[Routine Order] "R" — Orders & Appendices

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"R"

SQUADRON ROUTINE ORDER NO. 8/43 No. 21 Squadron S.A.A.F. 82
by

LIEUT.COL.C.S.COPPEN
--------------------
Officer Commanding,
No. 21 Squadron S.A.A.F.
Middle East,
13th February 1943.

Para.13: FIELD CENSORSHIP - CARRYING PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE BY HAND:
It is forbidden to despatch or carry correspondence by hand of any
officer, soldier, airman or civilian FROM any place TO any place
either within or outside the command. A personal search may be
conducted at any point in transit and correspondence carried by
hand will be confiscated and destroyed. Disciplinary action will
follow against the carrier and the writer.
(R.A.F.Routine Orders Para.32)
Para.14: CASUALTIES DUE TO USE OF PETROL FOR COOKING:
There are still too many casualties occurring through accidental
burns due to carelessness and ignorance. The following facts must
be noted.
(a) DESERT STOVES: Petrol should not be poured in when the tin
is hot., otherwise there will be an explosion. In all cases,
the lighting of the stove should be done from the windward
side, it being ascertained that no one is standing to the
leeward.
(b) PRIMUS STOVES: Petrol is sometimes used instead of paraffin
in Primus Stoves, and the stoves themselves are placed in
a tin or box out of the wind, so that surface cooling is
prevented. When the temperature of the stove rises to the
flash-point, the stove explodes.
(c) Petrol will not be used to disinfect dugouts etc. as naked
lights may be taken in the dugout before the petrol fumes are
properly dissipated, and there is then an explosion.
In every case of a casualty occurring through an injury not due
to enemy action, Form DD101 or Army Form B117 is prepared, and is
eventually sent to the Union for noting. When a person is
injured, through his own serious misconduct, his pension rights
in respect of the injury may suffer severely.
When used intelligently the petrol sand cooker is safe, provided
elementary precautions are observed. When the flames go out,
owing to all the petrol having been consumed, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTAN
CES SHOULD MORE PETROL BE POURED ON UNTIL THE SAND IS QUITE COLD.
This takes a long time. In case the petrol burns out before
cooking is finished, a second tin should be ready for use.
Numbers of persons have received serious burns through neglecting
to take these precautions.
(34/1 Serial 24:)
15: MILITARY OBLIGATION TO MAINTAIN CIVIL SUPPLIES IN TRIPOLI:
Units have already received a signal intimating that personnel
are not to obtain meals in cafes or hotels at present. The food
situation in Tripoli is not good and the Civil population is
likely to be short of food very soon, when they will have to be
fed by the army.
The British Army, the Allied Air Forces and personnel of the
Royal Navy in Tripoli have their own rations and there must be
no possibility of the enemy being able to suggest for propaganda
purposes that insufficient food has been left for the Civil
population.
No member of the British Forces therefore, in Tripoltania, whether
officer or other rank, is to purchase food - Breakfast, Lunch,
Dinner or Supper - at hotels or restaurants in Tripoli.
The only exception to this order will be that Tea Shops may, if
they are able and willing, sell tea and buns to the troops.
Service Police have instructions to report all breaches of this
order and the Air Officer has directed that disciplinary action
shall be taken against offenders. /Commanding.
(A.R.O. Para 43)
2.

Transcriber's Notes

Phase 2: Technical Expansion (The "Transcriber's Notes")
Glossary of Terms:
* S.A.A.F.: South African Air Force.
* LIEUT.COL.C.S.COPPEN: Lieutenant Colonel C.S. Coppen, the Officer Commanding (O.C.) of No. 21 Squadron S.A.A.F..
* R.A.F.: Royal Air Force.
* DESERT STOVES / PRIMUS STOVES: Improvised or portable cooking apparatus; "Desert Stoves" often referred to "Benghazi burners," made from fuel tins filled with sand and petrol.
* Form DD101 / Army Form B117: Standardized military medical and administrative forms used to report injuries sustained outside of combat.
* the Union: The Union of South Africa, the sovereign home nation of the S.A.A.F. personnel.
* Tripolitania: The western region of Libya, of which Tripoli is the capital.
* Service Police: The military provosts responsible for enforcing discipline and orders within the command.
* A.R.O.: Air Routine Orders, the higher-level directives from which these squadron-level orders were derived.
Operational Context:
Squadron Routine Order No. 8/43, issued on 13 February 1943, provides primary evidence of the administrative and logistical challenges facing No. 21 Squadron S.A.A.F. during the occupation of Tripoli. Strategically, this period followed the fall of Tripoli on 23 January 1943, as the British Eighth Army and Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF) transitioned from the Western Desert Campaign to the Tunisian Campaign.
The order highlights the precarious humanitarian situation in the newly liberated capital. The prohibition against military personnel consuming food in Tripoli’s cafes and hotels was a strategic necessity to prevent civilian famine and deny Axis forces a "propaganda" victory. This directive emphasizes the "military obligation" of the Allied forces to manage the local economy while maintaining their own supply chains.
Furthermore, the detailed warnings regarding "petrol for cooking" reflect a significant non-combat threat to the squadron's "Total on Duty" strength. The reliance on improvised "sand cookers" (Benghazi burners) using aviation spirit led to frequent explosions and burns, requiring the formal threat of reduced "pension rights" to enforce safety protocols. This document, archived as Folio 82, illustrates the complex "behind-the-lines" management of human and logistical resources required to sustain the Martin Baltimore light bombers as the D.A.F. prepared for the final drive into Tunisia.

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Phase 1: Verification & Extraction
Identity Check: 13th February 1943. (Note: This document is the continuation of Squadron Routine Order No. 8/43).