Malaya
Chapter 18
Malaya. Singapore.
I had just been commissioned and was in the RAF sick bay with a heavy dose of Flu when I learned that I was posted to Singapore. At first I was not too enthusiastic about this but then I heard that the extra cost of living allowances were the best in the service and that the Chinese girls wore Cheongsams, dresses with slits each side up to their thighs. Well we could do with a little more money, the OCTU had already depleted our meagre funds and I was prepared to suffer the sight of these beautiful Chinese maidens for the sake of our future!!
I already had my officers uniform because the system is such on OCTU's that during the first few weeks all the big service tailors attend to fit you out with your uniform needs. They accept that should you fail, then the work they had completed was their loss. However, having been posted to the Far East meant that I had a further allowance for full tropical kit. This, I obtained from Chappel's in Piccadilly. I must say it felt rather grand. Mrs.G…….little boy being waited on by some of the top professional tailors in the city. But I never let this class difference go to my head!!!!!
Now, at the end of my leave it was time to go. Regrettably I was to go alone by air. Madeleine was to follow as soon as possible afterwards. We both would have loved to journey together by boat. At this time we occupied a small flat in Oxford Square, London. The legal tenants of which were Mr. and Mrs. T…... They however had chosen to move to France and we, desperate at this time for accommodation between postings, were obliged to purchase their furniture and continue the tenancy somewhat illegally. Since the flat was on the 5th floor with no lift, one can only imagine the hardship this caused Madeleine. Every time she entered or left the house it meant two or three journeys up and down five flights of stairs with a child, shopping or coal, because the only heating was a meagre coal fire. The problem was twofold. Firstly the physical inconvenience of the flat with two small children. Secondly finance. I was not entitled to the full allowances until we were established in our home in Singapore. This meant we were virtually keeping two homes going on reduced pay. Madeleine managing Oxford Square and me living in mess with quite sizeable mess bills. However that was life at that time.
I left England on the 3rd April 1953 from Lynham. We flew in a Hastings and arrived at Changi on the 7th April having stopped overnight at Idris, Habbaniya, Mauripur, and Negumbo. I must say I admired the Transport Command crews. Each leg of the flight was between 7 and 8 hours, a total of thirty seven and a half hours flying and a 7 hour time difference. On arrival at each stop the passengers seemed to be clapped out but the crews spent the evenings in the bar grogging up and looking fresh as daisies each morning.
Singapore was a wonderful sight on arrival. Full sunshine and what looked like beautiful green grass inviting us to picnic. I was to learn later that one did not picnic as we do in England. The ants are almost capable of putting you between two slices of bread and having you for their picnic. Certainly they would not let you sit quietly eating.
We landed at Changi, the largest RAF base on the island, but were then transported to Seletar where I was to join FETS (Far East Training Squadron). The joining procedures were quite lengthy but I eventually settled down at Seletar in the officer’s mess, with a large room and a Chinese batman. One of the first things I 'won' on joining, was the Malayan Campaign Medal, awarded in Singapore if you were posted in for one day. This was interesting because the main communist activity was taking place upcountry in Malaya but the military there had to serve I think it was six months to qualify for this medal. The funny part was, that some junior ranks (it can't happen to officers) managed somehow to become infected with nasty things from the local girls and had to go to the hospital in Singapore. Yes, you guessed it; they were posted there, so they got the medal!
Apart from some type flying on Mosquito's etc on the CFS course, this was my first job instructing on multi-engine aircraft so, I had to go through a small conversion to become proficient on the twin seat Mosquito and the single seat Hornet. Our job at FETS was to convert young pilots trained on jets to the piston engine Hornet using the Mosquito as a trainer. The general handling of jet aircraft is much easier than for propeller aircraft, particularly the tail downers, or non tricycle undercarriage types.
Both aircraft were very nice to fly but the Mossy, due to the constraints of the Seletar runway, was a tricky so and so when landing on one engine. The runway had no undershoot, just a nasty sea wall and a very short overshoot ending in a wire fence beyond which was a Malay village. The runway was made of PSP (pierced steel planks) and it had a pronounced hump about one third of the way down. We only ever used one direction for landing and take off. It was 1600 yds long. The climate also played a major part in the flying. For instance once you had started the engines it was a race to get to the take off position, if you delayed too long the engines would overheat, the coolant would boil and the take off had to be aborted. Also, because of the heat we flew in just an aertex shirt stitched to a pair of light KD trousers, jungle boots, oxygen mask and helmet. We should have worn full jungle survival gear but I am sure we would not have survived at all if we had. The aircraft had no air conditioning thus flying below 6000feet was extremely hot and low flying over the jungle for any length of time almost unbearable.
