What a Way to Go — 1950’s Style

[Warmtoast]

By Troopship to the Far East

If in the 1950’s you were posted abroad, there was a good chance that you’d be conveyed to your destination by troopship. With world-wide commitments and large numbers of troops based in many parts of the world, the most economical method of getting lots of servicemen to where they were wanted was by troopship. Which is what happed to me in the mid-1950’s when I was conveyed to and from the Far East by the British India Steam Navigation troopship the SS Nevasa.

A little research shows that the Nevasa that was built in 1956 as a troopship to government specifications and despite being operated by the British India Steam Navigation line she sported a buff coloured funnel rather than the normal B.I. black funnel with two white bands.

The Nevasa had a tonnage of 20,527 tons with accommodation for 220 1st class pax, 110 2nd class, 180 3rd class and 1,000 troops on the troop decks.

A similar troopship, the SS Oxfordshire was also in service at this time operated by the Bibby Line.

My journey to the Far East in October 1956 was only the Nevasa’s second voyage; her maiden voyage had been to Malta. Nevasa served as a troopship from 1956 to 1962, but as National Service came to an end in the early 1960s and air transport became more efficient, troopships were made redundant, the last troopship voyage being made in December 1962 by the SS Oxfordshire to Malta. OK the Uganda and QE II were used in the Falklands campaign, but they weren’t designed as troopships.

In 1956 I was with Fighter Command Communications Squadron based at RAF Bovingdon near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. In July 1956 I received the standard PWR (Preliminary Warning Role) letter notifying me that I had been selected for posting to the Far East Air Force (FEAF) and that I was to report to number 5PDU at RAF Innsworth in Gloucestershire to be kitted out for my posting. Departure date from Southampton was scheduled for 19th of August 1956 on the SS Nevasa. In the event, with the Suez crisis in full swing and the closure of the Suez Canal the planned sailing date was postponed to an undecided future date. With the Canal closed we were told that we would be travelling on the ‘long’ route around the Cape of Good Hope and we were to remain at RAF Innsworth pending a new departure date.

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My record of service showing the 'blip' in my posting to the Far East.

Having been kitted out with tropical kit and received our overseas jabs we hung around Innsworth for about two weeks, but with no departure date set for the voyage we were sent home on leave for about six weeks, being told that once a firm departure date had been decided we’d receive a letter or telegram advising us when we had to return to Innsworth.

With six weeks advance pay jangling in my pocket I went home.
Six weeks of absolutely nothing to do on paid leave at home was quite splendid, I saw my girlfriend again — we’d already said our tearful farewells and here I was back again! So we went dancing and had a week by the sea at Clacton. Whilst at Clacton I was amazed at the constant procession along the main roads of convoys of army vehicles towing guns, all with newly applied sand-coloured desert camouflage as they proceeded to east coast ports for loading on vessels to be transported to the Middle East.

Rather enjoying life I spent a further few weeks saying further prolonged farewells to all my family and friends and had a rather good time at the taxpayer’s expense! The call-forward letter eventually arrived and I returned to Innsworth, the R.A.F. draft for the Far East was bussed down to Southampton where we embarked on the British India troopship ‘Nevasa’ — we sailed on the 16th of October 1956.

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Nevasa at Southampton Docks - Oct 1956

Five years earlier in 1951, as a newly conscripted RAF recruit I was posted to the then Southern Rhodesia for service with 5 FTS (R.A.F. Thornhill) in the Rhodesian Air Training Group, the journey in those days being by sea as Cabin Class passengers on Union Castle Line liners from Southampton to Cape Town. Having already travelled by sea, albeit on an ocean liner (the RMS “Edinburgh Castle”) as a Cabin Class passenger, I had vague hopes that the Nevasa, reputably a modern troopship, would provide similar standards of comfort; sadly for us lower ranks the opposite was true, the voyage turned out to be one of the most uncomfortable and boring journeys I’ve ever made. Joining the Nevasa at Southampton the rumour was that because of the closure of the Suez Canal the Nevasa would be carrying up to twice the normal number of service personnel, in retrospect probably an exaggeration, but we were certainly carrying far more than the designed complement of troops. It was obvious when we embarked that the journey was not going to be anything like my fondly remembered comfortable passenger liner voyage. The bunks in the troop decks, normally three tiers high, had been rearranged by squeezing in an additional tier making four in all which meant that the space was so cramped that if one wanted to turn round in the bunk it could only be done by climbing out of the bunk and getting back in again.

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This picture of the bunks on the troop deck was taken two year's later and shows standard 3-tier layout. On the way out in 1956 an extra tier had been added.

On our troop deck near the bow, the toilets were designed for about half the number of men being carried and a queue regularly formed to use them. Both showers and wash basins were fed by salt water, and the so called “salt-water” soap that we were given was a joke; there was just no way one could raise a lather with it to make oneself clean. There was one water fountain fed by fresh water which we used to clean our teeth.

During the voyage we ran into two quite severe storms, the first as we left Southampton lasted for about three days as we passed through the Bay of Biscay; the second was off the west coast of Africa in the South Atlantic. For most troops on board the first storm was a major upset, and nearly all were violently seasick. The packed bunks meant those on the bottom tiers were regularly regurgitated on by those above which was most unpleasant, one poor soul never really gained his sea-legs and was sick for most of the one-month long voyage. My memory of the food on board is that it was reasonable but not anything to really write home about; with so many to cater for the meals had to be taken in three separate half-hour sittings.

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The outdoor deck screen

Apart from the occasional film, entertainment was virtually non-existent, when we reached the tropics films were shown on the open foredeck but with no seats we sat crossed-legged on the wooden deck and made our self as comfortable as possible. Being in the open the occasional tropical shower would terminate the performance, a memorable experience for all the wrong reasons!

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We were invited to visit the bridge and couln't resist taunting the helmsman with 'The Navy Lark' catch phrase "Left hand down a bit!"

During the day we were required to do physical exercise on deck, with the army drill instructor shouting at us if we weren’t up to his ideal of physical perfection. Deck games were organised with team competitions between the various services and we also were taken to the rear of the ship and given a .303 rifle and invited to shoot at balloons that had been thrown into the water for target practice.

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Inter Service Deck Games.

With the Suez Canal closed the long round the Cape route to the Far East meant stops in unfamiliar ports. We had a very short stop at Las Palmas in the Canary Islands to take on food and provisions; we were allowed to stretch our legs on the quayside but were forbidden from going into town. The next stop was Dakar in Senegal, at the time a French colony, civilised and a nice place to unwind, although we were only allowed ashore during the day.

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Nevasa - The Bridge

Dakar allowed me to stock up with some Ektachrome colour 120 film for my reflex camera, which in 1956 was virtually unobtainable in the UK without a special licence.

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This photo was taken somewere south of Dakar with my newly acquired colour film and shows how white we all were as we tried to get our knees brown!

Having left Dakar our next stop was Durban in South Africa. Between Dakar and Durban the ship’s supply of beer ran out, which was pretty disastrous. Sailing down the west coast of Africa towards the Cape, we ran into a severe South Atlantic storm, so much is so that the boat’s hull was regularly lifted out of the water and came down with an enormous great crash which reverberated throughout the ship, being in the bow we experienced it the most, this weather lasted for about three days. Having rounded the Cape and heading north along the east coast of South Africa towards Durban the weather abated, and we enjoyed a quieter couple of days.

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At Durban, we were allowed ashore for the day and evening, with orders to be back on board by midnight. I spent the day sightseeing, swam and tried surfing in the Indian Ocean and in the evening visited the Durban branch of the Royal Air Force Association which was situated in a posh area of town. The RAFA locals were so generous I don’t think any of the RAF servicemen who went for a drink at their club that evening had to pay for anything.

We departed Durban early the next morning and as we passed slowly out of the harbour towards the sea we were greeted by Mrs. Perla Gibson the ‘lady in white’, standing at the end of the northern breakwater and singing through her megaphone and waving to us, we could still see her waving, long after the sound of her voice had faded. The ‘lady in white’ was a wartime legend who sang to the troops as they left harbour on their journey to the battlefields of the Middle and Far East. When we arrived in Durban in 1956, the war had been over for 11 years, but still this lady knew we were coming and sang to us farewell greetings to speed us on our way.

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The Lady in White - War Time Photo

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The Lady in White on the North Pier Durban October 1956

Leaving Durban, we headed northeast across the Indian Ocean towards the northern tip of Sumatra, passing the French island of Reunion on the way. Going around the northern trip of Sumatra we were astonished to see enormous numbers of sea snakes swimming in the sea. Eventually, about twelve-days later on 15th of November 1956 the Nevasa dropped anchor at Singapore. Pax for Singapore, Malaya and Ceylon disembarked and the Nevasa continued her voyage onwards to Hong Kong and Korea.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Nevasa/SingaporeWaterfront1957.jpg
I spent a week at RAF Changi waiting for a flight to my FEAF posting at RAF Negombo in Ceylon and whilst in Singapore took this photo on the Esplanade.

More to come

[Cornerstone958]

What a fantastic story enjoyed the read
CS

[Warmtoast]

Return Journey — November/December 1958

Almost two years later to the day, on the 12th of November 1958 to be exact, I departed from my final FEAF posting (RAF Gan in the Maldive Islands) having earlier during my Far East tour been stationed at Negombo, China Bay, Seletar and finally Gan, I flew from Gan to RAF Katunayake near Colombo in Sri Lanka to join the Nevasa (again!) for my return to the UK.


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Tour Ex - The best part of any posting - departing Gan.

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On the way to Katunayake we passed over Colombo harbour. The Nevasa, the large white vessel can be seen at anchor in the harbour.

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The next day on the 13th of November 1958 I embarked on the Nevasa for the return voyage to the UK. Here Waiting in Colombo harbour for the ferry to the Nevasa that can be seen in the background.

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Here's the Nevasa in all her glory.

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Departing Colombo Harbour en-route to our next stop - Aden.

We called at Aden and had a day ashore for duty-free shopping (I bought one of the newly introduced transistor radios very cheaply).
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This view of Steamer Point shows the RN shore base at Aden (HMS Sheba) low building extreme left alongside the waterfront with the Crescent Hotel immdiately behind it.

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Our passage to Port Suez was easy and calm.

We sailed though the Suez Canal viewing the wrecks of ships sunk during the crisis two years earlier and we dropped anchor at Port Suez for a very short stop. We weren’t allowed ashore here but the bum-boats that swarmed around the ship did a brisk business in Egyptian trinkets and souvenirs. Following this short stop we were on our way again to our next stop in Gibraltar, our final stop on the way home, where we were allowed ashore again.

Some Memories

I have some memories of the trip home; the comfort level of the ship was improved in that the bunks were in tiers of three rather than the four that we endured on the way out. But the rest of the voyage was very similar to the journey out, PT on deck, team games and rifle shooting at balloons, more films in the evenings, most of which we’d all seen months earlier. The dining arrangements were similar to the journey out, but this time only with two sittings for meals rather than three. Thankfully we didn’t run out of beer on the way home, which was a relief.

Noteworthy was the sudden overnight change from the warmth of the Red Sea to the chill of the desert as we travelled north up the Red Sea. With the arrival of the cooler weather we were told to change from our tropical KD uniforms into standard UK uniforms. This caused a few problems as most of us hadn’t worn these for two years or so. Like many, my uniform had been sealed up in a waterproof bag shortly after my arrival in the Far East supposedly to stop it being affected by the high humidity, but in my case something had gone seriously wrong because when opened the uniform had gone mouldy – thankfully there was an Indian tailor among the ship’s crew who knew exactly how to deal with this problem (from experience perhaps?) and he passed it back to me, minus the mould, but stinking to high heaven — this musty odour remained with me for the rest of the voyage!

