'GET SOME IN'

[rolling20]

Spent a few enjoyable evenings watching re runs of 'Get Some In' on Forces TV. It has never been re run on mainstream TV, I guess phrases such as 'poof house', 'nancy boy' and 'jockstrap', don't go down well with today's sensitive audiences! I can't believe it was first shown over 42 years ago. It seems very fresh to me. Does anyone have any idea where it was filmed? Was it RAF based or just a MOD camp somewhere?

[PapaDolmio]

Dunno, but doing Basic at Swinderby in 82 wasn't much different.

[tartare]

I remember seeing that as a lad in NZ.
Loved it.

[Linedog]

It's available on u tube.

[sitigeltfel]

There are some opinions here as to the filming locations..

https://www.e-goat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?42182-Get-some-in

[rolling20]

Thanks siti, will check it out. The barrack blocks I guess are studio sets, but some of the furniture looks familiar.

[Martin the Martian]

I caught quite a few episodes when it was shown on UK Gold a few years back. Enjoyed it immensely.

[dfv8]

"Fag for the Corporal - Light for the Corporal"

[Pontius Navigator]

Dfy8 ah the joys of real English.

[BBK]

BBK Senior (Locking 1949) certainly enjoyed watching it. Although whether he was laughing or crying I wasn't sure!

[Arclite01]

My Dad watched it. He loved it - said it was just like his RAF National Service.

Particularly the bit where Cpl Marsh makes them crush all the coke from the stove into the floor...............my Dad said he was on very familiar terms with the floor polish and the floor 'bumper'..............

Great series

Arc

[The Oberon]

Going from my experiences of Locking, early 60s, it was a documentary.

[langleybaston]

I was staggered to find bumpers still in use in the all-civvy Met. Office at Linton in 1981. S Met O was apparently more concerned about keeping up with the RAF than he should have been. But was he keeping up, or was he a dinosaur?

Q. When was the last bumper bumped anywhere in the RAF [or, I dread to ask, do they bump on .......... ?]

[turbroprop]

Some out side stuff done at Halton. Cpl Marsh had some fun doing drill with some of Lord T's Brats.

[unclenelli]

Got all 5 DVDs, reminded me of Halton 9th Nov 1993, the very first intake of recruits after Swinderby closed! (Floor Buffers still in use!!)

As an ex-ATC CWO, I was determined to remain the grey man. As we were formed up and told to Right Turn towards the mess, I could spot around 6 other former ATC cadets, so once on the march (deliberately out of step) I struck up a conversation with the bloke at my side = instant bollocking & grey man disguise which I managed to maintain for 8 weeks (6 weeks + 2 for Xmas)!!!

23yrs to the day later, I was back at Halton RRU after almost ripping my arm off!


|'ll have to rewatch all of it to see if I can spot some of Halton.

But it's a good works pub-quiz question:
Where can you find RAF Skelton, Midham & Druidswater?

[Corporal Clott]

All on YouTube:
6QA2nOMPNRs

Yes, later parts filmed on Halton Hospital site and Recruit Training Squadron site. Spiritual home of the RAF. I still can't believe there is an aspiration to get rid of the place.

[India Four Two]

Just started watching - fantastic! Thanks, rolling20 for starting this thread.

Never heard of it before. How did that happen?

[charliegolf]

Swinderby, 1979, No 8 Flt. Aircrew Cadet Golf made Senior Man. Remained so for the whole six weeks- was that the norm? Or were they waiting to see if I'd get it right?

CG

PS, the DI, Sgt Robinson insisted on calling me, 'aerocrat'.

[Warmtoast]

arclite01


Particularly the bit where Cpl Marsh makes them crush all the coke from the stove into the floor...............my Dad said he was on very familiar terms with the floor polish and the floor 'bumper'..............


My photo of the barrack block in which I lived at Abingdon in 1959. Glow of the coke in the stove is just about visible, plus floor looks as though it's had a good "bumping".


