BROTHEL INSPECTOR TO PARKING ATTENDANT

John Moss-Norbury was a young lieutenant in the Royal Military Police. These are his memories of how he went from

I FLEW out to Nicosia with three RMP sections in February 1956. We had worked up well prior to our deployment, but soon found we were not needed, as the organization in Cyprus was poor and the existing RMPs were not being used effectively.

Kykko Camp near Nicosia in 1956

Company HQ was with RAF Police in Nicosia, just outside the walled city. At first our Company was literally all over the place. Some sections were in the Elsey Hotel, others at Kykko camp and our mess was at Wayne's Keep. To keep in touch, we had to rely on the local civilian telephone network.

Major Frank Hill, later MBE, replaced the existing CO and soon gripped the situation and I was appointed MTO, 3 Div Pro Coy RMP.

The Company was brought together and we moved into Kyrenia Road camp, received Land Rovers fitted with Pye Report radios and began anti-assassin patrols, mainly around the married family areas and inside the walled city. I was the officer-in-charge.

A typical Royal Military Police patrol during the Cyprus Emergency

Our patrols consisted of four men: a Cpl, Driver, a L/Cpl escort with an SMG and a civilian policeman, armed with a Greener Gun. He was always a Cypriot Turk. We would collect the latter from the Central Police Station in Ataturk Square, where we also changed shifts. After all, we were in Cyprus to aid the civil power.

RMP Mobile Patrols

FROM EARLY 1956 until late 1958, our company ran four mobile patrols around Nicosia during the day and changed them over at 18.00 for four night patrols. I was the duty officer every third night. Our last nightly duty was to visit Nicosia Prison and search the warders when they changed shift around 23.00.

The entrance to the death cells in Nicosia Central Prison.

Major Frank Hill invited some of us to watch the hangings of terrorists, but I declined. It was bad enough just being at the prison.

In the early days of 1956, when we shared a building with the RAF Police, I was duty officer one night and heard pipe bombs exploding off all over the place, even on the hill road to the BMH. EOKA terrorists even threw their bombs at Red Cross ambulances that carried the injured to hospital.

A selection of EOKA's homemade bombs and mines.

At first, our anti-assassin patrols, too, took some hits from EOKA's pipe bombs. Our Land Rovers were not immune to their strikes, although driver and passengers were afforded a small degree of protection from the sandbags that were placed around the vehicles. We later cut down the effects of these weapons by using non-metallic armor, which Major Hill found in RAOC stores, left over from the Korean War.

The armor gave greater protection to the men in the back of the Land Rover and some to the two soldiers in the front. However, before we used it, a poor sergeant arrived in Cyprus in the morning and was sent on patrol that same evening, only to cop a pipe bomb. He was immediately flown back to UK on a casvac Comet flight. Six months later he returned, but was never keen to be assigned a night patrol.

Secure communication needed

The radio control center at the Central Nicosia Police HQ.

OUR RADIOS, too, needed change. We were originally equipped with Pye Reporters that were neither dust proof nor secure. They were part of the Cyprus Police net and, as some of the Ops Room staff belonged to EOKA, we had to be very careful with what we said. Later we moved to our own Duty Room near the Ledra Palace and switched our communications to an Army VHF radio system, mainly used by the gunners. The system offered us much better 'control'. We could hear all the chatter, but the patrols could only hear 'control'.

Suez reorganization

THE BUILDUP to the Suez invasion resulted in two 3 Div Pro Coys on the Island and so we became 227 GHQ Pro Coy RMP and took over the 10th Armd sections at Limassol and Larnaca (Cyprus Dist Pro Coy also came under Frank Hill and 227).

We also provided escort sections for C-in-C and GOC.

When I took over as MTO, I think I was in charge of 144 vehicles scattered all over the island.

Frankly we did not need so many vehicles. It would have been far better to have had half the vehicles and twice the number of drivers, but for bureaucratic convenience, the Army demanded each Land Rover was signed out to a single driver who would then have sole accountability for its well being.

But for our needs, the only practical method was to have a two-driver system to maintain our Day and Night mobile patrols.

Brothel patrols

The Emergency regulations often placed Nicosia out of bounds to service personnel to ensure their safety from EOKA attack.

OUR FOOT patrols worked the Ledra Street area of Nicosia. EOKA did not like them, because this was where Nicos Sampson did most of his killing.

Tanzimat Street, one of Nicosia's notorious 'red light' areas.

The night patrols were interesting, because my list of jobs included 'Inspector Of Brothels'

One night we were looking for an AWOL soldier and stopped at several known sites of 'business'

'No "Johnnies" here.' said the girl at the door of the last. From where we were standing, there was a clear view of her bed. Protruding from underneath, I saw a pair of boots. We pulled them and lo and behold out they came with a bare-arsed soldier attached to them.

