Ledra Street - later known by troops as "Murder Mile" - is the Main Street shopping street in Nicosia and early in 1956 it was considered safe for the British to go and shop there. I was making a bedside lamp and needed some flex for it. I went down to Ledra Street with a friend, Philip Barker. Philip went off elsewhere to do his shopping. I entered an electrical shop on the corner of a road junction. The shop was scantily equipped and there was a considerable space from entrance to the counter. I went up to the counter and told the owner that I just wanted about six feet of flex for a bedside lamp and he disappeared at the back of the shop apparently to get this. After a considerable time waiting without him reappearing I glanced up at the wall above the counter and saw that all the flexes were hanging on the wall there. I immediately became alerted and turned quickly round to face the entrance. As I did so two men in raincoats with hands in pockets were just coming in the doorway. As soon as they saw me facing them, not knowing whether or not I was armed, they turned round rapidly and disappeared. Undoubtedly the shop owner had gone to let some EOKA terrorists know that there was a "Sitting Duck" waiting for them. This was a very near miss for me and shortly after this episode Ledra Street became so dangerous for British troops that it was put out of bounds for the duration of the Emergency.
