Indulgences

-

Today was my day off, being Monday, so after an early pick up at the hotel, I was off on the desert road towards El Alamein, to indulge my interest in history.

The route itself is littered with names that are like a roadmap to the War in the Western Desert. Signs read, El Alamein, Marsa Matrouh, Sidi Barrani - I could go on.


It was a rather long three hour drive on modern highways, so one can only imagine how difficult it was more than eighty years ago.

The desert was barren either side of the highway, stretching off to the south into the far distance. Flat, featureless, and hot.

When we arrived at El Alamein, we did a quick stop at the start line. Then it was off to the Military Museum, which is quite impressive in itself. Outside, there are rows of armour - mainly from the Allied side, but with some Axis equipment also - much of it obviously recovered from battlefields.

There is also an impressive collection of artillery, including the famous German 88, several PAK (Anti-tank) guns, and some British 17 and 25 pounders, along with a Sherman, Lee-Grant and so on.

There's also the remains of a Spitfire Mk VB recovered from the seabed.

The most impressive display outside, however, is the P40 recovered from the re mote El Wadi El Jalid in the western desert. It was discovered in 2012 by a Polish oil survey team, and was remarkably intact having crash landed. The pilot, who turned out to be Flight Sgt. Denis Copping of the Desert Air Force had obviously walked away from the aircraft, as his parachute had been used a temporary sun shade, and the radio had been removed from the aircraft as he tried to get it working.

He then appeared to have walked into the desert in an attempt to reach safety.

Despite several searches, his remains were never found. Sad.

The aircraft was restored by Egyptian authorities and put on display in El Alamein as a memorial. 

The displays in the museum itself are comprehensive, and each national belligerent has its own dedicated hall.

Then it was off to the Commonwealth Graveyard, well maintained as always by the CWGC. It is a lovely peaceful place, and I even managed to locate another M.J. Buchanan, a Kiwi who lost his life tragically in Tobruk.

All in all a day well spent.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hurry up...and wait!

-
Image
The Sabbath is a day of rest, But I'm not sure that Moses, when he presented The Ten Commandments had airport waiting lounges in mind. The 'plane arrived late and so, the departure was affected. Still, the onboard food was quite good and the seat-back entertainment drowned out the child that seemd to sceam all the way from Dublin to Cairo, some 5,000+ miles away. Cairo airport was exactly as expected. Busy, hectic, efficient?...I'm not convinced. And, of course, the baggage was also delayed. Still, shortly after 1am I made my way into the stunning balminess of ther Cairo evening. The weater app told me it was still 29c...with sand! That's a new one on me. And in a sea of faces, I saw Mr. George, the diocesan driver, with my name on a sheet held high above his head. As we left the airport, the October Bridge was affected by an incident, which made the M50 look positively Teutonic in its efficiency. Not to mention the hair raising motorcyclists with sometimes three passen...
Read more

A purple patch!

-
Image
It's hot wearing clericals in Cairo - even when they're linen! I know that sounds obvious, but remind me never to complain about the heat in Rathfarnham parish again! Today I finally got to meet with Archbishop Samy in his office here in the Diocesan building.  He has a huge area of responsibility.  The province of Alexandria contains the Diocese of Egypt, along with several other Dioceses, and takes in much of North Africa, parts of East and West Africa, and stretches as far east as Somalia! So, I'm grateful for him taking the time out of his busy schedule to chat about my contribution to ministry in Cairo. There is a vacancy in the English speaking congregation in the Cathedral, which also has an Arabic, a Sudanese, and other smaller congregations. At the moment it is being covered by a priest with other areas of responsibility. I'm told that he'll be especially delighted with the extra help. So, it's parish ministry in a very interesting city-centre environme...
Read more

First Things...

-
Image
It is truly an incredible honour to have been selected by CMS Ireland to have the opportunity to work in Cairo among the permanent and indeed, transient community in what promises to be a vibrant Cathedral ministry. When I was first informed of the possibility of a placement in the architecturally striking All Saints Cathedral in Cairo last year it all seemed so very far away, nebulous, and perhaps even a little out of my reach. I had imagined that there would be enormous interest in the position and I didn't dare to seriously consider the possibility that I would be chosen from among so many. Now, with less than two weeks to go until I fly out of Dublin, it is suddenly  very real  and pressing! To have the opportunity to serve Christ, our Church and whomever I come into contact with in my pastoral role, and in a land as old as time itself, seems almost too good to be true. Nevertheless, time marches on and Cairo draws ever nearer. I will miss all in Rathfarnham Parish as I tr...
Read more