In charge of the machine shop were two Polish officers whose names to me were both unpronounceable and unspellable and they oversaw the modifications. I believe their hearts were not in the job, they resented being told what to do even via drawings by a lowly craftsman but since the brigadier had ordained it they had to comply. "Vy don't ve do like in ze old country?" they asked, meaning that they wanted to make a barrier operated by a pinion and quadrant, like in ze old country that could be similarly be left up in the 45° position. They took matters into their own hands and decided not to work on the existing barrier but to start from scratch; they didn't even build it across a road but selected a spot near the machine shop. A steel tube was used for the pole and metal strips dangled from it to simulate a solid barrier when the pole was horizontal. To balance the extra weight of the strips the counterweight had to be increased and then the tube began to bend so they rammed a solid bar inside the tube. Two channel sections were concreted into the ground to support the tube and the pivot rod was beautifully mounted on ball bearings; the only thing was the thing didn't work. Ignored were all my design instructions particularly regarding the relationship of the centre of gravity to the pivot point that were detailed on my drawings and that had been approved by the major in charge of the DO. The springs and shock absorbers that had been salvaged from scrapped vehicles were also not mounted where they should have been. In short the Poles had created something of a dog's breakfast and they awaited the brigadier's inspection with some concern. He was not pleased. The project was abandoned and when I left to be demobbed some five months later it still stood in isolation in the desert, a stark monument to false pride and stupidity.