Pull up a sandbag ~ "I remember when..

[Airborne Aircrew]

Some more spring to mind:
Belize, 1986: Naval Exchange pilot Bill M***** and Crewman Dave A**** have returned from Jamaica after Op Jubilee and there is no room in accommodation at APC so they are sent, at Liz's expense, to San Pedro to wait for the Gozome bird. They get bored and decide to go SCUBA diving. This decision was alarming insofar as Dave was never, err.. shall we say, the strongest swimmer. It got funnier as they related the story. When asked who had the most experience it was decided that Bill did because he started a course once and wore the gear in a pool. The conversation about how many weights to put on a weight belt was equally amusing but the bit that really cracked us up was when the dive master took them into a cave... and they followed... := I'm a diver myself nowadays and have spent a few hours below - my wife and I will never enter an overhead environment... because it's too bloody dangerous... My hat's off to you two... though I suspect it was more ignorance than courage that took you in there...:p
Leaving the hotel bar in the hotel at the very top of the sand main street of San Pedro with John W***** one Saturday night and making our way back to the Green Turtle Hotel(?). Copious quantities of alcoholic beverages had been consumed throughout the day. I have no idea why but it was decided that we should "swim" back down the middle of the street back to our hotel.
Being told by an Army major to get up and act like SNCO's while "swimming" the main street and telling him he'd better start paddling or he'll drown... :D
Said Major giving up trying to make us behave like SNCO's and leaving us alone.
The Tackle Box. Ahhh, the biggest and best Pina Colada's, (or Penis Enlargers as they were known), in the world. They came in a thick glass "Brandy Globe" that holds about 2 pints and cost $4 Belizean. The floor was sand with ships portholes built into it so you could see the water below - it was on the end of a wooden jetty.
Working out that if you ask the barkeep about the weather just as he started to pour the Appleton's Rum you could get the better part of 1/3rd of a bottle poured before he stopped.
Taking the resulting Pina Colada out the door at the back and sit watching the sharks, Bonefish, Turtles, Rays etc. in the pen at the back while getting "gently toasted".
The huge burgers that we would get at Journey's End.
Talking of burgers, the greasy "Chee'bugger"s we would buy at the Chogie Walla's snack bar in Aldergrove in the late 70's/early 80's. Heart attack in a bun... But they had an unusually attractive smell and taste...
The impromptu air displays that, allegedly, would take place upon arrival at Journey's End on Sunday mornings at the behest of John and Jenny for the entertainment of their paying guests.
Beach Volleyball, al la "Top Gun", at Journey's End.
Sitting on the end of the jetty at Journey's End while ledgering a piece of dead fish 30 yards out and catching a nice Bonefish. What made it special was that it was right in front of a chap in a boat, with a guide and all the proper fly fishing kit who said "I'm paying $500 a day for four days for this and I haven't caught a thing. You sit there drinking a cocktail on the end of a jetty with a bit of chum on the hook and you're pulling them in".... :D
Having just seen A|R's Cyprus post... Being up on Acamus Training Area preparing to bivvy up for the night on top of a particularly inhospitable hilltop that was comprised of bits of rock littered all over one great big piece of rock and finding that every fourth or fifth bit of rock had it's own resident scorpion. :eek:

[Wader2]

:= I'm a diver myself nowadays and have spent a few hours below - my wife and I will never enter an overhead environment... because it's too bloody dangerous... My hat's off to you two... though I suspect it was more ignorance than courage that took you in there...:p

Shark's Bay at Akrotiri, free diving through the tunnel into the bay and meeting a Grouper. Not sure who was more surprised.

Free diving into a pot hole off shark's cove, perhaps 20 feet down and have to face with a grouper standing on its tail. Not sure . . . :)

[1859sqn]

Being on the entertainments committee at Muharraq in '70/'71 and serving Marty Wilde a whiskey whilst he stood there in his underpants before he did a CSE performance. (Now if that had been his daughter Kim a few years later.........!)

[wub]

Do you remember the old Rumanian(?) pilot who flew the aircraft for it?
It wasn't a Rumanian when I was there but a guy called Hugh who was hours-building and worked for free. He was a real wierdo. I remember on one jump as I got myself into position in the door of the Beaver I looked up, to see him staring back at me from inside a diving mask!

[orgASMic]

The University of London Air Sqn had:

A wg cdr boss (who kept his boys and girls out the dwang at Abingdon).
10 aircraft (the mighty SA Bulldog).
An applicant-vetting policy run by the senior studes.
Some of the best totty in the University (see above).
The cheapest bar in London.
The odd party on the underground platform at Town HQ.
Pipe-smoking as a part of the sortie brief.
Deck chairs and croquet outside the sqn during summer flying camps, like we had seen in the movies.
Roof parties (including 'waving' at the occasional red Wessex).
Insane ski trips (don't remember much of my 20th birthday in la Plagne).
A very flexible beer account with Morlands brewery.
The cheapest accomodation in the West End.
Happy days!

[Once A Brat]

Deck chairs and croquet outside the sqn during summer flying camps, like we had seen in the movies.

I remember a member of London UAS, on summer camp at the home of the Norfolk Land Shark, stapled to ground by said croquet hoops outside the Officers Mess one happy hour for being a gobby little know it all. :)

Fair point about the totty though (judging by what was brought on camp!)


Trenchard's Finest.......Once a brat, always a Brat!

[BEagle]

On Summer Camp in the Land of the Pisky, one git had been caught being a Peeping Tom in the girls' accommodation.

So he too got the croquet hoop treatment, followed by having his act 'cleaned up' by all the left over washing up water following the excellent dinner which the girls had put on over at the squadron. Served him right!!

I remember:

UAS Summer Camps away from base.
UAS bosses who were pilots.
UASs with more than 1 QFI....:rolleyes:
Students being allowed to fly solo glide circuits.
Students being allowed to practise PFLs to land on the aerodrome.
Students being allowed to fly solo aeros.
Students being allowed to fly solo formation.
Students being allowed to be students!


All sadly killed off by the miserable bean counters, I hear. But lots of jolly sporty things and muddy grunt games instead.....:rolleyes:

Although it was good to note that some sound sorting criteria is obviously still applied during Freshers' recruiting, from what I saw recently at ULAS..:D

I deplore the dumbing down of the UAS system. No excuse or weasel-words, it is an utter scandal. Nothing less.

[Llademos]

Dets at Chivenor with rotary and fixed wing, staying at the Saunton Sands Hotel because the mess was full

'marking' the landings of Hawks at Chivenor from side of the taxiway with cards

Getting a call from Harry Staish thanking me and the rest of the scorers for the 6.0 on 'his' landing (and no we didn't know it was him!)

running in IOT in boots and webbing

going to Berlin through checkpoints Alpha and Bravo

going to East Berlin in No 1's (or No 5's if in the evening and visiting the theatre/opera) via Checkpoint Charlie

93,000 people in the RAF

[RETDPI]

The sick thing is Beags that it is our generation ,having had the fun, that has been in the middle of the dumbing down process.
Senior Flight Cadet Stirrup please take note. ( Who , incidentally, missed the chance to go to University)

[etonrifle]

Standing stag duty the night of my 21st birthday at Catterick.

Being the second to last OCTU course through Henlow.

First FJ experience.

Being MD'd for loss of eye.

Missing it.

ER.

[BEagle]

Wasn't ex-SFC Stirrup an ex-Apprentoid and member of 97 B? The entry with the lemon-and-corkscrew 'bitter and twisted' entry tie? Not a nice bunch generally, but Jock was one of the better guys, it has to be said.

The most deplorable thing about the whole UAS dumbing-down was that the outcome of the so-called 'UAS survey' had been decided beforehand. But at least one Gp Capt of high moral values resigned in protest - a very nice chap and utterly stitched up by a system he'd naiively trusted and believed in.

It wasn't all that long ago that the RAF had an efficient flying training system second to none. UAS, BFT for all (not that FJ prima donna nonsense known as 'BJFT'), AFT, TWU and OCU. Now look at it - an utter disaster with clapped out old aeroplanes, increasing numbers of elderly civvie instructors and the appalling prospect of 'we can't afford it' MFTS looming on the near horizon.....

When did it begin this death spiral? Roughly 1992, as far as I can work out. May those responsible forever boil in hell in a vat of their own excrement.

Still, NetJets are snapping up those few people who might otherwise have joined the RAF as pilots. Hardly surpising really.....

[mstjbrown]

Saturday morning parade ( yes that's what I said ) and the lad who couldn't find his RAF blue gloves - it was a greatcoats parade - so he pulled on a pair of socks. It would have been ok except that he hadn't completely fastened the top button of his overcoat When the inspecting officer told him to do it up.............

And Greene King draught bitter in the Mess at 11p per pint.

Better than a real job

[Airborne Aircrew]

Better than a real job

Hear hear... I remember going home for weekends and walking into the pub on Saturday lunchtimes and there were all my "mates"... Same barstool, same pint, same bag of crisps in the same job, with the same boss and still never having left the county. They were astonished by the tales of my travels, (Catterick to Otterburn, Catterick to Thetford, Catterick to Aldergrove, Catterick to... Sennelager :eek: ). I gave up going home after a couple of years, there was nothing there I "knew" any more... :sad:

[dwhcomputers]

Driving the CO of Coltishall G/C Roger Topp around all the Stations in East Anglia in a Standard Vanguard to the Inter Station Boxing Competitions.
Prior to the fights going to the back door of the Officers Mess and being fed superb Meals.
COs Drivers perks extra Best Blue without it was being charged to your clothing account.
Having your kit inspected at the end of March so you could get back what you had not spent of your clothing account in your pay.
Seeing the huge pay rise when the Military Salary was introduced in April 1970 and then the realisation that all the extras we had taken for granted free food, free accommodation, living out ration allowance, cheap quarters rent etc etc had disappeared.

[Pontius Navigator]

Hear hear... I remember going home for weekends and walking into the pub on Saturday lunchtimes and there were all my "mates"... Same barstool, same pint, same bag of crisps in the same job, with the same boss and still never having left the county. They were astonished by the tales of my travels, (Catterick to Otterburn, Catterick to Thetford, Catterick to Aldergrove, Catterick to... Sennelager :eek: ). I gave up going home after a couple of years, there was nothing there I "knew" any more... :sad:

And Boggie Street and Change Alley, Strait Street, TakiJamSheet (sic?) in Tehran, Black Mac's Track, Lazy Leopard Lounge (Omaha), Dirty Dick's in Lalinea, Nairobi :}

[Pontius Navigator]

On Summer Camp in the Land of the Pisky, one git had been caught being a Peeping Tom in the girls' accommodation.

And before political correctness set in.

Finningly main mess. Massive shower room with line of shower separated by curtains.

Instructor casts off towel, goes into shower.

Another body arrives and uses next shower.

Instructor humming away in tenor, barritone or whatever.

Soprano behind the curtain :eek:

He said he had never had such a long shower - on his own. We believed him!

[Airborne Aircrew]

And Boggie Street and Change Alley, Strait Street, TakiJamSheet (sic?) in Tehran, Black Mac's Track, Lazy Leopard Lounge (Omaha), Dirty Dick's in Lalinea, NairobiShowoff... <LOL>

II Sqn RAF Regiment were no longer "world travellers" when I got there. I did NI, NI, NI with a lot of Brecon, Thetford, Salisbury Plain, Sennelager, Otterburn etc. amongst them and, as a special treat, we had a Cyprus thrown in somewhere.