I broke two Mosquito T4's during my stay. One was in daylight and due to the fact that a modification to the tail wheel had not been carried out thus allowing the tail wheel to fall off somewhere during flight. This resulted in an uncontrollable swing on landing when the tail section snatched on the PSP and a wrecked aircraft. I was alone at the time and not wishing to be toasted should it catch fire, I nipped out very smartly, unhurt. The second was at night when I had been given the task of trying to salvage the prospects of one young pilot who was not making the grade with night flying. On one landing he over applied brake causing a swing out of control and a wrecked aircraft. Whilst you can apply brake from either pilot position you cannot take it off! On this occasion one of the station Doctors was in the crew room waiting for a flight when he heard the crash. He immediately leapt out through the window and ran in the direction of the runway, forgetting that just beyond the window was a monsoon drain about seven foot deep. He plunged into this breaking his leg but still continued to the aircraft. When the 'Blood wagon' arrived it was pure comedy, the medics could not understand how it was that the only casualty was a Doctor, not a pilot, and he was not even in the aircraft!! That poor Doctor had to return to England because he developed ‘Prickly heat ‘under his plaster which was unbearable in the prevailing heat and humidity conditions.
One important aspect of flying in the RAF at this time must not be overlooked. That was the fact we could not afford to insure ourselves with Life insurance. The premiums for aircrew were far too high. It was whilst in Singapore the RAF decided to fund three quarters of the cost of life insurance and so alleviated, in part, this injustice.
A few months after starting I was informed by the Squadron Commander that the Island's Instrument Rating Examiner was leaving and that he wanted me to undertake this job. He advised me that the CFS examining team (known as the trappers) were due to arrive in October and that I should start intensive instrument flying practice and swotting!! He later advised me that the Command Instrument Rating Examiner was to be returned to the UK so I was to take up the position subject to passing the test!!! Now at this time although I held an A1 instructors category, this had been awarded on single engine aircraft and I certainly did not consider that I was A1 on Multi engine aircraft. My flight commander at this time was of the same opinion and appeared to have some sort of grudge against me, I think because he only held an A2 category. He was however an excellent Mosquito pilot. He decided that in addition to my taking the Command Instrument Rating Examinion I should also be ‘Re Rated ‘this in effect meant that my competance as an instructor would be tested. In the event, the Examiner decided that if I passed the Instrument rating test the Rating test would be included. I did pass this which gave me the authority to test and qualify other instrument rating examiners and confirmed my A1 Instructor Category on twin engine aircraft. I also received a letter from the Civil Aviation Authority advising me that I was approved to flight test and assess civil pilots for instructor rating. At this time I was an honorary member of the Singapore flying Club and unpaid instructor.
Eventually, for this was not easy, I found a suitable house which enabled me to apply for Madeleine's embarkation, we had hoped she would fly out but alas Elaine caught Chicken Pox and this caused some delay. They eventually embarked on the Asturias for a sea passage. It all seemed to take an age, but suddenly I had news that she was on route. A few weeks later I was lucky enough to get a flight on a Short Sunderland flying boat which flew up the west coast of Malaya and made contact with the ship just off Penang. It was all very exciting but of course we could not recognise the passengers even though we flew quite close. We returned to base and were home the same afternoon but it took the ship another two or three days before berthing in Singapore.
Our life now was completely changed from that which we knew in UK. Madeleine now had a young Chinese servant (amah). We lived in a plush, small, rather clinical two bedroom house. The amah having her own separate quarters. My working day was from 7am to 1pm. This I thought would lend itself to nice long afternoons exploring the country but I was usually so tired on my return home that all I wanted to do was rest. This was a situation common to all the married aircrew and did at times lead to strife in the home because the families had usually spent a very quite, sometimes boring, morning alone, and wanted to get out in the afternoons... The mess life was very enjoyable for me but Seletar was primarily a maintenance base of some importance so had a predominance of old senior officer equippers and engineers. They seemed to think the aircrews were superfluous to the RAF and very boisterous. We seemed to affect their blood pressure. I note that this attitude still prevails.
Within days of my arrival one of the chaps said "when are you going to buy your car"? I replied that without cash that event was along way off. "Rubbish you don't need cash here; I will show you the system". With less confidence than he had I went with him to a Chinese car show room. Lots of nice looking second hand cars. You must remember very few of us had cars in the UK in those days; also the laws for purchase in Singapore were the same as in the UK. That is to say, you had to put down a deposit of one third the purchase price! Bingo I thought that's me out. But no! The canny old Chinese millionaire car salesman had it organised, despite a customs officer sitting at a desk in the showroom. It worked like this. Say the car was £600 he put the price at £900 but gave you £300 which you gave him back as your deposit. You then paid the sum due monthly to cover the £600 as you mutually agreed. Thus the British system was satisfied and certainly the subsequent arrangement between the Singapore customs and the Seller would be equally satisfactory and another tarted up old banger would have been sold to a gullible Brit. But we all had cars.
Of course we had a lot of fun and in Jeff M….. I found a kindred soul. We had a similar sense of humour and we used this unmercifully on many in the mess. One of our pranks was to feed false information to the squadron pilots. It would work like this. One of us would join the other at the dining table and, completely unrehearsed, would start a conversation like."Glad I'm not on 45 Sqdn"...."Well I don't mind the cold myself"..."No but what a dump"..."Gives one a chance to save some money". This would have taken place knowing there was a 45 squadron ear in the offing and almost always the news would be flashed around that 45 was to be moved off to somewhere grim and cold.
