ROUND TABLE SKOPJE EARTHQUAKE RELIEF CARAVAN PROJECT
September/October 1963
From a Southall perspective. Photographs by Ken Hale and Marcus Taylor
The journey to Skopje in what was then Yugoslavia, now North Macedonia took 10 days round trip. There were 102 Round Table caravans from all over Britain.
Southall contributed one caravan and travelled in a convoy of 19 caravans including three from Hounslow Round Table.
Peter Begin, a BBC News Camera Operator and a member of Hounslow Round Table initiated the project after seeing the effects of the Earthquake when filming for BBC News coverage of the disaster.
Southall Round Table members from left: David Scott, Roger Dwyer, Marcus Taylor and Ken Hale made the trip using Marcus' Ford Zodiac Mark II. Photograph taken using a self timer. Rules were drawn up for the convoy of vehicles below:
Sometimes things did not go quite as planned. Stops to change tyres in remote places for example.
Then there was the anxiety about possibly straying over the Albanian border by accident. Road signs were few and when there were any, they were in Cyrillic alphabet.
The destructive power of the earthquake took its toll. But life had to continue as near normal as possible.
Destructive Power of the earthquake-above
Make way for the Russian Army!
Many nations pulled out all the stops to help with emergency relief operations including British, US and other European military logistical support alongside the Yugoslavs themselves and many NGO's. This was a Russian truck clearing debris in the centre of the city of Skopje.
The SKOPJE TEAM ON LOCATION
IN YUGOSLAVIA
From left: Marcus Taylor, Roger Dwyer, David Scott, Ken Hale. Two photographs (Left).
Yugoslavian hospitality knew no bounds (above)
LEFT: Peter Begin of Hounslow Round Table and BBC News Camera Operator.
He was the driving force behind the Skopje relief project
Below. Marcus Taylor greeting Richard Baker, who read the news bulletin about Skopje on BBC News. He was invited to the Skopje Round Table reunion in 1964 and instead of giving a speech, he read out the news bulletin that triggered the relief effort.