Later the 'madam' of another brothel in the area complained to the authorities that the foot patrols were visiting her place in the guise of inspectors, taking advantage of her services and leaving without paying. Worse, she said, our visits were making her usual clientele nervous. Thus seriously damaging her finances.

Her complaint was picked up by some desk jockey in 'A' Branch, who decided an example had to be set and so arranged a court martial for the alleged offenders. I was given the task of acting as a defense officer for one of our soldiers and I remember asking one of the prosecution witnesses - a 'girl' from the brothel - where she was when the patrol visited. She indicated she was on her back, with only a good view of the ceiling. Next, I asked 'Is the person with whom you were conjoined in this courtroom?'

'Yes,' she replied.

'Come forward,' I said, 'and place your hand on that person's shoulder. She walked over to an 'A' Branch officer and put her hand on his shoulder. Did he have a red face! At that point I submitted the prosecution didn't have a case and the court agreed. My 'client' was released.

Afterwards Major Frank Hill said: 'I told you to defend him, not get him ORF!'

Life with little news

THE DISCIPLINE of our troops was good. Mainly National Service conscripts, aged between 18 and 20, they did what was required of them. By their standards, I was an old man of 22 when we started out and 24-years-old when we left Cyprus.

For a large part of the time, we did not discuss the overall picture of the EOKA conflict or the state of the world, because we did not have much access to the news - just Pathe newsreels, which were about a week-old by the time we saw them and not very detailed. There was, of course, Forces Broadcasting, but not everyone had a radio. We talked mainly about letters from home, trips to the beach, getting kit ready for patrol duties and, in my case, working out and writing out duty rosters before 10.00, as after that time, pens melted in the heat!

'Business as usual' during one of the periodic 'truces' declared by EOKA.

Another question, which came up often, was how we were getting along with the Greeks and the Turks in the civil police. Life was surprisingly normal most of the time. Not many people were willingly involved with EOKA. They just wanted to get on with their lives with a minimum of interference.

During my tour in Cyprus, several incidents remain in my memory. These are some of them:

Communal battles: I think we were also involved in the first Turk-on-Greek trouble. A Turkish policeman had been shot and the Turks were not happy. Corporal Yeomans, my MT Sergeant, picked up the news that the Turks were heading our way in the walled city of Nicosia. We raced to meet them and found there was a Cyprus Police Land Rover already trying to block their path. We formed a roadblock with two other Land Rovers. As a result, the Turks were on one side shouting insults, while the Greeks on the other matched them. I was very pleased to see the standby platoon of the South Staffords arrive with fixed bayonets, which had a calming affect on the crowd.

Members of 1 South Staffordshires patrol the narrow streets of Nicosia.

Clearing up after a communal battle between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots in Nicosia.

In March 1956, Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the Governor of Cyprus, exiled Archbishop Makarios and his associates to the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. From let to right: Papastavros Papagathangelou, Archbishop Makarios, Polycarpos Ioannides and Bishop Kyrprianos.

Sgt Danny Morgan was one of the Section sergeants of the three I took out to Cyprus in February 56 (3 Div Pro Coy RMP). He and some other NCOs from our company picked up Makarios and took him up to the airport when he was deported to the Seychelles.
Murders: I recall seeing Sergeant Rooney of the UK Police Unit just prior to him being shot in the back by Nicos Sampson in Ledra Street. Rooney preferred to behave like an English beat bobby, try to gain the trust of the local people, by never going out armed. He was a very brave man.

Sergeant Patrick Rooney was attached to the UK Police Unit from the Kent County Constabulary. He was killed while walking his Nicosia 'beat' with a Turkish Cypriot police recruit under training by several shots in the back from a Sten gun fired by an EOKA assassin at 08.45 on 14 March, 1956. The Turkish policeman was hit in his left arm. A Greek Cypriot civilian standing near by was slightly wounded. The assassin fled. Greek Cypriots rounded up in the neighborhood protested they had not seen a thing.

The mass burial in Wayne's Keep Military Cemetery of the victims of the Paphos Fire

Funerals: We did the escort for the funeral parade at Wayne's Keep for the victims of the Paphos fire, which took place during Operation Lucky Alphonse. At the time, we did not think EOKA had been involved in starting it. It was later that rumors circulated and the blame was placed on one of the organization's mountain gangs. On the way to Wayne's Keep Cemetery, the funeral cortege came under a brief attack, but there were no more casualties. However, our 'detail' came back from the funeral and talked about the smell that came from the coffins.

The Ledra Palace Hotel in the 50s was where VIPs settled on their visits to the capital. Standing today in the UN Buffer Zone between North and South Nicosia, it is used by the British contingent of UNFICYP. Its interior is in urgent need of renovation. Outside, its walls are bullet scarred from battles between Greek and Turkish Cypriots in December 1963 and July 1974.