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Abingdon/AbingdonBarrackBlockLarge.jpg

[Aerials]

I too, was familiar with the bumper and that orange polish from my time at Swinderby in '66. When I returned for a 4-year stint in '80 they were still in use until the rooms were 'carpeted' (not sure when, exactly) with some brown coloured industrial stuff similar to Scotch-Brite. I must say though, that after swinging the bumper for a while, one could get some satisfaction from a nicely polished lino floor of a job well done!

[BEagle]

...brown coloured industrial stuff similar to Scotch-Brite.

I guess that was the horrid 'Iron Duke' carpeting, which was widely used at the time in corridors etc., stuck down with evil smelling glue. Hard wearing and even harder on the feet.

The OM bar at Wattisham was (briefly) re-carpeted with the rubbish - until our excellent Luftwaffe exchange officers burnt a hole in it with a firework. They wanted to keep the damaged piece, to be framed with a plaque stating 'Luftwaffe attack on RAF Wattisham 1983 - 40 years late!', but some misery wouldn't allow it.

[tartare]

For a lad who were born in the mid 60s - you spent your 18 months `in' doing what?
I've checked on Wiki, but there doesn't seem to be much detail.
Basic training obviously, square bashing etc, but did you get taught a trade etc. Forgive my lack of knowledge, how close did you get to the sharp end?
Did anyone decide they liked it and stay on?

[Krystal n chips]

Don't knock the much maligned bumper.....it had a secondary use....as a deterrent.

Shortly after arriving at 1 Wing Halton, some of the more established residents decided it was time to make a few social introductions one evening.

As social introductions go, sadly, there was little in the way of the protocols and etiquette usually associated with such meetings. Those of us in the penthouse suite on the top floor watched this lack of social graces with growing interest.

Enter a Scottish gentleman. He carefully selected a bumper, and, ever mindful of terminal velocity here, lowered it over the balcony first..... before releasing it.

The cracked tiles in the foyer bore silent witness to his strategy and the happy crowd of wellwishers decided that they now had other matters to attend to....this decision being made in a remarkably short space of time after the arrival of the bumper in their midst.

Thereafter, harmonious relationships with the neighbours duly ensued.

[4mastacker]

I too, was familiar with the bumper and that orange polish from my time at Swinderby in '66. When I returned for a 4-year stint in '80 they were still in use until the rooms were 'carpeted' (not sure when, exactly) with some brown coloured industrial stuff similar to Scotch-Brite. I must say though, that after swinging the bumper for a while, one could get some satisfaction from a nicely polished lino floor of a job well done!


The Barrack Warden called the stuff "Iron Jute", we called it 'hairy concrete'. The adhesive that was used to stick it to the floor made yer eyes water for days - smelt very strongly of ammonia. Elf n safetea zealots would be apoplectic if it was still used.

The orange polish was pretty good at getting those coke stoves going if you were a bit short of kindling wood.

[ricardian]

My time at RAF Cosford 1959-61, 16 yr old Boy Entrants in wooden huts cleaning linoleum floors with paraffin prior to applying polish and then bumpering the lino to a high gloss. What could possibly go wrong? Other character-building tasks included polishing metal dustbins (interior as well as exterior) with Duraglit or Brasso and using razor blades to scrape handles of brooms and bumper until they were "clean"

[BEagle]

The Barrack Warden called the stuff "Iron Jute", we called it 'hairy concrete'.

Definitely 'Iron Duke', not 'Iron Jute'. If beer was spilt on it, your shoes would stick to the floor - another good reason not to spill beer! When it first appeared, we asked when the carpet would be delivered as only the 'under felt' had been laid. Not impressed when told there wouldn't be any proper carpeting.

We had some in the Flying Club (it was 'free'....). It subsequently clogged and ruined a Dyson vacuum cleaner.

Dreadful stuff.

