The End of Empire : Cyprus: A Soldier's Story by Martin Bell

Author:Martin Bell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3, epub
Tags: Bisac Code 1: HIS002000, HISTORY / Ancient / General
ISBN: 9781473848207
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Published: 2015-07-29T21:00:00+00:00

These were the Regiment’s camp followers,

They did the laundry, made the tea,

Served private soldiers such as me,

And they were better men than we.

But so much change has happened since

And now a newer India thrives,

Touching and changing many lives,

And even multitudes of dollars

Won’t bring us back those long lost wallahs

Who were our Gunga Dins.

Chapter 15

Excursions

Christmas 1957 was the first I had ever spent away from home. I was 19 and the omens were not good. The week before, I had a falling-out with the RSM – or, more accurately, he had a falling-out with me. He had an unerring eye for the awkward squad and decided that I was a potential source of trouble and therefore needed to be ‘gripped’. ‘Gripping’ is an army term which means singling out a soldier of a lower rank and requiring him to change his behaviour or face the most unpleasant consequences. The RSM had been ‘gripping’ people over many years from Palestine to Malaya to Cyprus. Even the officers were in awe of him. He was the most gifted ‘gripper’ the Regiment had ever known.

I cannot remember what his grievance was and certainly did not write home about it. It may have been a technicality, like brasses unpolished, webbing unscrubbed or an officer unsaluted. The officers were lurking all over the place. The Battalion had twenty-five of them and 700 of us, and as there was only one road through the camp, they were difficult to avoid. When passing them in or out of camp, if one was wearing a beret, one saluted; if not, one jerked one’s head towards them (‘eyes right’!) and they would respond with a nonchalant and casual wave of the hand, a sort of virtual or semi-salute which totally lacked conviction. From 1956 newly-commissioned officers had actually been issued with a booklet called Customs of the Army: ‘It is an officer’s duty to return a salute smartly, with the correct hand and without a cigarette or pipe in the mouth. When returning a salute, an officer should look towards the person whose salute he is returning. An officer must remember to “return” a salute and not merely acknowledge it.’ I also knew that the RSM would love to have had me for the peculiarly military offence of insubordination, which was lack of respect for those like himself who were set in authority over me; but he could never quite find the evidence to support his suspicions. In public I was extremely deferential. For whatever reason, I feared being threatened with a charge and even a regimental field punishment. I could have faced the grim ordeal of Commanding Officer’s Orders. Those who came before the CO were marched in by the RSM under escort and had their belts taken from them, lest they should use the belt to attack him.

I was saved from the RSM’s ‘gripping’ by the Chaplain the Reverend Tom Metcalfe, who had received a request from one of the established colonial families, the Ballards. He was the chief legal counsel to the Attorney General.

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