The Falklands, the miners and the closure.
Arriving at work 0830 I was greeted with “C Met O Strike [my Lord and Master for most military matters] has been ringing for you every ten minutes!”
I rang to be greeted by “the bastards have invaded!” Of course we were aware of the threat but the islands were a long long way away. My question was “what is the plan?” Plan there was none. The boss said that the current assumption was that there was little that the RAF could do. How wrong they were, although like a lot of people my personal contribution was less than I wished. Beyond ensuring that Waddington, Marham and Wyton were fully supported [if necessary to the detriment of the training stations] and increasing the briefings to the air staff I was a frustrated witness.
Air Commodore Carver was SASO, and was about the only member of the staff to wear glasses. This led on more than one occasion for Mike Knight to ask to borrow ‘the air staff glasses’. Meanwhile I had the good luck to have a senior forecaster who was a very frequent attachee to Falklands Met., such that he spent six months down south, six months back at Bawtry. His knowledge was better than any text book for me. The six months periodicity meant he went from winter north to winter south for several years.
My home was behind the church in Beckingham near Gainsborough. Senior daughter was teaching maths in Gainsborough, son became a trainee Sainsbury manager and Rock Ape reservist [Scampton], middle daughter became a Metropolitan Police cadet at Hendon, and junior was at school, suffering badly from change of syllabus and the conversion from Grammar School to Comprehensive. She did well enough to study nursing at Nottingham and later passed several degree courses, so the damage was not permanent.
B. G. of the Met. team providing qualified forecaster / presenters for BBC TV and Radio came talent spotting. He reminisced that, as a 19 year old, he was attached to Bawtry, justly famous for its young ladies. “They used to take me down to the pond at the bottom of the grounds. When I left after a few months I was 29!”.
Far too soon came the news of 1 Group moving from Bawtry Hall in 1984, and the founding of a Regional Weather Centre [Leeds WC!] at Leeds. This turmoil coincided with the miners’ strike. The RAF left a little before we moved, so for a short time I was squire of Bawtry Hall.
Because Leeds had nothing to do with the RAF, and subsequently neither did Cardiff WC., I will not cover the dull years until 1989, when the good fairy asked me if I had a valid passport and would I please run Germany as C Met O, traditionally a Stream One post.
Would I?
Last edited by langleybaston; 11th Apr 2024 at 18:55.
Reason: for sh1t read shot