ARmy Rumour SErvice

Sorry, bit confused:

Originally Posted by old_fat_and_hairy

A clasp was issued to the GSM.

But

Originally Posted by rickshaw-major

No medal clasp was issued.

Originally Posted by TheCheerfulSubbie

Sorry, bit confused:

Originally Posted by old_fat_and_hairy

A clasp was issued to the GSM.

But

Originally Posted by rickshaw-major

No medal clasp was issued.

That was for the original campaign against Eoka, as opposed to the Turkish Delight day trips.

Some other bits.

41 Commando Group, who were based in Malta were returning from a carrier based Ex in N America when it all kicked off in '74. They had just passed Gib when they received the order to go to Cyprus, they called at Malta on the way & offloaded under 18s & took some of the rear party. When they arrived off Cyprus they thought they were landing in something dodgy. Helos started ferrying troops before the carrier was visible over the horizon & the booties landed & took up defensive positions. No one told them they were thee to help with the humanitarian side & help all the Brits to be be evacuated.
After the return to Malta the Battery changed over & my Battery (Black VIII) became part of 41. In Oct '74 the Group went to Cyprus as UNFICYP and unlike now there was a job to do.
I was based at Polemedia Camp, Limassol & we had troops out in various villages where the Turks had remained. The main Turkish Refugee Camp, at that time, was within the Episkopi SBA. The villagers did not like being out in the Troodos villages & so at lot came down to Epi. Of course this upset the Greek Cypriots & wasw an embarrassment to the UK government.
The only way these people could be moved north was to fly them via Akrotiri to the Turkish mainland as the Cypriot authorities would not allow movement North overland.
Some of the Turks tried to go North by hiring Greek Taxis to take them through the Troodos mountains, for a large fee. We found their bodies!

Originally Posted by old_fat_and_hairy

Originally Posted by TheCheerfulSubbie

Sorry, bit confused:

Originally Posted by old_fat_and_hairy

A clasp was issued to the GSM.

But

Originally Posted by rickshaw-major

No medal clasp was issued.

That was for the original campaign against Eoka, as opposed to the Turkish Delight day trips.

My father got his NGS and PTSD fighting EOKA c. '58, with 45 Cdo. Bless'em all. B'stards.

Originally Posted by angular

Originally Posted by old_fat_and_hairy

Originally Posted by TheCheerfulSubbie

Sorry, bit confused:

Originally Posted by old_fat_and_hairy

A clasp was issued to the GSM.

But

Originally Posted by rickshaw-major

No medal clasp was issued.

That was for the original campaign against Eoka, as opposed to the Turkish Delight day trips.

My father got his NGS and PTSD fighting EOKA c. '58, with 45 Cdo. Bless'em all. B'stards.

I was there in 60's. Wasn't a lot of fun. Went back in 70's with Unficyp, based at a camp outside of Limassol. We had outposts in Paphos and other places. Ayaia napa was about 6 mud huts at the time. Paphos had nowt, except the pelican restaraunt. Biggest bugbear was saluting anything vaguely UN coloured. We almost had to present arms to the Med!

Originally Posted by old_fat_and_hairy

I was there in 60's. Wasn't a lot of fun. Went back in 70's with Unficyp, based at a camp outside of Limassol. We had outposts in Paphos and other places. Ayaia napa was about 6 mud huts at the time. Paphos had nowt, except the pelican restaraunt. Biggest bugbear was saluting anything vaguely UN coloured. We almost had to present arms to the Med!

I was there last week OFAH. Paphos hasn't changed much except for the presence of an airport, a few HIND helicopters and a few more restaurants. The sea front/promenade is currently entirely shut for rebuilding until May! There is now a very nice motorway stretching from Paphos to Nicosia and Larnaca through Limassol so that the Greek Cypriot National Guard can retreat even more quickly should the Turks renew their advance. The Med is still blue.

Not too sure if this adds much to the thread, but anyway….

Back in the summer of 1974 I was one of several hundred pads’ brats waiting to fly out to Cyprus courtesy of an RAF VC10 which is probably still hauling its sorry backside around the airways… I remember that our first planned sortie was cancelled due to the Turkish / GCNG initial spat which saw the Turkish Cyp population suffering the first signs of what was to become known as ethnic cleansing. We subsequently did manage to get into the air and to Cyprus when the tactical pause (although it probably wasn’t acknowledged as such at the time) took hold. Subsequently the Turkish Army invaded via the North, we were hastily evacuated along with many others from Limassol (Berengaria) into what was then RAF Episkopi and some poor RAF sod’s MQ. I think there were about 14 of us living in the house. Interesting times – 10 man ration packs dropped at the door, trips down to Happy Valley to what was then a fairly significant refugee camp, and watching Turkish aircraft circling Paphos from the verandah of the house we were living in. I can’t remember if they ever attacked, but they, along with the Turkish navy certainly put the frighteners on the place.

Loved the tale told by my father about the GCNG piqueting a route along which Makarios was to travel – they did a pretty good job by all accounts –until they got to a major roundabout in Limassol; they worked out all round defence, but forgot to notice that they were dug in around said roundabout….facing inwards.

Happy Days.

I seem to recall my plt sgt was one of the brats being evacuated. He mentioned the memory of rounds going over his head at some point. I shall ask him next time i see him, and maybe point him in the direction of this thread.