Wing Commander J L Birch RAF(Retd)
Arrival in Iraq
In April 1955, having been in the RAF some four years, I was posted as a Flight Lieutenant to be second in command of the 2 Assyrian Rifle Squadron of the RAF Levies Iraq, then stationed at RAF Habbaniyah. Although I did not know it at the time I was destined to be the last RAF officer to be posted in to the Levies and it turned out to be the shortest tour of duty in my 25 year career in the RAF: it lasted a little under two months. It was to be a brief taste of a lifestyle that many had either enjoyed or perhaps endured over the preceding two centuries in so many parts of the Middle and Far East.
RAF Habbaniya
RAP Habbaniya lay close to the west bank of the river Euphrates in central Iraq, about 60 miles west of Baghdad. In summer temperatures can rise to 40 degrees Celsius during the middle of the day. However, life was made more tolerable by the extensive planting of eucalyptus trees and pomegranate bushes, the former giving shade during the day and both lowering the temperature by evaporation at night. The cultivation of such trees and shrubs was of course only made possible by daily irrigation from the nearby river.
There were two airfields at Habbaniyah. The original airfield was close to the RAF station itself which was built on what had been an old course of the Euphrates dating perhaps from prehistoric times. The second, later airfield, was situated on a plateau considerably above the river level. The runway was much longer than that on the old airfield and was to meet the requirements of larger modern aircraft Also on the plateau was Lake Habbaniyah a large lake fed from the river Euphrates by a stream diverging from the main river some miles upstream to the north. This lake was home to a great number of large freshwater turtles and was also the site of a staging and refueling point used by the flying boats of Imperial Airways between the two world wars.
I arrived in Iraq aboard a Hastings aircraft of Transport Command, which landed on the plateau airfield. At that time the resident RAF fighter squadron, which was equipped with Venom aircraft used both airfields. There were two RAF messes on the station, one of which was the Levy Mess and the other the Station Mess. The Levies shared their mess with No 5 LAA wing of the RAF Regiment and a detachment of Royal Engineers. I never discovered what the Engineers task was but can clearly remember their disenchantment the Austin “Champ” all-terrain vehicle with which they were equipped. The Champ boasted a Rolls Royce engine and of course four wheel drive capability. The rather unkind joke went: “the army asked the designers give them a vehicle that could climb a six foot wall and all they got for a deal of money was the “Champ”. It was not in army service for very long and I don’t think the RAF ever had any.
The RAF Regt Wing had only recently arrived at Habbaniyah from the Canal Zone and little did I know that the job of Wing Adjutant was to be my next posting and that within a few months I would be heading for Cyprus with them to provide ground defense for the French paras at a World War II airfield at Tymbou and later, air defense at nearby Nicosia itself.
The Levy Force at Habbaniyah consisted of the Force Headquarters, HQ No 2 Wing, an Assyrian rifle squadron and Kurdish rifle squadron. The Force Commander at that time was Group Captain A B (Arthur) Riall. OC No 2 Wing was Wing Commander R P (Peter)Burton.
No 2 Sqn was commanded by Sqn Ldr G [George] Page. The Assyrian officers, whose names sadly now escape me, were the RAB Tremma [leader of 200] at Force HQ and at each of the Squadrons a RAB Emma [leader of 100] and 2 RAB Khamshes [Leader of Fifty].
By Rail to Basra
Despite the impending disbandment of the Levies there was work to be done. I was put in charge of an ammunition party transporting 20 mm ammunition by rail to Basra. This was no doubt ammunition held at Habbaniyah for possible use by the Venoms. By the time I came on the scene a Rab Kamshe and several riflemen had already supervised the loading and counting of the numerous boxes on to steel railway wagons. Slowly the train made its way from Ramadi via Baghdad, Diwaniyah and Nasiriyah to Basrah. At the tail end of the train a carriage had been attached for myself and the ammunition party. Every time the train stopped the Rab Kamshe put out sentries on both sides of the train to keep an eye on the wagons even though they were locked and sealed. Eventually we arrived and the time came for the receiving party to check and count the steel boxes. This turned out to be a lengthy process and after some hours the Rab Kamshe came to say that there appeared to be a discrepancy in the number of boxes. Like me he felt any discrepancy was more apparent than real, so heft him to it.