With my newly acquired transistor radio to play with as we travelled north up the Red Sea we searched the wave-bands for English broadcast stations and sure enough we started to receive the BBC relay station in the Middle East relaying the BBC World Service. Memorably the current hit, the Italian song ‘Volare’ which had featured in that year’s Eurovision Song contest was being played regularly. Whenever I hear it played today the catchy tune brings back memories of the Nevasa plying its way along the balmy Red Sea towards ‘Blighty’.

Leaving Port Suez we entered the Mediterranean. The passage to our final stop at Gibraltar was notably rough. I was under the impression that the Mediterranean was a calm and blue sea, but in late November 1958 my assumptions were proved very wide of the mark — it was really rough!

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Approaching Gibraltar

Having docked at Gibraltar and been allowed ashore for more shopping, we departed for the UK.

The Nevasa docked at Southampton on the morning of the 1st of December 1958, and following the usual inspection by HM Customs in the customs shed at Southampton we joined the special steam-drawn boat train to London Waterloo only to find that there was no heating in the carriages; we had arrived in the middle of an early and particularly cold, cold spell and the steam heating of the carriages had frozen, leaving us with a two hour journey to Waterloo in a freezing cold train.

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The Customs Shed at Southampton

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"Anything to declare sir?"

Finally around mid-day I was met at Waterloo by my family and had a short spell of leave before my next posting to RAF Abingdon near Oxford — but that’s another story.

[Warmtoast]

By Troopship to the Far East - Part 3
Durban's Lady in White

I refer to the Lady in White in Part 1 (above). Here's some more about her.

Durban’s Lady in White is perhaps one of South Africa's most well known figures of the Second World War. The Lady in White, Mrs Perla Siedle Gibson became a well known figure to Allied troops at Durban harbour, which was South Africa’s busiest port during the war. Mrs Gibson was the daughter of a wealthy South African ship owner and studied as a young woman in Germany to be a soprano. She went on to give recitals in London and Manhattan.

Once described by Perla as her “wharfside work”, it began one day as she was seeing off a young Irish seaman who had been entertained by her family the day before. As his ship was departing, he shouted at her across the water, “Please sing something Irish.” She cupped her hands and started reciting the song, ‘When Irish Eyes are Smiling’. Throughout the years which followed she went on to sing to more than five thousand ships carrying an estimated quarter of a million Allied servicemen in total.

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Perla Siedle would often stand at the harbour dressed in her trademark white dress and hat singing to the passing ships with the aid of a megaphone which came from a torpedoed liner as a gift from grateful English troops. Americans would often request that she sing such songs as ‘God Bless America’ and ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’.

English troops often asked for ‘There’ll Always Be an England’, while Australians preferred her performances of ‘Waltzing Matilda’, and South Africans always requested their own national folk songs like ‘Sarie Marais’. Czechs, Poles and Greeks chose opera arias.

Soldier’s talk eventually led to The Lady in White’s fame spreading across the world, and ship captains would salute her as they were passing her. Perla Siedle was even known to U.S. soldiers as Kate Smith or Ma, to Britons as the Lady in White or the Soldiers’ Sweetheart, and to the Poles as the South African Nightingale. Perla Siedle was married to Air Sergeant Jack Gibson, last stationed at Foggia, Italy, and also had two sons and one daughter in the South African Army. She had sung goodbye to all of them, watching their ships move out of sight over the bar to the tune of her favourite closing number, ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Even after the loss of one of her own sons, she refused to stop singing to the troops.

Mrs Gibson died in 1971, a shortly before her 83rd birthday, and a stone cairn with a bronze plaque was erected on Durban’s North Pier in June 1972. The memorial was erected on the site where she would have stood, singing to “her boys”.

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Stone cairn with a bronze plaque erected in her honour on Durban’s North Pier near where I photographed her in October 1956. Below

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It was donated by the men of the Royal Navy and reads:
“To the memory of Perla Gibson “The Lady In White” who sang to countless thousands of British commonwealth and Allied Servicemen as they passed through Durban over the years 1940 to 1971 This tablet was presented by the Officers and Men of the Royal Navy.”


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In 1995 a statue of Perla was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II and today it stands in a prominent place next to the Emtateni Centre, which is part of the Ocean Terminal Building on the Durban Harbour’s T-Jetty. The Perla Siedle Gibson Mobile Library was also founded to serve British seamen and a five room unit at the Highway Hospice was created with funds raised in her memory. The boarding establishment at Glenwood High School was named Gibson House after Perla’s son Roy and its colour is white in her honour.

[T-21]

The Valetta C.1 is I believe VX522 of the RAF Far East Comms Squadron used 7.53-2.56 . It ended its days on the Manston dump 1962.

[Warmtoast]

VX522 of the RAF Far East Comms Squadron

VX522 belonged to 52 Sqn as can be seen here in my photo of it having an engine change at Gan.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/GAN/Image2-640pixels.jpg

[mcdhu]

It's a small world! I went to HK in 1957 as a 10yr old schoolboy on board the 'Nevasa' (British India Steam Navigation Company - Captain Bond) and came back a couple of years later on the 'Oxfordshire' (Bibby Line - Captain Fitch). 4 weeks each way calling at Singapore, Colombo, Aden, Malta and Gibraltar. My father was in the RN and we went out there as a family.

As you say, Warmtoast, 'What a way to go - and come back!'

[BEagle]

Excellent post, Warmtoast!

That photo of the disembarkation area at Southampton brings back distant boyhood memories! In the late 1950s, a friend of my late father was well-connected at Southampton and he invited us for a conducted tour. So, at some early hour with my brother and I dressed up (as one did in those days) in grey flannel suits with short trousers, we set off in the family Mk 1 Zephyr convertible for the long drive from Somerset to Southampton (well, it seemed pretty long - it was about 90 miles on single carriageway roads!).

After arrival at Southampton we were shown some rather sorry-looking flying boats on Southampton Water, then had a fascinating tour of the RMS Queen Mary. I remember being astonished that it actually had a swimming pool. After the Mary, we drove past the Queen Elizabeth in dry dock and went to the Ocean Terminal to watch the arrival and disembarkation of a troop ship - it could even have been the Nevasa! Our host said "Watch this - the sausage machine in action!". A sea of khaki-clad men with kit bags poured down the gangways out of the ship and were rapidly processed before boarding the 'Boat Train', which then chuffed its merry way to London.

Back into the Zephyr; then the long drive home... I'm so glad now that I can just remember those days of ocean steamers, steam trains, lots of military jets....and the last of the flying boats! I think it must have been late 1956 as the troops we'd seen were 'coming home from Suez'.

[KeMac]

Very interesting and a superb set of photos. Enough there for a good book I would say. Thank you for sharing them.

Best Regards
KeMac

[RedhillPhil]

Cor, what an interesting post. When Pa was posted to Malta from Leuchars in 1959 we sailed out from Southampton on the good ship "Devonshire". We came back in 1962 to Gatwick - thence to North Weald - on an Eagle Airways DC-6.

[Groundloop]

When trooping by sea was discontinued the Nevasa became a schools cruise ship taking school children on "educational" cruises in the 1960's and 70's.

I believe the last schools cruise ship was the Uganda which was requisitioned for the Falklands Campaign as a hospital ship.

[Fareastdriver]

I was more fortunate than Warmtoast going to Rhodsia and back. My dad was a Flight Lieutenant so we went First Class.

[By George]

Very interesting post. I went to Singapore and back on both ships as a service brat. My father was posted to Tengah as a GCA controller (RAF). I cannot remember which one, I think the Oxfordshire, was subsequently sold to the 'Sitmar Line', modified with an extra deck and renamed the "Fairsky". I then migrated to Australia on it in August 1964. Those photos bring back many memories. Thanks for posting.

[WHBM]

Brilliant, Warmtoast. Well done. :ok:

[skua]

Brilliant post and photos. As Warmtoast says, she became a schools cruise liner. I don't think B & I bothered with much of a refurbishment. I went on her in c 1965, my main memory is of prone schoolkids in every corridor as we crossed the Bay of Biscay, when I went out for some fresh air cascades of puke appeared from the decks above! And the scoff was fairly rank too....

[berkshire boy]

By George

It was the Oxfordshire which was sold to Sitmar but it became the Fairstar .

[regentbl]

Have to put my two pennies worth in! Paxed out to Singapore 010159 on the regular trooper, namely an Airwork Hermes with 8 stops but returned in "luxury" in Oxfordshire 310861. As my Dad was an RAF officer (and paymaster for the airmen on board) we had a cabin. I remember the salt water showers though. Whilst in Singapore we went up to Hong Kong on the Nevassa on R&R. I believe she did a small refit whilst there at the Whampoa dockyards. Those wonderful pictures have unlocked distant memories of those times, although I wished I'd snapped the scene of an Arab trying (and succeeding) to stuff a pouffe into our porthole whilst balancing on the top of his mast in Port Said!

[reynoldsno1]

... and not a BMI over 20 by the looks of it ... must be all those beef dripping sarnies .....

[ex-EGLL]

Interesting Post, as an 11yr old we had a school trip that went on a tour of the Holy Land over Christmas 1964 on the Nevassa! The boat had a "passenger" section up front and the blunt end was a floating school. The two sections were well separated to keep the school kids out of the "posh" area. It seems the accommodation hadn't changed much from the troopship days with three tiered bunks.

We flew on a BCAL Brit to Venice, then by sea to Athens, Beirut, Haifa, Gib and back to Southampton. Great trip, but wish I had done it a few years later when I had a better appreciation of girls!!

ex-egll

[Warmtoast]

NotGettingAnyYounger

Dakar Harbour

I am reliably informed that the white vessel in the Dakar harbour photograph is flying an Indonesian flag with a red duster as courtesy flag. This suggests that photograph was taken in Singapore and not Dakar.

Update: members of the Ships Nostalgia web site are suggesting that the photograph is of the Inner Anchorage at Singapore and could well have been taken from Clifford Pier.

Thanks for this. I'll bow to the experts opinion and have replaced the photo in question.

WT

[Warmtoast]

Fareastdriver

I was more fortunate than Warmtoast going to Rhodsia and back. My dad was a Flight Lieutenant so we went First Class.

You lucky beggar!

RMS 'Edinburgh Castle' 1951 to South Africa for Rhodesia

Mind you for someone who'd never been out of the UK before, my experience of travelling Cabin Class on the RMS 'Edinburgh Castle' was absolute luxury, especially when one considers the the UK of 1951 was still locked in austerity mode. I also managed to strike up a shipboard romance - but that's another story!

Anyway a couple more snippets from my album:

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Edinburgh%20Castle/Postcard1a.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Edinburgh%20Castle/EdinburghCastleInformationforPassengers.jpg


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http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Edinburgh%20Castle/EdinburghCastle-Pool.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Edinburgh%20Castle/EdinburghCastle-Verandah.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Edinburgh%20Castle/EdinburghCastle-DiningRoom.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Edinburgh%20Castle/EdinburghCastle-DinnerMenu1.jpg

Enjoy - and marvel that this is how the RAF travelled in 1951!

[Fareastdriver]

I didn’t have a camera when I was ten so I cannot match Warmtoast’s memories.

In those days husbands who were posted to Rhodesia went out their first. When they had found suitable married accommodation then they could call for their wife and family as there were no married quarters available. In my case we, my mother, sister and I went out about three months after my father in August 1950.