On one occasion we went to the flying club and in the bar there was only one other member a civilian and I started up a conversation with Jeff saying "What will you drink Morton" in a tone that made him reply "Just a beer. Sir" I ordered and then continued "I hope you will not let this promotion get in the way of our friendship Morton! I would like to think that should you have any little problem you would continue to feel able to approach me. Of course on duty I expect the normal respect due to the difference in our rank". Well this went on for a while when suddenly the other chap at the bar exploded and said, "Don't you think you are being a little bumptious just because you've been promoted?” I said "But it’s not my promotion it's his" He was speechless and left the bar. ( Jeff had just been made up to Flt.Lt.)
It was decided to move the Far East Training squadron from Seletar to the north of Malaya. RAF Butterworth, across the straits from Penang. This move took place in September 1954. Madeleine and the children travelled up by train taking two days. I went up by car in convoy with Jeff M….. and Ray L…. It must be understood that at this time Malaya was designated with 'White' and 'Black' areas the white areas being fairly free of communist activity but the black areas dangerous. We travelled with loaded sten guns beside us. However I don't think we would have stood a chance had we run into a communist ambush. They were pretty efficient. Only a few months earlier they had written off a British General travelling the same route. The journey was roughly 600 miles and apart from a complete loss of hydraulics and therefore loss of brakes in my car, we had no problems.
Our first accommodation was in Penang where we shared a house with Ray L… and family. We had not seen this house before our arrival and were a bit hesitant about sharing; however, the house was huge. It had been used as a transit mess for Singapore Airways flight crews. It was in Residency Road, centred in a massive garden with an impressive drive up to a large covered car porch. Along one side of the garden was a line of Malay Attaps, housing some servants because we were obliged to take on the gardener and a Chinese cook and his wife. What hardship!! The accommodation split up quite well with us downstairs and the L….. upstairs. The cook cooked for both families but we ate separately and cook's wife cleaned around. Our bedroom had two en-suite shower rooms.
Our working day was now more normal and we travelled with our cars by ferry each morning and evening. But, the system for station duties was that one did a full week on Duty Officer and that was it for the tour. Madeleine certainly did not like this idea at all and the Cookies Misses brought all her things to our quarters and slept in with the children.
Butterworth was a very primitive airfield edging onto the sea. One had only to go for a short walk to find snakes, giant monitor lizards and all sorts of creepy crawlies. The jungle and the sea were its boundary. Jeff M….. started a Natural History Club; the guiding light was a Corporal E…… who was very knowledgeable. After Jeff was posted back to Singapore. I became its Officer i/c. There were of course a number of interesting situations arising out of the management of what was a small zoo. One such began when Jeff rang me to ask if I could let him have some snakes because he was starting up another club. Well, we had an Australian crew in with a Lancaster and they were flying on to Singapore so it was natural to ask them if they would take him a package. They were a little hesitant when they learned the content, but agreed anyway. Some time later I read in the Straits Times of an aircraft that called an emergency because a snake had been spotted moving behind the instrument panel whilst they were flying. Even though it was an Australian aircraft I failed to see the connection. It was only following a visit to Jeff when, during the conversation we spotted a discrepancy in the number of snakes I had sent. Clearly two of mine had slithered off. I wonder where number two was.
Now we were sharing the airfield with 33 and 45 Squadrons, these were of course the squadrons we had been converting pilots for, so it was logical we were all together. Our training programs went on normally until the end of February 1955 when it was discovered that the Mosquito's were suffering from woodworm attack and were all taken out of service. This of course was a massive problem and the AOC at the time acted very swiftly. FETS was disbanded and all its personnel transferred into what became 45/33 Squadron. Arrangements were made to obtain Vampire, Venoms and Meteors. Thus we then began a programme of re-converting pilots to jets.
As was customary we were to be allocated a married quarter for our last six months of the tour and as this time approached the Love's having been allocated their quarter and vacated Residency Rd. We were obliged to vacate also and moved to the Chusan Hotel where we stayed a few weeks prior to moving to our new house on the station at Butterworth. Whilst we nearly went mad in this hotel I think that the children enjoyed themselves. Elaine was spoiled by the Managers family who could not get over her blonde hair and Pierre we discovered was billing his drink requirements from the bar!! We had been trying to cut down his squash intake and were unaware he was doing his own thing!! Anyway at last we moved to a modern bungalow with the sea at the foot of our garden and a swimming pool about 100 yards away albeit not quite finished. Swimming in the sea was not to be advised because there were a lot of sea snakes and although due to their small mouths they are very rarely able to bite a human, their venom is extremely toxic.
My last flight was to asses a F/O Eccles for his instrument rating on a Vampire on the 28th October 1995. After which we were to return very reluctantly to the UK. Flying first to Changi, then by civil airlines Hermes to the UK via Bangkok, Calcutta, Karachi, Bahrain, Cypress and Rome.