33 Sqn was better... That was Belize, Belize, Belize, Belize, Belize with Germany, Denmark, Norway amongst them in varying amounts and, as a special treat, we had a Jamaica thrown in somewhere.

Luckily, all locations had beer... :ok:

[ZOFO]

When me and the rest of the "Sigs Det" walked into the Local bar at Nanyuki (Was it the Sporting Farmer)? I await to be corrected, and we all got the once over from the "Local Ladies" and were all immediately called
"Fresh Meat" and had to get the "VodiKa" and "White Top" drinks in!!

Always remeber Big Grace Though!! (I was set up)!!:ouch:

[Airborne Aircrew]

Always remeber Big Grace Though!! (I was set up)!!

See... It has been the experience of _many_ of my friends that any lady whose nickname begins with "Big" was a setup from the start... :eek:

Hope you feel better now... ;)

[Al R]

Michael Heseltine at Greenham Common in body armour.
John T losing a 40mm M203 grenade and being charged.. 40 cents.
Racing Chevy Blazers over the bunkers at Greenham Common.
HTV (you really need to have walked the wire there to understand that one).
Ok, I'll tell you. Heads Tents Vehicle checks at each camp.
Being visited by a Group Captain who was wearing DPM.. with puttees and shoes.
Seriously snogging some bird in the bus stop a mile outside camp late one night, and a police car pulling up.. with her dad driving it.
Walking back, alone.
Being spat at by a peace bitch and being called a traitor to my country.
Accidentally opening the Chevy door in her face and asking her if she was ok.
Generally, the warmth of the Americans at Greenham.
PSP.. the Personal Reliability Programme (say buddy, we're gonna pull your PRP or hang your ass with an Article 15 if you continue to suggest President Reagan is dangerous).
Redneck Doug Lassiter and his chewing tobacco.
Doug filling 2 paper cups with baccy and phlem and putting them on the dash infront of him to compare with his buddies later.
Marveling at the rapid acceleration of the Dodge Ram.
Sorry Doug.. but it is a minging habit mate.
Speaking on the internet with someone in Alaska, sometime in 1984.
Video jukeboxes, 25 cents a pop.
Southern Comfort and coke, in a plastic tumbler. Yum. :ok:
American range management. (Is the line ready? Then.. aahhh, just.. go for it!!!).
Firing the M203 practice rounds at Welford, and the wind catching the rounds and depositing them.. in the playground. The sight of day glo talc all over the kids slides was quite disturbing.

[Pontius Navigator]

When quarters were really really dire.

When really dire quarters were better than what was available in civvie street
When you couldn't afford a house in civvie street

When you had to live in a hiring if there were no quarters

When you had to live in a caravan on a dispersal if you were too young to marry.

When officers could not get mariage allowance until they were 25

When flt lt could captain a V-bomber at age 23.

When Chiefs ran the line

TY 3Putt, as well as age I plead illness.

[threeputt]

When Officers could only get marriage allowance after 25 years of age.

3P:ok:

[BEagle]

I thought it was £250-ish marriage allowance pre-25 and £425-ish over 25?

Per annum, of course.

I remember as well when Officers had to ask their CO's permission to get married. A chap did that at Scampton - when the boss asked him if he was sure, he responded "Well, boss, do you want an invite to the wedding....or the christening?"

I remember when you had to be Sqn Ldr or over 30 to be allowed to have a bottle of alcohol in your room in the OM.... Nothing mentioned about the boot of your car or a disused air radi shelter, of course.

I remember when a 49 year old Specialist Aircrew Sqn Ldr wasn't allowed to have any alcohol in his possession on a Timmy trip to the Malvinas.... But some Turners' oaf could, of course...:rolleyes:

[Exrigger]

I remember:
1. Folks being allowed to smoke on aircraft and the groundcrew got an extra payment to empty the ash trays added to the payment for emptying the toilets.
2. The Days when you put a travel claim in AM and most times it was ready for collection PM, or at the latest the following morning.
3. Exercises that were started at all hours and weekends and sometimes went on for a week or more.
4. Having pick axe handles as guns.
5. Having a piece of paper stating that you have an CPX NBC kit.
6. Minesweeping in the NAAFI bar when an exercise was called after all the keen people ran off immediately to go to work.
7. Not being allowed to use the HPS during exercises for more than one night/day due to H & S reasons.
8. Being able to strip search anybody during exercises regardless of the weather.
9. Being posted and there being quarters/accomodation readily available.

[Pontius Navigator]

I thought it was £250-ish marriage allowance pre-25 and £425-ish over 25?

I'll check.

Certainly remember the TOS.

Marriage allowance and pension at 38 was both £401 pa.

Terminal grant was £1728 at 8 years and £4000 at 12.

You could buy a house with your gratutity at 38.

[BEagle]

A 2-bed semi cost £32K in West Oxfordshire and Flt Lts were on about £15K per annum... Whereas now the same box costs £250K - I doubt whether Flt Lt pilots in the early 30s are on £117K though.
'During the afternoon, a Sabre of Fighter Command will break the Sound Barrier'. It did - 1954 RAF Merryfield At Home day.
The RAF still had 'At Home' days....
Where there were Officers' Mess enclosures with stewards serving drinks and luncheon.
And the climax of the day was the 'Set Piece' battle with Rocks blatting away, blowing things up and charging around in lightweight Landrovers - and Hunters came in at warp lots to blow up the Baddies' castle at the end.

[teeteringhead]

any lady whose nickname begins with "Big"
.... so that would include Big Eileen from Templepatrick then ....

.....Templepatrick 319 rings a bell ............;)

[mike_alpha_papa]

When:

Caravans were allocated as MQs at N Luff in early 60s - Thor days!
Four of us bought huge yankmobile (5000 cc engine - 5 galls/mile!) for £10

In 70, just round the corner from my downtown MQ in St Ives (Cambs) a 3-bed terrace was £3250, but being pre Military Salary, couldn't afford it!

Families Offices and Families Officers existed - at least you could speak to a face and get things sorted rather than the DHE helpline they have to put up with now! Yet another agency success story!!

[Captain Gadget]

When the corporal used to come on in the Minstrels' Gallery in College Hall during port and coffee and play the Post Horn Gallop on a Lee Enfield rifle.

Gadget :ok:

[Shack37]

Somebody mention Nairobbery. I remember when the Long Bar was still quite short.:ok:
Britannia detachment hiding/stealing a sick shack overnight cos the dripping oil embarrassed them.:mad:
Listening to the world Cup Final 1966 in the Spread Eagle hotel.:eek: Must try and find out who won sometime.:confused:

s37

[Airborne Aircrew]

Listening to the world Cup Final 1966 in the Spread Eagle hotel.Having a friend of my father's daughter from Germany, (she was about 12 years old), stay at our house while the World Cup Final was being played and him telling her an hour or so before the game, (jokingly), that if Germany won she would be "out on the street"...

About 20 minutes into the game my father asked me where she was and neither I nor my sister knew so I went to look for her. She was in her room upstairs all quiet and nice. I informed my father who promptly went upstairs, apologized and brought her down... So she could watch the Germans lose... :D:D:D:D:D

And every four years I wish that I could watch England do that again!!!

Spread EagleBringing my new American girlfriend to Odiham and staying in the White Hart(?) in Hook where they name their rooms and being led to the Spread Eagle room, entering, p1ssing ourselves laughing and telling her to "adopt the position"... and having her obey... :ok:

I married her and the "obedience thing" seemed to cease... :O

[Union Jack]

Listening to the world Cup Final 1966 in the Spread Eagle hotel.:eek: Must try and find out who won sometime.:confused:

Well I know who won, but I only found out in 1969! Sitting in a bar in Bahrain with a group of the guys, I was somewhat surprised when conversation drifted to football, and someone said "Wasn't it marvellous when England won the World Cup". I said "Well, if they did it's the first I've heard about it - what year was that?" Everyone else looked at me in astonishment and burst into a chorus of "In 1966 of course!"

I do, however, have two excuses. Firstly, it happened in the middle of an exchange posting in Australia, when football took last place in the sporting pecking order after cricket, rugby union, rugby league, Aussie Rules (aka aerial ping pong!), netball, and just about any other sport. Secondly, I am Scottish!

Jack

PS Anyone know the result of the England v Springboks match .......?:E

[Al R]

Yes, England B certainly took a pasting. Why we insist on running out the reserves when other nations only commit their best men to the fray against them is beyond me. Still, I needn't be telling you any of this.:E

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/international/5067808.stm

[ricardian]

I remember when;

'58 pattern webbing was still under trial (I don't actually, but I thought we were overdue some creep).


I was in 38 Gp (TCW) and attached - loosely I'm glad to say - to the army (24 Air Portable Brigade) in 1968. We were still using 1945 pattern webbing. The army took pity on us and gave us a full set of 1958 pattern webbing, some nicely tailored (not!) DRP jackets & trousers and DMS boots to replace our RAF studded ammunition boots.
When I left the RAF in 1973 there was a strong rumour that stores would soon be issuing collar-attached shirts; we all thought that highly unlikely given the NAAFIs vast wartime reserve stock of collar studs (front & back).

[SOTV]

So many:

Cisk and Hopleaf
Minging in Sembawang then going to Johnny Ghurkas in Nee Soon
Getting your ticket from the Cpls mess at Akrotiri
Being smuggled into the WAAFs Qs at Stanmore (thanks Claire)
Being turfed out at 0800 (jealous I think)
Having a Flt Cdr that was an observer
Flt Cdr getting his own ship as skipper
Breaking down in Lincoln at 0100
Swinderby recovering car and me and putting me up (matelot)
Indulgence flight to Sydney from Brize in 79
CASEVAC to Ely from North Sea (thanks)
Et al....


Not bad for the junior service.

:}:}

[Pontius Navigator]

When there was a black dog with a traditional name at Scampton.

[SOTV]

..... and it was a crossply that squashed him.

:}

[dwhcomputers]

Watching a Victor from 55 taking 11999 ft. to take off from Dubai's 12000 ft runway at midday when bringing Phantoms back from the Far East.

[Airborne Aircrew]

Ahhh... This thread...

I do recall a certain ALM who, with the full encouragement of three other ALM's, underslung a Landrover in two cargo nets tied together with para-cord... The solution to the problem of underslinging said load looked nothing like the authorized scheme in the book... I remember the alleged incident so well I have photos... :E

I remember drinking competitons involving bottles of Red Stripe and a swimming pool at midnight... IIRC, and with sufficient practice, we were all quite competent at emptying the bottle underwater in remarkably short times too... :ok:

I remember the Courtleigh Manor Hotel in downtown Kingston, Jamaica having a shiny new brochure featuring three ALM's and a pilot at the pool bar in various stages of undress with models draped all over the place... I still have those brochures too... :D

I remember an exercise in north west Germany near a town called Itzehoe... (really... You can't make it up... :} ). We were told that there was no flying the next day - relax. At 1700 while leaving the block for town we met the boss who confirmed no flying... Perfect. The four loadies found a bar called "The New Pub" and proceeded to drink beers chased with Appelcorn... :ok: Some hours later we are informed that they are out of Appelcorn... So, after a conflab, we decide that Sambuca will be the next chaser of choice... I recall ricocheting down the corridor to the room at 0500 to find a note on my bed... "You are flying at 0700"... Looking around the room there was no-one else any better suited to the trip than me... I, Allegedly, flew that morning... Luckily for me the trip was delayed... about an hour... :(

I remember during the drinking session above there were three Germans across the bar from us. Two of them were obviously arguing with the smaller chap. After about an hour of drama from the other side the small chap gets up to leave which means he has to walk all the way round the bar and past us ALMs. He's followed by the biggest chap. I knew there was going to be trouble so I turned as they approached to protect myself. As the small guy came next to me he turned, pulled a gun and pointed it right in the face of the big chap. I raised my hand to try to chop down on his arm when he fired and the big guy screamed and put both hands to his face. The little guy ran. After about a second the big guy removed his hands from his face and we could all see there wasn't a mark... Then we smelled the CS gas... Panic... Dragged the two barmaids over the bar and evacuated the place... It was aired out in about 5 minutes and we were back to business... :cool:

Those were the days... :D

[Pontius Navigator]

You could play beach cricket with somebody else's children without being considered a pervert or potential child molester.

