Aden Casualty

[Mike]

Dolly.... I always put it down to the handling and sniffing of PE that made HWs so.... how'd yer say....er...... Manly!... They always said that playing with PE was better than playing with yourself......I never could quite understand that...but then I was only 17 at the time!

[Andy O'Pray]

Eat your hearts out boys, eat your hearts out. What most of you don't know, is that when you were carrying the mortar ammunition containers up and down the jebels, one of those containers was filled with our tea and coffee makings. The said container was specialy marked for easy identification. Well done that man, just drop your container over here.

aye - Andy.

[Murphy]

Further to my last post, I do recall seeing a picture of Steve H in his blues, in a wheelchair, probably in an old G & L. So he did make it out of hospital, but when is anybody's guess.

[Pilgrim Norway]

Hey you lot - I'm still skin ....

I'll try to buzz Rod Spinks - he may remember Harrison being casavacked
out same time.

'Aye

[Yorkie Malone]

Right I have had a look around and there is nothing on the War Graves Commision site for a WRS Harrison.

So the only other way is through the CORPS Book of Condolence, which untill the other day was at CTC. This book has EVERY RM who has been killed. (From what I remember even by RTA's etc) Whilst they are still serving.

The book is "out on loan" to the St Lawrence Jewry, Guildhall London EC2V 5AA.

So if you 'appen to be in London and passing by the above address then Look it up and tell us.

Yes??? Who was he? What happened? Why?

BUT!! it was nice to see (if that is the way to say it) that it was at least on the War Memorial.

Shows that somewhere someone did remember and someone thought!

SyY

[Pilgrim Norway]

What cheor ...

Rod remembers ( as I do, now ) an incident at Paddy's Field with a
fixed line GPMG.( going in wrong direction while off to use a compass rose)

This sounds like the Harrison in question (?)

Hoy

[Yorkie Malone]

Thought !!! Who has the book FOUR FIVE??? it should tell us in there cos all movements of 45 were told in it. I have not got a copy.

SyY

[Andy O'Pray]

Hi Yorkie,

I don't have the book "FOUR FIVE", but I have poured over all of the RM books that I do have and can find nothing. If it is as Trog has suggested, then perhaps it was not put down on paper. As I said previously, there were many badly injured servicemen casevaced from Aden to the UK, some whom would have died from their injuries. Perhaps marine Harrison was amongst this group.

Aye - Andy.

[JR]

Andy, Checking the casualty roll for Four Five from 1946 to 1969 the good book by David Young (Four Five) during that period of time 45 sustained a total of 59 Casualties
A total of 16 during the Aden Campaign
Malaya 10
Cyprus 8
Canal zone 5
Tripoli 1
Oman 1
Malta 2
Hong Kong 6
UK 6
Suez 2
Singapore 1
May all rest in peace Aye JR

[Andy O'Pray]

Jim,

The 16 killed in Aden are the 16 which are buried in Aden and listed on the britainssmallwars site. What I was suggesting was those wounded and casevaced to the UK may have died later of their injuries, therefore, were not included on the official list.

I recall of one marine during the Radfan that had his skull split open by a 30mm casing from one of the aircraft. They did not think that he would make it through the night before we could casevac him next morning, but he did. There were cases like that amongst all units in theatre and who knows how many died after the return to the UK.

Aye - Andy.

[barryc]

The 30mm casing casualty was a guy with the surname of Duncan, damned if I can remember his first name. We were in the same troop in 43 as young lads waiting to be old enough to go out into the big wide world, or Aden as the case may be. We also lost a young lad Dick or Dickie Hyde or Hythe, I think to an accident with a GPMG, not made safe and going off when dropped back down onto the bipod, or some such (it's all a long time ago and as a young 17 year old I was very low on the totem pole and didn't get told very much). Harrison rings no bells with me but then the Aden thing lasted longer than my 63 to 64 commish.


Barry

[Mike]

The 30mm casing incident was after the Cocoacola yomp, while clearing the whadies, funny how the memory jolts! It happened the same day that my section, part of Zulu company, found 3 dissy corpses hold up in a shelter in one of the terraces.
I remember following a trail of blood for miles up this river bed after a straffing by the Hunters, it was at this time that the lad caught one of the cases. For some reason I recall that the lads name was Jimmy Duncan, but I am probably wrong

[Andy O'Pray]

Barry,

Your man was marine R. Hydes, killed 18/5/64. He was buried in Aden and is one of the 16 RM's listed.

Aye - Andy.

[barryc]

Andy, That's the lad. I recall it caused the usual stink because he, like many of us, was still not quite old enough to vote, or had only just reached that age and there he was getting killed. I was young enough then to feel the impact of a fellow Royal's death but the over-riding feeling was that it was a waste to be killed by accident rather than enemy action. I am now of an age to think it a rotten waste to be killed at all ( No dear I am NOT going to stop riding my `bike. motorbikes are not dangerous, no not even the erratic way I ride).

Thanks for the memory input Andy, now where was I going and what did I come here for?


Barry

[Pilgrim Norway]

With regard to the Paddy's Field entry ....

I'm sure that many remember the incident of the young lad going the wrong way to take a leak - and coming back through the fixed lineGPMG.
We all learnt a lesson that night -

( I did mean Desert Rose - and not compass rose - sorry ! ).

Andy - was MacG one of those buried in Silent Valley ?

'Aye