POLES APART

Early in 1950 the 1st Battalion South Wales Borderers mounted its first large scale operation against the shifta (bandits) of Eritrea. Banditry has been a way of life since time began in this rugged East African country sandwiched between the Red Sea, Ethiopia and the Sudan, but a few years after the end of the second world war, a political flavour was introduced to their national sport. It was Mussolini's dream to have an East African empire, but things turned sour on him in 1940 when British, Indian and South African forces defeated his army in Somaliland, Abyssinia and Eritrea.
When we arrived in Asmara nine years later, there were still plenty of Italian expatriates about. In fact the whole country, radiating from its beautiful capital city, gave the impression of a pleasant part of northern Italy. Our job was to look after the interests of these poor Italians and stop shifta from wiping them out, which they would have done given half a chance.
The area selected for our first anti-shifta operation was an expanse of semi desert country west of Keren. We travelled by road from Asmara through rugged mountain country where mighty outcrops of rock, densely covered in prickly pear cactus provided excellent observation posts for shifta who were waiting for an opportunity to snipe at vehicles. For this reason, we always travelled in convoy with everyone armed and alert.
We reached the edge of the plateau where, in March 1941, British and Indian troops under General Platt fought one of the toughest battles of the war. As we descended through the gorge we marvelled at the tenacity of our soldiers who levered themselves to victory with their finger nails. Marked on a rock in white paint for all to see were the words: HLI SCOTLAND FOR EVER (HLI means Highland Light Infantry). At the bottom of the gorge, the road ran through undulating country sparsely covered with thorn bush. Twenty miles or so further on we turned left and headed for a place on the map marked Arressa; this was the location of battalion headquarters. We arrived during the late afternoon and were able to erect our tents before darkness enveloped us.
The next morning, the commanding officer held his 'O' (orders) group. The operation had already started and I, as signals officer, felt a certain amount of satisfaction as wireless communications were working reasonably well and information was trickling in. When operational matters had been covered, the CO came to the 'command and signal' part of his orders. "I have decided to have my Tac HQ (tactical headquarters) in the police post on the top of the hill over there," he said. We followed the direction of his finger and saw a small white-washed hut sitting like a pimple on a hill a few hundred yards away. "Signals officer - I want a wireless and telephone to be set up. Any problems?" "No, sir," I replied, "I'll get that fixed right away." "Good," said the colonel as he rose from his camp chair and strode towards his jeep. He looked back over his shoulder and said: "There's just one more thing, pole the telephone cable." "Hang on, sir," I shouted. "We haven't brought any poles with us." The colonel stopped in his tracks, turned around slowly and said menacingly: "I'm not concerned whether or not you have brought poles with you, just get that cable poled." With that, he got into his car and drove off.
I was fortunate to have an efficient signals sergeant called 'Duke' Dyer. I went across to the signals tent and gave him the outline of the CO's orders. "That's the place over there," I said, pointing to the small hut on the hill. "Righto. sir, no problem," said the resourceful 'Duke'. "There's just one more thing, Sergeant Dyer," I said, "pole the cable." "We haven't brought any poles," he replied. I gave him a stern look and said: "I don't give a damn whether or not you've brought any poles, just get that cable off the ground." I turned on my heel and walked off. I give credit to Sergeant Dyer and the signallers for trying hard. They collected all the spare tent poles and every bit of wood they could find in the quartermaster's compound which would raise the cable off the ground, but it wasn't enough. After a short distance from the magneto (field) exchange, they ran out of 'poles' and the telephone line had to lie on the ground.
The following day at the CO's 'O' group, I had a feeling that things were not going well. When he got around to the 'command and signal' bit, he looked at me and said: "Didn't I tell you to pole the cable to my Tac HQ?" "Yes, sir," I whispered. "Then, why-have-you-not-done-it?" he said in that clipped way of his which signalled trouble. I stumbled with a lame excuse about not being able to find anything else to lift the line and received another broadside: "Absolute nonsense," bellowed the colonel. "The place is littered with poles. Go outside and I'll show you." Leaving the others inside the tent, the CO picked up a piece of wood which turned and coiled back on itself until it resembled a modern art version of a corkscrew. "What's wrong with this?" he said. "A few of these tied together will be ideal. The trouble with you, my boy, is that you don't use your head." Just to add substance to his words he picked up a few more bent sticks he found under a bush. "I want that cable poled by midday," he snapped.
I gathered 'Duke' Dyer and the signallers together and we set about scouring the barren landscape for anything made of wood. Nothing was rejected and we soon had a production line of signallers tying together an assortment of twisted shapes. We made slow progress getting the cable off the ground and every time we erected a 'pole' I looked at the small hut on the hill to see if it was getting any closer. At last, within five minutes of the deadline, we struggled up the remaining few yards to the CO's Tac HQ and drove in the last 'pole', which resembled three badly damaged bicycle wheels.
The colonel came out of the hut and surveyed the undulating cable stretching back to battalion headquarters. I wiped the sweat off my brow and gasped: "I never thought we would do it, sir." He looked at me with a smile on his face and said: "I'll let you into a secret, Bob. I didn't think you would either. Well done."