IT had just gone ten o'clock and the military personnel on board a flight bound for the troubled Suez Canal Zone were settling down for the night.

As they removed their heavy boots and undid their thick tunics, their minds turned to what might lie ahead once they touched down in Egypt the following day.

Some of the national servicemen on board were barely old enough to vote and for many it was their maiden flight, so nerves were a little frayed on leaving the airfield in Camberley, Surrey, at 9.05pm.

An hour into the flight and the conscripts - mainly from the North-East of England - decided to get some sleep before a scheduled refuelling stop on Malta somewhere around 5am.

That is when disaster struck: a propeller came off one of the two starboard engines and there was an explosion. The second engine on the Hermes aircraft faltered and, although it was pitch black, the young recruits could see they were in grave danger.

There was, however, very little panic on board - and some even started cracking jokes and whistling as the plane plunged towards the ground.

The Northern Echo of Saturday, July 26, 1952, reported an interview from the time with some of the survivors.

Maurice Pardoe, 23, a structural engineering draughtsman from Middlesbrough, said: "We immediately started to lose height and the darkness had a frightening effect upon us. I honestly thought our number was up but no one panicked."

Today, Mr Pardoe is a 74-year-old grandfather living on the outskirts of Darlington who, like thousands of others, is in line to collect a General Service Medal for his work in the Canal Zone. After years of campaigning, those who served in Suez between 1951 and 1956 will be recognised following a decision by Prime Minister Tony Blair this summer.

Reliving that fateful night in July 1952, Mr Pardoe says: "You do immediately wonder when something like this is happening whether or not you are going to get out of it.

"But there was no panic. There was obviously a certain amount of commotion and the sergeant in charge - he was a Roman Catholic - was crossing himself.

"The majority of them were just 18 years old and had just done their basic training. This was their first overseas posting and they had no idea what they were going into - but they were about to find out.

"We took off from Blackbush airfield just after 9pm and flew south. Just after we passed Paris the trouble started. It was a four-engine plane and the propeller on the outer starboard engine came off. It damaged the inner engine and put that out of action.

"With the two engines out of use on one side, the plane started to come down and, with having no power on one side, that side fell away into a dive.

"When he was able to get enough flying speed, the pilot levelled a bit and we came down in a series of swoops. From 11,000ft it came down in just four minutes, and luckily hit the ground when it was level.

"There was some fire from the damaged units on the wing and the aircraft skidded until it came to rest. We were able to escape through the doors and run about 50 yards before the body was totally engulfed in flames.

"You can see from the picture the effect of the fire. It just burnt the whole lot. Looking back, it is remarkable that everybody got out of that unhurt.

"What made it more amazing was that the cornfield we landed in was surrounded by hazards which the aircraft managed to avoid and crash on the only level part. There was a line of trees along one side of it and there was a road along the other side. There were high tension cables all about and a wooded valley on another side.

"We came down in a clear area in the middle of all this lot. It could have been a lot worse if it had hit any of those obstructions.

"There was obviously an element of distress as it came down. We had been told we could not make their nearest airfield and to prepare for a crash landing. I suppose people gathered their thoughts and braced themselves for what was about to happen. We had been cruising at 200mph so at that kind of speed you would expect total disaster."

After fleeing the wreckage, the 64 military personnel and six crew were roll-called and housed for the night at a convent in the nearby village of Pithiviers. The following day they returned to London to be given new kit - their original combat gear had been destroyed in the blaze.

Some refused to fly back to the UK after their near-death experience and insisted on returning by rail. But, two days later, having first been interviewed by newspapers, the soldiers from the West Yorkshire and Borders Regiments were flown to the Canal Zone - again in a Hermes.

Mr Pardoe initially served as a Private with the Armoured Corps but transferred to the Intelligence Corps before action in Egypt. His national service ended in 1953 and he returned to his job with an engineering firm in Middlesbrough where he had served his apprenticeship and completed a diploma in mechanical engineering.

"I'm sure this is a moment which will stay forever with those involved," he says. "It is amazing how life can change in a couple of hours. This had been a terrifying experience for everybody but there wasn't much chance to dwell upon it.

"After we had stayed overnight in the village, a very senior person from the army came out the next day. He was a red-tabbed brigadier or something and he said: 'What a good job you have done, chaps. We will take you home now, re-kit you and send you out again'.

"The funny thing was he let it be known we would be flying back from France to England in a similar kind of plane, which didn't go down very well with some of them.

"A few said 'no, we want to go back by rail' but the majority of people were bussed to the airport and flown back.

"Once back in England we were taken to the underground Army shelter at Goodge Street and given new kit. Within three days we were back on an aircraft and heading for the Canal Zone again."