AFTER THE CUTLIFFE MURDER

By
David Carter

FRIDAY, 3 October 1958, is a date former members of 29 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, will never forget if they served in Cyprus. It was when two EOKA gunmen murdered the wife of a senior NCO and injured the wife of another, while they were shopping in Hermes Street, Famagusta. The dead woman was Catherine Cutliffe and the injured was Mrs. Elfriede Robinson, a 20-year-old German national, recently married to a sergeant.

The rage that erupted and spread through the ranks of the British forces that day was of a kind never seen before. Service personnel from the nearby bases, including the 1st Battalion The Royal Ulster Rifles, vented their fury on the Greek Cypriot population of the port city. Any and every male over the age of 16 became a target to be beaten, rounded up and taken away for interrogation.

The Royal Artillery Regiment, formerly 12/25 Battery - the Black Battery of the Crimean War - had arrived in Cyprus in June 1957 and departed in May 1960 as 9(ALMA) Field Battery. During that time it fulfilled a dual role: Gunner support for the Middle East Reserve, the so-called 'Fire Brigade' - and a fully operational Internal Security Unit.

Lance Bombardier Bill Packham, a National Service soldier, joined the regiment in October 1957 and was based at Karaolos Camp until June 1959. Throughout this period, he wrote letters home, which his mother collected. They prompted his memories, which he shared with the author, together with his photographs. Coupled with others provided by John Sworder, they provide a pictorial record of their activities as the EOKA conflict reached its climax.

8 Alma Battery 29 Field Regiment Royal Artillery Karaolos Camp nr. Famagusta.

The RA unit sign at Camp Karaolos, placed when it arrived in a hurry from the UK in summer 1957.

Karaolos Camp, view from the NAAFI.

Aerial view of Karaolos Camp, taken from an Auster.

The daily Auster flight, which delivered mail from home and collected letters to post for the troops at Karaolis camp.

The flag flying at half-mast at Karaolis camp, where 1 RUR was based, following the murder of Mrs. Catherine Cutliffe.

On 3 October 1958, the day EOKA murdered Mrs. Catherine Cutliffe, Packham was the duty store man. 'Although feelings were running very high and no one was allowed out of camp, I issued riot batons to any one who wanted one,' he remembers.

The troops get ready to round up Greek Cypriot males in Famagusta.

EOKA suspects held for questioning.

'About 350 Greek Cypriots were rounded up and brought to the camp, dropped off in the Royal Ulster Rifles' lines and made to run the gauntlet between 200 squaddies with batons, before they were put in "the snake pit",' he says.

'The Snake Pit' at Karaolos, with EOKA suspects awaiting questioning. The 29 Field Regiment's huts are in the background. Note: On the extreme right, there is a priest in a gray frock. The detainees washing facilities are in the foreground.

The 'Snake Pit' was a compound between 29 Field Regiment and the RUR sites. It was an old quarry approximately 30 feet deep, surrounded with barbed wire and guarded by three Bern gun posts. Access was by steps from the RUR position.

At night searchlights, mounted on AEC Matadors, illuminated the 'Snake Pit'.

'During the evening of Mrs. Cutliffe's murder, I went to 29 Field Main Gate and listened to what was going on,' Packham says. 'I saw bodies laid out in rows, with the Medical Officer and medics attending to the injured Greek Cypriots.

'Next morning, a Saturday, I went to the Cutliffe's house, with supplies for the guard that had been posted there. Lance Bombardier Pete Best was one of them. He said they were there in case EOKA tried to kill Mrs. Cutliffe's 18-year-old daughter, Margaret, who had witnessed her mother's death and could identify the killers.

'Famagusta was a mess. Windows of houses, shops and cars had been smashed. Some cars had been burnt out. Several shops had been looted. During the next few days, there were stolen radios on sale in the camp.

The same night as Mrs. Cutliffe's murder, a 29 Field Regiment one-ton vehicle of Captain D L Horne's patrol was blown up by a mine, which exploded under the cab. The vehicle commander, Sgt. Pochin, was blasted through the cupola, sustaining two broken ankles. Bdr. Worwood and Gnr. Coomber were also hurt. Danny Dwyer, the driver, spent four days in BMH Dhekelia. The vehicle was a write off.