Although I had been so short a time with the Levies I had served with the Indian Army at the tail end of the last war as a member of the British Army in India and I had some experience of working with the Viceroys Commissioned Officers (VCOs), the Subadars and Jemedars of the Indian Army and knew them by reputation and experience to be completely reliable. I had no reason to suppose that the AOCs Commissioned Officers (AOCCOs) of the RAF Levies were any different in that respect. Besides, if I had appeared on the scene the whole matter would have gone up a rank and only resulted in further delay. As it turned out my Rab Kamshe, as I had expected, resolved the matter himself and got a well-earned favorable report on our return to Habbaniyah.
In April 1955, having been in the RAF some four years, I was posted as a Flight Lieutenant to be second in command of the 2 Assyrian Rifle Squadron of the RAF Levies Iraq, then stationed at RAF Habbaniyah. Although I did not know it at the time I was destined to be the last RAF officer to be posted in to the Levies and it turned out to be the shortest tour of duty in my 25 year career in the RAF: it lasted a little under two months. It was to be a brief taste of a lifestyle that many had either enjoyed or perhaps endured over the preceding two centuries in so many parts of the Middle and Far East.
RAF Habbaniya
RAP Habbaniya lay close to the west bank of the river Euphrates in central Iraq, about 60 miles west of Baghdad. In summer temperatures can rise to 40 degrees Celsius during the middle of the day. However, life was made more tolerable by the extensive planting of eucalyptus trees and pomegranate bushes, the former giving shade during the day and both lowering the temperature by evaporation at night. The cultivation of such trees and shrubs was of course only made possible by daily irrigation from the nearby river.
There were two airfields at Habbaniyah. The original airfield was close to the RAF station itself which was built on what had been an old course of the Euphrates dating perhaps from prehistoric times. The second, later airfield, was situated on a plateau considerably above the river level. The runway was much longer than that on the old airfield and was to meet the requirements of larger modern aircraft Also on the plateau was Lake Habbaniyah a large lake fed from the river Euphrates by a stream diverging from the main river some miles upstream to the north. This lake was home to a great number of large freshwater turtles and was also the site of a staging and refueling point used by the flying boats of Imperial Airways between the two world wars.
I arrived in Iraq aboard a Hastings aircraft of Transport Command, which landed on the plateau airfield. At that time the resident RAF fighter squadron, which was equipped with Venom aircraft used both airfields. There were two RAF messes on the station, one of which was the Levy Mess and the other the Station Mess. The Levies shared their mess with No 5 LAA wing of the RAF Regiment and a detachment of Royal Engineers. I never discovered what the Engineers task was but can clearly remember their disenchantment the Austin “Champ” all-terrain vehicle with which they were equipped. The Champ boasted a Rolls Royce engine and of course four wheel drive capability. The rather unkind joke went: “the army asked the designers give them a vehicle that could climb a six foot wall and all they got for a deal of money was the “Champ”. It was not in army service for very long and I don’t think the RAF ever had any.
The RAF Regt Wing had only recently arrived at Habbaniyah from the Canal Zone and little did I know that the job of Wing Adjutant was to be my next posting and that within a few months I would be heading for Cyprus with them to provide ground defense for the French paras at a World War II airfield at Tymbou and later, air defense at nearby Nicosia itself.
The Levy Force at Habbaniyah consisted of the Force Headquarters, HQ No 2 Wing, an Assyrian rifle squadron and Kurdish rifle squadron. The Force Commander at that time was Group Captain A B (Arthur) Riall. OC No 2 Wing was Wing Commander R P (Peter)Burton.
