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Introduction
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The ELGAMIL Club is named
after the landing zone which was used by the British Forces for the
assault on Port Said on November 5th 1956. Anyone who took part in this
AIRBORNE landing is invited to become a member of this club. |
Brigadier Crook
Paul Crook was born in April
1915 and educated at Uppingham School and Emmanuel College Cambridge, where
he gained a degree in Classics & Law. Commissioned into The Queen’s
Own Royal West Kent Regiment, he served with the Regiment in India and
Palestine and at the outbreak of the Second World War was Adjutant of the
Regimental Depot at Maidstone.
He saw war service in West
Africa, North West Europe and the Far East. A Graduate of the British Army
Staff-College, the United States Army Command and General Staff School
and the Royal naval College Greenwich, he held various staff appointments
in the War Office, the Far East, Wales, Aden and Africa.
He commanded a Company of
the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment in Malaya, the 3rd Parachute Battalion
in Cyprus and in the airborne assault on Port Said, and the Army’s Airborne
Training and Development Centre. He formed the Jamaica Defence Force on
Independence, was Security Operations Advisor to the High Commissioner
for Aden and the South Arabian Protectorate and finally commanded Rhine
Army in BAOR.
On retirement from the Army
he continued to give service, this time with the Police as the Force Welfare
Officer of the Lincolnshire Constabulary. He was appointed Honorary Colonel
of 15 (Scottish) Parachute Battalion, TA, and the 4th (Volunteer) Parachute
Battalion, with whom he completed 50 years commissioned service. Mentioned
in Despatches five times, Brigadier Crook has been awarded the OBE, DSO,
CBE, and the USA Bronze Star Medal. Ha has settled in Lincolnshire, has
been Chairman of the County Scouts and Army Benevolent Fund, and lives
with his wife, Betty, in a delightful old house in a village near Grantham.
| In November 2000 we were
twinned with the French UNP- Union Nationale de Parachutists - Calvados
Branch. Their HQ is situated in Caen. None of the current members were
at Suez except Colonel Chateau Jobert one of the most decorated French
Paras code named - Conan, very well respected among the French Paras. He
was in charge of the French contingent at Suez and did a brilliant job.
He also served in the French SAS and still wears that badge (same as ours)
Very old now but still sharp as a razor. |
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Please use the links provided
for more information and details for contacting the Secretary.
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