I was part of 51 Sqn and spent the whole of Granby (Desert Shield/Storm) in Cyprus. We arrived within a few days of the invasion with our first aircraft. The second arrived shortly afterwards, with the final one rushed through major and EWAD to get all 3 out there.
All of the squadron personnel moved to Episkopi after only a few weeks to make room for others. The initial reluctance to move was soon overcome when we realised the food, accommodation and general situation up at Episkopi was much better than Akrotiri. The only real pain was the bus journey to and from Akrotiri for the 12 or 24 hour shifts. 84 Sqn put on a Wessex one night to get a team of ground crew from Episkopi to Akrotiri when the road was closed at Curium because of a terrorist alert.
The night before it all kicked off I was working late as one of a team of Fairies trying to get at least one of the three serviceable. The favourite had a problem with the Astral Box main computer and it was touch and go whether any of the aircraft would become serviceable. We had no idea at the time why SEngO was on our backs every half hour. It was only the next morning when waking to hear that it had all started that the reason for his anxious state became clear.
S-D