210947 L/Cpl. R. David British Army Corps of Military Police  My Dad, R. David, arrived as a British subject from India and was conscripted into the Corps of Military Police, age 16. His multilingual skills were useful in dealing with other Indian recruits, mostly Sikhs, and local populations. He said it was the best time of his life and spent most of his time around the Middle East but also a short stay in Communist Europe.
They never told him where the ships docked but he is sure he stopped in Malta, Famagusta (Cyprus) and Habbaniyeh (Iraq).
He likes to show me a bullet he picked out of a wall that narrowly missed him while his friends took aim at a wild cat (blamed for routinely raiding the canteen). He mostly dealt with traffic violations but also minor crimes. He recounts the CMP had the power to arrest much higher ranking officials and once arrested a 2nd degree Officer for being “Out of bounds” (no go area). The Officer was found at a brothel and politely requested another 30 more minutes, which my Dad agreed.
|