大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Dianne Burtrand of Chelmsford Library on behalf of Douglas John Pike and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

Did forward multi-airline route help to outfox Rommel? June/August 1942

The following was prepared mainly from memory. It must be realised that other ranks were forbidden to keep diaries. Students of the dual standards applying will not be surprised to note that the Chief of Staff, Lord Allenbrook and most higher ranks kept copious and detailed accounts. Thanks to these being published quite a few additions were made to my recollections.
It may seem surprising that so much detail is recorded for such a short period in my ramblings covering over six years. The reason is that, apart from the Oronsay incident, this episode was the most vivid in which the 鈥榮mell鈥� of danger persisted. Also the loss of the Section Sergeant, not everyone鈥檚 friend, emphasised the danger of our location. An ironic situation in that the only fatalities in our sections were the cook killed on the Oronsay and the sergeant on the very lip of the Quatara depression two years later.

Mid June 1942

The Flap was halted East of El Alamein, earlier prepared fortifications being hurriedly reinforced by troops from all over the Dominion together with the Poms. Back at Cairo, on July 1st, the incinerators were doing sterling work burning maps, plans and the assorted bumph so lovingly cherished by the Short Range Shepherd鈥檚 Group - Ash Wednesday was in full spate. Reservations on the trains to Palestine were being arranged, or rather bargained for. Bribes were in abundance, varying from valuables, money and the offer of a wife in one case. In a special siding a private train was ready to evacuate the British Ambassador鈥檚 Italian wife, Lady Lampson, together with her mostly Italian entourage. The Suez Canal seemed as secure a barrier as the English Channel after Dunkirk.
South Africa had it attraction for many, but the availability of bookings was very limited.
Rumours abounded in high and low places, one being that Rommel intended to by-pass Alexandria and make his first target Cairo. This could have been accepted in the high places, as the greater part of the Allied Fleet was dispersed to Port Said, Haifa and Beirut. Leaving Alexandria with little more than a dozen rowing boats and two battleships resting on the harbour bottom! Back up the Blue, a body of Signals linesmen was made up from combining two British and one Indian Line Construction sections. (The latter probably the 5th Indian Division). Lorries arrived just east of the fortified line and to the amazement of the assembled linemen, they were seen to contain large supplies of material not seen since training days. The initiated reader will just about recall Multi Airline poles, arms, insulators, copper wire, jumpers and guylines.