Off we went on the Stirling Castle, as mentioned, First Class. My mother and sister in one cabin and me in all my glory in another all by myself. There was a small outdoor pool for the plebs but in First there was another, larger, pool in the gymnasium on ‘A’ deck. Not that you could do much; there seemed to be a non stop tidal wave going from one side to the other. There was also an artificial horse with a full size body and head, which replicated the walk, trot and gallop of the real thing so as to keep the landed gentry in riding practice.

The first week was great fun for a ten year old and judging by the number of times I was lead out of some no-go area it was lucky I wasn’t lost overboard. A short stop at Madeira and the long trip down the Atlantic. After that it was a bit boring; wave at the Union Castle liner going the other way and the crossing the line ceremony was the only thing that happened. Surprisingly the only other service family travelling was a navy family going to Simonstown in South Africa.

On arrival at Cape Town things were organised. All our luggage was taken care of and we were taken to the base of Table Mountain and then rode the cablecar to the top. That evening we boarded the train for the three day trip up to Bulawayo.

The train was magic! There was an ENORMOUS engine up front. A Garrett 4-6-2-2-6-4 with a massive water tank, cow catchers and all the carriages were made of wood with balconies at either end, just like in the wild west films. We were all together this time. The sleeping compartment had two sofas in green leather with two drop down bunks overhead. First class was down the back of the train. The front was fourth class, ie blacks, and they got all the soot and cinders coming from the engine.

I spent most of the time on a balcony watching South Africa go by but after a day or so the scenery changed as we entered the Kalahari Desert and Bechuanaland.

Here was poverty with a capital ‘P’. Every time we stopped the train would be lined with children, most with nothing more than a loin cloth, begging for money. There was one beggar there, probably blind, being guided by a little boy. He was clad only in a loin cloth which was about a foot long. It still wasn’t enough to hide his tackle and I remember my mother being transfixed by this with a look of absolute amazement on her face.

The scenery changed to central African bush as we entered Rhodesia and arrived in Bulawayo. There my father met us and we all climbed into the family's first ever car. A 1935 Chevrolet. Reg No G74.

[sisemen]

My first posting overseas is well and truly etched into my memory. The helmsman with a solid grip on the wheel in rough weather; the grimy stokers shovelling coal into the rapacious engines; the cabin boy making his way unsteadily for'ards with a tray of tea things.

Ah yes, there was something wonderful about a trip on a British United VC10.

(I did do a couple of steamship trips to/from Singers though when my dad was out there - HMT Dunera)

[Krakatoa]

In 1954, after pilot training in Canada our course returned to the UK onboard the Canadian Pacific ship Empress of France. We flew to Canada on a BOAC charter flight in 1953 but some time in 1954 it was decided to change from air to sea travel. I believe this continued for the next few years until the piot/nav training wound down.

In 1961 I was fortunate to sail from Aden to the UK on the Oxfordshire. It was the Oxfordshire's final voyage as a troopship east of Suez

[Fareastdriver]

A 1935 Chevrolet did not have a boot. There was a luggage rack that folded down and everything was loaded onto that. It coped easily with two shipping trunks and a couple of suitcases and the first task was to go shopping. A butchers shop was the first requirement so in we went. We had escaped the worst of rationing because we had been at Aldergrove in Northern Ireland for three years but my mother was staggered when we walked in the shop. It was wall to wall with joints of every type of meat hanging from hooks. Having loaded up with what would have been a months supply of meat in England we then proceeded to Meikles, Rhodesia’s premier retail and hotel chain. We had seen supermarkets in American films but this was the first time we had been in one. It was fantastic; all you had to do was wander around with a trolley and fill it full of goodies. Unfortunately most of my goodies were unloaded from mine before we reached the checkout.

Bulawayo had been planned as a modern city way back in the 1920’s. It had a modern block arrangement and the streets were incredibly wide. Cars could be parked face in to the pavement, two lanes of traffic, centre parking across the middle of the road with another two lanes plus face in parking the other side. When it was planned the requirement was to be able to turn a Full Span of Oxen (16 or 8 pairs) around in one movement. The oxen had gone but the ease of parking remained.

We punched out into the bush up the Salisbury road. Twenty five miles out of Bulawayo we arrived at an establishment known as Ntabazinduna Mission. This was right in the middle of the sticks. It consisted of a Presbyterian church, house, school and a few hangers on. How we managed to live in this place was purely by chance.

Just across the road and railway was a relief landing strip for Heany called White’s Run. My father had an inexperienced student who he took up there to give him some circuit practice. Having established that he was not going to kill anybody he sent him off solo and retired to a hut where the ambulance and fire tender crews used when there was nobody around. A Rev Williamson, Pastor of said Ntabizinduna Mission came in and asked him whether he knew of anybody who could look after his house whilst he went to the UK on leave. My father jumped at this, finding accommodation was almost impossible and that is why we could go out and join him.

The house was extensively furnished and had every convenience except electric light. There were light switches in every room but this relied on a bank of batteries in a shed that required careful husbandry with recharging from a wind generator. This came under the heading of ‘far too difficult’ so we were stuck with Tilley lamps. The telephone was a party line and the operator called the necessary number by the number of rings on the bell; we were on four rings. My mother was more than happy with the facilities available so after a late dinner I settled down to my first night listening to the sounds of the wildlife of Africa.

[ian16th]

Some of us had it a bit different!

1st 'overseas' posting and 1st trip outside of the UK, a Beverley flight to Istres in 1957.

A trip home on leave was overnight on SNCF and a 'voyage' across the Channel.

It wasn't very far, but it was a great experience for a 20 year old :ok:

[Fareastdriver]

Ntzinbinduna was government land so it was populated fairly thinly by the Matabele tribe. The mission school was on holiday at the time so the area around the mission was almost deserted. We had two Africans, a houseboy and a gardener. The house boy did the cleaning, washing and ironing, something my mother had never experienced before, and the gardener looked after the vegetable patch and the water supply. There were no seasons for English vegetables; it was always warm and all they needed was water so there was always everything that was needed. There was the traditional wind driven water pump and the gardener’s job was to top up a large water tank by the house every time the wind blew.

As the area was, albeit, thinly populated there was no game around so walking into a Lion or Leopard was not on the cards. The inevitable hyenas were there, one could hear them during the night scavenging around. The most dangerous thing to meet was a bad tempered ostrich; a hangover from the days when there was big money in big hats. I had never seen anthills before so watching endless ranks of ants marching from place to another was fascinating. The very first day I found what looked like a used elephant’s condom, not that I knew what one looked like and I took it home. The houseboy pointed out that it was a cobra skin; snakes periodically shed their skin because it doesn’t grow with them and I had picked one up. My mother went berserk and wanted to keep me in the house out of harms way but the houseboy told her that people make so much noise when they are walking that the snakes get out of the way.
(Unless they’re asleep, or shedding their skin.)

There were a couple of donkeys and one day the gardener got out a basic head harness and a blanket and let me have a go. It was easy; you kicked both your heels into it and it went forward and by pulling on the harness it stopped. I was now fully independent, I could now explore wherever this donkey wanted to go. It was a good idea, really, because the donkey was bush wise so it wouldn’t be going into places where one could come to any harm.

There was a large walled water tank near the pump about five-foot high and thirty feet across. One day this was filled when a stiff breeze was blowing. I got into my swimming costume and jumped into the brilliant clear water. It was ruddy freezing cold! I came out the other side like a dolphin at a water show.

We were not going to stay there long because (1) the Rev Williamson was coming back and (2) we had to go to school; the mission school did not count. When the Rev came back he was with us, or vice versa, for a week and during that time we were entertained at different schools that were part of his parish. He was better off than a Flt Lt, he had a 1948 Ford Coupe Imp.

We then upped sticks and moved to another place as tenants/house sitters in a suburb called Famona in Bulawayo.

[Fareastdriver]

I could now go to school; Milton Junior was the one. I was equipped with the standard school attire; white shirt, grey shorts and socks and a trilby hat with the school band around it. A bus at the end of the road took me and my sister to our separate establishments. There was no problem about mixing with the existing pupils, a third of them were children of UK immigrants.

We were not going to stay long in this house and the follow on was still very difficult. Fortunately in my sister’s class was the daughter of somebody who had just built a house on his property so it was arranged that we would move into that. It wasn’t furnished so we had to get some second hand furniture to make do and it wasn’t finished; no internal doors or ceilings. The door were sheets hanging on curtain wire and when it rained heavily on the corrugated tin roof you couldn’t hear yourself think.

It was about four miles out of town at Glengarry so I had to have a bicycle, my first. 14 guineas bought a new Hercules Sports with drop handlebars. My sister didn’t need one; she was getting a lift with her friend. Boys were expected to use a push bike.

One Friday my father was later than usual coming back from work. I then saw the cloud of dust as the Chevvy came down the road and turned into the drive. It undershot the turn and collected the brick pier that the gates were going to hang on to. There was great bang and then a pile of collapsed masonry and dust. We all, including the landowner, rushed out to see the damage. The Chev was untouched; 3/8steel bumpers were attached by springs direct to the chassis and so it was unmarked. My father was in remarkably good humour about it too; probably helped by the amount of Castle Lager he had consumed before coming home. The landowner was not so. He was quite upset about it and gave us till Monday to get out. My father was still very cheerful about it. He had been celebrating with a couple of others as they had each been allocated one of the new married quarters at RAF Heany.

That weekend we moved.

[ricardian]

Great story Fareastdriver, those were the days!

[pasir]

... Such an interesting post and superb photos WT.
I too was lucky to experience 4 weeks aboard the Dunera in the
late Summer of 1951 - We were R.signals - RM COMMANDOS and RAF en route to Singapore and Malaya. Soon after sailing from Southampton an announcement went out calling for musicians - Being a grade 3 amateur trumpet player soon found myself amdidst a bevy of skilled RAF musicians - spending most of the voyage playing to the officers sergeants and their families - thus relieving us the tedium of ships chores - and with the added benefit of almost unlimited free beer despite our renderings from battered instruments that appear to have served countless squaddies over the years. It would be great to hear once again from any of those RAF musicians that sailed on the Dunera that summer. Thanks again WT for bringing back great memories.

...

[irishair2001]

:ok: Absolutely fantastic and i would like to thank you all for sharing those memories and photos with us,the nostalgia was heart warming.
Thanks again

[Fareastdriver]

We took two things from Glengarry to Heany. A cat that had adopted us soon after we arrived and our landlord’s ex-houseboy, whom he had just fired for laughing at the wreckage the Chev had left. We took him on because Mrs Landlord assured us he was one of the best houseboys going, and she was right.

I went on the first trip in the car there but when we came back I had to ride my bike, some twelve miles. The problem with riding on the main road was that they were mainly strip roads. Strip roads were merely two 18 inch tarmac strips set about a car wheel track apart. Driving along one used both lines but to pass opposite traffic involved moving over so that the offside wheels were on the left strip and the others in the dirt on the side. You then passed each other with about six inches clearance. With a bicycle you had to listen for somebody coming behind and get off the strip before they arrived. It was quite a pleasant ride; left at the main road, over the Induna River, up the hill passing the cement works, then Glasby’s Garage and turn right off the road to Heany.

The land the quarters had been built on had just been bulldozed from the bush. The houses had been shutter built. A foundation raft was put in; the moulds for the walls were then erected and concrete poured. The window sills were open so a couple of buckets trimmed them off. It was given a week to cure and then the moulds were removed, the window frames door frames and roof put in and on and the whole thing rendered and plastered. They are still all there some sixty years later.

