Well if the songbook does not have the 110 song in it then it should! Here 'tis.
For those youngsters too young for the Brunei revolt and Borneo Confrontation, feast on this.
Basically, 110 was based in Singapore and its crews did month and month about RAF Seletar and RAF Kuching, although some ground crew were on 12 month unaccompanied tours. One of the detachments was Nanga Gaat which was 'up country'. The detachment was taken over from the Royal Navy, who had made themselves very comfortable and had built a number of pads for the Wessex 1 and 5 they operated and the Anchor was their social club. The navy had a bad smash at NG on 12 April 1965 when a pair of cabs hit each other during a break to land. The sole survivor was a crewman called Ted Crispin (no longer with us), who unclipped his monkey harness and fell into the river. The two wrecks are still there. The other places are mostly in Kuching town.
SATU RATUS SEPULOH
(The 110 Squadron Song – Origins & Lyricist Unknown. Sung to the tune “The Times They Are A’changin”)
We bring you a tale of One Hundred and Ten
Of weird whirly birds and far weirder men
The Far East is where these strange deeds were all done
With the aircrew all rapidly ageing
But the strife is all over, the battles are done
And the times they are a changing
T’was at Nanga Gaat that we first found our fame
But now we are told we won't go there again
No more happy nights in the old Anchor Inn
Where we drank till the darkness was fading
Then flew all the day before drinking again
But the times they are a changing
The market place knew down in old Kuching
And many a night that they would all hear us sing
Of Simangang, Sibu, Nanga Gaat and such
And how we all like them so very much
But now we are moving up to Labuan
How the times they are a changing
The Tokyo our custom is now bereft
All our young maidens we have now left
No more nights spent down on good drinking sprees
Our times spent dodging the redcaps
For now we are once more civilised chaps
Gosh the times they are a changing
So live with your memories my merry men
Friar Tuck’s saahnie boxes you’ll ne’re see again
For banished abroad from this fair land are we
Across t’ other side of the ocean
But given the chance would come back again
But the times they are a’ changing
Old Duffer