No 2 Sqn was commanded by Sqn Ldr G [George] Page. The Assyrian officers, whose names sadly now escape me, were the RAB Tremma [leader of 200] at Force HQ and at each of the Squadrons a RAB Emma [leader of 100] and 2 RAB Khamshes [Leader of Fifty].
By Rail to Basra
Despite the impending disbandment of the Levies there was work to be done. I was put in charge of an ammunition party transporting 20 mm ammunition by rail to Basra. This was no doubt ammunition held at Habbaniyah for possible use by the Venoms. By the time I came on the scene a Rab Kamshe and several riflemen had already supervised the loading and counting of the numerous boxes on to steel railway wagons. Slowly the train made its way from Ramadi via Baghdad, Diwaniyah and Nasiriyah to Basrah. At the tail end of the train a carriage had been attached for myself and the ammunition party. Every time the train stopped the Rab Kamshe put out sentries on both sides of the train to keep an eye on the wagons even though they were locked and sealed. Eventually we arrived and the time came for the receiving party to check and count the steel boxes. This turned out to be a lengthy process and after some hours the Rab Kamshe came to say that there appeared to be a discrepancy in the number of boxes. Like me he felt any discrepancy was more apparent than real, so heft him to it.
Although I had been so short a time with the Levies I had served with the Indian Army at the tail end of the last war as a member of the British Army in India and I had some experience of working with the Viceroys Commissioned Officers (VCOs), the Subadars and Jemedars of the Indian Army and knew them by reputation and experience to be completely reliable. I had no reason to suppose that the AOCs Commissioned Officers (AOCCOs) of the RAF Levies were any different in that respect. Besides, if I had appeared on the scene the whole matter would have gone up a rank and only resulted in further delay. As it turned out my Rab Kamshe, as I had expected, resolved the matter himself and got a well-earned favorable report on our return to Habbaniyah.
By Road to Bebeidi
Because the summers were so hot at Habbaniyah a Rest Camp had been established at a place called Ser Amadiyah that was located in the mountains to the north-east of Mosul. Ser Amadiyah is rather remote so that the journey to it is often broken at Mosul and at a transit camp at Bebeidi. As part of the preparations for disbandment the question as to whether there were any stores still at Bebeidi arose. There was no consensus on the question and so I was once again dispatched with my Rab Kamshe and a small party to settle the matter. We set off from Habbaniya in a fleet of four ageing Bedford QL 3ton trucks. Having crossed both the Euphrates and the Tigris we headed NNW to Kirkuk. The journey was not without incident since we had a 20 mph tailwind for part of the journey that meant there was very little airflow through the radiators of the Bedford trucks which kept overheating. This necessitated frequent stops to allow them to cool off and there was some anxiety about our supply of water to keep the radiators topped up. The end result was a very late arrival at Mosul. I was taken to an hotel where a room had been booked for me by the resident Levy Clerk in the Levy Pay Office.
The next day was to be a rest day as the trucks needed some attention before we went any further. That morning the Levy Clerk appeared and said he had arranged a day out for me. There was a large car outside the hotel and in it were his two teenage daughters dressed in their best and who were coming along for the ride.
The Levy Clerk was a gentleman of Indian extraction who had lived in Iraq for many years. So far as I can recall he had come to Iraq at the beginning of the last war, as a civilian, with the Indian Army and had stayed in Iraq ever since. It was a most pleasant day. We went into the hills and had a picnic lunch at the roadside not far from where one can see the summer royal palace near Sersing. Both girls spoke good English and I think they enjoyed the trip as much as I did. I took some photographs of Kurdish villagers as well as one of the girls and their father. This is Kurdish dominated country and was close to the scene of a devastating tragedy during the Saddam Hussein regime. At the end of the day when we arrived back at the hotel I wanted to contribute to the hire of the car but it soon became clear that this was a faux pas and I held my peace. I was never sure who paid for that day out but I hope it was not that courteous old gentleman from India.
