK with news and views. We
have members living in Australia - Canada - Denmark - France - Germany
- Holland - Japan - Nepal - New Zealand - Spain - Portugal - and the
United States. A lot of you already know me from letters on the
Forum pages of both the SVA and the 'The Suppressed Story' websites so
I will be keeping in contact with some old friends. If there is anyone living outside the UK who served in the Suez Canal Zone and are not members of the SVA then you are welcome to join the Association for its benefits and to share your interesting news and thoughts etc with us. I will be putting some input onto this page so I hope we can go forward together. I won't be supplying free trips to Blighty to see Manchester United play Chelsea, or Accrington Stanley play Morecambe, but I will be letting you have some goodies from time to time. My e-mail address is tony_tolan@yahoo.co.uk and I look forward to hearing from you. Take care and God Bless. Tony. Click on the name to go to items relating to that country. |
|
Hi! Lads
and Lassies
Well
you
have
certainly
kept me busy this last month with your e-mails and
enquiries, and I did manage to answer them all and solve the queries.
Thank you
for all your mails and cards, they are always welcome. Nothing much has
changed
either, and we are still losing our young lads in Afghanistan at a
alarming
rate and very little achieved for their sacrifice, it’s a ‘no win’
situation, you
can’t trust the Afghans, or their corrupt Government, and for two
centuries no
one has won a war against them, so it doesn’t look like we will succeed
either.
The best memorial we can give those who have died is to bring our lads
home Well
those old pictures of Suez certainly created a lot of interest so I
have attached
some more. Jim Watson has a collection of his own, and it makes a
change from
the ones we all have tucked in our albums. I hope
you are all well, and the ladies of course, a lot of our vets are not
in the
best of health and a few more have gone to their last posting rest
their souls.
I went to the dedication of a new road to one of our own local lads who
died
recently in Afghanistan, L/Sgt Greenhaigh. They have named two roads on
a new
building development after him and another local lad, so they will be
remembered
for many years to come. As it is
the school holidays at the moment me and Angie are in great demand with
the
Grandchildren and we are taking them everywhere, Zoos, Theme Parks with
dinner
thrown in, they eat like horses and as the oldest is only 7 they run
rings
round us, if they come tomorrow I will feign death, but they are lovely
- keep
us young but tired. I am
getting somewhere with your query JH, and you should hear something in
a few
days from the MoD; they have been very helpful this time. If you are
enquiring
information re relatives re medals and their service, try and give me
as much
information as you can as it quickens the process immensely. You should
be
getting your discs anytime now as it is quite a while since I posted
them, if you
would let me know when you receive them it would be a help, a lot of
you have
done so but I am sad to say some have not bothered. Ted
Sparrow has been able to get two more names onto the National Memorial,
one was
private Smith who was killed with the 47 RAF lads in the York Air Crash
in
Malta, and believe it or not some of the names already on the Memorial
have
been misspelt so it’s no wonder their relatives can’t find them. Ted is
doing a
great job with the Roll of Honour, and I am sure we all thank him for
his
efforts. Quite a
few of you have not renewed your Subs, I don't know whether you have
forgotten
or do not want to renew it, but you can still do it if you wish. It is
your
option so it will not affect me at all, you will still remain on my
overseas
list. Don’t
forget to submit the website Feedback form to help Richard, it is
confidential
and answers will be useful to him. Take care
lads and lassies, keep well and if you do need any help that I can give
from over
here you only have to ask. God Bless. Tony. Tony did send me a load of pictures, (162 altogether on 10 images,) mainly old views of Egypt and copies of old post cards, but as he scanned as many as 32 on each image, they are too small to include on the website. These are two that he did send separately and said you would be interested in. Richard (D) W. |
 Sister Anthony. Photo taken in 1949. |
 Bridge over the Sweet Water Canal leading to the Canal Buildings and Sailing Club. |
Tony has said that many Vets overseas want to know what the 'Shot at Dawn' Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas looks like, and asked me to include this photo he took. So here it is.......... R (D) W. |
 'Shot at Dawn' |
AUSTRALIA
SVA members John Hyde and Rob Cousins with Col. McKenzie Rtd (centre) who attended the Remembrance Service at the
Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance, November 2009.