'On Saturday morning our BQMS came into the stores and said he had enjoyed himself. The butt of his Stirling machine gun was bent and covered in bits of skin, hair and blood.

'As all those who lived in married quarters were confined to their quarters, I spent the following week delivering their groceries. I saw several Greek Cypriots in Famagusta who had been injured. They were bandaged and limping.

'Later in the week, the Brigadier gave the RUR and us a ticking off - to put it mildly. He said the Army would not tolerate such behavior if it happened again. Up to this point I think most soldiers in Cyprus were pretty easy going with the Cypriots - both Greeks and Turks - but attitudes hardened towards the Greeks after Mrs. Cutliffe's murder.

PACKHAM'S job in 8 Bty Stores was to supply outstations with what they needed or wanted - beer, cigarettes, soft drinks, mail and so on. He was known as their 'Mr. Fixit'. While many storemen preferred to stay in the camp, he enjoyed getting out and about, whether it was day or night.

A Bedford 3-ton truck (H hotel) command vehicle.

Karaolos camp. Gabe Hunt loads supplies for the outstations.

The regiment's outstation guards were located at Lefkonico Police station; Psyllatos village, where they were to prevent intercommunal murders; Makrasyka, the location of a water pumping station; Dherinia, where they protected water storage tanks, one of which EOKA had destroyed and Kato Varosha, where an electricity generating station was sited.

Lefkonico Police station - 8 Battery's main outstation on 13-10-58.

'Bomb alley', Lefkonico, on 12-02-59, a week before the cessation of hostilities.

Q Potter at Psilatos nr. Lefkonico.

Bill Packham en route to Dherinia nr. Famagusta.

Dherinia pumping station.

L-R Danny Dwyer, Jim Gale, Jock Mclean, Mick Jago (lookout) at the Dherinia pumping station.

Kato Varosha electricity station.

Famagusta Docks.

The regiment's supplies came from the Dhekelia Base, and the NAAFI and Lanitis stores, both in Famagusta.

'Usually we did a regular supply-run to outstations, four days a week. I made a point of stopping and searching all vehicles. If I found they carried Greeks, they were given a smack in the mouth. If they were Turks, they were allowed to go on their way in peace. I am not proud of what I did,' Packham emphasizes today.

'One Sunday I had to take a supply of aviation fuel in jerry cans to Lefkonico, which was our principal outstation. Before I set off I went around the billets asking for escorts. Six soldiers volunteered - and we armed.

'To the best of my knowledge, we were never denied ammunition for our weapons, contrary to what some servicemen have claimed. In fact, we took extra ammo during escort duties. I remember firing rounds at road signs just for fun.

'After delivering the supplies, we stopped in a Greek village on the Lefkonico - Trikomo Road and decided to raid the local coffee shop. We made the Greeks line up against a wall, took cases of beer from the shop and loaded them on our truck. We tore down any Greek flags we saw and took the lot back to camp. The beer was shared out amongst the soldiers.' He repeats: 'I am not proud of what I did.'

On 15 November 1958, a food lorry arrived with two civilian welfare officers on board, but the Battery Commander suspected something was out of order. He decided to examine the Greek Cypriot driver's papers. After checking, it turned out the driver was an EOKA member on a wanted list. Rather than risking trouble while there were civilians present, he asked the driver to wait and then drop off a soldier where the food supplies were to be off-loaded. Unknown to the driver, 'the soldier' was a Special Branch interpreter and his colleagues were waiting to arrest the Greek Cypriot at his next location.

Often members of the regiment were called to perform internal security details in an infantry role. Many of these patrols were carried out at night, when small groups would be driven to the vicinity of a village where they were dropped off to creep around the outskirts to look for suspicious activity or to set up ambush points.

On a particularly dark night Sergeant 'X' led his patrol through Lapithos village, known as a hive of EOKA activity. Some distance behind, a Land Rover followed, with a signaler relaying reports back to camp at 15-minute intervals.