At first I thought the quote, which has been removed, was refering to I want to Join the RAF :}

But there is only one beach in Maderia and the sand is too soft.

[Al R]

BATCO

Agh.... :sad:

[nacluv]

I remember when...

...the "HMS Fearless scrapped" thread was actually about HMS Fearless. ;)

[November4]

Addis Abba - Op Bushel 10985

Seeing The Yetteis (http://www.theyetties.co.uk/)perform in the Hilton
Having a party in one of the rooms to help them celebrate a very succesful show :eek:
Party went on very late....
A knock at at the door....
Dave A***n opening the door and saying to a short bloke in a dressing gown "sorry not invited"
Realising that the dressing gown wearer was the DetCo with hotel security behind him
DetCo deciding the party was over
Us going 2 floors up and continuning the party until curfew ended at 0600
Hitting the pool at 0601
Going to bed not long after
Woken at 0800 to be told that we were "contributing" a days allowances to charity

Was a good party though!!

Found out later the floor we missed out was holding the aircrew bowling championships with marrows and melons "borrowed" from the loddy display.....!

[dkh51250]

I remember those now missing pubs from Lincoln High Street.

The Queens Hotel where the Fred the barman had a daily intake of 20 pints, every day.

The Cornhill, falling down those stairs on Market day.

Cornhill Vaults, as above.

The New Market, next to the indoor market and opposite the chippy.

The Lion, meeting place for everybody on a Saturday.

The Swan, with those plenished brass table tops.

The pub next door to the Swan, name escapes me, but it served Holes Newark Ales, no wonder it closed.

Not forgetting of course all of those now seldom seen beers they sold.Tartan,Double Diamond,Kingpin, William Youngers 1/6d, Youngers Heavy, Shipstones Bitter, and others now lost in alcohol induced alzheimers.

[November4]

Going on task to Leuchars in 1987
Getting to the B&B at about 0900
Wondering what to do for the rest of the day
Discovering the Scots had bars open all day.....
Discovering that St Andrews had students.....:E
.
.
Eating hot Jock pie straight from the bakery late at night
Saying I remember this part is not strictly true

[PICKS135]

Eating hot Jock pie straight from the bakery late at night
Saying I remember this part is not strictly true

Remember the pies very well. Bakery was at the top of my road. The smell of freshly baked bread at 2100hrs was amazing.

Sad to say the bakery has gone. Now a block of flats :sad::sad:

[Exrigger]

dkh51250, thanks for the memories, especially the Mucky Duck (The Swan) used to serve fantastic Chicken & Chips in a basket, the Vaults if I remember had a radical idea to stop people getting drunk by serving beer in half pint glasses (actually I am sure they used to be plastic as well), and then couldnt understand the increase in drunkeness as people swallowed two half pints quicker than one full pint so actually ended up drinking more in a shorter time. They also they could not grasp why two people would turn up and order 4 half pints at a go.

Don't forget the ones that changed names or changed clientele, the Cheltham Arms now has a fancy name that escapes me, but has at one time been Lincolns druggie hangout and the Green Dragon was a good pub to meet and pick up the local talent, but it ended up as a gay pub for a while.

[ArthurR]

Union Jack or should that be Jock, no idea of the score against the springbocks, but I do know todays score against the Aussies

[Union Jack]

Arthur (or should that be Martha?:E)

Noting with amusement that you are an angler, you certainly bided your time before reeling me in - well done England and France for turning the RWC on its head today! And no, I'm not so sure that Scotland will manage to join the club tomorrow .... It will also be interesting to see what spin the "British" PM, Mr Gordon Brown-Trousers puts on England's win - especially if Scotland don't make it!

Enjoy the semis.

Jack (never Jock)

[cafe society]

When Marham village had 3 pubs!
Bernie the SWO would check each one to see if his lads were OK!
Marham had no WRAF blk
Saturday night rec buses to KL

[Al R]

Witt SWO getting locked up by civpol for fighting. Early 90s.

:D

[buoy15]

When you had the authority to lock somebody up in the Guardroom for insubordination or disobedience without 'senior' approval and the threat of getting sued
When ext 252 was the SWO's or Guardroom's phone number
When bicycle sheds actually protected you from the elements when having a shag after a NAAFI dance:cool:
When H&S, EO, DM, PC, IIP, NAS, CNW, was a million miles away
When it was better than working for a living!

[TheInquisitor]

When "Pay 2000" was a concept, rather than an instruction fed into the JPA uber-server.......suffixed by "and fcuk the rest of them" :}

...when you earned your B-cat route by getting your checker gubbed and laid...

...(female) batties that brought you hangover-strength coffee on a saturday morning...and offered 'sympathetic relief' if you hadn't pulled the night before...:ok:

...dining-in night shenanigans, when the (blue-suit) mess manger would encourage or even help you set up the flour-bombs/trip wires/top-table spray-pipe/exploding plants, rather than today's (civvy) variety that invariably try to hinder such practices...

...bosses that instigated or ordered piano-burning, instead of vetoing same...

...Stn Cdrs that could see the funny side of finding their car upside-down in their parking slot...

...Spraying a fine mist of water under the locked door of your mate's room whilst he is on leave, then using the 'blow' end of the cleaning-cupboard hoover to deliver generous helping of cress seeds all over his carpet...

...when presenting yourself and cheque-book to (smirking) mess manager was more than enough to atone for the above, rather than yourself and hat to (irate) PMC...

...when using ingenious and hastily constructed straw contraption to 'steal' beer from the mess bar pumps after the shutters had come down for the night (with full intention of reimbursement the following Monday) didn't lead to lengthy and probing RAFP inquiry...

Them were the days...

:E

[Al R]

I congratulate you on your imaginative use of CmDS (Cress Munitions Delivery System). A similar twist would be to unscrew the back of someone's telly and insert a couple of frozen fish..

[TheInquisitor]

I knew somebody who did something far worse.....chap about to set off for 4 month det in MPA, rather foolishly left his (unlocked) suitcase in the mess foyer whilst awaiting wheels to BZZ. Said wag thought it'd be a great wheeze to empty an out-of-date tin of anchovies into said suitcase, in the full knowledge that it wouldn't be opened again for around 24hrs whilst in transit to MPA.
His description of the ensuing smell which permeated every item of his clothing (and, I'm led to believe, the whole accom block) was nauseating enough in itself...:}

And then there's the 'CS tabs in the cigar lighter' trick...

[Al R]

Ok, we can shuffle the tables about and make a long row.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7214708.stm

And say, I remember when..

And can you imagine the scene the morning after? The gutters full of 55 year olds and the air still heavy with the sound of old scores being settled the night before.

THWACK! "Thats for that time in 1978, you bast:mad:rd, when you swapped your minging gas plug with my shiny one."

[Co Pirate]

...........You could catch a blue bus from outside the camp all the way to Donny for just 10p (Salutation, Baccus, et al not forgetting the Halcross for last one before the last bus)

Taceval. As an SACW receiving an extra Duty Chaperone for getting caught by the sector rosser with 2 pillows and a pot noodle in my 14 day kit bag

Staying on the bus until the next stop to avoid the SWO who was hiding behind the camp gates with his big stick (I'd rather be late for work than face him!!)

The horrible lady in the NAFFI shop who wouldn't cash a cheque for more than a tenner!!

The milk man giving me a lift to work on the back of his float, and letting me take a yoghurt and bottle of fresh orange as I dismounted

The Pigs Bar at 5pm.......

The Cpls Club bring an erk 12 O'Clock once a month

Painting the stones white and the grass green for AFIs

Standing on gate guard with a pick axe handle

WRAF Admin

10 Main Street.......

Sneaking round the perry track to Finningley village chinese takeaway

Finningley Airshows

Sausage rolls from The NAFFI Wagon

Never seeing the FS unless it was for a bollocking

A gash trip in a Jet Provost (with a state 1!!)

Nijmegen training, which involved walking to and from Flt Lt Dick Wrights house,(in the middle of nowhere) why I don't know??

Aircrew feeder leftovers every morning

A Stn Cdr who used to pop in for a brew (Gp Capt Pitchfork)

GREAT..................thanks for the memories Finningley, my first and best posting to date:) :ok:

[27mm]

Stanley - 1984 (sorry for the banter):

F4 QRA from the tin strip
The Life of Brian
The Coastel (aka The Sperm Bank)
Tea and toasted tea cakes at San Carlos with the Army's finest
Blazing Darts
Minefields
Boxing Day races at Stanley, sitting on the Sqn Landy bonnet with a G&T
Settlement visits on a Q1 off
Jim Davidson's show

[conysbe]

The pigs bar opening at 10am.
Having 3 or 4 pints before we started work on the line and no one batting an eyelid..
The line shift times morning 6am - 12pm.
Afternoon shift 12pm - er sometimes 1201 if foggy. Usually 5pm mon - thursday. Friday normally 12pm - 2pm unless you were on towing, then normally the local lads would do it for you if you wanted to travel home.
I have to pinch myself sometimes that I actually did those shift times..

[goudie]

The Malcom Club RAF Wahn. Endlessly playing 'Don't Be Cruel' on the juke box to a lovely WRAF girl who'd dumped me for a 'Snowdrop'. B*****D!

[Lurking123]

The people who were trying to blow us up spoke the same language.

Mally Club Gutersloh. Sunday papers with a hideous hangover.

Stn Cdrs had time to know their people.

"Fun" was allowed.

A crash was a crash, nothing more. Lots of free beer and tales of daring do.

At least six 4 tonne trucks would make a detour to Martkauf between the main gate and a deployed flying sites.

[kwachon]

Take one fuel bowser, mount a jet engine on the front with the jet pipe facing down and forward. Call it "Snow clearing"
POSB
Fulton Block at Cosford

[Ogre]

Sorry if it's been mentioned before but I haven't read everything:

Taceval at Lossie, commencing at 17:30 the same day as the annual raft race! Most of the station was out of their trees!

Taceval at Lossie the year or two later when all the jets were on bolthole because the runway was being replaced. Allegedly the scene at the guard room was a classic
DiStaff: Right, start generating aircraft!
Ord Sgt: Could be a long trip Sir, the nearest one is Waddington.....

[Mactlsm1]

Ogre, "Taceval at Lossie, commencing at 17:30 the same day as the annual raft race! Most of the station was out of their trees!"

I remember that Sunday very well. OK I wasn't at the raft race but I was playing cricket on base against a local visiting team of civvies. We were winning as well. How to explain to them that they had to leave..... Got to work to find that I was one of the only sober people there, Bu**er.

Who would imagine that they would pull a Taceval on the weekend of the raft race? Damn Russkies!

Mind you it was beaten by being Taceval Pt 1'd on 7 occasions within 11 days when I was on a "Repair" (anag) Sqn at BZN in the late 1980s.:yuk:

Mac

[tarbaby]

Batmen at Thornëy who would ask on Sunday morning, "Tea for 2 sir?
Batties at Cottesmore who could give light relief whilst serving tea in the morning.
An accountant meeting the aircraft at Luqa ready to issue an 'easy five' on the paybook.
When it was impossible not to get laid in Seoul.