Everything was brand new. When we took it over the carpets were wrapped in rolls, the three piece suite covered in cardboard and brown paper and there were boxes of everything a house needed. It was like Xmas unpacking and pulling out crockery, bed linen, saucepans and cutlery. The kitchen had a brand new REFRIGERATOR. We had brought some supplies with us and as I was loading the fridge I dropped a packet of liver. Our adopted cat just happened to be within range so it pounced and she had the lot in about fifteen seconds. From that day on when you opened the fridge the cat, whether it was in the room or half-a-mile away, would be at its door within two nanoseconds.

For Fesius, our new houseboy, it was heaven. Out the back he had his own khia. A small house with a toilet cum shower, a small kitchen and a 12X8 room with a bed airman and a large and small locker; absolute luxury.

The Air Force had organised a school there so we had a headmaster brought out from the UK and the other two teachers were qualified wives. Despite it being the English curriculum we had to follow the Rhodesian pattern of staying in primary until one was twelve, a year later than the UK. They had built a large NAAFI on the camp and there was a swimming pool and a cinema so there was enough to keep one occupied.

A big problem was dust, what with the building work and dirt roads everything used to get covered; this would only improve when the rainy season came along.

[KN647]

That took me back to 1977 . . .

I sailed on the Windsor Castle in March 1977, as I was emigrating to Rhodesia. The trip was paid for by the Rhodesian government and I took an XJ6 with me to drive from Durban to Salisbury.

We called in at all the usual ports Southampton, Las Palmas, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban. It was about the same time as the two 747s (KLM & PanAm) collided at Tenerife.

The trip was enlivened by a diversion to rendezvous with a cargo ship whose 1st mate had acute appendices. Fortunately we had the ships doctor, a Rhodesian Army doctor and a Scottish surgeon on board. The medical team had to operate as the patient was in a serious state and could not wait till we reached Cape Town. All went well and he was taken off by stretcher to a hospital as soon as we docked.

From Cape Town to Durban, many South Africans came on board for a cruise to Durban. The rumour was that Ian Smith the Prime Minister of Rhodesia was on board, but manifested as 'Mr Chancellor'.

Great memories of a great voyage. My dive up to Salisbury was a great trip to!

[scarecrow450]

What great stories and fantastic colour pictures, any more please ?

[brakedwell]

Wonderful stuff! The world seemed a more gentle place in those days, when Britannia almost ruled the waves.

[Warmtoast]

What great stories and fantastic colour pictures, any more please ?

Not at the moment.
However, I've been toying with the idea of posting my memories of my earlier service between 1951 and 1953 at RAF Thornhill (5 FTS), S. Rhodesia here, but with 159 scanned photos plus annotations from my album describing my time at 5 FTS it will be a major task and possibly overkill - but keep watching - we shall see.

FWIW I gave a selection of my S. Rhodesia photos to the (DORA?) archivist at the RAF Museum at Hendon a couple of year's ago. He was quite chuffed as apparently the museum have/had very little about RAF training in the Colony whether during the war or afterwards.

WT

[A30yoyo]

Warmtoast....what camera and film were you using in those days....the interior shots must have been quite difficult technically

[Warmtoast]

what camera and film were you using in those days

Going out a 2¼" x 2¼" British made (Microcord?) twin lens relex. Any interior shots were taken with a flash gun.

Similar on the way back, but this time I'd upgraded to a Rolleiflex. Any square photos were using the camera's full 2¼" x 2¼" format whilst oblong shots were with the aid of a 35mm film adaptor that let me use 35mm film, mainly Kodachrome.

Addendum:
Large format (120 size film, twelve 2¼" x 2¼" negatives or transparancies per film) was mainly Kodak Ektachrome and sometimes a local (Singapore) rubbish film that faded very raipdly.

35mm 36-transparancies per film Kodachrome was brilliant and even today the colours are as vivid and vibrant today as when they were taken some 55-years ago. An example can be seen here: http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/474740-ee-canberra-book-contributor-request-5.html (post #98).

FWIW Kodak finally ceased making Kodachrome film earlier this year bowing to the digital revolution.

[Tableview]

I throughly enjoyed reading all this and looking at the photos. What wonderful memories and specially for me, those of South Africa and Rhodesia. I sailed to Cape Town from Southampton on the Pendennis Castle in 1975 and ended up some while later in Rhodesia and briefly in Malawi before going back to South Africa via Kenya.

I'll post some of my photos later.

Thank you!

[ancientaviator62]

Warmtoast,
to quote the immortal Bard 'if twer done it was best done soonest'.
I for one would be very interested in you pics and memories. The best thread by far is 'Getting a pilots brevet in WW2 ' (started by the late much missed Cliffnemo) and your post war memories would dovetail nicely.

[rog747]

fantastic thanks to both fedriver and warmastoast

lovely tales

i did school trips on ss Dunera and Uganda in the 1960's
all sick and slop everywhere lol
the Nevasa was supposed to be luxury compared to those 2.

[avionic type]

Excellent memories, Not sour grapes but my troopship was the Empire Medway and we slept in hamocks [Spelling?] in 1951 to R.A.F. Gibraltar but came back by civilian plane in 1953 thank goodness. :D:D

[Cpt_Pugwash]

Great pics of the ship. Like skua, I did a schools cruise on her in c1965, with similar experience re. puke and scoff, although we went north from Liverpool, around Cape Wrath to Bergen, sailed past a scheduled stop at Kristiansand ( regatta cancelled due gale) to Oslo, then to Copenhagen (Nyhavn an eye opener for a 14 yr old). Finally through the Kiel Canal to Amsterdam, then back to Liverpool. Two things I do still recall, the bunks were identical to Warmtoasts pic, and the male and female teachers were more interested in "socialising" with each other than taking the classes in the school area...

[brakedwell]

My yonger brother and I travelled on two troopships after my mother became a Queens Army Schoolmistress. In December 1946 we were posted to Grado, a small island near Trieste, joined to the mainland by a causeway. We spent three wonderful days on the Blue Train, leaving it in Udine and almost freezing to death in the back of a three ton truck during the two hour journey. Eighteen months later we were transferred to Tel el kebir in the canal zone. I was ten when we boarded a troopship in Venice and sailed to Port Said. The only thing I remember about that voyage was having to wear a life jacket most of time as the Adriatic and eastern Med had not yet been swept for mines. In December 1949 we returned home on the SS Orduna, an old rust bucket built by Harland & Wolf, Belfast in 1914. The food was awful, but this didn't matter after I won a daily distance covered sweepstake and became a "wealthy" eleven year old who was going to buy a trunk full of Dinky Toys after we got home. Our arrival in the Bay of Biscay coincided with the biggest winter storm for years. Again we donned life jackets on several occasions, but I enjoyed the storm. The dining room was empty for a couple of day and the food improved dramatically! I remember it was drizzling when we docked in Liverpool in the early hours a few days before Christmas. Everything was grey, the buildings looked as if they were covered in soot and everybody seemed to be miserable. The troops were happy to be back in Blighty, I wasn't so sure myself.

[Fareastdriver]

We spent three wonderful days on the Blue Train,

The Blue Train? The only one I know of, and have been on, is a five star train that runs between Cape Town and Pretoria.

[brakedwell]

My Blue Train (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Train_Bleu_(train)) ran from Calais to Nice from 1922 to 2007, operated by the International des Wagons Lits and famous for the race with the blower Bentley in March 1930. The train was commandeered by the Americans, who ran it between Calais and Vienna via France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. It took three days to reach Udine, mainly because of the damage to the track and bridges in Germany and France.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/General%20Pics/300px-50_81_08-38_000-9_Mz1.jpg

[Fareastdriver]

I stand corrected. Bet your Blue Train didn't cost as much as mine did.

[brakedwell]

We were even supplied with free candy, normally life savers and M&M chocolate bars. We only ate breakfast on board, all other meals were povided at tented catering stops run by the US Army. I can't recall what the food was like, but it must have been better than home. I do remember visiting the footplate of our large SNCF steam locomotive during an extended stop near Frieburg. It was replaced by an electric engine for the journey through Switzerland, then it was back to steam power in Italy.

[Fareastdriver]

Or sipping champagne crossing the Kalahari Desert.

Seriously it wasn't worth the cost.

[bpilot52]

I imagine you bought your Singapore film from the Cathay Photo Store in Bras Basah Road. With the evil smell wafting across from the Rochor canal. It was the only decent photo shop I found in the early 60s.

Your story is interesting. On the Oxfordshire, I went to Singapore in 1959 via Gib Suez Aden and Colombo, though I was 13. Returned 3 years later by air. Singapore was mostly green at that time with building only half the length of Orchard Road. Later I operated in Singapore for the duration on No52 Sqn Andovers and when Oz or Hadj flying with Britannia Airways.

I have just returned from my latest visit to Singapore. Sadly, it has lost all its attraction. It seems to be geared solely to the banking sector. Stupid prices and over-developed.

[Warmtoast]

bpilot 52
I imagine you bought your Singapore film from the Cathay Photo Store in Bras Basah Road.

I doubt it. More likely this shop in Changi Village:

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/Changi-Village.jpg

Not particularly sharp photo as it's a screen-grab from my 8mm cine film as is the one below - a bit of nostalgia for those who knew Changi and shopped in the village in the 1950's - 60's.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/ChangiVillage-Buses.jpg

The rubbish large-format transparency film I mentioned in my original post is (according to the cardboard mount in which the film is mounted) "Ruby" Film, although they may have been the processors rather than manufacturers.

[bpilot52]

That photo store picture rings a bell. When 52 Sqn (Andovers) moved from Seletar to Changi. Didn't have much faith in these local shops - so set up a darkroom in the built in wardrobe in my room. No air, temperature in the thousands and thick with fumes from the chemicals. I don't think it was clever but I made a few decent pictures.
Interesting also to see the busses of the Changi bus company. As a kid, they were the contractor for the Army kids school run.

[Lukeafb1]

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos.

I travelled out to Kenya in 1949 as a family when I was six on the 'Empire Ken'. We docked at Mombassa and night trained up to Niarobi. The Empire Ken (who the hell names a ship 'Ken'??) was a real tub which I remember would have rolled on the Serpentine. No air conditioning, two or three families (women and children only) to a cabin and terrible food. But as a six year old, a huge adventure. From what I remember, we docked at Gib, somewhere in Greece, Port Said, Suez, Somalia and then Mombassa. The best bit of the whole 3 week trip, was sleeping in a bunk on the train journey up to Niarobi.

Three years later, we did the same journey in reverse, this time on the 'Empress of Australia' on her last voyage. A different ship altogether - total luxury! The main things I remember about that voyage, were the superb bread rolls at breakfast and sailing through the Bay of Biscay during the worst storm for 50 years (apparently).

Loved the whole experience, seasickness aside! :ok::ok:

[Lordflasheart]

Singapore in 1959 .... was mostly green at that time ....

They said "Concrete Grey was Lee Kuan Yew's favourite colour."

... and there wasn't a single high-rise in Hong Kong in 1960. The first two were the Mandarin and the Hilton about 63-64 – the fun the boys had doing the "Top of to Top of" races – organised with military precision :E . Kept 'em out of the bars.


LFH

[cardmaker]

A fascinating post Warmtoast. My father was an instructor at 5 EFTS at Thornhill from 1951 until it was closed in 1953.

