Originally Posted by
The Old Fat One
When did OASC switch to Biggin Hill (where they ****ed big time and let me in
)
A couple of years after 1961 IIRC.
I remember one very street wise young man, cockney, had a wonderfully impressive obscene phrase he used all the time. Impressive to a 17 year old school boy from the sticks that is.
I had had a rail warrant issued. Broke the journey in London and bought a paid of chukka boots for about 30/- at Gamages. Eventually they wore out about 8 years later.
Arrived Saturday night and was persuaded by one of the 'smarter' ones to go to church on Sunday and be 'seen'. Of course we went to the town church and not the station church.
The first two days were aptitude and medical before catching the train to Sleaford. Of the street wise one I never saw him again.
Mind you, with over 100 aircrew candidates per month in to training it would have been easy to miss even someone on the course either side. Once commissioned some 80 per month would disappear to pilot training, some would get chopped, some would be retreaded as navs and some would die.
The navs likewise would be chopped or rarely retreaded to ground branch. They tended to die with some of the pilots that had got through previously. The loss rates were pretty high.