[scarecrow450]

Being ordered !! to drink beer by my German Navy boss on 'A'Sqn at TTTE.
Avoiding a liney bath as I'd helped get the beer for a block party.
Watching Liney's and Adminer's having a punch up.- Liney's won 10-0 !
Being able to TACEVAL your flt cndrs MQ.
When the threat of seeing the MT Flt Sgt made sure I did the DI's on ATC'S rover !
When I could fall asleep on a gate, near Bury St Edmunds, with an SLR, and 20 rounds, for 20 mins and get away with it.
When the only computer's on station were in the nav's bag.
Flight planning cricket was the only game to play and doing a CALF amendment meant getting a day off from my oppo.
Smoking the Staish's fags at his cricket match, and drinking his beer.:D:D

[Pontius Navigator]

Batties at Cottesmore who could give light relief whilst serving tea in the morning.

Not when I was there TG. Hairy great brute of an ex-Liecestershire miner he was. made a mean cuppa and pressed a good suit though.

[allan908]

He's probably referring to the self same batty Pontious. I heard some weird stories from Cott!! :eek:

[Wader2]

involved walking to and from Flt Lt Dick Wrights house,(in the middle of nowhere) why I don't know??

Torksey I believe.:}

[NST]

Aged 16 going through Swinderby and not needing to shave once.
Having a fight in the Block with a Plod recruit and winning.
Meeting same Plod recruit as an A/CPL and being charged by him (he had a father after all .. who knew ??)
Lincoln Brayford branch of Natwest
TTF at Shawbury, the Ellie and Castle.
When the Car Park in front of the JRM at Kinloss was a Tennis Court.
Bodysurfing Teen Wolf style on the ATC Sherpa round the ISK northern loop.
Metpads for the hourly weather on the switchboard.
Rimming the evil Flt Sgts mug on many an occasion, same Flt Sgt later had a heart attack and got a Congratulations card from the Assistants .. :(
When Air Traffic Assistants at ISK wore DPM jackets and peaked caps to work.
When the obnoxious holding Plt Off ordering me about as I was trying to file a flight plan was told by SAOC to make his own tea because "he (the SAC (me)) doesnt make tea for people with less promotions than him" .. thanks Drew .. :ok:
Nearly crashing the Ops Corsa on the ISK loop road, where 34,42 and 47 were stored at the time .. and I didnt even have my driving licence.
ISK detachment folders .. pain in the a**e to make up.
Phoning for slots through Veule.
When getting an extra DCS (!) for a favoured crew was not a problem.
Popping into Inflight after the Capercaillie Club Naafi bop, seeing your mate and getting fed.
Having to help him make up the doggy boxes for said feed.
Volunteering for RAFG and being asked which camp I wanted.
Getting to Wilders three weeks later, not making it into work the next day.
Getting to Wilders aged 18 and not remembering much for the next two years.
The arrival doo at the Bird Room.
All the dutch women in the Bruggen Bop.
The nights in the Deafin Inn.
The First Post and its bowling Alley.
The block BBQ where we had to start burning furniture .. Burgers that tasted of Pledge.
92 Sqn Lineys letting me marshall a toom in and out of the complex.
92 Sqn Lineys in general.
The attitude of the F4 aircrew, mad as badgers.
Running around the F4 desk changing from TRA to TRA and suspecting they crew were doing it just to keep me busy !!
Then going onto the Transit desk and screwing up the prenote for C-IN -C RAFG going somewhere .. interesting interview with the Boss.
Why is the word Bandbox familiar ??
The last (and slowest) Battle Flight scramble.
The End of Meda Wake .. 13 Oct 91 .. still have the stein.
The Harem .. waiting for the shift change.
The Brittania stewardesses on the trooper flights.

When above all else getting the job done and having fun along the way were a way of life.

(After Wilders the service was never the same for me)

[Riskman]

Whatever happened to that little speccy kid that advertised Milky Ways?

He's a Group Captain!

[Gainesy]

Blagging a "gash call" home at Christmas from Akrotiri through Turkey, Italy, and numerous Nato and RAFG switchboards to within a few miles of home. Then some old cow at Bawtry PBX binned it. :mad:

[Pilot Pacifier]

LOT22

Those who went there will know what I mean...:ok:

[dkh51250]

1250s with photographs that fell out

[HeliAviator]

Compo Babies Heads
and
my first apprentice pay packet of 7 shillings and 6 pence.

[RETDPI]

"1250s with photographs that fell out"

To be replaced on occasion.
Mickey Mouse got the bearer into a COC for several weeks before being finally challenged.
In fact using a pair of scissors , the blue cover of an "...In Confidence" Folder, Letraset, Fablon and a hand copied RAF badge you could make your very own 1250 in a couple of hours.
Not that we ever did so of course :}

[MikeSmith1115]

Compo babies heads - made my mouth water.

I'll add compo sausages to the pot (no pun intended).

[BEagle]

Compo corned dog
Compo powdered spuds
Compo margarine

Individually sodding horrible, but make up the powdered spuds, chop in the corned dog and fry it up as corned beef hash with the compo margarine - not bad at all!

As we did on King Rock '69 by the Edersee, eh RETDPI?

Also when compo chocolate included brands which had been out of circulation since the mid-'50s.

I could NEVER get a taste for those compo dog logs though...:yuk:

Re. the F1250 with falling photos, a chum worked at BAC Brooklands on Super VC10s. He met a chap who had been fired from some nuclear weapon work years earlier for using a photo of Kruschev in his ID card for arround 6 months until the security people noticed!

[Exnomad]

A stroppy colleague who kept saying "fcuk you, I'm fireproof" came back from leave to find his furniture on the roof of his hut, and his room containing a large fire hose reel trailer, that had been re-assembled in there.

[Exnomad]

Further to Beagle comment, I used a pass signed by Kruschev of many weeks at one employers.

[Gainesy]

Ah yes, the white-powdery Rollos, in a packet with some sort of foreign scribble on it.

My blood group on the 1250 said OD+, never did figure that one out as I understand there is no D group.:confused:

[airborne_artist]

Going through Checkpoint Charlie to the Soviet Zone in a very shiny black Range Rover, and getting the tour. Drove up onto a rubbish tip to get a really good view of the barracks below. Looking at the faces of the East Germans, in their Trabbies, looking up at the RR as if it had landed from Mars. Watched the changing of the guard - squint slightly as they goose-stepped along and you were back in the 30s...

Had to wear a beret and shoulder tabs from one of the Corps - oh the shame of it :{

[Dan D'air]

Sennelager.............. probably the worst lager in the world.

[St Johns Wort]

Tubes of compo condensed milk, yummee.

Queues of Scale E's outside the bedding store, on Saturday mornings, waiting to exchange the sheets from their MQ's (pre '71 military pay scale).

Happy days.

[RETDPI]

"My blood group on the 1250 said OD+, never did figure that one out as I understand there is no D group."

You and me both OD+ Gainesy. I gathered that the "D" referred to the biggest component of about 20 in the Rhesus factor. Basically you and I were (are) Rhesus positive.

Rumour was that it was also a prerequisite for the Regiment.

[Gainesy]

So we're erm, as common as muck then Ret?:)

Scaleys, had forgotten that.

Remember a POSB bastard was someone as tight as a duck's bum?

Anybody remember how many bottles of booze and fags there were on the monthly DF allowance?

[diginagain]

Going through Checkpoint Charlie to the Soviet Zone in a very shiny black Range Rover, and getting the tour.

Did that too, with a train-spotter who wanted to check out a couple of Kriegslok that were being used to generate steam for a power-station for the Osties. The sudden appearance of a RR-full of camera wielding Brits causing havoc around the NVA barracks. Rounded off the trip with a visit to a Soviet museum, in Potsdam I think. Shared a few beers with the Russian SNCO who showed us around.

[teeteringhead]

My blood group on the 1250 said OD+, never did figure that one out as I understand there is no D group.... me too, I was one of those (still am I suppose :ooh:) I was also told that (apart from being common as muck), the "D" factor - whatever it was - meant you could be used as a donor for any positive blood group person in an emergency.

D for donor - geddit!

[Wader2]

The days of "generous" PTIs (St Mawgan, 1977-ish), when the 1.5 mile run was about 2/3 of the required distance, & all down hill to the pub at the bottom. MT to take you back a few hrs later. :ok:


You RAN? Good grief man.

We did our run in Keflavik, Machrihanish and Gibraltar IIRC. PEd Staff were quite happy to take my signed record of the events. Perfectly fair, all based on previous 'best' performance.

If I thought Mr Curtis had had an extra couple of pork pies and a few fags his time got longer and reached 25 minutes in the end. For the odd (and I mean odd) racing snake I knocked a few seconds off. :}

The only sanction for not 'doing' the run was a threat to stop leave. Our crew was OK though as we did the run religiously (we prayed the pub was open) every quarter.

[Whenurhappy]

When Gp Capt Stradling's 'Customs of the Service' stressed the importance of travelling in a First Class Compartment and owning a brown suit...

[Thud_and_Blunder]

Still have my Dad's copy of Stradling. Was tempted to quote from it when B*** S**** (pre-database days...) bollocked the singlies on 28 for not sending W***** a thank-you letter for a cockers-P at their place, but decided it wasn't worth the grief.

[Pontius Navigator]

<<<< You RAN? Good grief man. >>>>

A brisk walk - had to take pity on the wise old masters - but last one at the pub bought the first round!! :uhoh:


If we'd waited for the last Master we'd have died of thirst.

[trippb]

I remember when........
Having an Air Officer for a father used to get you places.

[PingDit]

'Oh for the likes of Masters & gentlemen like Ted Rose & Fred Reeves today!'

Ted's still about in Newquay, doing well AFAIK. I remember when he was on 42/4. The Masters all had grannies shopping trolleys to take the S&C on board!

[mstjbrown]

RETDPI

It also used to stand for " Other Denominations " when we used to be divided up into C of E's, R.C.'s and O.D.'s.

When we had Drumhead church services the order " Fall out the Roman Catholics and Jews " was given and they/we marched to the edge of the parade ground and stood at ease with backs to the service.

One non-participant in the service was heard to say " Jaysus, Seamus, I never realised that you were Jewish."

I imagine things have changed.

[RETDPI]

Gotcha on that one!
I went technical "OD " (Baptist) at Sleaford Tech in 1968 , along with all the other members of 99 "A" squadron Hut 139. Six guys all with a different OD cause ("wot a coincidence")
"Left right, left right" down to tea and biscuits with Padre Silvanus on a Sunday morning, instead of massed devotion (?) with the rest of the herd.
Actually he spoke bloody good sense, which I've never forgotten.

[henry crun]

On one station I heard the order given as ""fall out the Roman Catholics, Jews, and Non-Christians".

[mike_alpha_papa]

Remember when we had:

PSFs
Allowances
Families Offices
Civilian Admin

All staffed by humans with faces who, IMHO, mostly went out of their way to help and sort out problems.

Now - faceless beings in help(less) call centres :ugh:

[davejb]

Swinderby 1977 I recall being amazed, along with all the other stout english chaps, to discover that the Scots not only had their own banknotes but an entire religion too - the most amazing part was that it seemed to be a bit of a novelty to the RAF, who had (presumably) been dealing with Hibernian gents for the previous 60 years or so.