After some UK postings Dad was posted to RAF Changi in Singapore in 1958, we travelled out by air and were only there for about a month when he was sent to RAF Katunayake where he spent almost a year flying supplies and personnel to and from Gan. After that it was back to Singapore for another couple of years. We had a holiday in Hong Kong during that time and travelled both ways on the Nevasa, though because Dad was an officer I think we must have travelled 1st class!

He died in 2002, and I have all his log books which helped when I wrote his life story a few years ago.

[RatherBeFlying]

WT, I am guessing the photos were mostly Ektachrome -- certainly faster than Kodachrome.

They are a wonderful documentation of a time long past. Thank you for sharing them with us.

[Warmtoast]

Cardmaker

A fascinating post Warmtoast. My father was an instructor at 5 EFTS at Thornhill from 1951 until it was closed in 1953.

After some UK postings Dad was posted to RAF Changi in Singapore in 1958

Almost matches my two overseas postings. I was at 5 FTS RAF Thornhill Aug 1951 - Oct 1953 and was posted to the Far East in October 1956.

[Warmtoast]

RatherBeFlying

WT, I am guessing the photos were mostly Ektachrome -- certainly faster than Kodachrome.


Large format transparencies are Ektachrome, whilst oblong ones are Kodachrome. Of the two I preferred Kodachrome, much less grainy and over the years they are as vivid and colourful as the day they were taken.

I've had all my (nearly 1,500) Kodachrome slides scanned professionally to digital format which makes printing and showing them a doddle.

[Albert Driver]

The Empire Ken (who the hell names a ship 'Ken'??)

The Empire troopships were named after rivers, often rather obscure ones.

Many were quite large former captured German liners. Maybe the MoWT was making a statement.

[cardmaker]

Warmtoast, your RAF Thornhill posting coincides pretty closely with my father's, but we probably missed you in Singapore, as we had only been there a few weeks when Dad was seconded to RAF Katunayake, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to fly the supply runs to Gan during the building of the runway. We were there for almost a year, until April 1959. Dad was Flt.Lt. O.C. Douglas, known to all as Joe. Correction, he was known as Dougie in the RAF and Joe at home, must have been confusing ;)

The photo shop in Changi village was familiar. I was given a Brownie camera for my birthday and used to spend all my pocket money on films and developing.:O

[India Four Two]

I'm currently in Singapore and finally remembered to do what I had been meaning to do on my last few visits - update Warmtoast's 1958 picture of the Singapore Waterfront.

Here's Warmtoast's picture from Post No. 1:
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Nevasa/SingaporeWaterfront1957.jpg

and here's a picture I took today:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/FullertonIMG_1938_zps25b6ef21.jpg

The picture location is a little bit closer than Warmtoast's vantage point and it is no longer the waterfront.

His location is now in the middle of Esplanade Park. The Fullerton Building is still there, but has gained some more floors and is now the Fullerton Hotel. The bridge over the Singapore River on the right is still there, pretty much unchanged, but on the left is the Esplanade Bridge, completed in 1997, which links Nicholl Highway in the east with Shenton Way in the west. The skyline has changed beyond recognition.

This used to be the mouth of the Singapore River, but it is now 1.5 miles upstream, due to land reclamation. The new river mouth has a permanent barrage, that has turned the river into a fresh-water reservoir.

This is the view looking half-left in about the 10 o'clock position. The Marina Bay Sands Hotel looming over the Esplanade Bridge in the foreground:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/MarinaBaySandsIMG_1939_zpsbe8a45ed.jpg


Looking further left, about 8 0'clock, are the Theatres on the Bay, otherwise known as the Big Durian, with the Singapore Flyer in the background:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/BigDurianIMG_1940_zps0380a4ce.jpg
Everything you see in the above two pictures is on reclaimed land.

Finally, one more shot of the Fullerton and the Business district, from the other side of the Esplanade Bridge:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/FullertonIMG_1942_zps576c21a3.jpg

[Warmtoast]

India Four Two

Thanks for the update. I still prefer the original Esplanade vista rather than today's concrete jungle, but then I'm not always in tune with modern developments which IMHO more often than not degrade rather than improve things.

WT

[India Four Two]

Warmtoast,

I agree with you. I can tolerate the tall buildings in the the business district, but I think the Marina Bay Sands hotel is an ugly abomination. When I first saw it, I was immediately reminded of the alien spaceship hovering over Johannesburg in the movie "District 9".

What were the planning authorities thinking of? The answer of course is Chinese gamblers' money.

[evansb]

Nostalgia sure ain't what it used to be..
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/convair640063/Singapore1950s-60s1_zps37dfe053.jpg

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r68/convair640/convair640064/Canberraplane_zpsd452df76.jpg

[Warmtoast]

evansb

I was at Heathrow in October 1953 to see the start of the LHR - Christchurch (NZ) air race and took this photo of one of the two Aussie Canberras. It came second ISTR.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Biggin%20Hill%20Early%201950s/NZAirRaceCanberra2_zps7024d58a.jpg

The crew of the winning RAF Canberra shown in your photo (above) is here:

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Biggin%20Hill%20Early%201950s/NZAirRace-Winners_zps66d2e657.jpg

[India Four Two]

Warmtoast,

The "23 hrs 52 mins" slogan made me wonder how long it takes today.

I discovered that you can fly Singapore Airlines from London to Christchurch in 23 hrs 30 mins, with a 1 hour layover in Changi.

Remarkable, and much more comfortable! The SQ flat-beds are much nicer than an MB armchair!

[Warmtoast]

Nostalgia sure ain't what it used to be..

Singapore as I photographed it way back in the late 1950's:-

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/Seletar-LegistativeAssembly_zpsce27da17.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/SingaporeBuilding_zps31cd6326.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/SingaporeStreetScene2_zpsf48f7119.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/SingaporeStreetScene1_zps3e6a74f0.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/SingaporeRiver_zps7006bccd.jpg

NAAFI Britannia Club opposite Raffles Hotel

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/BritanniaClub2-1960_zps9c6e4a89.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/BritanniaClubSingaporeMyDia_zps9b7310fe.jpg

Haw-Par Villa (Tiger Balm Garden)

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/Seletar-TigerBalmGarden_zps2ef76423.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/Seletar-TigerBalmGarden-HawParVilla_zps0c7a9b15.jpg

Changi Creek opposite Changi's Aircrew Transit Mess

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/ChangiCreek_zps92278fa4.jpg

Changi Swimming Pool

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/ChangiSwimmingPool_zps8de5b156.jpg

The Union Jack Club in the centre of Singapore

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/UnionJackClubSingapore_zps81bc16af.jpg

...and finally really ancient nostalgia - 1920's -30's advert for Raffles Hotel

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/RafflesHotel_zps178cfec3.jpg

[Lady Writer]

Hello

I have written an article about Perla Siedle Gibson, Durban's Lady in White, which is to be published in a UK magazine, and am trying to find a picture (free!) of her for illustration. I notice there is one on your site and wonder if it is copyright free and whether I could use it? Any help would be appreciated.

Regards

[Fareastdriver]

Try sending a PM, (Private message) to Warmtoast; he will put you in the right direction as to its origin.

[Warmtoast]

Lady Writer

I notice there is one on your site and wonder if it is copyright free and whether I could use it?
Please check you PM's.

[bpilot52]

Those are great pictures of the Britannia club where I learnt to swim in 1959 (son of a NCO based at Tanglin/ Blankan Mati). It was built on the sea side of Beach road - the clue is in the name :) - behind the club there was building and repairing of wooden vessels. Now a mile or so inland.
I have seen Singapore over the years (No52Sqn Seletar & Changi) then Asia trips Britannia/Thomson/Hadj. Watched the changes good and bad - Good - the financial district architecture / bad- the monstrous 'ship in the sky' hotel. :eek:
There is a facebook page 'Nostalgic Singapore' which sometimes throws up some gems but probably doesn't mention the post flight watering hole next to Raffles that is 'Lot Stock and Barrel' - still open late for returning crews on my last holiday.

[Warmtoast]

bpilot52

Some 2007 photos of the Britannia Club shortly before it was demolished here:
http://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/344325-malcolm-clubs-merged-3.html#post4423413 (Post #43)

[India Four Two]

I departed Changi today on 02C and as I had a window seat on the left, I was perfectly placed to take a snapshot of RAF Changi:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/Mobile%20Uploads/3ECF42BE-C5FC-4657-AF9B-9011CAEF5385_zps7nueehw1.jpg

[Warmtoast]

India Four Two

I can just about make out Changi Creek which was alongside the Aircrew Transit Mess and what I seem to remember was the terminal parking area on the other side of the runway, but the rest is almost totally unrecognisable.

Thanks for the update and nice to know there are still sailors around as can be seen from the sailing boats/dinghies moored where ISTR the RAF Changi sailing club was located. Has Changi Village where we used to do our shopping and catch the bus into Singapore gone too?

[India Four Two]

Warmtoast,

There are a couple of resorts and the Changi Sailing Club adjacent to the boat moorings. There were a bunch of RSAF aircraft on the terminal ramp - mostly F27s I think.

Sad to say, but after thirty years of visiting Singapore, I've never made it out to Changi Village or the Changi Jail museum. I'll have to do that next time.

It's interesting that 02C, which is on reclaimed land, used to be 02R. There is now another 02R further east, on even more reclaimed land.

PS All the streets in Changi Village and RSAF Changi still have their old aviation-related names e.g. Upavon Road, Wittering Road, Tangmere Road, etc.

[Mr Oleo Strut]

This might just creep in under the thread-bar. Its May 1948. At Port Said boarding is taking place by tank landing ship to the outer mole where a great grey three-funnel troopship awaits, vast in the morning sunshine. We're going home. I'm only five so I'm carried up the gangplank by my Dad. Terrifying! The Empress was huge and my mother and I shared a very nice cabin with a large porthole and another family. Our Dads were required to bunk down with their troops but joined us at all other times. It was great, the food was good, there were games, a swimming pool, and loads of chocolate. I particularly liked Gray Dunn's Chocolate wafers which I had not seen before. We'd been in Egypt for three years since joining my father there, so I was sure that it was always warm and sunny everywhere, and that the sea was always warm and blue. When the great ship called in to Malta my uncle and aunt came out to see us. He was resplendent in his naval uniform. Then our world crashed when we arrived in Liverpool after our seven-day voyage. The Pool was cold, grey, dingy, damaged, dreary and distinctly depressing as we lined up for our brown stew and grey lumpy mash at a dismal Army family reception centre. Egypt and the Canal Zone seemed liked a far-off dream.
Postcript: while messing about on the internet recently I found Findmypast.co.uk and was surprised to see that all the Empress of Scotland's passenger lists were available, and there I was, duly recorded. I then found the old ship's deck plans and photographs on a Canadian Pacific site and wallowed in some good old-fashioned nostalgia. Highly recommended!

[Fareastdriver]

Its May 1948.

I'm only five

You are but a callow youth, Sir.

[Warmtoast]

India Four Two

Re my query about Changi Village. Google's your friend!

From Google Earth - June 2015 street views: What a change from 1963 when I last meandered through the village to do my shopping.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Changi%20Village%20Looking%20South_zpsxarn3mpf.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Changi%20Village%20Looking%20North_zps43py4djf.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Changi%20Village%20Shops_zpsb8qvvdar.jpg

...and in late 1950's

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/ChangiVillage-Buses.jpg



http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/Changi-Village.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/Bus3_zpscc0c9a4f.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/Bus1_zpsd01d6a1e.jpg

Apologies for quality, but screen grabs from my 8mm cine film.