Hacks and haircuts: I used to have my hair cut in a barber's shop at the Ledra Palace. It was down a few steps at the back, a good place for EOKA to bomb, so I was always glad when my haircut was over. A number of visiting 'journos' stayed at the hotel and a Forces Broadcasting chap, who often visited us at the Kyrenia road mess.

Inspector George Lagoudontis of the Cyprus Police. He kept EOKA informed about the Security Forces' plans. Some people in Cyprus believe he was a double agent, feeding the terrorists with what the authorities wanted them to believe. Shortly after Cyprus became an independent republic, Lagoudontis fled to London to escape threats on his life.

Cyprus Police: The OPs Room at the Central Police station in Nicosia was run by a Sergeant George (later found to be EOKA man) He was a Greek Cypriot officer. The others were a mixed Greek and Turkish bunch. The 'Slashers' - i.e. the special riot police - were all Turks. I don't think that helped communal relations! The 'Slashers' were let loose on the rioters, often with Greek schoolgirls at the front.

Known as 'the Slashers', The Turkish Mobile Reserve ready to deal with rioters.

Spies: You could almost be sure if someone was nice to you, they were an EOKA spy. For example, the drummer of the band at the Adelphi Hotel was one. Another was a South African businessman who hung around army camps trying to pick up info.

The Paras arrive at Nicosia Airport to strengthen the Security Forces and later prepare for the Suez invasion.

Suez: In mid-56, there was a build up of French and British Paras in Nicosia for the Operation Musketeer. 2 Para consisted of mainly reservists who were not happy about being called up. One of our patrols was called to an open-air cabaret where there was trouble. L/Cpl Hollaway (our Q driver) was held at gunpoint (Sten SMG) by one drunken Para who did not like being back in the army. After some discussion, Holloway managed to disarm him. I saw him when he came back to the duty room. He was as white as a sheet. Most summer afternoons he took his three-ton Bedford over the mountains to Kyrenia so that the lads could have a swim. I think the beach did get mined at some stage. Holloway, however, always drove with great skill through the mountain passes and sharp turns. He was a regular serviceman and was in the company when I arrived. He was still there when I returned to the UK almost three years later. He went on to become RSM - a good soldier.

Lance-Corporal William 'Dinga' Bell of the Royal Military Police. Mortally wounded when an electronically detonated landmine exploded under his vehicle, he died later in hospital on 27 September 1958. Aged 20 from Bellshill, Lanarkshire, he was acting as Major General Kendrew's escort on the way to Government House.

Major Frank Hill asked me to send our best driver to C-in-C Escort Section at Episkopi. L/Cpl Bell was a good driver and very steady type. I think he was a National Service Lance-Corporal, so he left my section at Kyrenia Road, Nicosia, for Episkopi. So I was surprised to see him on gate duty at Kyrenia Road camp just doing General Duties a few days later. He said the posting had been cancelled and the RSM had put him on camp guard duty (I was not happy). Anyway, shortly afterwards the GOC Escort Section needed a driver, so he went off to be escort driver for GOC Kendrew. Months later I was on an Instructors' course at The School Of Infantry when I opened The London Illustrated News and was shocked to see Frank Hill at the funeral of L/Cpl Bell, killed in the ambush of the GOC. This was first I had heard of it.

The funeral of Lance-Corporal 'Dinga' Bell at Wayne's Keep Military Cemetery, Nicosia.

The Harbor Club as it is today in the old harbor of Kyrenia, North Cyprus.

Harbor Club: In 1938, the BBC had a program called Monday Night at Eight. As a treat, my parents allowed me to stay up to hear it. Years later, to my surprise, I found the star of the show now ran The Harbor Club in Kyrenia, a very popular watering hole for off-duty officers who needed a bit of rest and relaxation. On Sundays, she and her husband prepared a very good curry. I never understood why the place never became an EOKA target.

(Editor's Note: Judy and Roy Findlay, MC, ran the Harbor Club in Kyrenia in the 50s. The reason given to explain why EOKA never attacked the bar-restaurant was because - it was said - Mr. Findlay had saved Grivas's life during the Second World War as a member of the partisans in Greece. When Royal Leicestershire Regiment was in Cyprus, members of the regimental band formed a dance quintet and performed a series of programs at the club, which were broadcast by the British Forces Network and the Cyprus Broadcasting Service.)

Parking: When Sir Hugh Foot took over, he held a cocktail party to mark the Queen's official birthday and I was given the job to organize the security and parking for his visitors' cars. I am delighted to say everything went off without a bang. I found it quite amusing to be in the position to order senior figures about. 'Yes, sir, I know you are First Secretary, but you will have to park here and, yes, your lady will have to walk.'

Well, it was a change from being 'Inspector Of Brothels'.

(Editor's note: John Moss today lives in Victoria, Australia.)

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