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Memories of Libya 1956 to 1959

 

Contributed by Trevor STUBBERFIELD 52A

 

Libyan Extras Continued.

 

Photos by Tony Burton, R.E.M.E.

 

19 Arm’d Workshop, R.E.M.E. Gialo Barracks (Annexe), Tripoli.

 

5 Medium Workshop, R.E.M.E. Gurgi Barracks, Tripoli.

 

Station Workshop, R.E.M.E. Gurgi Barracks, Tripoli.

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Editor’s Note

Tony Burton made contact having served in Tripoli during my time there.  We started in the same unit, though at different times, where I only actually spent one night before walking across the road to the unit where I was supposed to have arrived at first.  The R.E.M.E. Workshops, listed above,  regularly changed names and I can go back one step and add that No.1 Base Workshop, R.E.M.E. was at Gurgi Barracks prior to it becoming 5 Medium W/S.

Tony has kindly supplied some of his photos and thoughts, which dovetail nicely into the main theme of the article.  They widen our memories of life in Libya during the 1950s.

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Tony writes……....

I arrived in Tripoli, late October, at 19 Arm’d W/S R.E.M.E. based in the Gialo barracks annexe, just across the road from you.  I arrived from Bordon as a VM A2 B1.  At one time I was temporarily detached to the Queen’s Bays at Sabratha to bulk up their L.A.D. during the making of ‘the other film’ No Time To Die with Victor Mature et. al.  Later I moved to 5 Med W/S which morphed into Station W/S with postings made on paper without anybody actually relocating.

 

               

Herewith my photograph taken just before mounting guard at Gialo annex and illustrating the level of annotation on the rear.

This must have been taken in early October 1956, just after I arrived at Tripoli. After the guard was mounted we went back to the billet and changed into boiler suits. We were "armed" with pick axe shafts.

 

A roof collapse at Gialo (annexe) following a severe storm.

 

Vehicles damaged by the cave in were a Land Rover, Mk.1 Standard Vanguard which belonged to C.R.E.M.E. and a Humber Pullman belonging to the G.O.C.  Neither were very happy.

 

Bedford QL 3ton 4X4 with the local equivalent of ‘air conditioning’.

 

 

These photos are of the tanks, Centurions in DAK livery, which were pretending to be German MK4 tanks and were used in the making of the film ‘No time to die’.  They belonged to the 2nd Dragoon Guards The Queen’s Bays to whom I was temporarily detached for the duration of the film plus the 6 week long ‘scheme’ designed to give the impression of the tanks having been in battle conditions and not too pristine, a bit like me.

 

 

 

Guard commander at Gurgi.  The one failing in my annotation of photographs was a failure to date them. Idiot!  They must have been taken very early in 1958 because I was made an acting full screw in January of that year. I was a substantive lance jack taking my stripe with me from Gialo annex.

2 additional photo's taken at the same time follow showing me and Sid Oliver. Sid was a baby and only 5'2" whereas I was 23 and 5'11".

 

 

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First Published: 1st May 2017.

Latest Update: 1st June 2018.

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                                                      Up arrow               Libyan Extras Continued.

 

 

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