Support

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This was my first and only time I served in a Support Sqn and I enjoyed it. I would recommend a stint in a Support Sqn to all, there is not the frantic comings and goings of a Field Sqn and you get a good chance of practicing your trade. I arrived in the Trucial States i.e.
Sharjah in November 1969 after completing the 12 month welldrilling course.This was the start of a period where I thought that this is what being a Sapper is all about, I took over the Water Production Troop from Bill Thomas who handed over the equipment. The welldrilling equipment had come from Aden when it closed down, there were three rigs, Rushtons, (on an open day at the RSME I was told by an old Sapper he had used those rigs in 1938) mounted on the backs of 10 tonners. One truck plus rig was in the plant workshops, one rig and truck was on site and the third was contained in a wheelbarrow as it had been used as spares. Drill bits, stems, drilling jars etc were as seen, as no more were available any where. Spares were to become a big problem and we resorted to many a Heath Robinson idea to keep the rig on site operating.

The site was at Ras El Kima which was located about 30 miles North of Sharjah. The job was to drill a well in a well farm that consisted of six other wells that differed in yield or operation. The rig was already on site on take over, this well was a pig to drill especially to keep straight we took this down to 300ft. On completion we moved to Oman to drill a well outside a small fort on the border, this was a good site and we would be re supplied by helicopter and road (track), we also received visits from the RAF fighter jets who would scream by at mast height.
We had visits by every one and his dog , one visitor was a Brit high up in the Oman Gendarmerie looking for Adoo and was surprised we didn't have a gun between us. It was at this site I came across a member of the Oman Gendarmerie that had six toes on each foot, every since I have always counted toes when I see someone wearing sandals. The Gendarms would have a parade every guard change, they were emaculate they put us to shame. The radio operator was an Arab who could speak excellent english and was trained up to and beyond B1 standard. When the well was finished we packed up and headed back to sharjah for a few days off then back to Ras El Kima to deepen and straighten some of the other wells.

While here an incident occurred that the full story was not found out until 2005 when I read a book about the war in the Oman. I had an A1 electrician on the team, one day we had a signal that he was to return to Sharjah immediately with all his kit, this we did using our on site land rover. We did not see him again for a couple of months, when he did surface what a tale he told it was history in the making. He had been flown to RAF Salalah to run the power station as all civvies had been removed and the base locked down. The sultans son, the present ruler, had over thrown his farther who had been taken to the RAF base and flown out to London to end his days in luxury.

Our last job before all going our separate ways was to deepen some wells outside of Sharjah. In keeping with my tale the story is as follows. Someone decided they would blow up the Sheik of Sharjah , this failed , he arrested his family and the Brit's sealed the Base. The Saladdin Armoured Cars which were falling to bits were suddenly put back on the road, the water pipe line from the town to the wells in the desert were patrolled by an armed patrol. Our job was to get the rig into the desert and drill/deepen wells abandoned because the water was saline, being to close to the coast. We deepened one well and used war reserve casing to case the well we then capped the well and moved to another one. At this point my time was up and was due to go back to the UK. Sometime later in the UK I came across one of the REME SNCO's that had been in the plant workshops he said when the drilling team folded they were over the moon and dumped the rigs which were by now falling apart. Their joy was short lived when they received orders to get the rigs ready to be sold, they scoured the world for spares but ended up making most themselves. In 1974 as I was passing RAF Salalah in Oman there was on of my 10 tonners with rig, small world. see map