Memoirs of GD Fell

Most afternoons I was able to get in the car and go over to Pergamos to visit the family and on the way would pick up some fresh fruit for them all. After about a fortnight things appeared to have died down and it was deemed safe enough for us to return to Famagusta. We went back to Serenissima, being issued with a box of Compo rations as a lot of the shops were closed. We were however advised not to travel very far and to keep the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) on the radio at all times as any relevant information would be passed initially on this channel. Living on the beach I decided that it was safe enough for Lindsay and Nick to go swimming provided that they stayed within reasonable distance, the reasonable distance being visual distance of the flat. We tied a bath towel to the balcony facing the sea and they were told that if the towel was taken down they were to make their way with all due haste to the flat.

Famagusta

About ten days later the Turks decided to invade Cyprus and we were told over BFBS to keep ourselves as safe as possible with a message from the Senior British Officer advising everyone to "Keep your heads down and your chins up". We decided that the safest place in the flat was the passageway between the bedrooms and padded the walls with mattresses. We also put blankets into the car in case we had to do a ‘Moonlight Flit’. Lindsay and Nick made Union Flags to put on the car. I think Nick managed to salvage a piece of shrapnel from the wall of one of the bedrooms, but I’m not sure of this.

Early in the morning we got word that a convoy was being formed and that we were to make a dash for the retained site at Ayios Nikolaos, through the orange groves rather than the main road. We made the journey with all due haste and arrived at the check point at Ayios Nikolaos. From there we were told to make our way to Dhekelia where the families would be repatriated to the UK with the husbands staying to carry on working.

Convoy at Ayios Nikolaos

The planes that were being used to transport the families were old transport aircraft. These were Hercules and wouldn’t normally be used for transporting people. There were no proper toilet facilities on them but it was a case of ‘any port in a storm’ and we were thankful for the repatriation at the time.