The following morning our little convoy of trucks set off for Bebeidi. We traveled by way of the town of Dohuk and were soon in the cooler hill country. Without further incident we arrived at the camp at Bebeidi. The camp was built on a hillside that had been terraced to accommodate the dozen or so huts. At the foot of the hill were the small plots divided by earth mounds that are typical of hill farming in that part of the world.
I was given a hut to myself and while I settled in the Rab Kamshe got the keys to all of the huts from the camp warden and began the search for stores. After some hours he came to report that all they could find was some coils of Dannert barbed wire. He seemed disinclined to cart them all the way back to Habbaniyah, especially as the men had not got the leather gloves which are the usual issue to troops handling barbed wire. Clearly the trip had been something of a waste of time and fuel. On the other hand barbed wire has its uses in uncertain times as well as on the battlefield and there was clearly only minimal extra fuel cost to get it back to Habbaniyah. I don’t suppose I would have been criticized for leaving it where it was, but after all it was taxpayer’s money. I told the Rab Kamshe to do his best to find some cloth or other material to protect the men’s hands and to load only as much as he could without damaging the canvas tilts (covers) of the trucks.
When the trucks had been loaded he came to report that the job was done and that I was invited to the house of the village Headman after supper and that he would take me there himself. Such invitations cannot be refused, even though one knows from the outset that one’s host is probably about to test your ability to match his hospitality glass for glass. What was the drink of that particular evening to be? No matter! I could always accept such a challenge if required in those days. It turned out that the drink of the evening was to be one whose local name I cannot remember but which is drunk the world over and is known as raki or grappa which is made by distilling fermented grape skins and pips, the waste from the wine press. The aim on such occasions is to take ones leave just before the fatal glass. I am happy to say I met the challenge with honor but did not enjoy the long ride back to Mosul the following day.
Quite apart from the competitive aspect it was a most memorable evening. In the headman’s house we sat in a circle on the ground. As is the custom, his wife and other females of the family sat rather apart but not excluded entirely. However, male guests, unless they are relatives, do not address the female members of the family.
The Headman spoke quite lot of English but most of the conversation was between my Rab Kamshe and the Headman who, although Assyrian and Kurd respectively, seemed to get on well together. Every so often, out of courtesy, they would turn to me so that I was included. Just before the fatal glass I rose to leave and my Rab Kamshe saw me to my hut. Had the visit been expected and I more prepared I would have returned the hospitality by sending a gift the following morning. Shotgun cartridges always go down well in that part of the world.
The next morning we began the return journey to Mosul. Shortly after my arrival and whilst still in my hotel room I received a message to the effect that there was someone waiting to see me in the hotel lounge. Somewhat puzzled I went to find out who my visitor was. When I got down to the lounge it was to find that I had not one visitor but four. One of them sat slightly to one side and he turned out to be the interpreter. He explained that the other three men were a delegation from Sheikh Barzani. It so happened I had been told about the influence of the Barzani family on Kurdish affairs by my boss George Page during my initial briefing. It is an influence that continues to this day. They had heard about my visit to Bebeidi and wanted to know what the Levy authorities were going to do with the large diesel generator that had been used to power the lighting at the rest camp at Ser Amadiyah. I had not been briefed about anything that might have been left at the rest camp and said so. I thought that the generator in question was probably a 22 /2 KW trailer- borne one which was a standard issue item in the RAF and quite an expensive piece of kit. But if it had been forgotten would they really want to go to the expense of retrieving it from somewhere so remote? In the circumstances I didn’t think so. However, it was hardly something I should decide at my level of authority. I decided on a compromise. Until the authorities had made a decision on the matter I suggested that if they were willing to look after the generator and maintain it properly I didn’t see why they should not have the use of it on a caretaker basis. Of course this was very close to what they had come for. I said I would make a report when I returned to Habbaniyah, which of course I did. The interview ended with a round of handshakes and smiles. I very much doubt if that generator was ever retrieved and if they did indeed look after it properly it could still be working to this day. Meddowes diesel generators, if indeed it was such, are British and well made. I can say this because later in my career I came to know them quite well.
