National Service in the Royal Army Medical Corps

Happier times in Cyprus

During my leave in the UK after my year in Egypt, Maureen and I had got to know each other much more. Departing to go to Cyprus when my leave was over was therefore particularly hard and a further year away from home seemed an endless time. Wonderfully, Maureen managed to obtain a nursing post in Cyprus at the Cyprus Mining Corporation situated at Xeros in the northwest of the Island. Meeting for us at first wasn't easy because of transport difficulties and it was necessary to hire a taxi to meet up. However only a month or two after she had come to Cyprus, Ian Sparling, a good National Service friend who had a small Renault car, was posted away from Cyprus at short notice. He couldn't of course take his car with him and asked me if I would like to use and look after it. I naturally was delighted as it meant that I could get to Xeros easily. This little Renault proved invaluable - not only enabling us to meet at Xeros but also to go to Kyrenia in the north of the Island. This was safe, being almost entirely Turkish Cypriot occupied. A lovely haven there was Newman's Farm, just a mile or two west of Kyrenia where they served delicious cream teas and ice cold milk shakes, the milk coming from their own cows. While gazing out over the beautiful harbour from the Dome Hotel at Kyrenia Maureen and I became engaged. As Ledra street, the place to find an engagement ring, was out of bounds, we wrote off to a firm in the UK selling cheap zircon rings so Maureen could have some temporary token of our engagement. This duly arrived and was of course replaced by an appropriate one when back in the UK. Although the zircon ring had little real value, it's sentimental value was immense. Very sadly a few years after we were married we were burgled and this ring was taken - something no insurance company could ever repay.

Another great event was the engagement of a great friend of mine, Andrew Thornton, to Elizabeth who worked in a secret spy training centre next to the BMH, Nicosia. They decided to get married while still in Cyprus and I had the honour of being Andrew's best man. Sadly Elizabeth died a few years ago but Andrew is still alive and we keep in touch which is wonderful after all these years. Andrew is godfather to our youngest daughter, Joanna. 

After Ian Sparling left Cyprus to a posting outside the island, he never contacted me to let me know where he had gone. When the time came for me to leave Cyprus and be demobilised I could not contact him to tell him and ask what I should do with his car. All I was able to do was to leave the car keys with the hospital adjutant and the car in as safe a place in the hospital grounds as I could find. I have never to this day been able to make contact with Ian so perhaps this account will enable me to do so.

Because of my bad facial scarring following the car accident in Bahrain I required plastic surgery. This meant I could not obtain a civilian medical post until I had the operation. So I asked if I could be kept on in the Army for three more months until I had the operation so as not to lose an income. The answer was a blunt "No". I therefore had the surgery in my own time without an income. It was successfully done at Roehampton Hospital near London. Thus ended my National Service career. In those days after National Service you had to do five years in the Territorial Army, but that is another story for another day!

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