[washoutt]

The advertisement of the Raffles hotel is interesting, insofar it has a Dutch text on top, advertising special cigarettes made of Dutch East Indies (DEI) tobacco, manufactured by Smits in Batavia, DEI, (now Djakarta, Indonesia) and Noordwijk (a coastal town in The Netherlands). Any idea why a Dutch text would appear in an English advertisement?

[India Four Two]

Somewhat unexpectedly, I'm back in Singapore for a few days and I decided I would like to go sailing. I ended up going for a sail on a ketch, which is moored at the Changi Sailing Club!

Here's a picture of the club as we approached the dock. The original building is on the left and an extension, with pool, to the right:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/Mobile%20Uploads/10F1CB82-8CA7-4C7F-B0BE-0F36B23E0BCA_zpss77fuh6w.jpg

While we were out sailing in the channel, we saw a fleet of about 50 Optimists racing, with a new generation of young sailors on board. We arrived back, just in front of a blizzard of Optis, since their race had been abandoned in view of the approaching thunderstorm in the background:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/Mobile%20Uploads/E026B3E5-3644-4637-9AAC-AC7F9AF18278_zps0d3hxtlr.jpg

Changi village:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/Mobile%20Uploads/D272C1B9-DC00-4AEB-A8EF-49A80B40B189_zps9wocfgt3.jpg

A barrack block on Farnborough Road (taken from Loyang Avenue):
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/Mobile%20Uploads/45D85DCC-0B2B-4F04-9BDC-7124BAB50D2E_zpsoipfyivl.jpg

Married quarters (?) on the north side of Loyang Avenue:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/Mobile%20Uploads/46F6E3A1-EB39-48BB-A630-A35E041A34F3_zps107tdrj3.jpg

Building near the main gate to RSAF Changi West (Changi East is to the east of the civil airfield, with its own, new runway):
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/Mobile%20Uploads/1A874FD9-6420-438A-B59A-C39BF46FE86F_zpsbunhnhq9.jpg

Then and now

Former Supreme Court Building (L) and former City Hall (R), now both renovated as the National Gallery:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/Then%20and%20Now%201_zpsde5czvzq.png

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/Then%20and%20Now%202_zpsu8qa54mk.png
Not the same tree as in Warmtoast's picture.

St Andrew's Cathedral. It is not clear from my picture but the distinctive gate posts are still there:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/Then%20and%20Now%203_zpscfcxiqaf.png

[Dora-9]

You certainly get around, I42 - nice photos too!

Cheers.

[India Four Two]

Dora-9,

Thanks. I've reached the stage in my life where when an opportunity presents itself, I go for it, on the basis that I may never have the chance again! Next time I'm in the Deep North, I'll probably be knocking on your door! ;)

I'm back in Saigon now!

[Warmtoast]

India Four Two

Thanks for the updates on how my nearly sixty-years old views of Singapore look now - very fascinating - many thanks.

Re. your photo of the Changi sailing club, in my days at Changi the RAF Changi sailing club had "Cadets" as the dinghies for novices ISTR, plus I was very envious of the couple of Star class racing yachts (as used in the Olympics) the club owned, but sadly never had the chance sail in them, but I did do sailing at RAF Negombo in the clubs "Fleetwinds" which were fast and light - here I am sailing one on the Negombo lagoon in 1957.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Negombo%20Katunayake/Fleetwind%201a_zpsic95lzcq.jpg

For us Brits who were in Singapore in the late 50's and early 60's the Chinese ladies were daring with their outfits as compared with the girls I was going out with at home.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/Changsam1_zpse8f5bcb8.jpg

A Singapore street view of a Cheongsam-wearing Chinese lady captured by my 8mm cine camera c.1960 - at the time the wearer would probably be arrested if she wore it in the street in London!

[India Four Two]

Warmtoast,

A very nice shot of you and the Fleetwinds.

A Singapore street view of a Cheongsam-wearing Chinese lady captured by my 8mm cine camera c.1960I know, you were just taking a shot of the car and she walked into the frame! ;)

These days, the young Singaporeans wear fashions indistinguishable from those in the west - very often girls are wearing short-shorts and cropped tops. It makes a cheongsam look positively formal.

[Jackw106]

John Schlesinger's outstanding "fly on the wall" film about a day in the life of Waterloo Station. It was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for Best Documentary. As well as being a masterpiece of film it has a magnificent soundtrack composed by Ron Grainer (who later composed the Doctor Who theme).


Spent many an hour waiting for trains



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx_lUCgC-Jo

[Julian Davison]

Singapore as I photographed it way back in the late 1950's:-

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/Seletar-LegistativeAssembly_zpsce27da17.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/SingaporeBuilding_zps31cd6326.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/SingaporeStreetScene2_zpsf48f7119.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/SingaporeStreetScene1_zps3e6a74f0.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/SingaporeRiver_zps7006bccd.jpg

NAAFI Britannia Club opposite Raffles Hotel

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/BritanniaClub2-1960_zps9c6e4a89.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/BritanniaClubSingaporeMyDia_zps9b7310fe.jpg

Haw-Par Villa (Tiger Balm Garden)

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/Seletar-TigerBalmGarden_zps2ef76423.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/Seletar-TigerBalmGarden-HawParVilla_zps0c7a9b15.jpg

Changi Creek opposite Changi's Aircrew Transit Mess

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/ChangiCreek_zps92278fa4.jpg

Changi Swimming Pool

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/ChangiSwimmingPool_zps8de5b156.jpg

The Union Jack Club in the centre of Singapore

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/UnionJackClubSingapore_zps81bc16af.jpg

...and finally really ancient nostalgia - 1920's -30's advert for Raffles Hotel

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/RafflesHotel_zps178cfec3.jpg

Writing a book about Swan & Maclaren, Singapore's oldest surviving architectural practice (estd. 1892) and looking to get hold of a decent high res. copy of the Union Jack Club photo, which was designed by Harry Robinson, the form's sent partner, in 1923. Thanks, Julian

[Warmtoast]

Writing a book about Swan & Maclaren, Singapore's oldest surviving architectural practice (estd. 1892) and looking to get hold of a decent high res. copy of the Union Jack Club photo, which was designed by Harry Robinson, the form's sent partner, in 1923. Thanks, Julian
Julian

I can let you have a high res copy of my Union Jack Club photo, just PMQ me with your email a address and I'll oblige.

WT

[avionic type]

Does anyone remember the Troopship Empire Medway in the early 50s? she was a bundle of fun ,rolled her way across the Bay of Biscay like a drunken sailor on her way to Gibraltar and the Near and Far East , no cosy bunks "You are on a ship laddie HAMMOCKS for you "and not a decent cigarette to be had only we got boxes of 50 of the slightly scented variety, they were awful .Glad we got off at Gib to happier times of decent RAF food only a good posting provides, Tea, made with Carnation milk [No Cows on Gib] plenty of sunshine not too hot but we all got very brown the best 2 years of my youth . Flew back to UK in a Hunting Clan Viking in 1953 .:O:O:O:O
Memories of an old man.

[crewmeal]

I recently watched series 3 of Tenko. Was any of that actually filmed in Singapore? If so which part? In one episode I hear references to "The Goodwood park" hotel where BA crews stayed during the 70's. Looking at it now on Trip Advisor you would never think it had history dating back to WW2.

[wiggy]

Thanks for those Singapore images gents(?) - one of them answers a question I've been pondering for years when "in town" on trips with the airline and staring out of my hotel window (I hasten to add: not The Raffles).......i.e. the provenance of the red brick building on Beach Road directly opposite the main entrance to Raffles, to my eye it always looked suspiciously like a military or associated structure ......Now at last I have the answer.

As some will probably know, but some won't it (the NAAFI building) is still there, in v good condition (think it was recently refurbished ), though dwarfed by hotels now and a long way from any beach.

[brakedwell]

Just remembered the slot car racing in the NAAFI club, which I visited a few times during eight years of Changhi Slips. Marshal girls on the tight corners to pick up cars that left the track and ended up on the floor! Happy days.

[wub]

Thanks for those Singapore images gents(?) - one of them answers a question I've been pondering for years when "in town" on trips with the airline and staring out of my hotel window (I hasten to add: not The Raffles).......i.e. the provenance of the red brick building on Beach Road directly opposite the main entrance to Raffles, to my eye it always looked suspiciously like a military or associated structure ......Now at last I have the answer.

As some will probably know, but some won't it (the NAAFI building) is still there, in v good condition (think it was recently refurbished ), though dwarfed by hotels now and a long way from any beach.

That's astonishing. I've been to Singapore dozens of times and never noticed the NAAFI building. I'm guessing you stare at it from the Swissotel Stamford?

[India Four Two]

That's astonishing. I've been to Singapore dozens of times and never noticed the NAAFI building. I'm guessing you stare at it from the Swissotel Stamford?

wub,

That's the one. I'm currently staying at Swissôtel Stamford and I went across yesterday to have a look. Very nicely restored, along with the drill hall and two other military buildings. All four have been cleverly incorporated into the new South Beach complex covering the whole block.

I'll post some photos when I get back home and download them from my camera.

[wiggy]

wub I'm guessing you stare at it from the Swissotel Stamford?


Personally that was indeed the case for many years but we now seem to play a hotel version of musical chairs, though we have always been pretty much in line of line of sight and a very short walk from the old NAAFI building.

Look forward to India Four Two pics, I've just looked at what I've got from trips over the years and I've got a few taken from outside the place.......but with my back to it...looking across the road at Raffles front door!!!!

As India has also said the club is now dwarfed by a high rise development - though at least it looks like somebody (presumably the developer) has decided to keep old club intact and in a very good state of repair. I suspect in some countries it would have been bulldozed flat by now. Must go and have a closer look next time I'm in "town".

[Warmtoast]

Re the NAAFI Britannia Club in Beach Road
In 2008 I posted some 2007 photos of the NAAFI Britannia club as it was being demolished/rebuilt here:
http://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/344325-malcolm-clubs-merged-3.html#post4419044 (Post #43).

It included this sign erected by Singapore City Council.


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Changi%20%20and%20Seletar/BritanniaClubSingapore4.jpg

[wub]

wub

Personally that was indeed the case for many years but we now seem to play a hotel version of musical chairs, though we have always been pretty much in line of line of sight and a very short walk from the old NAAFI building.

Look forward to India Four Two pics, I've just looked at what I've got from trips over the years and I've got a few taken from outside the place.......but with my back to it...looking across the road at Raffles front door!!!!

As India has also said the club is now dwarfed by a high rise development - though at least it looks like somebody (presumably the developer) has decided to keep old club intact and in a very good state of repair. I suspect in some countries it would have been bulldozed flat by now. Must go and have a closer look next time I'm in "town".

I'll be there in October and will make sure when I leave Raffles I'll have a good look across the road instead of looking back at Raffles. Looking forward to India Four Two pics. I do have photos of the building but didn't recognise it. As I said, astonishing.

[spekesoftly]

I recently watched series 3 of Tenko. Was any of that actually filmed in Singapore? If so which part? ...........

I believe that due to high production costs, only the first two episodes of series 1 were filmed on location in Singapore. At the time, my late brother was employed by the BBC and spent some time in Singapore as a member of the Tenko production team.

[NorthernChappie]

Interesting thread bump - must have missed it first time round. The Dunera, Nevassa and Uganda figures large in my early years as an uncle was a Chief Engineer with the BI line and he was on them all. Uganda was the most visited when it docked regularly in our then home town of Dundee for schools cruises. A family invite to the officers dining room always went down well! Never did manage to do any cruises on them though.


