In 1966, a month before I was due to end my tour on 105 sqn in Aden, I was rostered to fly an Argosy back to Benson for servicing via Jeddah, El Adem and a night stop in Luqa. I put in a request to take my wife and two year old son with me and much to my surprise it was approved by MEAF HQ with one condition - the British Consul in Jeddah must agree to accommodate my family if we went unserviceable during the refuelling stop. This was a problem, but as luck would have it a couple of weeks before departure I met the Consul during a series of trips to Jeddah carrying 30mm canon shells to the Saudi Air Force. We did a deal - covert Pork Sausages and Bacon from Aden in return for a bedroom at the Consulate if we broke down. The return flight went smoothly and the offer was not taken up.