To the P.O. workers, the material resembled a Hornby 00 kit rather than that seriously intended for use in the field鈥�. Was this primitive equipment going to stop the Afrika Corps from taking Egypt and reaching the Empire鈥檚 artery, the Suez Canal? (Going back about three months, 21 Construction, one of the three units incredulously regarding the MAL components, had built a permanent line route parallel with the road to Mersa Matruh and beyond. About ten miles long stretching from nowhere to nowhere, much to the surprise of the stalwarts neither end connected with any other route. Upon completion the section moved westwards to maintain the existing route to Mersa Matruh. Work proceeded true to Cirta Cito. Working up the poles the linemen were concerned to observe thousands of vehicles carrying all kinds of equipment, together with countless squaddies of all allied nationalities, a solid convoy going eastwards. Shouts of derision came from many trucks 鈥淩ommel鈥檚 coming鈥� and 鈥淵ou lot must really be up the pole鈥�. Still working on a route soon to be offered to the Axis, the linemen were inclined to agree. After a day or two the section was ordered to break camp, load up the 鈥榩arrots and monkeys鈥� and proceed eastwards with the other soft-skins)
The picture later became clearer, the Multi-Airline route was to be joined to mystery 鈥榥owhere to nowhere鈥� route鈥檚 western end and sally forth to the South as far as the Quatara Depression. The task was accomplished in a few days, good going for something over forty miles of varying desert surfaces. Two sections departed leaving 21 Construction manning a series of test points along the route. On the very lip of the Depression an elderly permanent line route showed itself. It was the W W route, constructed by Egyptian Post and Telegraphs, linking Wadi Natrun with Mersa Matruh via Sidi el Rahman. As the latter location was used by Rommel as his forward HQ and Mersa Matruh was now well behind enemy lines the ancient copper wires were severed and the Multi Airline connected to Wadi Natrun repeater Station.
All was now revealed; this mad a reasonably secure link from Cairo to a point near the 8th Army and Desert Air Force HQ at Burg al Arab, the eastern terminus of the 鈥榥owhere to nowhere鈥� route mentioned previously. The training in the UK had not been in vain. Multi airline seemed to have more in common with Hornby gauge 00 than real telecommunications to the Post Office engineers who formed the core of 21 Construction, yet here in the desert this toy-like overhead route was about to play a short lived but important link in the preparation for the repulse of the Afrika corp. The greatest menace to the continuity of service were the whip aerials of tanks and armoured cars, for as they moved under the wires the bay would be twisted into a copper rope hence a short circuit! Another aspect of training came back to the linemen 鈥� what a pity it is not a Field Cable route of Don 8 with pole crossings. Memories of the cry 鈥榩ole crossing鈥� and the drill for the four linemen 鈥渘umbers 1 and2 take the hammer and jumper, numbers 3 and 4 take the pole, peg and guyline, pole crossing commence鈥� were recalled as they raced to the fault and cleared the twist as quickly as possible. The lines had to be monitored by the men at three test points, no help from instruments just tap in and listen. Many were the surprising conversations overheard. It seemed that any vital material was conveyed by what is now called Telex, then Teleprinter, but senior people who should have known better were able to make very personal calls through gHQ Middle East switchboard into the public lines of Cairo. Not very good for morale when the linemen had to turn out at very short notice day or night to repair the ravages of patrolling tanks etc., in order that communication was maintained for both essential teleprinter and trivial verbal/social purposes.
(A nonsense conversation overheard entertained the monitors for many a day and went something like 鈥淗ello. How are you? Pardon? How are you? Can鈥檛 hear you. The line is terrible. Many happy returns. Still can鈥檛 hear you.鈥� This was repeated until the male gave up. It was not surprising that the line was bad. It went from a field telephone onto the Forward Multi Airline, then onto the aged W W Route into the Quattara Depression. Then through to Wadi Natrun, down to Cairo Middle East GHQ, out into the civilian network then finally connecting to the puzzled girlfriend鈥檚 private phone!) Eventually during the night of the 30/31st August, Rommel tried the outflanking move (via Alam Halfa) and the lonely and worried eight linemen on each of the remaining test points were recalled North West, to their great relief! (Fable has it that Monty was awakened with the news that the enemy was entering the minefields in the South. 鈥淓xcellent, excellent鈥� he exclaimed then turned over and went to sleep again).
The linemen, test points and Multi Airline were believed by us to have been left in situ as late as possible, to 鈥榠ndicate鈥� lack of suspicion of impending attack. A few hours before the Panzers destroyed long stretches of the Airline Route, the test point parties were called back towards Amariya. (Sixty two years later I learned that Afrika Corps was observed coming straight up the line of telegraph posts鈥� by 22 Armoured Division, mentioned in 鈥楩rom the Desert to the Baltic鈥� by G.P.B. Roberts. This brief phrase is the only reference to the Forward Multi Airline Route constructed and maintained for the five to six weeks preceding the last attempt by Rommel to take Egypt that I found in over a dozen finely detailed books devoted to Alamein.
Eighteen linemen enjoyed their first shower for some four months, char and wads at a field NAAFI and a full night鈥檚 sleep uninterrupted by turning out to disengage twisted bays of the F.M.A.R. in the last six weeks. Together with many more ingenious ruses, lorries disguised as tanks, tanks disguised as lorries and even a dummy water main complete with tankers supplying invisible water to the dummy tank units, it would seem that the Signals played a part in the hoaxing of Rommel. (Although it transpired that he was home!) The deception was successful in encouraging the attack and luring the tanks towards our artillery and hull-down tanks which were able to destroy some 49 enemy tanks. Afrika Corps and the Italians withdrew during the night of September 2/3rd, a date unnoticed by the resting linemen, perhaps by anybody, being just three years on from the declaration of war!
So ended Rommel鈥檚 advance to Cairo鈥�.and Il Duce鈥檚 triumphant ride on his white horse into Alexandria. A couple of days later, before going back to base, we were taken to the top of a hill and saw the still burning tanks and vehicles left after Alam Halfa. Rommel鈥檚 last fling to take Egypt was over. 21 Construction had played its small part in the prelude to Alamein.
Ironically, for a passive section of the Army, the Section Sergeant Davy surveyed the W W Route past the point which orders deemed safe, into the Italian southern outposts and was killed. He left Cpl. Hellmuth in charge, his curtain line was 鈥渒eep 鈥榚m busy 鈥榚llmut鈥ven if it鈥檚 only picking up paper!鈥� This was on the very lip of the Quatara Depression referring to some fifteen men! A Post Office man turned martinet. RIP.

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