Later in his career he had a secondment to the RN to oversee fitting out of a new fleet of vessels including the ill-fated Sir Galahad. We got the full tour of that one when almost complete.

[Kewbick]

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b477/gumpjr_bucket/Singapore%20Colour.jpg

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b477/gumpjr_bucket/mosquitos_cover_1000px.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/druid_99/Vickers%20Viscount/VRSEEVickers.jpg
Note the slipper tank for extra endurance.

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b477/gumpjr_bucket/7172126312_935e0fe0a0_b.jpg

http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq225/landyshah/VR_ANC_TWINPIONEER_MALAYANAIRWAYS_41533_1024.jpg

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b477/gumpjr_bucket/paya_lebar_airbase_2.jpg

[Null Orifice]

During the last knockings in Singapore in 1971, there were rumours circulating among the great unwashed (lower ranks of all three British services) that it was destined to become an officers' club for the Singapore Armed Forces.
On one notable occasion, the 'high-spirited' chappies took it upon themselves to ensure that the revered edifice was left in a less than pristine condition. Much of the furniture and fittings was trashed - I believe several items of furniture took a swim after being launched from the diving board. Subsequently the military fuzz became involved and names were taken!
One of those involved was a wag from a Changi unit. At his disciplinary hearing, the evidence from a Military Policeman was read out. When I asked why airman X was standing on the piano with a fire extinguisher, he replied "Trying to put out the fire, corporal" :E.
Rather unfairly, the junior ranks of all units were subject to a collective charge, whether or not they had been involved.

[India Four Two]

Finally got back to Saigon and downloaded my photos.

View of the Britannia Club from the corner of Bras Basah Road and Beach Road:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/simonyouens/IMG_3590_zpsimc4ctsw.jpg
The building behind is the new JW Marriott Hotel. The structure on the right is a sunshade over an open-air space where the swimming pool used to be.

View from my hotel room:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/simonyouens/IMG_3589_zpsmjmllvdg.jpg

Looking out to the coast:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/simonyouens/IMG_3588_zpsgv06m3xe.jpg
The JW Marriott is on the left. The body of water behind the wheel of the Singapore Flyer is the mouth of the Singapore River, which is now a fresh-water reservoir. You can see the barrage at the top right. Beach Road (between my hotel and the Marriott) is now nearly 2 miles from the coast. Almost all of the land in the picture is reclaimed.

View of the barrage, with the Gardens on the Bay, on the right:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/simonyouens/IMG_3606_zpshgekjeot.jpg

View down Bras Basah Road:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/simonyouens/IMG_3592_zpsl2h7jovu.jpg

The back of the Britannia Club where the pool used to be:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/simonyouens/IMG_3593_zpsa5ckajmp.jpg

The front of the Drill Hall:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/simonyouens/IMG_3596_zpsjek1rsag.jpg

Front of the Britannia Club:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/simonyouens/IMG_3600_zps9konob65.jpg

East end of the Britannia Club, looking south:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/simonyouens/IMG_3599_zpsdyxnrlrl.jpg

Placard on the Britannia Club:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/simonyouens/IMG_3603_zpsgsjtfjfm.jpg

And on the north side of Beach Road, majestic as ever:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o598/simonyouens/IMG_3602_zps8qyyh6mk.jpg


Kewbick's postcard of the Singapore River is interesting. There are now no boats on the river except tourist boats. The buildings on the right are now the Asian Civilizations Museum. The white buildings on the left along Boat Quay are now all high-priced restaurants and bars. S$15 a pint!

Here's an evening picture of Boat Quay:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/india42/0F549BEA-CE33-4EAE-ACEA-91BCA7221AA1_zps5csvxf4o.jpg

[goudie]

Brings back very happy memories of afternoons spent on the balcony quaffing a Tiger beer...or two!
A group of matelots performing the 'dance of the flaming a***holes' was rather entertaining one afternoon, before being escorted off the premises by the shore patrol

[Warmtoast]

India Four Two


Brilliant pics as ever - TVM


WT

[India Four Two]

WT,
Thanks. It's always nice to take photos that other people appreciate

I found the original of the black and white photo I posted. It is dated 1969:
http://www.derektait.co.uk/bc20.jpg

There is a good history of the building here:
Former Singapore Armed Forces Non-Commissioned Officers Club | Infopedia (http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1773_2011-03-25.html)

As India has also said the club is now dwarfed by a high rise development - though at least it looks like somebody (presumably the developer) has decided to keep old club intact and in a very good state of repair. I suspect in some countries it would have been bulldozed flat by now. Must go and have a closer look next time I'm in "town".

wiggy,
Not the developers - they would have bulldozed it in a heartbeat. It was the Government who had put a conservation order on it. I suspect that it has only survived because it continued to be used by the SAF, during the dark days of the 60s and 70s. Everything old was being pulled down, until the Government realized they were destroying the buildings that tourists wanted to see!

The pool survived at least into the late 80s, since the Swissôtel Stamford in the background, was built in 1986:
http://www.singas.co.uk/Modern_Singapore/brittaniaclub2001.jpg

[wub]

WT,
Thanks. It's always nice to take photos that other people appreciate

Here is the original of the black and white photo I posted:
http://www.derektait.co.uk/bc20.jpg

There is a good history of the building here:
Former Singapore Armed Forces Non-Commissioned Officers Club | Infopedia (http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1773_2011-03-25.html)

Thanks India Four Two, I see the building is now open to the public, I might pop in next time I'm in Singers.

[India Four Two]

wub,

Let me know. When I walked past, there was no indication that it was open to anyone!

[Brian 48nav]

Great photographs!

You can easily make out 'Kallang Highway" next to the sea - it was interesting that in the morning rush hour the middle lanes were one-way into the city and in the evening rush hour the direction was reversed.

When we first moved in to Crescent Flats in Katong ( the under-25 ghetto! for young RAF Officers )in 1968, the sea came right up to the padang in front of our block. They started the land reclamation while we were there, bringing the soil on a long conveyor belt from the Bedok direction.

[India Four Two]

Brian,

The "Kallang Highway" you refer to is now the Nicoll Highway. The Art Deco terminal at Kallang airfield is still there.

Talking of "padangs", here's a nice picture, probably taken during the same flight as the aerial view of the Britannia Club.

The Padang looking west, with the Singapore Cricket Club at the far end. Billions of dollars worth of high rises now occupy the anchorage area in the distance:
http://www.singas.co.uk/sits/Image1.jpg

The Padang picture comes from a very interesting site, with lots of nostalgic photos of Singapore:
http://www.singas.co.uk/HTML/singapore_in_the__60s.html

I was entertained to a very nice dinner on the veranda of the SCC last Friday, followed by a trip to Harry's Bar behind the infamous Orchard Towers! An English girl in our party, on her first trip to Asia, had trouble believing that the very tall, beautiful girls loitering outside, were in fact men.

[Brian 48nav]

You are absolutely correct! Nicoll Highway not Kallang Highway - the old brain cells let me down!
I think it did or does cross part of the old Kallang Airfield.

SWMBO and I managed to afford 7 holidays in Singapore and Malaysia from 1988, the last in 2002. Seeing your photos is making me think of going again, however I have to balance that against the fact that since 9/11 the whole flying thing has become a complete pain.

Back in the days of flight deck access I often presented my LHR ATC business card and asked to go up front for a chat. The most interesting crew I met was on a Malaysian flight from Sandakan to Kinabalu - both pilots were and looked Burmese.

[India Four Two]

Brian,

If you are thinking of coming out to the Far East again, I strongly suggest you consider visiting Vietnam. PM me if you are interested.

Pre-2001, I used to often get a jump seat ride by showing my business card and PPL. The best one was into Kai Tak, just before it closed, in a 777. The crew were two Brits. It was the Captain's leg, so the the FO gave me the safety brief at TOD. "If Bill stuffs it up and we end up in the harbour, your life jacket is under your seat." No power-gradient in that cockpit!

[Warmtoast]

India Four Two
followed by a trip to Harry's Bar behind the infamous Orchard Towers! An English girl in our party, on her first trip to Asia, had trouble believing that the very tall, beautiful girls loitering outside, were in fact men.


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/Far%20East%20Trip%201979/Image5%20Blurred_zpsfjlvaxdv.jpg


Whatever happened to Bugis Street? Taken on a 1979 trip - faces obscured for obvious reasons!

[India Four Two]

WT,

Sadly Bugis Street is a mere shadow of its former self:
In the mid-1980s, Bugis Street underwent major urban redevelopment into a retail complex of modern shopping malls, restaurants and nightspots mixed with regulated back-alley roadside vendors. Underground digging to construct the Bugis MRT station prior to that also caused the upheaval and termination of the nightly transgender sex bazaar culture, marking the end of a colourful and unique era in Singapore's history.

Today, the original Bugis Street is now a cobblestoned, relatively wide avenue sandwiched between the buildings of the Bugis Junction shopping complex. On the other hand, the lane presently touted as "Bugis Street" by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board is actually developed from New Bugis Street, formerly Albert Street, and is billed as "the largest street-shopping location in Singapore". An attempt by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board to bring back the former exotic atmosphere was unsuccessful. Although the street is now not a well-known tourist destination, it is frequented by many Singaporeans.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugis,_Singapore

These days, the ladyboys are mostly to be found in and around Orchard Towers, aka "Four Floors of Wh***s"

[Kewbick]

Trade House, Singapore, 1960: (Currently, the frieze would do well with solar collector panels). A total absence of lane markings on the tarmacadam are in evidence. Oddly, it looks as though they are driving on the right-hand side..
http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b477/gumpjr_bucket/Singapore%20Trade%20House.jpg

[Danny42C]

Warmtoast, India Four Two and others,

What a feast of photographs ! You can almost feel the hammer of the tropic sun ! My Far East time was limited to 3½ years in India and Burma, and as it was wartime, we were (IIRC) officially forbidden to have cameras (and even less home cine-cameras) for security reasons.

But this seems to have been "honoured in the breach more than in the observance", but even so there is not much (all b/w) still camera work, and the IAF home-camera film of the Vultee Vengeance is the only bit I've seen (but of course there may be more).
Warmtoast - only a four tier bunk ? You had it good, mate ! In the "Stirling Castle" going out to Bombay in autumn 1942, I was on the top of a wooden Seven tier bunk. Admittedly it was under the high ceiling in the former First-Class dining saloon, but even so I was able to stretch out a hand and feel the "roof" from my bunk.

The trip took eight weeks, as we had to go round the Cape, and went via Bahia, Brazil, (to keep out of the way of operations in North Africa). At Bahia we stayed for a couple of days, to take on fresh water, and stretched our legs ashore on a "Lap of Honour" style march round the city centre and back. This was not quite as impressive "showing of the Flag" as the Admiralty describes, as our KD had been "washed" in sea-water non-soap and not pressed !

They didn't take the risk of letting us loose in Bahia, but we had a day ashore in Durban, and I was able to celebrate my 21st birthday in some style .

Memories, memories ! Thank you, chaps !

Danny.

[India Four Two]

You can almost feel the hammer of the tropic sun !

Danny,

You can say that because you've experienced it. :)

I try to explain the heat and humidity to people who've never been in the Tropics as follows:

"Imagine you are in a bathroom, where a hot shower has been running for some time and there are multiple heat lamps in the ceiling."

These days, I find myself unconsciously walking on the shady side of the street!