42 sqn - I held with them for 6 months pre OCU, I learned quite a lot about cooking, so the time was far from wasted. An enduring memory is of a loud groan/cry from the wet sanctuary in the sqn hut, followed by a group of wetmen (mostly of an elderly persuasion) carrying a comrade out of the hut still seated - his back having gone during a JAAC test or similar he was being carried outside. The procession looked rather like a very informal burial party where the recently deceased couldn't be bothered to lie flat.

According to the young* dry contingents' rumour (that instantly sprang to life in the 'drinking coffee' section where I was seated) he was being moved into an outside area so that he and his chums could straighten the chap out, without any of them having to bend too much. I still wonder why the procession took place, rather than (say) simply grabbing each end and pulling sharply.

Although I enjoyed other squadrons later, some of my warmest memories are from that pre-OCU period. I suspect that was largely to do with the large number of older AEOps who had eventually finagled their way down to Cornwall, character by the shedload by any reckoning....you could stand next to one of them in a bar and simply absorb colour by osmosis.

(* Young is a relative term, at 25 or so I was very much the kid that morning).

[Al R]

.. standing to attention when addressing sqn SACs.

Standing up when they walked in a room.

Really wanting to pass my TATs and become one.

A two week course to get there.

My first visit to a WRAF Block. Aaahh, the soft music, the cushions, the soft bedding, the all too brief escapism from the harsh realities of the Rock Block.

Block parties - putting 4 tons of sand, some infra red lamps from the med centre and a paddling pool into the day room and having a beach party in winter.

Burning unopened tins of compo on a bonfire at the block and standing around them to see who'd be last to bottle it.

Assembling home made mortars and DFing the WRAF Block. Danny boy, where are you now?! :ok:

Sqn parades for the NAAFI bop when Second Btn Scots Guards decided to mix it.

Big Scouse throwing the police dog out of the PS bar.

Jankers, jankers.. always jankers.

[goudie]

Jankers, jankers.. always jankers.
Never did Jankers, never got caught!
Remember a bunch of Rock Apes rioting at RAF Wahn and turning acc. block fire hoses on the Snoops.
Brightened up a dull week-end.

[ImageGear]

Sqn parades for the NAAFI bop when Second Btn Scots Guards decided to mix it.

Big Scouse throwing the police dog out of the PS bar.

Not ? as I suspect in a long gone sandy place ?

Imagegear

[Al R]

Pen Club. :E

[PICKS135]

Remember when we had:

PSFs
Allowances
Families Offices
Civilian Admin

All staffed by humans with faces who, IMHO, mostly went out of their way to help and sort out problems.

Now - faceless beings in help(less) call centres

They would not have been allowed to flog off the Married Quarters as is happening at Leuchars.
Certain houses in Warwick Close were advertised in last weeks 'St Andrews Citizen'. The ones in Tarvit Drive in Cupar have already been sold.
Can some one please tell me where families will be accomodated in the future ??

[PingDit]

The singly accomodation in Cyprus; decorating the block at Christmas time and traveling from block to block drinking all day and night. Waking up in a bondu ditch the following morning......

[FlightTester]

Went there....Helped build the thing. In order to discuise it's origins I think it had two coats of paint on it before it landed! Spent many happy hours wiring 105mm shell casings into light fixtures for the bar.

Now then... starter for ten... who can tell me why it's called Lot 22!

[Exnomad]

Ground school included when to deposit your visiting cards when visiting other stations, and being instructed when to raise your hat to a LADY.

[mstjbrown]

Exnomad

Not just depositing visiting cards but ensuring that they were printed in the correct (embossed) format. And then when and where to leave them suitably annotated with the cabalistic " ppc" the meaning of which I've happily forgotten.

Remarkable

MB

[GPMG]

When you had screwed up and possibly faced a charge your Sgt Maj gave you the option of "The corps justice or my justice". His justice consisted of a couple of black eyes and a split lip for you and a one way conversation that makes grown men cry. But you didn't recieve a black mark on your record and HM didn't relieve you of some of your valuable sheckles.

[RETDPI]

"Not just depositing visiting cards but ensuring that they were printed in the correct (embossed) format. And then when and where to leave them suitably annotated with the cabalistic " ppc" the meaning of which I've happily forgotten."

As well as of course remembering to also turn up one corner of the card so that the lady of the house would have no difficulty in picking it up off of the salver.
As was taught at Sleaford Tech. as late as 1968.

[BEagle]

"His justice consisted of a couple of black eyes and a split lip for you...."

Based on Jersey were you, GPMG?

[debsh]

"Not just depositing visiting cards but ensuring that they were printed in the correct (embossed) format. And then when and where to leave them suitably annotated with the cabalistic " ppc" the meaning of which I've happily forgotten."

And 'lady officers' had different sized cards . . . . (well, we did in 1957)

(and PPC was 'pour prendre conge' - can't get this machine to do the accent above the final 'e' - before departing)

[Samuel]

You will all be pleased to learn, I'm sure, that we RNZAF people were issued a copy of Gp Capt Stradlings book at the "Charm School", but had to hand it back when we graduated, presumably having memorised the contents. We also had the cards, and the silver tray in the Mess to put them on.

On the subject of ID cards, I was in ANZUK for two years and initially occupied a MQ at 12 Hyde Park Gate , Seletar, at a time when the whole facility had been handed over to the Singapore Armed Forces. They had their own version of MPs on the gate, and were following the rules to the letter including saluting when I drove in and checking ID cards of dependents.

I discovered quite by accident one day that my wife, having lost her SAF Pass, was driving in and out by waving a Wellington City Library Card!

[Old Hairy]

1950.RAF Aldergrove had a "Sandes Home" which served a full English Breakfast between the hours of 10am to 12am every Sunday.(For aircrew only) The two dear old ladies who ran it,referred to aircrew as White Swans,other denominations as Sparrows!!! I truly believe this was the start of my superiority problem!! Sadly it later burned down.

[MostlyHarmless]

Sadly it later burned down.

Bloody sparrows, betcha.

[sitigeltfel]

They would not have been allowed to flog off the Married Quarters as is happening at Leuchars.

I have heard that the sale of these properties is being handled by a local legal firm whose head is an honorary mess member.


Allegedly.

[taxydual]

T'was the Auction Number painted on the side of the Portacabin awaiting sale. Then 'somebody' nicked the portacabin from the CAST dump and deposited it behind a well known helicopter squadron in the Falkland Islands.

Oh happy days!!!

[PICKS135]

Quote:
Originally Posted by PICKS135 View Post
They would not have been allowed to flog off the Married Quarters as is happening at Leuchars.
I have heard that the sale of these properties is being handled by a local legal firm whose head is an honorary mess member.


Allegedly.




Another bunch in Warwick Close up for grabs in this weeks 'Whinger' aka 'St Andrews Citizen' :ooh::ooh:

[klubman]

Getting my hair cut before going to Swinderby - waste of time and money, as it turned out.
Travelling by train from Swinditz to Halton in No1 HD, feeling very chuffed, and being wished well by other passengers.
Being met at Wendover station by a creaky, ancient MT coach, and FS Wellbourne-Davies!
Said MT coach only just making it the hill to Halton.
Feeling shocked by the sight of all the 'prison-block' accomodation blocks.
That well known command just prior to marching down to workshops - 'Pick up your bags!'
The Halton Astra cinema - the shouts, jeers and cheers every time the VW Scirroco advert was shown.

Happy days!

[scout]

The HSE (happiness and sunshine excluders) didn't exsist, and you could change the duff fluorescent tube in y' office by using your desk/chair/muckers shoulders.:ok:

[proudfishead]

. . . the ships were made of wood and the men were made of steel.

Taxi's booked.

[effortless]

You could tell the nationality of the Frightning pilots by the jet eflux as they took off.

[Tricorn]

You shaved the inside of your trousers and tucked your beret under your epaulette. ;)

[Arclite01]

You could go to MT and get some help with the vehicle - not just referred to the RAC callout number.................:(

Arc

[Strictly Jungly]

9 O'Clockers.........................usually a slab of Pussers hard and a box of biscuits.............and an urn of tea that tasted funny!

Probably judged to be too expensive and sadly canned...........as most good things are.

[PICKS135]

Going for supper in the airmens mess during Taceval and getting Tea, Sugar and milk for the Section for free :sad::sad:

[The Real Slim Shady]

when the Junta on 12 at Lossie had a DP LHD Ford Zephyr as the Juntamobile for runs to the boozer / chippy.

[1859sqn]

Standing on the sand whilst on guard duty at Muharraq shortly before it closed and getting a wave from the Hunter pilots as they taxied past......

[Old Ned]

Tiger testing a moonies watch in the Camel Club. 24 hr stn armed guards every 4 days. Getting the boll***ing of my life from the stn cdr for not standing up when he entered the guards' accom (now a MRAF (him, not me (yet)) and meeting him often now in a much more relaxed atmosphere. Just what was an 18 yo SAC with a .303, 5 rounds and a tattered Arabic phrase book supposed to do? Still remember the outstanding briefing by the rotund RAF Reg't FS: "If and when they come at you in long white flowing robes, run like hell!" Climbing Sham San to ensure you never returned to Aden (it worked). 8 Sqn dets to Rian, Salalah, Masirah and Bahrain and the outstanding beach barbies in Masirah. Checking days off your Chuff Chart and meeting moonies off the Britannia. They were crap times, but the comradeship was unforgettable. Finally visiting Dubai when it was a village!! Wish I'd bought a tent!!

ON

[airpolice]

Eating fish n chips ( and guarding ... in theory ) under the wing of the first F-111 ro divert into Valley...the mag in the SLR was empty...the full mag was sealed in about 5 sheets of polythene wrapping....watching the Yank engineer who came to fix it sign another guys name in the log with the explanation "the :mad:has done it to me".

I recently had dinner with the pilot of that F-111, 1975 was long ago and far away.

[airpolice]

The bar at Lindholme got a Kronerberg pump installed and we all scoffed at the thought of paying 30 pence for a pint of lager, no matter how nice it might be; as Skol & Harp were only 24 pence a pint. I also recall a big breasted girl who served the petrol in the Tyram Hall petrol station.

My 1250 was Blue and my son has one that looks like a credit card. His SWO was an LAC when I tought him the ropes in 1975.

My son brought home his station bike last month and it now lives in the garage.

Firing bird scaring cartridges out of the window of rover 1 at 60 mph.

Southern Radar, Northern Radar, CR787 Radar

A raincoat that would have smelled of mothballs if we'd had any mothballs,
When doing the weather check meant a trip to the SMC for a chit from the doctor to say I was fit to fly in a fast jet for another 6 months.

The Aircrew feeder at EGOV serving horse and chips 5 days a week.

Ross crashing the landrover into the MT Officers car, priceless.

Me & Geoff getting a car stuck on the beach at Treaddur Bay and leaving it there as the tide came in.

Cashing Cheques in Elmers for 2 quid with a week to go until pay day

Satco wonder aloud if he could stop the ceiling fan from turning...then everyone in local getting covered in dust and white tile fragments as the fan, firmly in big John's grasp, unscrewed itself from the roof!

Supervisor RC throwing a bolttle of beer which burst on the wall inches from the (sh1t3 spewing) head of the Dep satco at a games night

Stealing five crates of beer from the rugby club and stashing it in the boot of Ray's car and then getting a puncture on the way to the block. Whilst trying to change the tyre, the Rugby Club barman comes up behind us and shines his headlights into the boot as we try to find the jack. Is every Rugby Club barman a Snowdrop?

