Below the Radar - Cyprus Summer of '74

Chapter 11 : Laying Low (Get Ready)

In the week following the incident on the by-pass, which was also the first week of the Easter holiday, the boys in Berengaria (BG); Simon, Alex, Will and Rick kept their heads down. It hadn't taken much for them all to come to the same conclusion, time to lay low for a while. Dan and Ryan lived in rented accommodation with their families in Limassol, north of the by-pass and west of the Island Club, but they also stayed clear of the town centre. Most days the two of them walked the couple of miles up the dusty Polimedhia river bed or along the rutted tarmac road to hang out with the guys in BG. Ned also lived in Limassol somewhere, though Alex had no idea where. If Ned had thought about it at all, he would probably have seen no reason to change his plans for the week.

There had been no police knock on the door since the night of the incident, but Alex felt sure it was better not to push their luck and stay away from the town centre for now. He just hoped the young Greek lad was ok.

As a result the boys hung around BG camp most of the week, playing football on the dusty pitch behind the cinema, hanging round Mama's little general store opposite the NAAFI and generally driving Mama crazy. It was a decent spot to hang out, though Mama spent the whole time worrying they were about to rob her blind. She didn't discriminate though, she followed all the kids who entered the small store, ensuring they didn't pinch all her chocolates, sweets and ice creams, haranguing them in Greek if they touched anything they weren't going to buy.

When open they spent a lot of time at the BG Youth Club.

The Youth Club itself was very simple, basically another large Nissen hut style building some thirty yards long, situated on the left hand side of the main road through camp, just past the NAAFI and before Berengaria Junior & Infant Schools. The YC had a main room full of chairs, sofas, football table and table tennis table and down a few steps a smaller dance floor. In addition, there was a kitchenette and a small booth which was home to the YC's music courtesy of a record player and old box of 45's. All the guys had spent many hours in the YC honing their DJ, table football and table tennis skills. Local bragging rights were at stake when playing table football and when it came to table tennis, competition was equally fierce. Having plenty of time to practice all the YC's had talented players and they competed hard, both locally between YC's and across the island. The hours of practice, even with table mats at home across the dining room table, had allowed Alex and Simon to sharpen their skills with the small bat. Simon was a right hander and had reached but eventually lost in the final of the all island Sovereign Base Area table tennis tournament for under 17's in 1973. In the same year Alex, a lefty, had won the same tournament in his under 14 age group.

By Friday, having exhausted all the on base activities, Alex was tired of the self-imposed limitations of sticking to camp. He'd caught up with the latest footballing escapades of Raven on the Wing having just read his new copy of Valiant and smiled at seeing how Alf Tupper - the original 'Tough of the Track' - had once again faced adversity and beaten the odds emerging victorious with a bag of chips in hand. In addition, during the week he'd finished his latest 'Elric of Melniborne' novel from the Michael Moorcock science fiction series. His new western novel 'Seven Out of Hell' which continued the tale of the solitary anti-hero Josiah Hedges - better known as The Edge - and his violent life in the old West, was waiting for him on his bed stand. Even the admittedly small amount of history and economics homework he'd been set for the holiday period sat on the completed pile and Alex's thoughts turned to the week ahead.

The start of the Horseshoe Hike was only a few days away now. All being well, it would keep them occupied and out of harm's way for another week. The hike was an important annual rite of passage for eligible British youths in south west Cyprus. Only teenagers aged fourteen to eighteen from Cyprus based MoD families were able to take part and Alex knew it would be long, challenging and at times brutal. Nonetheless it just had to be done, essential to complete a truly cool CV covering your time on the island. It ranked ahead of getting wrecked on cockinelli at the annual Limassol wine festival, jumping or diving into the sea from the huge cliffs at Happy Valley, skinny dipping at midnight in the sea at Coppers Rock off the rugged cliffs of Akrotiri or hitch hiking around the island. Established in the sixties the hike was organised by Headquarters Near East Air Force (HQ NEAF) with support from various Youth Services, RAF Mountain Rescue and support sections.