There is little more to say about that trip to Bebeidi. The Bedford QLs got us back to Habbaniyah without overheating again and I duly made my report to my Squadron Commander. However, change was in the air.
Because the summers were so hot at Habbaniyah a Rest Camp had been established at a place called Ser Amadiyah that was located in the mountains to the north-east of Mosul. Ser Amadiyah is rather remote so that the journey to it is often broken at Mosul and at a transit camp at Bebeidi. As part of the preparations for disbandment the question as to whether there were any stores still at Bebeidi arose. There was no consensus on the question and so I was once again dispatched with my Rab Kamshe and a small party to settle the matter. We set off from Habbaniya in a fleet of four ageing Bedford QL 3ton trucks. Having crossed both the Euphrates and the Tigris we headed NNW to Kirkuk. The journey was not without incident since we had a 20 mph tailwind for part of the journey that meant there was very little airflow through the radiators of the Bedford trucks which kept overheating. This necessitated frequent stops to allow them to cool off and there was some anxiety about our supply of water to keep the radiators topped up. The end result was a very late arrival at Mosul. I was taken to an hotel where a room had been booked for me by the resident Levy Clerk in the Levy Pay Office.
The next day was to be a rest day as the trucks needed some attention before we went any further. That morning the Levy Clerk appeared and said he had arranged a day out for me. There was a large car outside the hotel and in it were his two teenage daughters dressed in their best and who were coming along for the ride.
The Levy Clerk was a gentleman of Indian extraction who had lived in Iraq for many years. So far as I can recall he had come to Iraq at the beginning of the last war, as a civilian, with the Indian Army and had stayed in Iraq ever since. It was a most pleasant day. We went into the hills and had a picnic lunch at the roadside not far from where one can see the summer royal palace near Sersing. Both girls spoke good English and I think they enjoyed the trip as much as I did. I took some photographs of Kurdish villagers as well as one of the girls and their father. This is Kurdish dominated country and was close to the scene of a devastating tragedy during the Saddam Hussein regime. At the end of the day when we arrived back at the hotel I wanted to contribute to the hire of the car but it soon became clear that this was a faux pas and I held my peace. I was never sure who paid for that day out but I hope it was not that courteous old gentleman from India.
The following morning our little convoy of trucks set off for Bebeidi. We traveled by way of the town of Dohuk and were soon in the cooler hill country. Without further incident we arrived at the camp at Bebeidi. The camp was built on a hillside that had been terraced to accommodate the dozen or so huts. At the foot of the hill were the small plots divided by earth mounds that are typical of hill farming in that part of the world.
I was given a hut to myself and while I settled in the Rab Kamshe got the keys to all of the huts from the camp warden and began the search for stores. After some hours he came to report that all they could find was some coils of Dannert barbed wire. He seemed disinclined to cart them all the way back to Habbaniyah, especially as the men had not got the leather gloves which are the usual issue to troops handling barbed wire. Clearly the trip had been something of a waste of time and fuel. On the other hand barbed wire has its uses in uncertain times as well as on the battlefield and there was clearly only minimal extra fuel cost to get it back to Habbaniyah. I don’t suppose I would have been criticized for leaving it where it was, but after all it was taxpayer’s money. I told the Rab Kamshe to do his best to find some cloth or other material to protect the men’s hands and to load only as much as he could without damaging the canvas tilts (covers) of the trucks.
When the trucks had been loaded he came to report that the job was done and that I was invited to the house of the village Headman after supper and that he would take me there himself. Such invitations cannot be refused, even though one knows from the outset that one’s host is probably about to test your ability to match his hospitality glass for glass. What was the drink of that particular evening to be? No matter! I could always accept such a challenge if required in those days. It turned out that the drink of the evening was to be one whose local name I cannot remember but which is drunk the world over and is known as raki or grappa which is made by distilling fermented grape skins and pips, the waste from the wine press. The aim on such occasions is to take ones leave just before the fatal glass. I am happy to say I met the challenge with honor but did not enjoy the long ride back to Mosul the following day.
