The book is an excellent read, giving an account of the author’s earlier years before being called up for National Service and then finding himself in Cyprus – a whole different world for a 19 year old. I was able to relate to some of the places mentioned, such as Aberdeen Camp (Xeros), and others, having visited these areas while doing my own research. It seems the Gordon Highlanders in fact introduced the name Aberdeen Camp. It was interesting to note that Brian had said there were many of the servicemen who really had no idea why they were in Cyprus and what was going on and they just carried out their duties because they were ordered to do so. In later years Brian thought a lot about the situation in Cyprus all those years before and has been able to glean a lot more information of what was actually happening. This is also included in his book and like many others, the experience made him a lot more worldly-wise and probably helped him to understand many things that may have come across his path, as he grew older, from a different perspective. There are certain accounts of happenings in Cyprus by British servicemen, which surprised me, although I had heard of some accounts from other sources and was not sure at the time of their authenticity. Brian’s book is dedicated to the 16 Gordon Highlanders who lost their lives in Cyprus, 13 in a forest fire in the Troodos Mountains, where 8 servicemen from other regiments also lost their lives. For those who are interested in military history and in particular British servicemen in Cyprus in the 1950s, you will definitely like reading this book which can be obtained from Ringwood Publishing online shop, Waterstones online and is also available from Amazon, Booksource and Bokus.

Margaret Shread
Cyprus
25 Nov 2017
Cyprus Scene