British Veterans at the Newcastle and Hunter RSL Branch, taken after their Remembrance Parade. 11th November 2009.
Left: SVA member Gwynn (Taffy) Felton, (centre) and two pals of the British Veterans Group, Mayfield Ex-Services Club, New South Wales.
Right: SV Duncan Price, SV Gwynn Felton and Peter Hope, founder members of the British Veterans Group of the Mayfield Ex-Services Club, NSW.
| Hi! Lads, A lot of you lads over the water who not only served in Suez but in other campaigns and our fellow Veteran John Hyde was one of them. Here is a brief story of his time in the service with the North Lancs regiment (The Loyals) and also in the police forces both in Merseyside and Victoria. John was conscripted into the army at 18, and was a member of the "Loyal North Lancs Regt", and after his basic training was posted to Minden Camp at Fayid before moving to El-Ballah. D Company undertook a night operation to recapture the El-Firdan Bridge from the Egyptian Army who had swung it across the Canal to block it. Lt.Trice, the assistant Adjutant led No 1 platoon across the Canal in pontoons and captured the post on the East bank without any serious trouble. Captain Croker MC led the other two platoons to take the post on the West bank but were spotted by the Egyptian guards who opened fire on them. No 1 platoon returned the fire, John who was firing his bren gun said the action was soon over. There were no casualties amongst the Lancs but the Egyptians suffered 8 men dead or wounded. The RMO was present at this action and treated the wounded. The battalion remained to guard the bridge and it was a job well done. It was the Lancs that took the Police barracks in Ismailia. Soon after that the Battalion moved to Trieste to join up with the other Lancs. John was seconded to the Royal Navy aboard HMS Mauritius in the Persian Gulf. During this part of his duty 50 oil technicians were being held by the Persian Government, but yet again it was mission accomplished. He was then posted to Khartoum in the Sudan where he finished his service. He then emigrated to Australia and was employed in security work but joined the Victoria Police and served from 1977 to 1994. When he retired he became a member of the RPA, the Corps of Commissionaires, the SVA , and became a Justice of the Peace. On his retirement was awarded ‘The Order of Merit’ at Government House in 2003. He also found time to serve in the Merseyside Police before going back to Australia. He has fulfilled his ambitions with faraway foreign holidays even managed to climb The Great Wall of China, so our John has been there and done that. He is always at the Melbourne Shrine doing guards of honour for special events and Remembrance Days. Well done John. |
CANADA
SV Jock Marrs (second from left) with the Mayor of Fort Eyrie and three other members of the Fort Eyrie Branch
of the Canadian Legion with the Legion Flag before raising it to fly above the Town Hall.
Jock is the Branch Public Relations Officer, Hospital Visitor and Editor of their Newsletter.
 Two Suez Veterans in Canada, John 'Jock' Marrs and Mike Bye. |
SV Bob Armstrong. Ex 1 Para. |
Left: SV John 'Jock' Marrs (on the right) at the Flag Ceremony at a Canadian Legion Remembrance Service.
Right: Jock again, this time addressing the Canadian Legion members.
Both photos taken on 11th November 2009.
NEPAL
| During this summer a few of us met up with Al Mattocks, - (a.k.a. Gunga Din) - who has been holidaying in
Europe for a few weeks. Al lives in Khatmandu, Nepal, - hence his nickname. I and several other Suez Vets met up with him at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas and the weather was so cold we could not give him a very long tour, but we did have time for him to put a cross on the Suez Memorial. Also attending the get-together were Richard Woolley, Eric Clayton, Roy Scattergood and Rod Amey .   |
