David Nicolle

I travelled from Ottawa to Cairo, Egypt on a military 707 in March 1978, wearing the dress uniform of the time, as we had to wear it on almost all Canadian Forces flights. This was OK in Ottawa at about 2oC, but we were soaked in sweat after travelling by bus from Cairo airport to Ismailia in the 35oC heat. We arrived at about 8 p.m. and found the camp watching a movie projected on a whitewashed wall outside. They were all in sleeping bags or blankets as the temperature had dropped to 25oC when the sun had set. The days were usually 44–45oC. After we had acclimatized for a few weeks, we also watched movies bundled up! I remember it rained once for about 90 seconds the whole six months I was there. 

I worked in the heavy vehicle repair section of the Canadian Logistics Contingent (CanLog) repairing heavy trucks and construction equipment used by all UN contingents. CanLog was part of United Nations Emergency Force II (UNEF II), located in Camp Ismailia on the Suez Canal. It was quite amazing to see a huge freighter seemingly floating through the desert when seen moving through the canal at a distance! We worked along with the Polish Logistics Unit to support contingents from Austria, Finland, Ghana, Indonesia, Ireland, Nepal, Panama, Peru, Senegal, and Sweden. All were part of UNEF II overseeing the buffer zone between Israel and Egypt, which was established by the UN in 1975, two years after the Yom Kippur war of 1973.

We had an advance post in the Sinai at El Tasa, which provided vehicle recovery and first line repair and staging for supply. I worked there a couple of times, and it was truly beautiful at night, especially the sky. I went on a resupply convoy from Ismailia, across the Suez Canal by ferry and through the Sinai to Tel Aviv. During our run, we had put a jeep that had broken down on a tow bar behind a ¾ ton truck. At this point, the road was paved, but mostly covered in sand, so we tried to travel in the middle of it. The tow bar broke one arm and the jeep swerved off the road. I went to help re-rig the tow and, on the way, spotted what looked like a green dinner plate between the jeep tracks in the sand. I picked it up and showed it to one of the Field Engineers who was also traveling in the convoy. He went very quiet and carefully took it from me, then tossed it as far he could into the desert, saying it was a landmine, not sure whether from recent wars or WWII. I never touched anything in the desert after that and always walked on rocks or pavement.

Once, on a day off, I volunteered to go fix a water truck that belonged to a Bedouin tribe close to the Finnish camp. We realigned the water-tank on the truck chassis and repaired the pump. For payment, they invited my fellow tech and I to dinner. They had strong sweet tea, a mutton stew, and some kind of sour soup made from camel milk I think, in a small bowl. My buddy and I each had what looked like a small meatball in ours, but nobody else did. I tried mine, it was tasty, a bit chewy and slightly gelatinous. My buddy loved his and asked for another.  “Sorry sheep only have two eyes” was the answer. I still don’t know if they were kidding or not, but I can honestly say I have not tried that delicacy since! 

We were able to have some recreation; we had pools with plastic roofs to keep the sun off the water, so they were a cool 27oC. I also had a couple of shows on our camp FM radio Station, CFNI. We had a pretty good record library and broadcast music and the latest news from Canada on a booming 10-watt transmitter to our camp and parts of the buffer zone. We had trips too. I went on a Holy Land tour of Israel and to Greece as well. Of course, we went for tours near Cairo to the pyramids and the sphinx, where I got to ride a camel!