[ beginning | mule pack | auxiliaries | France | infantry | Cassino | mules and hinnies ] timeline
The Cypriot Volunteers were formed into a regiment in 1940. It included infantry, mechanical transport and mule pack transport corps. The Cyprus Regiment was born a total of 25000 Cypriots and both communities enlisted, Greek and Turkish volunteered alike. The Cypriot regiment were armed units comprising of British officers and NCOs with the men being all Cypriots. The men were proud to have there own regimental badge. The cap badge of the Cyprus regiment features two lions, this is because of the occupation of Cyprus by King Richard the Lion Heart at the close of the 12th Century.
Though not directly partaking in frontline combat, the Cyprus Regiment provided essential equipment, food and much needed support in the many theatres of war. A total of six Mule Pack Transport Companies were formed and saw action in:
France – Dunkirk
East Africa – Eritrea, Sudan, Ethiopia
Middle East – Syria against Vichy France
North Africa – Egypt
Greece – Crete
Italy/Sicily – Cassino
Cypriots served in the auxiliary services e.g. driver, observer, canteen workers (NAAFI), police, fire warden, many British and British empire troops were stationed in Cyprus, on transit to other theatres of war. Cypriots helped on the land, the home front, to produce food, in the factories, both men and women.
A Home Guard force was set up, men kept watch around the coast.
The Mule Pack Transport Company RASC units of the BEF became part of The Cyprus Regiment. Cypriots took over the mules.
The Cyprus regiment mule pack transport companies (a total of six companies were formed) numbers 1 and 2 in France 1940 with British Officers and NCO, with the enlisted men being comprised of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots. With the German advance the officers and NCO were formed into an improvised unit with men from other detached regiments. The Cypriots (who were all unarmed while in France) were sent back to Dunkirk to be evacuated. All mules were turned loose. In England the Cyprus Regiment was camped at Melton Mowbray. Here the Cypriots were now armed and were being trained. The Cyprus Regiment took turns guarding the coastline in anticipation of a German invasion. In July 1940 Lord Lloyd the Colonial Secretary inspected the units of the two Mule Pack Transport Companies.
Infantry of the Cyprus Regiment that garrisoned the Suez Canal in Egypt 1940 were sent to Greece and then onto Crete in April 1941. With the evacuation of Crete after eight days of fighting, British Empire losses where high (1,800 killed and about 12,000 captures) 18,000 Empire Troops were evacuated back to Egypt. The Cyprus regiment infantry troops part of the British defence of the island fought superbly but their courage was not enough to overcome the Germans. The Germans loss was high and because of this Hitler rejected suggestions to follow up the victory on Crete by capturing Cyprus and Malta. Operations to capture Cyprus from the air were abandoned.
Cypriot Mule Companies at Cassino Italy
Front Line troops had to be maintained and supplied by mules and muleteers making round journeys of up to 14 miles each night. Enemy observers overlooked these positions from three sides (Snakeshead ridge at Cassino). Two difficulties influenced the operations over these difficult grounds. 1st was supply – everything including water had to be brought seven miles on mules and then man handled to the forward position the route was constantly shelled so that only a proportion of the mules got through on many nights. The wounded from the front had to endure the same long and hazardous journey in the opposite directions. 2nd was the ground, the land itself was rocky (ledges, slopes, ravines, boulders and narrow ridges.) The battle of Cassino showed how even in the most mechanised war in history that ground conditions and weather could make machines useless and troops were dependent on the humble pack mule and his handler the muleteer. In the mountains a mule was worth a dozen machines of all types.
German weapons killed mules and Muleteers. The Germans used Anti-personnel mines . Wooden mines were being used in increasing numbers (i.e. schu-mines) with the explosive being contained in a small wooden box which exploded when man or mule stepped on, it. These could blow off the foot or hoof. Metal detectors could not locate these mines. Mines were one of the most devastating features of German defence at Cassino. Another was a mortar bomb, which burst just above the ground after bouncing so that it’s killing and wounding range was considerably increased. Every precious round of ammunition had to be carried by mule for several miles. Muleteers that brought up food water ammunition and letters began to clear the corpses, sending down each night on the backs of the mules. The heavy shelling and mortaring of the mule tracks caused a shortage of supplied to the troops at the front line. Muleteers with their mules worked hard to get their supplied to the front. They suffered heavy casualties both animal and men. Mule trains assembled nightly at the store dumps there was no rest for the mules and muleteers.
Mule = male donkey x female horse
Hinny = male horse x female donkey
Mules are highly intelligent and very quick to learn, you cannot force a mule to do anything and instead must persuade it. When the mule learns to trust its handler it will do anything for him. Mules can grow taller than both parents; they are stronger with longer working lives than horses. Hinnies tend to be more donkey like in temperament, in general quieter, more compliant and less independent than mules, also less sensitive. The island of Cyprus has long been famous for the quality of its hinnies bred by wiry pony stallions of about 13 hh out of strong donkeys of about 13 hh, which produce hinnies of the same size.
As the threat of war grew the need for animal transport became clear to carry ammunition and supplies to forward positions where places had been made impassable to wheeled traffic. India provided mules for two Cypriot Pack Transport units who went to France with the B.E.F
The Cypriot Muleteers who were all unarmed while in France were sent back to Dunkirk to be evacuated to Dover. In England the Cypriots were now armed and were being trained. From England Numbers 1 and 2 Cypriot Pack Transport Companies went to Egypt for re-equipping with 800 hinnies bought in Cyprus. The two companies were taken up the Nile by barges and then by rail to the Eritrean border. Arriving in February 1941 these units set to work to supply the forward positions and to build up dumps for the attack.
As soon as the campaign was over they returned to Egypt. The next campaign was against the French in Syria. With the victory against Vichy French a total of 3,200 mules were taken now a total of six Cypriot Pack Transport Companies were in the Middle East. After the defeat of the Axis forces in North Africa the 8th Army sailed to Sicily in July 1943 and then onto Italy, at the beginning of September the Cypriot Mule companies were shipped from North Africa to Italy. At Cassino Mules and Muleteers could only work at night. It was the worst engagement the Cyprus Regiment participated in and they lost many mules and some personnel. They continued on through the wet winter to carry ammunition and supplies to the front lines; the troops were completely dependent of the mules for supplies, weapons, ammunition and the removal of the wounded.
The British Army had learnt to appreciate the many virtues of the Mule and the Cypriot Muleteers of the Cyprus Regiment during the fighting in the mountains of Italy and through the Second World War.