Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy MacLean

Author:Fitzroy MacLean [MacLean, Fitzroy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Travel, Non-Fiction, Biography, War
ISBN: 9780241973257
Google: KZMtJusRhHgC
Amazon: B00UME8722
Barnesnoble: B00UME8722
Goodreads: 327742
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 1949-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter VIII

New Horizons

AFTER the kidnapping of General Zahidi, I settled down to the more orthodox task of assembling my new detachment and training them in S.A.S. methods. As a training area we were allotted Isfahan and the surrounding country, in the hope, I was told, that, by showing the flag there, we might act as a deterrent to any other Persians who might be contemplating rebellion or co-operation with the Germans. As there were only about one hundred and fifty of us all told with no other British troops for several hundred miles, it seems doubtful whether we counted for very much in the calculations of any potential fifth-columnists, but we nevertheless did our best with the material at our disposal to convey the impression that we were a large and well-equipped force.

Sandy Scratchley and Bill Cumper brought over a load of high explosives and a convoy of fully fitted jeeps as a present from David Stirling. The unaccustomed sight of these nimble little vehicles, bristling with machine guns fore and aft, would we hoped, strike terror into the hearts of General Zahidi’s late accomplices. In addition to my original volunteers ‘Operation PONGO’ had brought me in a number of Seaforths, including a piper, whose spirited performances were no doubt equally disconcerting to such Persians as heard them. Another valuable acquisition was Sergeant Charlie Button from Sandy Scratchley’s regiment the Fourth County of London Yeomanry, a rubicund and uniformly cheerful character, who after serving in the First World War and winning a very good Military Medal in the Western Desert in the Second, had now decided, on reaching the late forties, that it was time he learned to parachute. He was soon installed as Quartermaster Sergeant, and, by the time we started our training programme, had accumulated by methods which, if not strictly orthodox, were remarkably effective, a magnificent collection of weapons, equipment, vehicles, clothing, tentage and rations. We laid out an impressive camp some twenty miles from Isfahan and the next two months were spent training arduously amidst the ice and snow of the hill country of southern Persia.

Meanwhile, further west, the battles of El Alamein and Stalingrad had checked the German advance, and by the end of 1942 it had become clear that the threat to Persia had been removed. I accordingly flew to Baghdad to try to find out what plans were being made for our future. When I got there, I found General Wilson on the point of leaving for Cairo to take up the appointment of Commander-in-Chief, Middle East. This meant that the eastern Mediterranean, an area with unrivalled opportunities for small-scale raiding, would come under his operational control. It was too good a chance to miss. Before he left, I extracted from him a promise that we should be transferred to Middle East Command forthwith. With any luck, the training in mountain warfare which we had acquired on the Iranian plateau would be put into practice amongst the hills and valleys of southern and eastern Europe.

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