Below the Radar - Cyprus Summer of '74

Chapter 39 : All Good Things ..... (Farewell Is a Lonely Sound)

Alex awoke with a smile still on his face.

A broad smile. Kate. After two years. His girlfriend? Ok maybe he hadn't actually asked her out, but after last night at the cliffs, surely?

He shook off the momentary doubt and looked up to see Graham roll over on his single bed, sitting up with his feet on the floor. Alex sat upright beside him, flexing his back from a night on the floor, trying to rearrange his fixed smile into something more relaxed. He succeeded, partially, instead ending up with a smug but contented expression.

They had finally climbed back through Graham's bedroom window just before 2am. The trek back from the cliff had been uneventful, but long, Alex insisting on walking with Kate all the way, only leaving her once her sister had opened her window allowing Kate to covertly climb back in. Graham had ribbed him and pushed unsuccessfully for more detail about the night as they laid beneath the ceiling fan, eventually giving up in disgust at Alex's refusal to provide any juicy tit bits.

It was the beginning of one more in a summer full of red-hot days. Alex pictured the day ahead. As agreed, he'd call round for Kate about 11am and they'd catch the next bus down to Buttons'. They'd split off from the majority of boys and girls on the beach, joining those couples lazing further back in the dunes who'd found their own only little hiding place for extra privacy. He could see them spending the day together, only reluctantly venturing down to the sea to cool off or to the café for refreshments.

Dad would probably still be helping out at the evacuation processing centre. Mum would trust him to take care of himself during the day. Yep he could see a great day ahead.

None of these plans came to fruition.

With a chirpiness to his step Alex walked the short distance back to 23 Alexandra Hill, joining his family and the rest of the household for breakfast. He tore off a few chunks of the dense crusty freshly baked local bread and washed them down with several slices of the huge water melon his mum had just finished chopping and de-pipping. The discussion around the large table between the six adults switched between the continuing conflict outside the safety of the gates of RAF Akrotiri and how long the situation within its gates could be sustained. The room hushed on the hour as the radio, permanently tuned to BFBS Cyprus, provided the latest 9am news update.

Heads shook sadly as it was confirmed the Turkish invasion force had been supplemented from the mainland and the already large military presence around Kyrenia continued to grow. Simultaneously Turkish Forces continued to push southward. Welcomed as liberating heroes by thousands of Turkish Cypriots, seen as a foreign invader by the majority Greek Cypriots. As the United Nations debated the issue from afar, listening to diametrically opposing viewpoints, bickering over the wording of hollow resolutions, the hostilities continued. Turkish Forces faced stiffer resistance from the mainly Greek Cypriot Army Forces as the fighting intensified around Nicosia the nation's capital. The displaced refugee population grew daily. The future of Cyprus as an undivided and independent nation was in doubt, if not already dispatched to history.

Those temporarily residing at 23 Alexandra Hill had different ideas about what the next few weeks would hold for them. They all knew the thousands of families evacuated to and now living in the RAF camps at Akrotiri or Episkopi represented a major logistical challenge. Supporting, processing and evacuating thousands of European tourist civilians from all across the island, whilst also housing and feeding all of the forces personnel and families in the Western half of Cyprus was putting a huge strain on the military machine. In addition British Military Forces across the island were starting to provide basic medical support and the beginnings of simple refugee camps for the host of displaced locals.