The stillness of the night was only broken by the barking of dogs in the distance, the soft pad of feet and the occasional sound of a rolling stone as someone stumbled.

Suddenly there was a metallic clunk. Sergeant 'X' stopped immediately. There, ahead of him in the center of the rough track, he could just see a cylindrical object, about eight inches long, and an inch or two wide.

'Don't move,' he ordered his men and he moved closer to view the object. In the pencil beam of his small torch, he saw a fuse projecting from one end. Hurrying back to the Land Rover he sent a message to Control: 'Bomb found in Lapithos village in middle of road. Request bomb disposal expert.'

Control immediately notified the police, Special Branch, Field Security Intelligence and Bomb disposal. Within minutes a representative of each branch, accompanied by other service personnel, rushed to the scene from their nearest posts.

They converged on Sergeant 'X''s location, where his men had taken up positions several yards from the suspect bomb, now bathed in a pool of vehicle headlights. A bomb disposable expert asked: 'Who found it?'

Sergeant 'X' nodded.

'Was it thrown?'

'No,' he replied. 'I don't think so. Hadn't you better defuse it before it explodes rather than asking questions?'

The bomb expert smiled and walked towards the object, almost too casually, Sergeant X thought.

Everybody watched tensely, as he reached the bomb, stooped and picked it up.

Holding it behind his back with one hand, he returned to the nervous group of puzzled spectators. 'Sergeant 'X', with my compliments.' He brought the object from behind his back and juggled with it. The troops closed their eyes and clamped their hands over their ears. Some whispered a prayer.

'Sergeant,' the bomb expert said, 'Your mine is a can of self-heating soup.'

Famagusta Docks. Minesweepers of the 104 Minesweeping Squadron.

'We also did guard duties at Famagusta docks, where mail was stored in wooden barges, and guarded sick Greek prisoners in the local hospital, army married quarters and beaches at night, to prevent them being mined,' Lance-Bombardier Packham told the author. 'In the day, we protected off-duty swimmers.'

'Bunny' Bagshaw delivering supplies to guards on ships in Famagusta docks.

As a reward for his good work, Packham was given a trip to Beirut on board HMS Camperdown, a Royal Navy minesweeper, based in Famagusta. The ship was also used to check fishing boats for smuggled weapons.

HMS Camperdown in Beirut, December 1958.

In April 1959, with the end of the EOKA conflict, the Battery sailed for Libya to take part in a six weeklong exercise during which its 25-pounder guns were fired.

L-R Bill Glasspool, Pete Best, Stan Stanley, Souse Folks, Smudge Smith and Big Smudge Smith on the square at Karaolos Camp on 23-03-59, ready to move to Famagusta Docks to board LST Empire Gull for Tripoli, Libya.

The RA unit's 25-pounders traveling through the Greek village of Gypsos. Note the Greek flags.

LST Empire Gull at Famagusta docks waiting to load 8 Bty 29 Field Regiment RA to go to Libya.

AEC 10-tonners embarking on LST Empire Petrel at Famagusta docks for Libya.

Royal Military Police search troops for weapons prior to returning to the UK.

An RAF Hunter at Nicosia Airport passes a parked Transport Command Hermes about to take troops home.

WHEN 29 Field Regiment left the Island in May 1960, the Battery Commander Major J P Robertson, RA, addressed the parents of the regiment's conscripts: 'Two of our years in Cyprus were spent on Active Service dealing with a ruthless, cunning and cowardly enemy... I can testify, in all sincerity, to the magnificent job done by the young men of our Security Forces, of which a proportion belong to this Battery. This year, the last National Servicemen will be called to the colors. He has served us as unselfishly and loyally as any soldier has ever served, and you, his parents, can be very proud of him.'

Thirty-five operations were mounted against EOKA. One of the regiment's greatest successes was the discovery of secret terrorist documents, second only to the Grivas diaries. Despite encountering many ambushes and bomb incidents, ironically, the only fatality 29 Field Regiment suffered was an innocent civilian member of 'the family' - Mrs. Catherine Cutliffe.

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