[Wander00]

The trouble is, as I explained when lecturing resettlement courses in the 90s, programmes like this and Ain't Alf Hot Mum were what politicians and employers, especially the latter, thought service life and ex-service people were like.

[rolling20]

My second boss on leaving university, had an air of authority about him and alluded a sense of confidence. It came as no surprise when he showed me his 'Green Card' and Meteor night rating. He had been a National Service pilot and had employed me when he saw my UAS time on my CV, but didn't mention it at the time, or that we went to the same school!

[Wander00]

I often suspect that the "genuine occupational requirement" when I got my last (paid) employment in the 90s in a large yacht club was being an "Old Cranwellian", as that is what my new boss was too.

[Haraka]

I always though it ironic that all three Services had popular fictional series about them on the box around the same time in the very early 70's . (" Warship"? ) was almost an RN recruiting tool. The Army had something similar ("Spearhead"?).
The RAF:
.
.
.
. "Get Some In"

[WilliumMate]

Ah, Warship. Commonly referred to on the lower deck as Wardroom.

:hmm:

[goudie]

After the floor had been given a good bumpering, to preserve the shine,
everyone glided around on pads, which were made from old blankets.
For a highly advanced technical Service the RAF had some very old fashioned ways.

[Arclite01]

Bumper............

My Dad says that 1 person stood on it and another pushed them round to get a good shine.

He also confirms the 'bunch of rags on feet' to make sure the shine stayed...............

Re: Trades - apparently after RAF Cardington to report for call up, RAF Bridgenorth for basic he went to RAF Yatesbury for Radio school followed by 18 months at RAF Luqa on ASV13 (Shackletons 37 & 38 Sqn) followed by back to RAF Cardington for Demob. If he stayed the RAF would have given him promotion to Cpl (10 shillings a day) but Marconi were recruiting people outside the main gate for 15 shillings a day............. so that was where he went...............

Arc

[Motleycallsign]

MQ's in the 50's & 60's had the same flooring,(Iron Duke linoleum); however we did have a central carpet leaving a border round the room edge of said brown shiny stuff. My mum made us slippers out of old felt underlay so we could 'skate' round lino and therefore keep floor shiny and clean, good game good game!

[ancientaviator62]

Ricardian,
traducing Shakespeare, this is the stuff that nightmares are made of.
My memories too of Cosford 1958-60. And yet ....

[ricardian]

Ricardian,
traducing Shakespeare, this is the stuff that nightmares are made of.
My memories too of Cosford 1958-60. And yet ....

My 12 years of "man's service" 1961-73 were mostly enjoyable (especially Akrotiri) but towards the end at RAF Mountbatten I came to the conclusion that that I'd grown out of the RAF and happily joined the Civil Service as a GCHQ Radio Officer - thanks to the excellent RAF trade training & practical experience.

[kaitakbowler]

My 12 years of "man's service" 1961-73 were mostly enjoyable (especially Akrotiri) but towards the end at RAF Mountbatten I came to the conclusion that that I'd grown out of the RAF and happily joined the Civil Service as a GCHQ Radio Officer - thanks to the excellent RAF trade training & practical experience.

Ric. PWFY QULB etc etc.

[ancientaviator62]

Yes the RAF trade training in those days was second to none. Even our National Service chaps admitted that. Of course some of those called up signed on for an extra year to get better pay. My son in law's father did just that and became an Air Engineer just in time to fly on the Berlin Airlift. Then it was back to Jaguar as a test engineer.

[ricardian]

Ric. PWFY QULB etc etc.

At Cosford we were sent Morse at 21 wpm but with huge gaps between characters, as we became more proficient the gaps became shorter. I think we learned the shorter characters first - E, T, A, N and finally the figures with a few bits of punctuation (full stop, brackets on/off, hyphen, quote, unquote)

[kaitakbowler]

At Cosford we were sent Morse at 21 wpm but with huge gaps between characters, as we became more proficient the gaps became shorter. I think we learned the shorter characters first - E, T, A, N and finally the figures with a few bits of punctuation (full stop, brackets on/off, hyphen, quote, unquote)

Ric, the PWFY etc was the circa '63 Pattern Recognition Technique (PRT) method used to get us up to 24wpm.

