My National Service was during the Suez Crisis
IT was a kind gesture by Bugle reader Pete Boxley when he came to see us at Dudley Archives with two splendid photographs of the troop steam ship Oxfordshire which he had served aboard during his National Service days.
He spotted a reference to the ship Oxfordshire when he read Trevor Cadman’s article titled “The first order was ‘Get your hair cut!’” in the June 5th edition of the Bugle. Pete told us: “Because I had two pictures of the Oxfordshire I thought they may be of interest to Trevor after he had recalled his National Service days. I reckon we must have been aboard the Oxfordshire at the same time, on its way back to Blighty.”
Pete served in the Royal Medical Corps during his two years National Service and he and three others were told to join the crew of the T.S.S. Oxfordshire, which turned out to be a very astute move. Before this Pete sailed on the Oxfordshire’s sister ship the Nevasa: “Our first voyage out followed a route around the coast of Africa. It was during the Suez Crisis and there was no access for shipping through the Canal. But on our return the following year, which would have been 1957, we were able to sail up the Canal with the crisis apparently at an end.” It was on October 31, 1956 that an attack by an Anglo/french force tried to bring an end to the Egyptian leader Nasser’s nationalisation of the Suez Canal. In response Nasser sank all 40 ships that were present in the Canal that day bringing all shipping to a standstill. Pete can remember seeing the sunken wrecks: “Because the situation in the Canal Zone was still highly sensitive, all the troops on board the Oxfordshire were told to stay below decks during the whole journey along the Canal. But me and my three medical orderly buddies were able to see all the wrecks from a vantage point in the stern. Our work apparel was of course white jackets, etc, so no one observing us from the banks would think of us as military personnel. The medical room was positioned right at the back of the ship and we had a ringside seat of all the wrecks which had been salvaged to the side to allow shipping adequate passage.”
Delight
During research of the Oxfordshire we came across a letter that had been written in 1958 singing the ship’s praises. It was from Lieutenant Col. Rangecroft of the King’s Regiment to Major Sir Harold Biddy, Chairman of the Biddy Line that owned the Oxfordshire. The following are a few of his comments: “I have travelled to many parts of the world but never enjoyed a voyage as much as this one on-board the Oxfordshire. The ship is a delight and has so much space. Captain Fitch kept us informed with his humour, good sense and thoughtfulness and the troops loved it. From the senior crew members down to the rest of the crew, the chefs, the storkeeper, etc., nothing was too much trouble.”