Swinderby when Jack Shiel was a Sgt (was a perfect gent SWO at Boulmer years later) and JC wasn't even an instructor yet.

Being really pissed, walking 2 miles to the tower to steal Rover 1 and then towing the fire practice Meteor along the Northern parallel only to be confronted by 2 snowdrops asking where we going.... as if we actually had a plan!

[Mactlsm1]

To quote Airpolice:

"Me & Geoff getting a car stuck on the beach at Treaddur Bay and leaving it there as the tide came in."


I recall being on an adventure training weekend whilst on EOT at Cranners. We went to Capel Curig. The PTIs manged to get a LWB Land Rover stuck in the sand at Black Rock Sands. My how we laughed as the tide came in. I believe that the official report referred to "Water in the carburettor" as the cause off the loss of a vehicle! (That wouldn't happen in this day and age!!!!!):sad:

As an aside most of us were very ill that weekend, not due to beer, but food poisoning!:eek:

[Monty77]

Jerome the Dome.

Early 90s. Linton, piloty student-type chap, late night calls to Radio York. Usually pissed-up. Far funnier and wittier than incumbent DJ on the night shift. Held court on anything ranging from the situation in the Middle East to the colour of Sherpa Tensing's trousers.

I never heard the broadcasts, but know him from later. A thoroughly amusingly and nice fella.

I don't actually 'remember when', but somebody told me about it.

[Monty77]

or would that be: amusing and nicely fella?

Can't say

Mmnice

[mystic_meg]

My son brought home his station bike last month and it now lives in the garage
..Do you let her in the house for meals?? :E

[BEagle]

:D!!

Reminds me of some spotty holding officer wandering around with his Clearance Card. He kept asking who he needed to go and see to get the 'Stn Bicycle Store' entry signed off....

The Queen Bee was hugely pissed-off when we sent him over to her!

[Taxi2parking]

ahhh yes linton in the 90's with radio york...

"when in Rome fill the dome" I believe his catchphrase was:}

what's he doing now? - hope he went into standup cos he was a very funny man.

[Wader2]

Apposite to another actice thread -

I wanted to get to UK for a mate's wedding.

1. Checked that aircraft was going to UK that weekend - it was.
2. Sweet talked planner to change the ferry allocation to our sqn - job done.
3. Programmed all crews in sqn for that weekend including our own - full programme, no wriggle room.
4. Except for our crew which had a very low priority programme.
5. Tasked to fly to UK - dropped our programme, picked up slot, now top programme priority - job done.

Visit mate, wedding off, cold feet.

Pull spare wedding invite from mess notice board out of pocket and leg it to town for plan B - job done.

We also had a passenger who was flying back to UK to organise his wedding and as he was a mate we were happy to give him a lift. Turned out that he had been planning to use the same aircraft until some sod reallocated it to our sqn :}.

I haven't confeseed yet. :)

[Yashin]

I recall sitting at the BPRT in the early 80s as Fred screamed obsceneties and hurled a set of FRCs at a student!

[rogerk]

... hanging out of Sioux with the doors off holding a plastic polariod camera !
.. and you could get away with a navex that took you over the border to buy porn mags for the crew room.
:p

[Rossian]

Yashin
It seems then that Fred never gave up on physical violence and threats as a means of instruction. On my first assessed trip at Topcliffe in the Varsity in 1963 he dropped into the seat beside mine and crashed the fire-axe on the desk and announced that mistakes in sending morse warranted a "clatter round the side of the bonedome wi' the flat of the axe". As a tremulous APO with nil experience I remembered my horse breaking uncle's advice to a 10 year old lad -"never let them see your scared, all you need is an air of confidence". I said "Mr Reeves put the fire-axe back in the rack, I don't respond well to threats and if you don't like it we can talk to the chief instructor at the end of the trip". I even remembered to make sure I said it on i/c so that the captain (Master Pilot Dale, god bless 'im) would hear it too. I was shaking in my boots, as I had no plan B if he persisted. Later, when it was my turn in the right seat to do some airways reporting, MP Dale looked across at me and gave a BIG wink. Phew!
The Ancient Mariner

[ShortFatOne]

It was the late 80's (I was there - said in a Max Boyce like voice!) and 'JJ' was hilarious. Too p!**ed to remember most of it, but he had us in stitches in the bar listening on the radio whilst he called from reception.

He rode a moped through the mess dressed as a fireman, complete with bell.

Rocked up to his Sqn arrival brief in sombrero and hawaiin shirt and shorts, Flt Cdr, 'Blaster Brooks', could hardly keep a straight face.

An all round top bloke, went rotary I think, hope he is well.

[216K]

Dec 1986 78 Squadron MPA
The only "Function Room" available was the Aircrew crew room to which the GC's were allowed to enter on the weekly Quiz Night. There was a need for an All Ranks Facility.
The Town Hookers identified a solid looking Porta cabin in Town that was rigged for air portability, one evening they duly rigged it up and a Wocka turned up and took it away. The only problem was that this particular porta cabin was up for sale in a closed bid auction as was obvious when it arrived on the Squadron with "Lot 22" painted on the side, hence the name.
Rumour has it that a local had made a sealed bid for Lot 22 of £5 and the Sqdn had to match it.

[Tricorn]

Crashing the front one of the sqn tractors into the wall when renewing my 'manoeuvring close to aircraft' chit (forgot about the towing eye!).:uhoh:

Still got it signed though!!:O

[Blacksheep]

When there was a Royal Auxiliary Air Force Station just on the edge of town and the RAAF Squadron part time NCO pilots flew front line jet fighters.


And six year old boys were allowed to just turn up and sit in one...

[Rigga]

...when you could sell one of your four annual Travel Warrants for a fiver - and have enough money for a full tank of petrol - and non of your namby-pamby unleaded stuff, either!

...when you could Hitch-Hike in uniform (No. 1, No. 2 or even in a green plastic jacket) across the country and loads of people would stop as soon as they saw you get out of a car at a Traffic Island/Junction.

...when Fred Mulley (whatever happened to him?) gave us all 17% in one year's pay rise - and it wasn't enough!

[dkh51250]

Fred Mulley. Last seen asleep at RAF Finningley, did anybody bother to wake him?

[Royalistflyer]

When the AVM still had his own personal Meteor ... and set a guard on it when visiting a station to prevent it from being declared unairworthy .....

[Al R]

.. when I requested an ammunition resupply from a RQMS who asked me to surrender the empty cases by way of exchange. I told him they were lying around an enemy firing point in a Zone of Seperation and that if he really needed them that badly, he was welcome to go and get them himself. I had to write a statement to that effect, a copy of which I still have.

He got his own back - on New Years's Eve, he issued me with 26 sheets of toilet paper for the week.. apparantly, that was all I needed. I made every one count.. :hmm:.

[henry crun]

When the AOC had an inflight engine failure in his personal Meteor, and the Fighter Command Accident summary said "We wonder that it dared".

[DSAT Man]

..when at Christmas, you would embark on a tour of all the section crew room bars (flying sqns, Police Flt, MT, etc, etc), meet Harry Staish along the way at least 4 times and push your cycle home because you got too fed up falling off it.

[Art Field]

When a Typhoon had a piston engine and I watched them tipping Doodlebugs into the ground.

[aw ditor]

Thought they were Tempests? (same engine, thinner wing!)

[flap15]

Swinderby, EFTS course on the interceptor T10 Chipmunk. JJ pitches up in the mess with a kids three wheel plastic tractor. The fun starts and the game consists of the driver being pushed by his mates down the mess corridor in the accomodation coridors towards the end wall. The aim of the mission is for the pushers to reach max speed and the driver to stay with the tractor as long as possible before ejecting before fatal decceleration occurs.

This has been going on for a couple of weeks and on the weekend the SDO is the squadron boss who lives to far away and will there for be in residence for the weekend. Saturday night in the bar is long and enjoyable and mention of the tractor arises. So at some time after midnight the boss say "JJ get the tractor". Well with top cover the said tractor is produced and the double doors either side of the mess entrance are pinned back. So after a few demonstration runs the boss declares that it's his turn. So we all get behind him and start to push. All goes well, we pass the door from the bar and through the first double doors into the mess entrance. Now at this point a number of things happen, first of all terminal velocity is achieved and the front wheel developes a shimmy. All would have been ok if it was not for the fact that the senior wives of the base had just decorated the christmas tree that morning.

Now we thought that we had done a very good job of putting it back as we found it, apparently not. The boss got it in the neck from the CO about the behaviour of the students.

[India69]

When First Powered Solo In A Chipmunk

[jetslut]

Yep, snigger!! :ok:

[NutLoose]

A muddy quarry in the wilds of Norfolk, sandbagging and the need to get a dumper truck started, Helicopter crew (3 off them ) all on a starter handle together trying to turn the diesel over... enter a JT Sootie who nonchalantly wanders over, "let me have a go" he says, leans on engine (pushing down decompressor) takes the handle and swings it into life with the other hand.... Helicopter crew look on amazed.....

Roll on 24 hours and it's been raining heavy, same crew having exhausted themselves trying to turn over the same engine again are seen trying to "bump start" the said dumper truck in a muddy quarry........... Priceless, you just can't buy gems like that.. :D:D

[Q-RTF-X]

Silly kit inspections.

Those dreadful ex Korean War cold weather jackets (Yogi Bear type) and the even worse Canvas Outer that was provided in an attempt to waterproof them.

When every squadron seemed to have a couple of DFC's in their midst.

When the sound of an air-raid siren at Masirah was a call to work, while at the same time cautioning people to look extra carefully before crossing the runway.

When the sound of the same air-raid siren was also a call to the duty plod to round-up any stray donkeys on the airfield.

Climbing aboard a C130 at Akrotiri a little before dawn with a filthy hangover, marginally filling my duties as NCO i/c advance party before a tedious bumpy flight to Luqa only to be met on arrival by the duty mover who advised us a Serious Defect Signal had caused our Lightning’s to be grounded back at base and as soon as C130 was refueled we were to return to AKR. Arrived back after dark, house in Limassol blacked out, wifey out somewhere, no key to get in, repaired to local pub where several KEO’s provided the first comfort of the day, managed to be suitably mellow by time wifey returned home. Quite miffed when reported to the squadron next morning and was told “We did not expect you guys to come in today!”

The sight and sound of 56 launching the first pair of the day at Akrotiri (Lightning’s of course).

Lightning full reheat rotations.

[Bill Macgillivray]

Pontiuos, do you not mean "Drawers cellular" ?:ok:

[Wander00]

The staiton laundry at Cranwell, which I swear had an operative at the end of the "ironing" line, with a hammer smashing buttons, especially pyjama buttons!

[NutLoose]

They turned the Morgue at Odius into a laundrette.

[chiglet]

Thought they were Tempests? (same engine, thinner wing!)

Tempests were quite different beasts....Different Fuselage, wing, tail, fin/rudder...not to mention Engine[s] :ok:

[Doctor Cruces]

Proper air shows with lots of different aeroplanes.

Doc C

[Al R]

DMS boots, thick nylon socks and wet feet.
Much coveted Northern Ireland patrol boots.
Waterproof jackets that made you wetter through inducing sweat rather than repulsing the rain.
Puttees.
When going through basic training meant simply being able to run quickly for weeks on end, shout and not fall asleep.I was stunned at how astute and intelligent (I know that might cause a chuckle) many trainee gunners are today, and how insightful the training regime at Honington is (I think Training Wing there is the biggest Wing in the Service).

