Ah Gutersloh ........................ great memories of probably the best RAF station ever, as those who were fortunate enough to be posted there will readily testify and probably the station with more available cash for station ‘goodies’ than anywhere else, thanks mainly to SAFAIR.
I was lucky enough to do two tours there – as a bachelor in the late 1970s when I saw the end of the Lightnings and the arrival of the Harrier and then again as a married man with a 'fun detector' and 2 kids in the late 1980s early 1990s when the Cold War ended and the first Gulf War took place - I eventually departed not long before the station finally closed.
Here are some photos I’ve dug out from the attic which might bring back a few memories:
These shots were all taken by a local farmer whom I got to know. He used to spend hours hanging around the airfield with his camera and probably has more photos of the Gutersloh Lightning F2As than anyone else:
Pete Stone on Q - he must have been one of the few blokes who could fly a Lightning but couldn't drive a car! I watched his farewell flypast from the balcony of the Tower and regret not having my camera. After the events of that day he returned to Gutersloh and was confined to the Officers Mess for a couple of months. It didn't seem to bother him a bit as he spent most of the time in the Keller Bar with the lovely Claudia and the KOS for company. After a 'hat on and no coffee' meeting with a wheel at HQ RAFG he departed only to re-appear at Gutersloh flying Harriers during my second tour. Sadly I was also around when the T4 he was flying crashed near the Emms.
The superb Officers Mess with Gorings tower on the right:
You hadn't really arrived in the KOS until you'd used this in anger a couple of times:
Gorings Room:
May the beam bend:
The 18 Sqn corner in the main bar of the Mess with four well known SH characters from the late 1970s and onwards enjoying themselves:
The Keller Bar - scene of many KOS parties with the local teachers:
Happy days .................. and my liver only just survives!!
Heimdall