It's a long time ago now, the other pattern groups have long since faded, but it's amazing what still pops up from time to time.

-... -

.--. - -

[Wander00]

As children my brother and I were puzzled by the parental finger tapping on the kitchen table - only years later did they admit that both having been GPO telegraphists they could in that way converse in private. Occasionally they used phonetic alphabet as well

[scarecrow450]

Our room at Swinderby wasn't carpeted in Oct 85, hence the need for the smallest man to sit on the electrical(yes I know but we had the old buffer as well !) buffer whilst our beds were balanced on our lockers.

My Uncle who joined as a volunteer in early 60's said it was just like that for him when he joined up, my Fathers biggest regret was as an apprentice he couldn't do national service as it was stopped whilst he was an apprentice.

[PapaDolmio]

Yes the RAF trade training in those days was second to none. Even our National Service chaps admitted that. Of course some of those called up signed on for an extra year to get better pay. My son in law's father did just that and became an Air Engineer just in time to fly on the Berlin Airlift. Then it was back to Jaguar as a test engineer.

It certainly didn't do my FiL any harm, aside from a rather unpleasant tour at troodos at the height of the EOKA troubles. 2 plus one as a regular in radio com's. Then straight into a job at Marconi and then the Antarctic with BAS. Was with them until he retired.

I've always been fascinated by the National Service period. It appears experiences were almost luck of the draw- some had a fantastic time which set them up for life, others not so. On top of that we mustn't forget those whose lives were lost or changed forever in Korea, Malaya, Cyprus, Suez and many other places.

[NRU74]

kaitakbowler
The order was:
PWFY QLUB DXRS MJGZ CHKVN AOITE
I still use some of them for my passwords !

[Fareastdriver]

Would you PM your bank account details?

[NRU74]

Would you PM your bank account details?

I have actually been to Lagos !
It left a lasting impression.

[kaitakbowler]

kaitakbowler
The order was:
PWFY QLUB DXRS MJGZ CHKVN AOITE
I still use some of them for my passwords !

Thank you, I wonder if, like me, you can't hear the William Tell overture without your fingers wanting to go ASDFLKJHG?

PM

[reynoldsno1]

As children my brother and I were puzzled by the parental finger tapping on the kitchen table - only years later did they admit that both having been GPO telegraphists they could in that way converse in private. Occasionally they used phonetic alphabet as well
My Dad and one of his mates were both W/Op A/Gs during the war. After a few beers at the local they would often talk in Morse Code to each other. Hours of endless amusement for all ....

[Blacksheep]

charliegolf: Re: "Aerocrats"
PS, the DI, Sgt Robinson insisted on calling me, 'aerocrat'.
In 1964 Aircraft Apprentice entries ceased and the new split of Craft and Technician Apprentices was introduced. The recruiting advertisements of the time invited young men (no women) to apply to join the Royal Air Force as Technician Apprentices and become Aerocrats - much to the derision and amusement of all serving personnel.

[Fareastdriver]

I always thought that aircrew were aerocrats and the people on the ground were groundocrats.

[roving]

Robert Ellis, whose dad had a fish & chip shop in Nelson, Lancashire, signed on at the age of 15 in 1955 and retired in 1980 at the age of 40, as a Squadron Leader, having been a wireless mechanic, air loader, ATC & Strike Command Staff Officer.

It is worth listening to if only for the expletives ;

Ellis, Robert (Oral history) (34456) (http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80033439)

[ptr914]

On my arrival at my first unit after Halton in 1970 I was directed to the Aerocrats Mission Alert Centre. The coffee was very good.

