Another Trigger to the Independence Movement
I found this in my archives from 1995 (it has seen publication in this forum before). It was from a dear old lady who had been well known in the Messes in the 50s.
The Latest From Gilly on 120
Dear Sir
You may possibly remember publishing my letter in the 14th edition (Retirement Special) of the Growler. Sadly: apart from Tumfy, I never heard from any of the boys from 120 Squadron. I never met dear Tumfy, he being a wee bit older than me, but my elder sister and her Aviemore knitting class speak highly and often of him. The ladies of Elgin fondly remember all those gallant and handsome lads that gave us such glorious memories to keep us warm in our later years.
I was delighted to find the latest edition of your publication in Dr. Symons waiting room in Elgin. My surprise was even greater on seeing that some of our heroes had revisited Kinloss last September. I suppose that it was too much to hope that they would have had time to meet with us to reminisce about the time in 1960 when Womans Day voted 120 Squadron the "Bravest and most Handsome Men in Britain".
Then, when I thought that there would be nothing more to surprise me, there on page eight was a cartoon telling the tale of the loss of Jacky - my poor wee green budgie. Contrary to the caption in the cartoon, the boys from 120 DID get airborne in horrendous conditions - they would do anything for Gilly in those days. Another spur was that their squadron crest looks so much like a poor wee green budgie, that honour required them to sally forth. Other Coastal squadrons refused to get airborne in the conditions that day.
But "Oor wee Lads" as we loved to call them, considered the 75 knot cross winds as light summer zephyrs. Despite having no visibility in the blizzards and with the clouds stretching from ground level to the ionosphere, they searched the Highlands. There were occasional near misses with cars and trains on some of those tricky bends in the Glens. In fact, one such incident in the Badanloch Forest was credited with sparking off the Home Rule for Scotland movement. They were very determined to return wee Jacky back to his loving mistress and vowed to continue until they did. Two crews had to be ordered back to base after being on task for only 37 hours. It was only a plea from Her Majesty herself that worked in the end. Despite all their constant endeavour and endurance, I never saw my wee green budgie again.
There was a report some three years later that he had been seen in Antigua, where he had acquired a lovely light tan colouring and moved in with two lorikeets and a bald Burmese cat. They had set up an illicit haggis still in the backroom of the local black pudding bar and were enjoying life to the full. Some say that it was the 120 Squadron Detachment to the Caribbean that caused Jacky to break out of his cage and fight the strong South westerlies for almost three months to be with oor wee lads and that once he had tasted the life that they led on tour, he never looked, let alone travelled, back. I expect that I will see more of your newsletters in the future as I have an appointment with dear Dr. Cruickshank the dentist in Forres next month. Speaking of Forres - I think that the cartoonist's depiction of the Forres’ lasses on page 18 was most unkind - some might think it true and accurate - but it was most unkind.
Yours truly
Agnes (Gilly) McGillick
JohnB