Quite apart from the competitive aspect it was a most memorable evening. In the headman’s house we sat in a circle on the ground. As is the custom, his wife and other females of the family sat rather apart but not excluded entirely. However, male guests, unless they are relatives, do not address the female members of the family.
The Headman spoke quite lot of English but most of the conversation was between my Rab Kamshe and the Headman who, although Assyrian and Kurd respectively, seemed to get on well together. Every so often, out of courtesy, they would turn to me so that I was included. Just before the fatal glass I rose to leave and my Rab Kamshe saw me to my hut. Had the visit been expected and I more prepared I would have returned the hospitality by sending a gift the following morning. Shotgun cartridges always go down well in that part of the world.
The next morning we began the return journey to Mosul. Shortly after my arrival and whilst still in my hotel room I received a message to the effect that there was someone waiting to see me in the hotel lounge. Somewhat puzzled I went to find out who my visitor was. When I got down to the lounge it was to find that I had not one visitor but four. One of them sat slightly to one side and he turned out to be the interpreter. He explained that the other three men were a delegation from Sheikh Barzani. It so happened I had been told about the influence of the Barzani family on Kurdish affairs by my boss George Page during my initial briefing. It is an influence that continues to this day. They had heard about my visit to Bebeidi and wanted to know what the Levy authorities were going to do with the large diesel generator that had been used to power the lighting at the rest camp at Ser Amadiyah. I had not been briefed about anything that might have been left at the rest camp and said so. I thought that the generator in question was probably a 22 /2 KW trailer- borne one which was a standard issue item in the RAF and quite an expensive piece of kit. But if it had been forgotten would they really want to go to the expense of retrieving it from somewhere so remote? In the circumstances I didn’t think so. However, it was hardly something I should decide at my level of authority. I decided on a compromise. Until the authorities had made a decision on the matter I suggested that if they were willing to look after the generator and maintain it properly I didn’t see why they should not have the use of it on a caretaker basis. Of course this was very close to what they had come for. I said I would make a report when I returned to Habbaniyah, which of course I did. The interview ended with a round of handshakes and smiles. I very much doubt if that generator was ever retrieved and if they did indeed look after it properly it could still be working to this day. Meddowes diesel generators, if indeed it was such, are British and well made. I can say this because later in my career I came to know them quite well.
There is little more to say about that trip to Bebeidi. The Bedford QLs got us back to Habbaniyah without overheating again and I duly made my report to my Squadron Commander. However, change was in the air.
Disbandment
I had a view of the Levy parade ground from my office window. For the first time I saw Levies, dressed in the uniform of the Iraqi army, being drilled by Iraqi army NCOs. In historical terms this was not a unique event. It had happened before in the days before the Levies became the responsibility of the Royal Air Force, but this was the first time the entire Force had been disbanded. Before too long RAF Habbaniyah it self would be returned to the Iraqi government.
The Farewell Parade
After my return from Mosul I had little to do but make sure my dress uniform and my hat with its orange cockade was in good order for the farewell parade that was to be held on the parade ground behind Air Headquarters Levant. It was a relatively simple affair compared with the way such things are usually done in the Royal Air Force.
The officers did not cary swords and there was no band in attendance. The troops on parade consisted of one company of ex Levies in Iraqi uniform and No 2 Assyrian Rifle Squadron under the command of Sqn Ldr Page. The Reviewing Officer was King Faisal II who inspected the new Iraqi Company but not No 2 Squadron. After the inspection both units marched past the saluting base in column of route No 2 Squadron leading. King Faisal took the salute having been joined by the British Ambassador on the saluting base.