[Four Turbo]

As an ex Swinderby Flt Cdr: Senior Man was the most important appointment! A good one could get everyone on parade before my Drill Corporal arrived at 0730. A bad one did not survive for long before we replaced him. We had an entirely free hand in identifying a likely candidate. Big, tall and ex ATC was a good start. Or just gut instinct when we had a look at them. One such was the best we ever had, until three weeks in the plod arrived to reclaim him as a fugitive from some establishment! When we went camping in Sherwood Forest the first job was to dig a pit six feet deep and six feet square. A good senior man just asked who had been with Wimpey or the like and handed them the spades. It was the first thing some of them had understood since joining up. We could usually find good ex caterers for the kitchen the same way; some really first class curries could be produced. Not a bad job - with a free Landrover thrown in. My Sergeant and I managed to lose it one day out in the Forest looking for new camp sites (don't want to hit that pit again). No problem says Sarge as I am thinking up how to explain things. Walked back to camp (damn!) and assembled 150 recruits. "We have hidden a Landrover out in the area. Teams of four out now; first to find it gets double rations". Result in under 40 minutes. Happy Days - until it rained.

[dchester]

Just wanted to say thanks for posting this - given me a great few days of laughs watching it.

[PapaDolmio]

What it does make me laugh is the way it portrays the fear of being left to the tender mercies of the RAF Regt during recruit training that was still prevalent at Swinderby in the 80's.
Two scenes spring to mind:
Richardson going into the Regt Flight to ask if they've seen his missing kit. Que shouting, cheers etc whereupon he reappears somewhat dishevelled 'They're animals in there!'
Followed later on when facing off against the Regt Opfor before the field exercise:
"But it's not fair...they're men!".
Top stuff!

[oxenos]

Ellis, Robert (Oral history) (34456)

One error in transcription in the accompanying text. He said he had been posted to 215 Sqn, which did indeed fly Argosies from Changi, Whoever transcribed the text has mis-heard him, and there are references to 205 Sqn, which lived just across the pan from 215, and operated Shackletons.

[Barksdale Boy]

PD

Agree: entry to and exit from Regt hut is my favourite memory.

[FlapJackMuncher]

For a lad who were born in the mid 60s - you spent your 18 months `in' doing what?
I've checked on Wiki, but there doesn't seem to be much detail.
Basic training obviously, square bashing etc, but did you get taught a trade etc. Forgive my lack of knowledge, how close did you get to the sharp end?
Did anyone decide they liked it and stay on?All my Dad ever said was he used to calculate the amount of parachute required when dropping equipment out the back of aircraft - someone found out he was doing a maths degree.

[langleybaston]

All my Dad ever said was he used to calculate the amount of parachute required when dropping equipment out the back of aircraft - someone found out he was doing a maths degree.

Regarding National Service airmen:

anybody eligible for service employed previously as an Observer by the Met. Office just did the square bashing bit and was posted to do his thing on an RAF station.

This did not provide enough observers for far away places with strange sounding names, so lads with relevant qualifications [maths, english, a science etc]., were given basic training, then a shortened observers' course, and off they went for about a year.

At RAF Nicosia I had some great chaps...... son of a Cunard Captain, a Customs and Exercise officer, an Estate agent, the nephew of the Mad Major and several others. All had Chuff Charts, logging "days to do" divided by "days done". As their time was up they were replaced by LEOs ...... locally employed observers. These latter taught me to swear in Greek and Turkish.

[ian16th]

In 1955, for a 'Nashie' to get on a Radar Fitters course, the pre-requisite was to have a degree. What the degree was in didn't matter! In their wisdom the RAF decided if you had a degree, you had the aptitude to learn, therefore they could teach you.

The 9-month course was a very significant investment by the RAF, as with the Square Bashing, this was half of the man's service.

I believe that part of the rational was that the Nashie would also be on the Class 'Z' reserve and the return on investment cashed in if the balloon went up.

