"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers".

Origin: Quotation from Shakespeare's Henry V, 1598:

"This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day"

St Crispin’s Day falls upon 25th October, which was the original date for the Suez invasion, the fact that it was delayed until November 5th 1956 is immaterial as by then we were already a 'band of brothers' welded together by 12 months of blood, sweat and tears of the EOKA campaign  over the mountainous terrain of Cyprus.