Postscript
Squadron Leader George (Gewergis) Page became the Levy Resettlement Officer and thereafter was known in the Regiment as’ Levy Page’ to distinguish him from other Page(s) in the Corps. I do not recall ever meeting him again. At the end of his RAF career he and his wife Bea retired to Cyprus. My own attention now turned to No 5 LAA Wing. Looking at my personal records I find that I joined the Levies on 4 March 1955 and that on 26 April that year! Became No 5 Wing Adjutant under the command of Wg Cdr S E C Walker, OBE. On 15 September Wg Cdr E I Elliott took command and it was he who took the Wing and its twenty four 40mm Bofors anti aircraft guns to Jordan, first to Amman and then to Mafraq which was then a newly built airfield with little permanent accommodation and where we lived in tents. On 30 August the Wing moved to Cyprus.
I would dearly have liked to complete a normal three-year tour with the Levies but it was not to be. I retired from the RAF prematurely, about 2 1/2 years before my due retirement date which was on my 55 birthday, for family reasons. That was after three years in the Army and twenty five in the RAF. As I write today, shortly after my 83 birthday, I find many names and details have faded but so many memories, most of them good ones, remain.
‘Ready’ — ‘Per Ardua Ad Astra’.
19/01/08 JLB
I had a view of the Levy parade ground from my office window. For the first time I saw Levies, dressed in the uniform of the Iraqi army, being drilled by Iraqi army NCOs. In historical terms this was not a unique event. It had happened before in the days before the Levies became the responsibility of the Royal Air Force, but this was the first time the entire Force had been disbanded. Before too long RAF Habbaniyah it self would be returned to the Iraqi government.
The Farewell Parade
After my return from Mosul I had little to do but make sure my dress uniform and my hat with its orange cockade was in good order for the farewell parade that was to be held on the parade ground behind Air Headquarters Levant. It was a relatively simple affair compared with the way such things are usually done in the Royal Air Force.
The officers did not cary swords and there was no band in attendance. The troops on parade consisted of one company of ex Levies in Iraqi uniform and No 2 Assyrian Rifle Squadron under the command of Sqn Ldr Page. The Reviewing Officer was King Faisal II who inspected the new Iraqi Company but not No 2 Squadron. After the inspection both units marched past the saluting base in column of route No 2 Squadron leading. King Faisal took the salute having been joined by the British Ambassador on the saluting base.
Postscript
Squadron Leader George (Gewergis) Page became the Levy Resettlement Officer and thereafter was known in the Regiment as’ Levy Page’ to distinguish him from other Page(s) in the Corps. I do not recall ever meeting him again. At the end of his RAF career he and his wife Bea retired to Cyprus. My own attention now turned to No 5 LAA Wing. Looking at my personal records I find that I joined the Levies on 4 March 1955 and that on 26 April that year! Became No 5 Wing Adjutant under the command of Wg Cdr S E C Walker, OBE. On 15 September Wg Cdr E I Elliott took command and it was he who took the Wing and its twenty four 40mm Bofors anti aircraft guns to Jordan, first to Amman and then to Mafraq which was then a newly built airfield with little permanent accommodation and where we lived in tents. On 30 August the Wing moved to Cyprus.
I would dearly have liked to complete a normal three-year tour with the Levies but it was not to be. I retired from the RAF prematurely, about 2 1/2 years before my due retirement date which was on my 55 birthday, for family reasons. That was after three years in the Army and twenty five in the RAF. As I write today, shortly after my 83 birthday, I find many names and details have faded but so many memories, most of them good ones, remain.
‘Ready’ — ‘Per Ardua Ad Astra’.
19/01/08 JLB
I met John Birch in Thetford UK in May 2010, this photograph was taken at the RAF Regiment Museum at RAF Honington , it was a great experience for me with one surprise after another, here John presented me with a RAF Levy Plaque.
With RAF Regiment secretary Wing Commander Martin Hooker,
Martin a true Gentleman gave me a personal tour of the museum, it was breathtaking. and with his wife Jo at Thetford