[Roebuck]

Taking nearly 30 hours to get to Singapore on a British Eagle Britannia but at least being able to have a beer and a smoke

Likewise British Eagle Cottesmore to Butterworth, 1964, as part of the Confrontation strategy. The aircraft was named 'Bonaventure'. Forget how we were brought back.

[SASless]

Proper air shows with lots of different aeroplanes.

You don't have lots of the same aeroplanes anymore much less different aeroplanes.:uhoh:

[tcinbg]

"You could hitch hike in uniform." and get there faster than the train!

[NutLoose]

When a Typhoon had a piston engine and I watched them tipping Doodlebugs into the ground.

Soon to be seen again, they are just awaiting the engine back from overhaul, though I doubt you will see a doodlebug..


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/960x712/51199980723_5d271d0d7c_b_b85dd5eab91c43bb53aa84b938ebc76e1f6 9270e.jpg

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1903331&i=60

[BEagle]

Art Field sadly passed away some years ago now.

[NutLoose]

Blagging a "gash call" home at Christmas from Akrotiri through Turkey, Italy, and numerous Nato and RAFG switchboards to within a few miles of home. Then some old cow at Bawtry PBX binned it. :mad:


After RAFG got serious and banned none "service" calls to the UK, it was found one could still chat to ones mates by putting the call through via Hong Kong :E

[Dan Gerous]

"You could hitch hike in uniform." and get there faster than the train!

Oh yeh, Lossie/Kinloss to Edinburgh way faster than the train, but for some reason not the other way round. Happy days.

[MPN11]

… there was nothing unusual about a Sgt Pilot turning up in a Meteor for a weekend with his girlfriend.

[MPN11]

… front-line FJ sqns were full of Fg Offs.

[N.HEALD]

Soon to be seen again, they are just awaiting the engine back from overhaul, though I doubt you will see a doodlebug..


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/960x712/51199980723_5d271d0d7c_b_b85dd5eab91c43bb53aa84b938ebc76e1f6 9270e.jpg

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1903331&i=60


That's actually a Tempest II not a Typhoon, was very successful in the V1 tipping stakes though will be fantastic to see one fly again.

[NutLoose]

Of course it is, my error, meanwhile over at the group rebuilding a Typhoon to fly

https://hawkertyphoon.com/news

[NutLoose]

… there was nothing unusual about a Sgt Pilot turning up in a Meteor for a weekend with his girlfriend.


Must have been awfully cramped.....

[MPN11]

Must have been awfully cramped.....
More space in her Jaguar, if no other accommodation wa available.

Back to Chivenor in time for 2nd wave on Monday, IIRC. Sgt. B, c/s 69 [how apt].

[LOMCEVAK]

When it took only three years from starting training to arriving on a fast jet squadron ....

When you flew 300 hours a year on a fast jet squadron ....

When you flew as low as you could get away with and tried to talk your way out of it if you were caught ....

When there were beers in the crewroom fridge and you could have one once 'the wheels were in the well' of the last take off ....

When there was no smoking within 8 hours of flying or drinking within 50 feet of an aeroplane ....

When you played darts, bridge and 'uckers' in the crewroom ....

When you could be current on 8 or 9 types (in a certain world) ...

When you went to the vault once a month to study your targets knowing that if you had to bomb them for real you would be too far away to make it home ....

When you lost 5 or 6 mates a year in accidents ....

When trust was an admirable quality and 'assurance' was not in the vocabulary ....

When judgement was essential and process was what they did to peas ....

When the 'f' word had four letters not three ...

When flying was dangerous and s*x was safe ....

Why on earth has it taken me so long to find this brilliant thread?!

Amongst the humour and happy memories I have some very poignant and vivid recollections. When your leader crashes, you lead the formation home, go and brief the Station Commander, go to the Mess for the night, launch every serviceable aeroplane the next morning and a week later from a helicopter you drop the wreaths from the memorial service into the sea at the accident lat/long you take away memories that will be with you for ever and which put your life and career into perspective. When 32 years later the person with whom you share an office dies in an accident and you see how differently that is handled you realise how our world has changed.

[Roebuck]

Regularly hitching between Coventry and Cottesmore, in uniform, was not a problem-until. Wanting to watch the final CCFC home game one Tuesday evening, and being overconfident of my hitchhiking prowess, I tried said journey in civvies. For the very last time. Reached Cottesmore in the small hours feeling like I'd walked half the way.
Walked almost the entire leg Uppingham/Oakham. That learned me!

[cavuman1]

Well said, LOMCEVAK. You and those you have lost have my respect and wishes for fair skies and following winds.

- Ed

[Herod]

There was a time when HGV drivers were the best source of a lift. Now, with the fears over hijacking, CCTV cameras onboard etc, I should think the chances are slim.

[The Oberon]

When a Lynham SAC mover got me a free, post leave, flight back to Goose Bay just simply by typing my name on the manifest. I had previously "gone through channels" and been told the flight was operational. Saved a shed full of cash, he was rewarded.

[Roebuck]

Manning a Snowplough being driven up Lyneham's main runway, singing my head off, and hearing a sweet wraf's voice, which i believe I recognised, and she me, over my headset saying ''you're on open mic'.

[Haraka]

Hitch hiking with an RAF carry all often swung a lift. " I picked you up because I saw you had short hair and I recognised the bag"

[The Oberon]

Hitch hiking with an RAF carry all often swung a lift. " I picked you up because I saw you had short hair and I recognised the bag"
And if you did get stuck in the early hours, finding the nearest Police Station, getting a bed for the night and a cooked breakfast before setting off again.

[BEagle]

Indeed, Haraka! A lot of lads would use some of HM's dayglo tape to write R A F on the bottom of an aircrew holdall, then wear it like a backpack to improve their chances of a lift.

Chugging back to London University in my old Anglebox in the early '70s I gave such a chap a lift from the Andover bypass to wherever it was he was going. We chatted amiably for a while until he asked what I did and I told him I was an RAF APO. Then he became rather "You officer, me OR" and sat staring out of the window until I dropped him off.

The same Anglebox let me down when I was driving from Cranwell proudly wearing my thin stripe. Somewhere on the Fosse Way it finally decided enough was enough and I just made it to a lay-by. I walked to Stow and found a police station - and a wonderful country Bobby sorted out recovery of the car to a garage and knew of Mrs someone-or-other who would put me up for the night. Her late hubby had been in the RAF and she would always help out 'Her boys in blue'.

But when 'The Troubles' became a serious threat we were ordered never to appear in uniform off-base and to conceal our military identity at all times. Such a crying shame.

[DODGYOLDFART]

I guess there must be a few left on here or perhaps lurking, that made it from the front gate of RAF Cardington to a fast jet training Squadron (Meteors/Vampires) in 16 months. Then in their wisdom their lordships decided to stop training National Servicemen to be pilots. I guess that was also about the time that the Auxiliary squadrons go the chop. Those were the days!!

[Roebuck]

Same same here. The card we carried read 'Halt Waqif, Halt Waqif, Halt Waqif or I fire'. at which point with somewhat unsteady hands you were allowed to load your five rounds into the mag. Did you ever stand guard aon the far side of camp (Khormaksar) at the small gate facing open bondu with Sheikh Othman in the middle ground? Why the NLF didn't attack that gate when you'd be the only human for miles, completely alone, at night, is a mystery to me. The R.A.F. Regiment came round once a shift to check if you were still alive! Being MRT, we were more NAAFI than Cam Club.

[Bill Macgillivray]

DoF,
Yes, I also remeber having to sign for a 3d (old currencey!) coin at Cardington,to buy a cup of tea on the train to Bridgnorth! I did not make the 16 months you quote, it took me about 22 months to OCU but I was quite happy! I am more than aware, however, of many changes in the system, and still have the greatest admiration for the current guys that I am sometimes privledged to meet! It is still (in my humble opinion) the best Air Force going!

Bill

[cynicalint]

Thinking how old master aircrew looked when I was 23, and realising that they were all more than 10 years younger then than I am now!

[NutLoose]

When a Lynham SAC mover got me a free, post leave, flight back to Goose Bay just simply by typing my name on the manifest. I had previously "gone through channels" and been told the flight was operational. Saved a shed full of cash, he was rewarded.

How cool is that :)

Wasn’t there a Chief that disappeared up in Scotland who simply asked a transiting US Aircraft heading back to the States for a lift and they said sure bud, hop on board, which he did.

I too had dayglo RAF on the bottom of my kitbag. It came in handy hitching.

[SASless]

Post a Friday Night Officers call at the Mess....mandatory attendance until the OC departed....and following consumption of far more to drink than I remember....was told I and a very lovely young Lady had won the Weekly Dance Contest....and me not being a Dancer when conscious warned me of the evil of harsh drink.

[artee]

Post a Friday Night Officers call at the Mess....mandatory attendance until the OC departed....and following consumption of far more to drink than I remember....was told I and a very lovely young Lady had won the Weekly Dance Contest....and me not being a Dancer when conscious warned me of the evil of harsh drink.
Someone said that dancing is "the vertical expression of a horizontal desire". Maybe that's why you were so good at it... :)

[SASless]

My upbringing by a strict Southern Baptist Mom may have prepared me for a profession not taken and as I am just not a dancer but was a helicopter pilot....and assuming your theory is correct then maybe I should have been a Southern Baptist Preacher as I love Fried Chicken too.:ok:

[Shackeng]

2-6 on the hangar doors.

[Fareastdriver]

The OCTU at South Cerney had an unitive test whereas the cadets had to hitch over the weekend and phone in on Monday to see who who had gone the furthest. One hitched to Fairford or Brize and blagged a trip over the pond. Monday's call was from some officer's club in the middle of the States.

They didn't run that exercise again.

[The Oberon]

The OCTU at South Cerney had an unitive test whereas the cadets had to hitch over the weekend and phone in on Monday to see who who had gone the furthest. One hitched to Fairford or Brize and blagged a trip over the pond. Monday's call was from some officer's club in the middle of the States.

They didn't run that exercise again.
Brilliant!

[teeteringhead]

as I am just not a dancer but was a helicopter pilot... Me too SASless - something to do with the total lack of normal coordination required to fly rotary!

AS Thoreau (sort of) put it, we of the helicopter persuasion "hear a different drummer...."

[Roebuck]

;)
NAAFI Leave Centres in Mombassa.

The NAAFI club in Chippenham.

The Chevrons Club just off Baker Street in London.

The Britannia Club in Singapore.

KD with buckles at both sides of the shorts and the rubber buttons.

Woolen KD socks.

All Bomber Command personnel had to have up-to-date Smallox, Yellow Fever and Cholera certificates.

Jnr Techs, Cpl Techs and Chf Techs in the General Office and Accounts - and in the Cookhouse and in Stores.

Cookhouse, Accounts, General Office.

When we had Clks Personnel, Accounts, Postal, Organisation and Administrative Assistant.

TAGs that worked in the Tin Room - What a job !
ay.








'We knew how to whinge but we kept it in the NAAFI bar.'
Philrigger: From your posts on this thread, we may have crossed paths. I was possibly on that Beverley from Djibouti you mention, and Lyneham as also a giveaway.

[Roebuck]

Philrigger

The MEAF comment made me wonder who else recalls the Mukeiras airstrip which we used during the Radfan campaign. At times it was immensely busy with a variety of AAC and RAF short haul a/c such as Twin Pins , Beverleys and Beavers.

I thumbed a lift in a Beverley back to Khormaksar after a few days with 45 Commando. He was taxying down the strip as I arrived and a quick jerk of the thumb caused an immediate halt and an opened door. They were good lads on 84 Sqn. Are things still as casual - and as effective ?


