Jebel .. jebel everywhere;
alas there was no map;
                                  so up the hill went Geoffrey,   (Spr.Geoff Morris)
his ruck-sack on his back.
 
He found the place and pitched his tent;
he made himself at home.
He took his photos, maps and all,
and he began to roam.
 
                                       With Andy, Vic and donkeys too,   (Spr.Andy Anderson)
                                              up and down the hill;              (Spr.Vic Moncrieff
                                       far from the ever madding crowd,    seems to have been
                                                 their task they must fulfil.          included erroneously!)
 
And though it was not easy
and they perhaps did lose
their tempers, we can’t blame them,
                                           ‘cos they never ‘ad no shoes.       (Footwear lasted a short
                                                                                                  time on the jebel rock.)
Yes, they had to rough it
with scorpions and the like;
if they didn’t learn to survey
they surely learned to hike.
 
And then it was all over,
they had made their map;
but all we found when they came down
were piles of bumph and scrap!
                    
We put it all together,
checked and signed the lot;
worked day and night and night and day;
sore heads were all we got.
 
At last the sheet was finished;
we threw it in a crate
and sent it up to S.H.Q.;               
now all we do is wait.
 
We wait for you to check it
(we’ve done it more than once),
so bear in mind the saying:
HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE.                 
 
And now if you think ‘owt of us
and don’t want us to crack,
please send it to the Regiment,
don’t send the bastard back!
 
 
Sgt. T. Powell , Spr. M. Brice and all members of 1 Troop
19 Topo Squadron, R.E., Nizwa, Oman  January 1961