Oggie should have been at Gan in the late 1950s as I was.
In those days we lived in brown tents that absorbed the heat - 30C + - of a tropical day (42-miles south of the equator) and they radiated it away throughout the night. We were never cool and didn't complain too loudly as everyone in the early days lived in tents, there was no alternative.
What we did complain about was the lack of R&R flights to Singapore as laid down in QR's or AMO's for personnel stuck at Gan. However we had the opportunity to rectify this when the C-in-C FEAF ACM The Earl of Bandon made his first visit to the island.
A good listener and never one for 'officialdom' he insisted on talking to us over a beer without other officers being present and asked what complaints we had. The main one raised was "why were Gan personnel were not being permitted to take advantage of the R & R indulgence flights to Singapore as laid down in Air Ministry Orders?"
He said he'd look into the matter on his return. He was PDQ because about two weeks later our complaints were answered and indulgence flights to Singapore were available and I was one of the many who took advantage of them.
With this sort of attitude he was regarded with a great deal of affection by his men. He was commonly known to those under his command as "The Abandoned Earl", or if you really knew him well as "Paddy".
Tony
Tropical Tents.
The C in C inspects the ground crew (under the command of Sgt Henry Moon) on his arrival.
The C in C meets his men. A good listener and never one for 'officialdom' he sorted out PDQ complaints that Gan personnel were not being permitted to take advantage of the R & R indulgence flights to Singapore as laid down in Air Ministry Orders.