My Fitters Course was 20 strong, split evenly with 10 National Service AC2's and 10 regular SAC's. Of the SAC's 9 were ex-Boy Entrants, most who knew each other.

So we had a bunch of guys, half university educated getting 3/6 a day, and the other half that probably didn't have a GCE between us getting 11/- a day!

A real oil & water mix. But by the end of the 9 months, we really were all mates.

[roving]

oxenos, this is an even better story and no listening required.

RAF&SDFSA-Biographies (http://www.rafanddfsa.co.uk/biographies.html#Colin_Hall)

A very close female relative of mine went from enlistment as a teenager to GD branch S/L and then became a public school bursar.

[Flap Track 6]

For a lad who were born in the mid 60s - you spent your 18 months `in' doing what?
I've checked on Wiki, but there doesn't seem to be much detail.
Basic training obviously, square bashing etc, but did you get taught a trade etc. Forgive my lack of knowledge, how close did you get to the sharp end?
Did anyone decide they liked it and stay on?

My step father was trained as an RAF Police Dog Handler on his National Service. He narrowly missed the Sutton Wick Beverley crash that a lot of his course mates were on.

[EngAl]

Ian16th
I was looking at a Piston Provost at RIAT this year and telling my friend it was used for training, when the chap next to me said he'd learnt to fly on them in 1954. He was on 2 years national service and hadn't had to extend. He moved on to the Vampire and when I asked him if he'd done any productive flying he said he hadn't. In his words the scheme was a sprat to catch a mackerel. When I asked how many of his cohort had stayed in after their 2 years he said very few, hence the scheme was stopped soon after. Against that, getting a year out of a radar fitter doesn't seem so bad?

[ricardian]

In 1955, for a 'Nashie' to get on a Radar Fitters course, the pre-requisite was to have a degree. What the degree was in didn't matter! In their wisdom the RAF decided if you had a degree, you had the aptitude to learn, therefore they could teach you.


RAF Driffield 1961 - the last few National Servicemen were in my room. One was a Jnr Tech who had a BSc and in civilian life designed Rolls Royce engines. The RAF made him a Ground Wireless Fitter. And in the Education Centre at RAF Cosford 1959-61 the only difference between the National Service Cpl Techs and the Pilot Officers was their accent and their approach to the job. One Plt Off tried to teach the resistor colour code using "Bye Bye Rollie, Off You Go..." whereas the Cpl Tech used the non-PC but more easily remembered "Billy Brown Raped Only Young Girls..."

[Arclite01]

My Dad remembers a guy from GEC who had worked on Rebecca in Civvie street. Once they found that out, he spent his whole 18 months at Luqa in the small Rebecca hut at the end of the runway, no requirement to attend parades or anything else............. beacon serviceable 100% of the time.

No idea what happened after he left.................

Arc

[ian16th]

My Dad remembers a guy from GEC who had worked on Rebecca in Civvie street. Once they found that out, he spent his whole 18 months at Luqa in the small Rebecca hut at the end of the runway, no requirement to attend parades or anything else............. beacon serviceable 100% of the time.

No idea what happened after he left.................

Arc
The small hut at the end of the runway contained the BABS* transponder; this was interrogated by the Rebecca equipment in aircraft.

The 'BABS hut' was usually at the end of the main runway, there were also 'BABS Vans', that were used at the end of other than main runways. These were based on a Standard 9 van and had a fold out reflector system around the aerial. The vans were driven into a ramp that was edged with something akin to railway lines to line the van up with the runway.

It wasn't normal practice to have the BABS hut/van manned, it was only visited in the morning for its 'daily inspection, and in the case of a runway change, or a navigator snagging it.

With Rebecca MkIV, the navigator could see the signal and detect any deteriation in signal quality, so they could inform the tower who would call ARSF.

The Lindholme BABS Van was the 1st motor vehicle I ever drove.

*Blind Approach Beacon System.