...and Habylayn, Ataq. Went to them on days off. Being on MRT made it that much easier.

Roebuck

[etudiant]

Post a Friday Night Officers call at the Mess....mandatory attendance until the OC departed....and following consumption of far more to drink than I remember....was told I and a very lovely young Lady had won the Weekly Dance Contest....and me not being a Dancer when conscious warned me of the evil of harsh drink.

Should instead have married her immediately, she obviously complemented you even in dimensions you did not know you had!

[SASless]

I am not sure I would want the Woman that would have me as a Husband....her thinking would sure beg questioning.

However, as the State Lottery schemes did not exist in those days....marrying an Army Helicopter Pilot in those days and having Life Insurance on him had a much better chance of a payout than any lottery ever had.

For real....the family Insurance guy heard I was in town and dropped by the house in an effort to sell me some Life Insurance....and was happily taking down my application as I was between combat tours and was on Leave prior to going back to my second tour.

When we got to "Occupation" and he heard Army Helicopter Pilot....he slowly shut his note book and said that even if his company would issue a policy.....I would not be able to afford the Annual Premiums.

I suppose they knew something I did not.

it did come to me in a flash so to speak a bit over two months later. The good news is the incident shaved ten months off a twelve month deployment....with two of those ten months laying around in bed listening to my skin grow..

[Fitter2]

Originally Posted by philrigger View Post (https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/290211-pull-up-sandbag-i-remember-when-post3523751.html#post3523751)
https://www.pprune.org/images/smilies/wink2.gif
NAAFI Leave Centres in Mombassa.

The NAAFI club in Chippenham.

The Chevrons Club just off Baker Street in London.

The Britannia Club in Singapore.

etc.

You omitted the best one; during Confrontation those enjoying a 12 month unaccompanied tour could take 2 weeks leave locally, or save it up for ones return to UK. The married contingent mostly saved theirs; I hitched a ride to Changi on a RNZAF Bristol Freighter, and set out with the intention of travelling slowly North to Penang, and the slowly back. The first half was as planned. visiting Malacca, KL and Ipoh at which point I arrived at the NAAFI/WVS run Sandycroft holiday centre on Penang. Having fallen in love with the island, the rest of the trip was spent based there. Sadly, I'm loth to return, as the deserted beaches one could cycle to are now lined with hotels, although I'm sure the sunsets are still as spectacular, and I know the young ladies at the establishments visited on evenings in Georgetown will have grown up somewhat. Reluctantly, a 20 hour train journey got me back to Singapore for another can of Tiger, and a Hastings back to Kuching.

[Slow Biker]

Arthur gently vomiting onto a meat platter that he continued eating.
On HF deployment a Regt flt cdr dug his own trench which he lined with straw then slept in it. The Rocks used it as a latrine.
Orderly dog. A knock on the window, one of the troops asking for a cup of tea at 3am. Great night he said, got pissed, had a fu*k, had a fight. Didn't know you had car says I, no, I found it said he. Get out of here, take it back to where you 'found' it and don't come back here.
Tired and emotional cpl staggering through the gate at Wildenrath. The police wanted to lock him up. You can't do that, I'm the Duty Armourer.
Armament Assistant asked to use the iron, yes, but you can only use that much electricity - pointing to a level on the conduit, he reckoned that would be enough. He had to get ready as he was fighting Billy Two Rivers in Lincoln Corn Exchange.
Flt Cdr to Armament Assistant (another one) XXX give me a lift over to the bomb dump, at which the AA swept him off his feet in a fireman's lift.

It just ain't like that anymore.

[Mr N Nimrod]

I too had dayglo RAF on the bottom of my kitbag. It came in handy hitching.
you’d need a decent sized bag to carry your carving materials - to make all those carbolic soap on a rope cocks you were so proud of. You know, the ones all the WRAFs loved back in the day. Must have been such a hit.

[charliegolf]

Nimmy, reminder: medication is every day.

CG

[Mr N Nimrod]

Nimmy, reminder: medication is every day.

CG
nurse had to double my med’s after reading the carbolic incident

[Warmtoast]

The Union Jack Club in Singapore
I remember it well, having stayed there whilst on leave from Gan in 1958.
My pic below.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1531x916/union_jack_club_singapore_da2ed14136e6127ee73f72d3dbc990ead0 500fa8.jpg

[NutLoose]

Waking up to the smell of burning, looking down the corridor horrified to see smoke pouring from under next room door, bangs on door no answer, looks through keyhole see drunken bod sitting on bed feeding the fire in his waste bin with magazines, bangs on door pleading, no answer, wake everyone then legs it down guardroom as one of Sqn on duty Sgt hoping he might make him see sense. Everyman and his dog called out and fire extinguished, guy looses his single room and moved back to dorm block. Thanks me for it.

[Lyneham Lad]

Ah, the Brit Club. Amusing to watch well-oiled Pongoes volunteering to be lifted up to try and stop the big ceiling fans with their heads. Not so funny when they threw (full) cans of Tiger up into the fans for a random distribution pattern around the room.

[The Oberon]

Ah, the Brit Club. Amusing to watch well-oiled Pongoes volunteering to be lifted up to try and stop the big ceiling fans with their heads. Not so funny when they threw (full) cans of Tiger up into the fans for a random distribution pattern around the room.
​​​​​​Even worse with eating irons!

[Null Orifice]

On one of the final night's celebrations prior to its closure there was quite a lot of damage caused by OR's who disliked the thought of the UJ Club becoming designated as the Singapore Armed Forces Officers' Club. Some of the known participants, along with other 'volunteers' from locally-based units, were subsequently invited to take part in the clear up.
At a disciplinary hearing at RAF Changi in late 1971, a statement from a redcap (Military Police) went along the lines of "....when I asked the accused, who was standing on top of the piano holding a fire extinguisher, what he was doing he replied "Putting out the fire Corporal!"
I'm not sure if this was the same piano that eventually ended in the deep end of the pool.

[SASless]

you’d need a decent sized bag to carry your carving materials - to make all those carbolic soap on a rope cocks you were so proud of. You know, the ones all the WRAFs loved back in the day. Must have been such a hit.

Nay Jimmie....if he was doing replicas of RAF Cocks....he would need very small tools and a very high powered magnifying glass to see his work.

[charliegolf]

Nay Jimmie....if he was doing replicas of RAF Cocks....he would need very small tools and a very high powered magnifying glass to see his work.

You've clearly been around RAF officers too long!:ok:

CG

[mopardave]

I'm almost embarrassed to contribute having read some of the posts.........but here goes! Standing in a field in Germany on ex Lion Heart getting pay (and LOA) in a brown envelope. Staring in disbelief at the prices in the NAAFI at St Georges Barracks in Minden. Growing up fast! My mate running into me and writing a Bedford TM off.......errrr, there may have been some paperwork involved but not much. Same mate blowing the turbo on the replacement TM and our SSM asking "would you like me to have an effing tow truck accompany you everywhere Docherty?!" Another mate who was "Don R" having his helmeted head stuffed through the grill of another TM when someone selected reverse instead of second and reversed into three of us chatting! Errrrr, definitely no paperwork on that one!! Falling asleep in a rest area and finding the convoy had moved off........waking the snoring lance jack in the drivers seat and asking for the map......"what map?" and thinking "we're f*cked now!"
This is without doubt, the best thread ever!!! My god, what an anodyne world we live in..........I'm waiting for a call from 1984 telling me I can go back! :{

[NutLoose]

Lionheart,
walking into a pitch black HAS to find some guy with a dim torch trying to do a bf on a Jag, asking why he hasn’t turned the lights on to be told it’s all in German and no one has showed him how to… educating the guy on let there be light and getting a cheery thanks.

[SASless]

Major Readiness Test of the Army National Units assigned to the 30th Infantry Division (Mechanized) to determine if the NG with additional equipment, funding, and training periods above the standard then in place could be ready to deploy to combat in six weeks time.

Venue...Fort Stewart south of Savannah in Georgia....August....HOT, lots of Bugs, Snakes, swamp, just the kind of place the Army loved.

Regular Army Inspection Team going through the Unit's as we arrived (mine the Division Aviation Company (UH-1 Hueys and OH-58 Kiowas).....Inspector with Unit TO and E in hand (Table of Organization and Equipment List)....going down the line of vehicles....encounters the spare Pilots lounging as only Army Warrant Officer Helicopter Pilots know how to do....not impressed the Colonel doing the inspection. Cued up snarky attitude of said Colonel when he discovered a non-TOE vehicle (per the Regular Army TOE) and insisted to know just what the truck was carrying.....response....that is our Shower Truck (locally modified with Immersion Heaters/Water Tanks, Shower Heads on each side complete with fold down wooden Pallets for the prevention of mud there of. Colonel not amused.

Then the Colonel encountered another non Reg Army Truck....this one with a generator with bulk fuel tank....and eight once coin operated Coca-Cola Canned Softdrink Machines....four for Soda Pop and four for Beer.

At which point said Colonel had the kind of Snit fit rarely seen in our Division Area.....and when reminded of the US Army Regulation that stated a Unit Commander was authorized to alter his Unit TOE to fit local requirements....the Colonel got very snarky indeed and asked just what the hell we thought we were doing bringing that....that....finger extended and quivering at the offending vehicles...to the Readiness Test!

When from in the ranks of the ranks of the attending Warrant Officer Pilots was heard....."Silly SOB (abbreviated for politeness)....does he think we are coming to the Field without our Showers and Cold Beer?".

The impact of that statement was one of the highlights of that six weeks in the wilds of Fort Stewart!

[Ascend Charlie]

We deployed some Hueys via C-130 to NZ for an exercise, and with us was an Army Ground Liaison Officer (GLOWORM) who brought his khaki-coloured Postie bike. The bike was almost empty of fuel, it just had enough for Major Malfunction to ride it down to the fuel dump, where he ordered the Corporal to fill it up.
"But..Sir..."
"NO BUTS CORPORAL! Fill it up!"
So, he filled it up, with diesel.
Mal got about 50 yards before the poor little thing wheezed and stopped. Mal was raging as he pushed it back to our lines and got his Captain to sort it out. Much muffled guffaws from the aircrews.

[Hydromet]

Wife of the RSM at an Officer Training Unit not far from Sydney had a baby daughter. Overnight, thanks to the efforts of the Chaplain and a couple of officer cadets, the parade ground canons were painted pink.

Next morning parade, the mock-angry RSM bellowed "Who painted the canons pink?"
From somewhere in the back of the parade..."It was the work of God."

The parade then collapsed in guffaws as the duty cadet ran a string of nappies (diapers) up the flag pole.

[CISAtSea]

How cool is that :)

Wasn’t there a Chief that disappeared up in Scotland who simply asked a transiting US Aircraft heading back to the States for a lift and they said sure bud, hop on board, which he did.

I too had dayglo RAF on the bottom of my kitbag. It came in handy hitching.

Especially when you had been dumped by a lift on unlit roads 12 miles from Saint Athan at 3am on a Monday morning! I am not sure what got me back on time, the risk of being run down or missing first parade.

[Roebuck]

BEagle, Does the aircraft name 'Bonaventure' resonate?

Roebuck

[NutLoose]

Bumming a lift in a Puma to Catterick allowing a short hitch hike home across country, getting out of the Puma when it lands beside another and thanking the grinning crew as I grab my bag and wander off, watching the pair of Puma departing with the still grinning crewman waving at me out of the door, arriving at the camp gate and having a All Creatures Great and Small moment when I realise I am in the middle nowhere, the camp is deserted and it certainly isn’t Catterick.