THE 'SUEZ VETERANS ASSOCIATION'
A page for SVA members to place queries, notices and items that may be of interest to other members.
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GSM
Campaign
Report.
By
Cyril
Blackburn,
Research
and
Medal
Campaign
Co-ordinator
for
the
SVA.
Most of you know that the GSM 'Canal Zone' was awarded in 2003 after many years of campaigning in which you may have taken part. The limited period of the award, 16th October 1951 to 19th October 1954, was due to dates delineated by the MoD and could not have been from any dates suggested in1952 by the C in C MELF, General Sir Brian Robertson, who was relieved of his post on the 16th April 1953 and left the Canal Zone and the Army to become Chairman of the Transport Commission, an appointment offered to him by Winston Churchill, instead of becoming Adjutant General. Objections to the medal award were overruled by Tony Blair in 2003 on the personal recommendation of General Lord Guthrie who had experienced difficulty in getting his sub-committee to agree to the medal award. The MoD had consistently opposed the GSM award. Since 2003 I have been pursuing the extension of the award to cover the entire period of post war deployment in Egypt, 3rd September 1945 until the withdrawal on the 13th June 1956. This, not least, because of the over 1,400 service deaths, only 407 qualified for the posthumous GSM under the terms of the 2003 award. The MoD has at least agreed that the medal awards can be extended. However, the MoD is of course being very difficult and writing that the crux of the matter is that there is no evidence that those in command at the time had requested the GSM for the earlier period before 1951. A major problem with the campaign was, and is, the 30 year closure period of official files, i.e. those from 1952 did not become available for research till 1983, and with practically all papers relevant to the Canal Zone GSM having been mislaid, lost or destroyed by the MoD. It is not so long ago that the MoD found that about sixty three thousand files had been stored in the old War Office building in Whitehall that were in an asbestos contaminated area. Thos files may never be released to the National Archive unless copied. Fortunately the Government is about to pass a Bill reducing the closure period to twenty years which will help all researchers. In August 2005 some files were released to the National Archives, three of which clearly show that the MoD supported the award of a GSM for three deployments in circumstances where there were no casualties at all. These were, the 'Lebanon', 'Mine Clearance Gulf of Suez', and 'Mine Clearance in the Gulf'. That revelation does, I feel, give strength to the present campaign for the extension of the Canal Zone GSM. Having become exasperated with the MoD, I wrote to the Prime Minister last November via my Member of Parliament requesting a short meeting with him in order to put the case to him. As yet he has not replied to my M.P. even to acknowledge receipt of the letter which my M.P. confirmed had been sent. I shall continue to press for the extension of the GSM. Cyril Blackburn. March 4th 2010. |
| A different kind of uniformity. Whenever the topic of uniforms arises, it is the widely held belief that the uniform issued to R.A.F. other ranks was of a better quality than that issued to Army other ranks. But that assumption is unfortunately incorrect. Apart from the colour, both R.A.F. and Army uniforms were made from that same old rough serge we all loved to hate. On induction, Army recruits were issued with two sets of khaki battledress with one set being kept for best wear. Similarly, R.A.F. recruits were issued with one set of battledress, (working blue,) and one set of No 1 Dress, (best blue,) for station parades and walking out etc. The No 1 Dress differed from Army 'best' only in that it was a belted tunic with brass buttons, and it was this difference that probably gave the impression that it was made of much better quality than the serge it actually was. Together with the greatcoat, there were plenty of buttons to polish. Also probably fuelling this belief was that airmen who took part in the Coronation Parade were issued with a No 1 Dress made of worsted, but this was an exception. The new worsted No 1 dress did eventually become available to other airmen but only to Senior NCOs and later to Junior NCOs. Eventually, the availability was extended and issued as a replacement with repayment from the clothing allowance. The new uniform cost £7.3s.1d with service caps 18s. 5d, purchased mainly by those on Regular engagement not National Servicemen who had neither the spare money nor the length of service to warrant the outlay. In Egypt of course, the wearing of Khaki Drill and with fewer formal parades, there was little occasion for wearing any No 1 Dress. One day before leaving the Zone, I happened to tear my 'working blue' trousers when jumping off the tail gate of the Squadron's pick-up truck. A visit to the camp's Greek tailor enabled me to flannel my way through my final weeks to demob without having to obtain a new pair. Fine, but have you ever tried feeling comfortable and looking nonchalant while trying to conceal your rear-end repair as you pass by the Guardroom? This article was written by John Mitchell. ex 216 Squadron, R.A.F. Fayid, for the 'FLAG' newsletter of the London and South East SVA Group. (p.s. from Richard Woolley. I was one of those airmen lining the route for the Coronation Parade, it was classed as our intake flight's passing-out parade. We were promised a worsted uniform, which were were measured for, and a Coronation medal. We received neither. RW.) |
Suez Veteran Evelyn Norton of Derby held a birthday buffet charity bash on Saturday 27th February 2010. This was attended and
greatly enjoyed by 120 family and friends, including many members of the SVA, some of whom had travelled 200 miles to be there.
Many of the guests dressed as they did a few years ago, and Evelyn came dressed as an evacuee.
Entertainment was supplied by the Ockbrook Swing and Jazz Band who throughout the evening played
music in the Glen Miller style. The event raised £1,500 which will be divided and donated to the
Army Benevolent Fund and the Help for Heroes Fund.
Well done Evelyn, and thank you, it was a good bash, a lot of fun and will help the two charities.
I have been asked a couple of times what the difference is between the King's and Queen's issue of the Royal Air Force cap badge.
The difference is in the shape of the crown which can be seen in these two images.
 King's issue. |
 Queen's issue. |
This photo has been sent in by a Suez Vet and he would like to know more about it.
It is asumed that the battle refered to would have been the one at the Caracol and Bureau Sanitaire,
on a slip of paper with the photo is written 'Ismailia 1952'
Does anyone recognise the photo, know the story behind it, or know the names of the personnel shown?
If you can help with any info, please contact me. R(D)W. Webmaster.
| I have found out that the brewery
in Cairo that made Stella beer is now owned by Heineken. I wonder
if it tastes the same as we knew it and if it is still made in the same
way as it was then. Charlie Delta. |
| About six years ago, a few months
before my wife and I went on a SVA reunion visit to the Canal Zone, I
read an article in a medical magazine which gave the benefits of taking
Zinc tablets. One interesting and curious side effect of these
tablets is that on most people it altered the composition of body
sweat, (either smell or taste, I forget which). Apparently this
change is not appreciated by midges or mosquitoes etc. We decided
to give them a try and realised at the end of the holiday we were the
only ones in the group who had not been bitten by insects. We
tried them again before going on following visits and had the same
result. It doesn’t work with everyone but it is worth a try. Oh, one of the main reasons for taking Zinc is that it is beneficial to the Prostate Gland and reduces the number of times one has to get up during the night to visit the toilet. Try it!! Richard Woolley. |
| An obituary that
I have just read was of Brigadier Gris Davies-Scourfield (you remember
'Old Gristle' as he was affectionately known in the mess?) It contained
a description of the following incident. During WWII he was a
POW in a camp for allied officers. At roll call one morning an
embarrassed German officer announced that, following an order from
Hitler,
he was asking for volunteers to devote their skills to building the new
Europe. To his astonishment a French officer stepped forward and
said he was willing to give his services to the Third Reich adding that
the more work he was given the better. Asked his profession the
Frenchman replied, “Undertaker.” He was marched off to the cooler
to loud cheering from his fellow prisoners. Alan van der Pant. |
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