Continued - Part 8
Leisure & Spare Time Activities
We swam a lot, explored the other islands, had our own football team and personally I was very involved with Amateur Radio as a “HAM” Radio Operator. Being a keen swimmer I was attracted to Gan’s brilliantly clear turquoise water and the coral heads just below the water that teemed with a large variety of brilliantly-coloured fish. Among others Moray eels and the occasional grey reef shark that patrolled the edge of the reef could be seen. Having been primed by advice from Dr Hans Hass that when swimming/diving off the edge of the reef to always carry a broomstick with a sharpened nail at the end to protect oneself from inquisitive sharks — a poke from this would deter most sharks that came too close, or so Dr Hass claimed.
I tried spear fishing and caught a variety of fish that I took along to the cook-house, the cooks particularly appreciated a large Grouper or two which they would cook for our supper. Groupers are large and heavy bottom feeders and easy to spear, but one had to dive deep to spear them and as they were large fish one had to struggle to get them ashore.
According to Dr Hass there was one problem with speared fish — they struggle and their frantic struggling sent out vibrations detectable by nearby sharks that came homing in to the struggling fish as a potential free meal; the danger was that the spear fisherman (me) would be viewed by the shark as a potential free meal too! So one kept a good lookout whilst spear fishing and dragged a struggling speared fish over the reef into the relative safety of the shallows as soon as possible before despatching it with a blow to the head.
Fishing with rods was also popular with the easy to catch land crabs proving to be ideal bait on the hooks.
Visiting other islands was interesting and Fedu in particular was popular as we could, like the locals, wade across to the island. However, Hittadu, the site of the future Signals Centre was further away, and only reachable by the R.A.F. motor pinnace or by sail in a local dhoni.
Visiting Fedu.
As the Gan - Fedu causeway had deteriorated (wooden planking had been removed by the locals and used as firewood following the departure of the RAF after WWII), the only way across was by wading as seen here. This was standard practice for the locals living at Fedu who worked at Gan and they too can be seen in this photo.
Swimming was gorgeous
We had our own football team and played against teams from visiting ships and sometimes teams were flown in from Katunayake (Negombo) and elsewhere
The pitch was coral sand, not ideal but OK
Visits to other islands in the atoll such as Villingili (below) were possible using the R.A.F. Pinnace
Villingili
I tried spear fishing and caught a variety of fish (this one was not one of the more desirable and edible Groupers mentioned above)
Personnel stationed at Gan in the early days had a variety of talents that they used to entertain us as seen here in front of the outdoor cinema screen, the piano was supplied by the R.A.F., but who supplied the drum kit I have no idea.
Farewell parties when someone returned home to the UK could be pretty lively events with way too much drink being consumed as seen here at my farewell party in November 1958.
The interior of our kadjan-walled barrack hut with colleagues from the Signals Section