Any mention of Neatishead always brings to mind the fatal fire there in 1966, which resulted in the airman who started the fire being jailed for seven years.
One of the points raised in the enquiry was that although civilian fire services had to attend to back up the RAF team, they had not been given prior access to the site for inspection purposes because of security reasons and were therefore unfamiliar with the layout, a contributory factor in the deaths of three firemen. I remember this well, as when I was fire officer at Kai Tak I was also responsible for inspections at the radar installation at nearby Tai Mo Shan. The then CO resolutely refused to get me clearance to enter and carry out a fire inspection and so I just had to sign it off without actually setting a foot inside. Fortunately there was never a fire there.
R.A.F., NEATISHEAD (RADAR STATION FIRE) (Hansard, 8 August 1966)