[ancientaviator62]

India Four Two,
thank you for the very evocative pics a walk down memory lane for me. I did a tour on 48 at Changi and came home when it all folded. Back to Harold Wilson, VAT and decimal currency.! Heat and humidity notwithstanding it was the best tour of my almost 40 years in the RAF. The flying was great and so was the social life.
Only pics I have are of my family, and aircraft.
Fast forward about 25 years and my stepson is out there with his company so we go back. What a shock in that I could hardly recognise anything, especially Changi. Been back several times since as a stopover on the way to family in Perth. Always a pleasure.

[Kewbick]

DC-4 equipped with an astrodome, dual ADF and an ILS antennae:
http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/b477/gumpjr_bucket/Malayan%20DC4.jpg

[India Four Two]

It looks like there is a cable duct along to top of the DC-4's fuselage. Anyone know what that's for?

[Wodrick]

Might be an illusion but if not how about ADF sense antennas (two off)

[Brian 48nav]

Your post about what you came back to from Changi got me thinking. I remember that 48 came to Lyneham in late '71 so Ted Heath was PM, a post he held until early '74.
I couldn't remember when VAT was introduced although I knew it was around when SWMBO was self-employed in the late 70s - Wiki gives the date as 1st April 1973, the day we joined the EEC. It replaced Purchase Tax. IIRC it was only 8% in the early days!

[BEagle]

It looks like there is a cable duct along to top of the DC-4's fuselage. Anyone know what that's for?

There isn't. What you're seeing is an optical illusion due to the fin de-icing strip blending with the colour of the taxiway and the top of the fuselage.

[wub]

Resurrecting this old thread because I recently went back to Singapore and took this photo of the Britannia Club which has been discussed here

https://s1.postimg.org/1hlglj4wqn/SON08809.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/2o4ru4ttbv/)

[Singapore Owen]

Warm Toast, A fantastic story of a voyage I shared with you. On arrival in Singapore, I was posted to Air Headquarters Singapore at RAF Seletar. My last six months in 1958, was served with HQFEAF at RAF Changi.

My travel to Southampton for embarkation was different to you.
We - (Draft 1295A) - travelled on a special train from Cheltenham. This may have been because I did not arrive at RAF Innsworth until 2 October, while you had been waiting for embarkation since August. I imagine that is why you were transported by bus to Southampton.

During the voyage I kept a brief daily Log, which I will post below this note. It is written exactly as I recorded it in1956. (Forgive the poor grammar at times!) I think this Log will confirm your memory of events, particularly the storm in the South Atlantic.

I flew home in 1958 by a Dan Air Hermes. Leaving Paya Lebar Airport, Singapore, on Sunday morning at 10.30, arriving back at Blackbush Airport at 16.00 on the Tuesday.


Voyage to Singapore - HMT Nevasa – 1956 – Owen’s Daily Log
[ATTACH]4062[/A[ATTACH]4061[/AT

16 October 1956 – Left Southampton at Five on a misty day. A lot of amusement was derived from the tears shed on the quayside as the boat pulled away. Past Isle of Wight, saw Bournemouth, Portland Bill, Berry Head, and before going to bed Start Point.

17 October 1956 – Woke up and noticed the ship was rolling. Very windy and rouigh. Late morning only two of us on deck. Rest below being sick.-
Travelled 295 Miles – In Middle of the Bay of Biscay.

18 October 1956 – Much calmer but still a cold wind. The blue sky we saw on the horizon reached us at 12.00, but still not warm.
Travelled 412 Miles during last day. – Position 80 Miles west of Oporto

19 October 1956 – Beautiful day with clear blue sky, hot, with a cool breeze blowing over the ship. Managed to get a job in Orderly Room.
Travelled 434 miles during last day. - Position 378 Miles NNE of Canary Isles
Changed into shirt sleeves

20 October 1956 – Another beautiful day with plenty of sun, just hot enough.
Passed Grand Island of the Canaries and saw Capital Las Palmas.
Travelled 443 miles and 36 miles South of Las Palmas

21 October 1956 – Another scorching day, sunbathed for half an hour and got sunburnt. Attend Church Service in the morning conducted by the Captain.
Position 375 miles to Dakar, Travelled 446 miles

22 October 1956 – Arrived at Dakar at nine, went ashore at 11.20, walked into town, and paid four & six for a guide to take us to a Post Office which was a tobacconist shop.
Bought a Daily Mail for one & six. Left Dakar ten to five. Had a mad taxi driver to take us to boat.

23 October 1956 – Early morning saw rough seas with lightening and rain. Sky was cloudy and overcast and we were entering Rainy Season
Position 180 Miles W of Sierra Leone Travelled 357 Miles

24 October 1956 - The seas was still rough and the boat pitching, Saw large numbers of flying fish, and some porpoises. At night illuminated fish or jelly fish seen. Weather cloudy.
Position 170 miles S of Liberia Travelled 460 Miles

25 October 1956 – Sea continuing rough and boat pitching badly. Food is getting poor. Crossed Equator at 01.00 hrs.
Travelled 437 miles, speed reduced because of sea.

26 October 1956 – Sea Unchanged, cold wind blowing.
Travelled 434 miles. Position 1961 Miles from Cape of Good Hope

27 October 1956 – Sea a bit rougher, food improved a bit. A few people sick.
Travelled 432 Miles - Position 1529 miles from Cape of Good Hope

28 October 1956 – Sea extremely rough, and a gale blowing. Waves splashing on the deck. Boat lifting high in the bow.
Travelled 426 Miles - Position1103 Miles to Cape of Good Hope

29 October 1956 – Sea much rougher got swamped on the deck, a lot sea sick. Speed very much reduced
Travelled 374 Miles. Position 731 Miles from Cape of Good Hope.

30 October 1956 – Sea a bit calmer, very cloudy.
Position 343 Miles to Cape of Good Hope. – Travelled 388 Miles

31 October 1956 – Sea a bit choppy passed Cape Town at 05.00 but unable to get up and see Table Mountain. Saw Coastline clearly. Cloudy and Cold.
Travelled 404 Miles - Position 11 WSW OF Acullis Point

1 November 1956 - Sea much calmer about 5 miles from the coastline saw Cape Province and East London. Still cloudy but not quite so cold. Saw an Albatross.
Travelled 424 miles - Position 5 miles South of East London

2 November 1956 – Arrived at Durban at 7.15 - greeted by the Lady in White.
Were allowed ashore until Ten at night. Left ship at 9.15 and went on Coach Trip to Zulu Reserve and Valley of a Thousand Hills. On the way we passed Botha’s Hill, Sherwood, and Pinetown. Arrived at Café about 11.30 had a Coke, and visited a Kraal, saw natives dance and got pulled in myself. Went inside hut. After lunch went further into the Reserve, and returned to Durban at Four, did some shopping and everyone very friendly. Colour Bar was not very noticeable.

3 November 1956 – Left Durban at six in morning, where there was a large crowd to see us off. An even larger crowd on the last jetty, including the Lady in White. Everyone sorry to leave. Position at midday 93 miles ENE of Durban – Travelled 93 miles.

4 November 1956 – A beautiful day with sun really hot, went to Church service in the morning. Midday sun hottest yet. In the afternoon about 60 whales were seen.
Position South Indian Ocean. Travelled 414 miles

5 November 1956 – The Sea was as calm as a Lake, and quite a few sharks were seen. The sky a bit cloudy and sun not so strong.
Travelled 411 miles – Position 50 miles SE of Madagascar

6 November 1956 – The sea still calm, but sky cloudy. Passed Reunion Island and Mauritius. Slept on deck at night.
Travelled 433 miles – Position 80 miles SW of Reunion Island

7 November 1956 – A fine day with a breeze blowing over the ship. Sunbathed all afternoon, and am beginning to get a reasonable tan. Ship slowed down due to an operation.
Travelled 420 miles – Position 210 miles NE of Mauritius

8 November 1956 - Another beautiful day sea almost smooth. Large number of flying fish seen flying in shoals, and large size jelly fish also seen.
Travelled 420 miles – Position 2689 miles to Singapore

9 November 1956 – Another fine and very hot day. Sea not quite so smooth,
Travelled 417 miles - Position 2271 miles to Singapore

10 November 1956 – Cloudy with rain in showers. Warm breeze blowing. Crossing the Equator during the coming night.
Travelled 407 miles – Position 1814 miles to Singapore

11 November 1956 – Another wet day with tropical storms. Remembrance Service held during the morning.
Travelled 429 miles – Position 1485 miles to Singapore

12 November 1956 – Wet again. We have seen no ships or land since 6-11-56. Food getting poor.
Travelled 436 miles – Position 1049 miles to Singapore

13 November 1956 – A beautiful day, sea very calm. Saw our first land – North Sumatra, passed many densely wooded islands and a few boats.
Travelled 345 miles – Position 704 miles to Singapore

14 November 1956 – Another fine day but no land in sight passed a few ships.
Travelled 345 miles – Position 359 mil3es to Singapore

15 November 1956 – Arrived in Singapore in sweltering heat at 07.00, went ashore at 09.30, and went to RAF Seletar.

[India Four Two]

Great post, Owen.

Did you meet Warmtoast during the voyage? :)

[vctenderness]

Really great read. Especially in light on the 13.30 hours it takes now on a modern aircraft!

[Alan Baker]

Interesting post. The Nevasa was almost brand new, having been delivered to British India Line on July 12th, one of two new troopships, the other being Bibby's Oxfordshire delivered in February 1957. Both were redundant by 1962 as trooping went entirely over to air transport. The Nevasa had a second life as an educational cruise ship until being scrapped in 1975 while Oxfordshire became Sitmar's cruise ship Fairstar which had a long career ending under P & O ownership in Australia, finally being scrapped in 1997.

[Singapore Owen]

It is possible that we may have met, even sat next to each other in the Bar, I do not know.
I believe there were about 150 to 200 RAF personnel on board, and we were all probably accommodated on D Deck.
It is always possible that he may recognise me from the photo at the top of my Log.
Thanks for your interest.

[Singapore Owen]

Really great read. Especially in light on the 13.30 hours it takes now on a modern aircraft!
Thanks you for your comments. Yes the journey time by air is a bit different today.
I returned to Singapore in 1986 on a 747 with Singapore Airlines. I asked to visit the Flight Deck which was possible at that time. While there the First Officer, a Sinaporean, asked:'Have you been to Singapore before?' I replied; 'Yes I was there from 1956 to 1958''. He replied: 'Good God I was not even born then'

[Singapore Owen]

Interesting post. The Nevasa was almost brand new, having been delivered to British India Line on July 12th, one of two new troopships, the other being Bibby's Oxfordshire delivered in February 1957. Both were redundant by 1962 as trooping went entirely over to air transport. The Nevasa had a second life as an educational cruise ship until being scrapped in 1975 while Oxfordshire became Sitmar's cruise ship Fairstar which had a long career ending under P & O ownership in Australia, finally being scrapped in 1997.
Thank you for your comments. My Nephew went on her in the early 1970's, for an educational cruise with his School.

[Warmtoast]

Singapore Owen

Thanks for jogging my memory. I just recorded basic details and of course photographed the highlights seen earlier in this thread.
As to whether we met, after 62-years I have no idea at all, but who knows?
WT

[Singapore Owen]

Warm Toast,
Thanks for your comments. It was as you say 62 years ago. Difficult to remember faces now. Even the airman I worked with in the Orderly Room I cannot recall.
I thought your photographs fantastic.
I was pleased to see the Troop Deck showing 3 bed configuration, when we had to sleep in a 4 bed configuration.
After a time I slept on my desk in the Orderly Room, and on deck when we were travelling over the Indian Ocean, that is until the rains came!
A great experience, and one I would not have wanted to miss. I wonder how may of us are around now!