dubbleyew eight,
Marvellous story ! Welcome aboard ! All's grist that comes to the mill (
pace the Moderators, of course).
I've always thought that Hitler's policy of forcibly enlisting his newly subject menfolk into the
Wehrmacht could be a two-edged sword. Fine when things are going well, but when they start going wrong......(as
we know to our cost from the Indian Mutiny - but at least our sepoys
were all volunteers)......D.
Chugalug,
God bless the "Compass Rose", and all who sail in her ! It wasn't too bad, we quickly got used to it, and every later GCA was peaceful (apart from the roar of the generator truck next door).
I have to stick to one Station at a time to have any grip at all on my memories, and there's still two years of Strubby to go - which were not without incident ! At the moment, the new boy is looking at the "Bendix" at Sleap (and wondering: "in what nightmare was
that dreamed up ? - one thing's for sure, it'll never fly !").....D.
MPN11 and
Blacksheep,
Could a Beverley really stow and lift a CPN-4 (even just the business half ?) And what would you do about the tophamper ? (Seriously, would it have been remotely possible to take out the "business class" floor and still retain structural integrity - which surely would be the only way to get the giant giraffe into the aeroplane ?) And what were the lace curtains ? Hammocks, probably ? (I ask from genuine ignorance).......D.
Now, we've really got the ball rolling !
Goodnight, all, Danny.
PS. I offer you: "Oral History - John V. Diamond - The Radar Pages"
www.radarpages.co.uk/oral/jdiamond/jdiamond2.htmCached
Hope it'll work (I'm no good at this)...D.
EDIT:
Works for me; embodies a wonderful account of Strubby which I cannot better. But on the second page he gives an account of the Truck which is plain mistaken. Having directed you to the site, must point out the errors in one short section (my corrections in italics) to you lest you be misled.
(Note: it appears that CPN-4 is just a MPN-11
al fresco, as it were - out on the airfield. ACR7 was of the same kind: ACR7C was out in the cold, ACR7D nice and snug in the Tower).
************
Employment In Defence Of The Realm 1954 to 1959.
John V. Diamond
".....The equipment was MPN-11A. (
No, MPN-1) It could run on mains (the Hundred Amp Plug) or from the diesel generator on the back of a 10-ton truck. (
the "Matador") The radar and truck were never uncoupled as the truck was also the prime mover if we had to change runways.
(AFAIK CPN-4 was never a Prime Mover and did not change runways - MPN-1 was and did)".
......"The airfield power varied from time to time so the diesel would become the primary power source. It would take two men to turn the motor over by hand (
I seem to recall doing it myself, but that may be just a wishful memory) and to get enough speed to knock out the CRCVs (compression release valves ?) and fire the motor!".
"The rest room was a caravan coupled to a mobile workshop truck...... (Correct)"
and a bit later:
".....but to see the Lancasters taking off was spectacular.....(
Lincolns, in fact)".
Having said that, Mr Diamond's wonderful memoir can serve as my "Introduction to RAF Strubby ('55-'58)" and I hope he will pardon my "lifting" the small section and my few niggles.
Danny42C