What about Tengah?

[MPN11]

Sorry, but all the talk of Akrotiri (beaches and Kokkinelli) has touched a nerve. What about the major RAF station in the Far East? Air Defence, Strike, FGA, PR and so much more. Four/Five resident operational squadrons, and unlike the Mediterranean holiday camp actually conducting warry operations.

I open the door to those who have had the pleasure and privilege to serve in the major outpost in the Far East in the 60s (and at other times). Bugis Street will obviously feature, but there was much more going on at WSRT!!

[Null Orifice]

Was detached to parent unit (60 Sqdn) from the permanent detached flight at Kuching in June 64. We were supposed to familiarise with/learn about the Javelin because I, and all bar one of my colleagues, had been posted by some brain-dead numpty to Kuching, having never been anywhere near the flying flat iron. We were given various tasks on second-line servicing which wasn't exactly useful for fron-line duty at the sharp end. Work aside, we had a reasonable social life including the Mally (Malcolm Club) on camp, and the inevitable 'sunrise over Bugis Street' - the taxi race back to Tengah from downtown Singers was always won by 60, with us being the only entrants!
Other times, a stop for a refreshing pint of curry juice at JC's stall outside the main gate was often the precursor to a gruff 'morning after' voice, not to mention the unavoidable selection of 'reheat' when seated on the ceramic throne.

[Tankertrashnav]

5 Squadrons? Pah! We had 6 at Seletar (34, 52, 66, 103, 110, and 209) plus an AAC Beaver flight and 65 ( Bloodhound) squadron. Not to mention two MUs, and JARIC FE where one SACW Pam Ayres worked. A few years later when I was on tankers we did a detachment to Tengah and did some AAR training with 74 Squadron. On one night sortie one of the Lightnings managed to break off his probe, leaving it in the basket. It was returned to 74 the next day along with a note which read - "Tiger, tiger burning bright, did you lose your end last night?" :).

You will recall that the four major airfields on the island, all in close proximity and on similar North/South alignments led to a few embarrassing incidents, such as the Air India 707 which landed at Changi, when Paya Lebar was its intended destination. Also a 64 Squadron Javelin from Tengah found itself almost out of fuel one night with not even enough fuel to get home. In spite of the fact that Seletar was closed, and in almost total darkness, the Javelin crew managed to find the runway. An erk strolling across the runway from East Camp to West Camp was frightened s***less when a Javelin appeared out of the darkness, howled over his head, and plonked itself down on the runway. :eek:

[pr00ne]

As these places shut nearly 50 years ago, shouldn't this be in History and Nostalgia?

[Fareastdriver]

On or about 1970 I was a member of a Board of Inquiry on a Tengah Lightning which had caught fire on start up owing to the port wing vent valve seizing and hurling fuel all over the fuselage. They were doing tanker training with a Victor at the time so as part of the investigation I had a look at the tanker's fuel logs on the last sortie this aircraft was on to see if it was doing it then. (it was)

We put in our conclusions but as we were Whirlwind and not Lightning qualified we could not suggest any corrections.

The ventral on a Lightning had an AC pump which was switched on during the start up checks and came on line when the first engine brought the alternator on which caused the overflow. Rather than fix the problem the SOP was changed to switching the ventral pump on at the take off point as enough fuel would have been used so that the wing tank would not be filled before becoming airborne.

A few months later somebody did this followed by a full reheat take off, rotate and climb. The extra fuel in the ventral caused the aircraft to G stall on the rotate and it spiralled into the ground killing the pilot and a villager.

It was nothing to do with me or the other members of the Board but I always backed out of doing another one.

[Tankertrashnav]

I seem to recall that "rotation climbs" were banned as a result of that accident. Any Lightning mates on here may either confirm or otherwise.

[Barksdale Boy]

Is that what was called "The Tiger's Leap"?

[MPN11]

Is that what was called "The Tiger's Leap"?
The "Tiger's Leap" was a near vertical departure to FL250+ to get above the airways that bracketed Tengah, allowing them to head off to the N/NE to play with Bukit Gombak. Not needed when playing to W over the Malacca Strait, as they could stay S of the airway that was running through the Jahore Baru beacon [5 miles N of the airfield].

[DON T]

Yes Tengah and Seletar must have been hard. We lot at Changi never ran out of duty free beer.

[MPN11]

On one night sortie one of the Lightnings managed to break off his probe, leaving it in the basket. It was returned to 74 the next day along with a note which read - "Tiger, tiger burning bright, did you lose your end last night?"It was subsequently mounted nicely on a wooden base, and lived on a shelf in the "Pigs Bar". ISTR the brass plate actually said "...Did you blunt your end last night."

A few months later somebody did this followed by a full reheat take off, rotate and climb. The extra fuel in the ventral caused the aircraft to G stall on the rotate and it spiralled into the ground killing the pilot and a villager.If we are thinking of the same incident, it was in 1969 and being video recorded. I believe the recommended 'pull' was 2.5g, but analysis suggested the pilot (Frank W.) actually pulled nearer 4.0g, leading to the g-stall.

[Tankertrashnav]

Thanks for the correction MPN 11 , I think you are right :ok:

[MPN11]

Now in my time (67-70) Tengah was a Mon-Fri operation, usually with Night Flying Mon-Thu. Thus weekends were leisure time... usually. Changi was the Master Airfield, open 24/7. However, it was not unusual for our OC Fg Wg (Wg Cdr M W P K) to open the airfield for the occasional weekend movement, such as a freight run. Why, you might ask, did that aircraft not go to Changi which was open anyway? Great careers are not built on saying "No", I suspect, and thus the assembly of ATC, Fire Section and a whole bunch of others would be required. These were almost exclusively shift workers, and thus would have to be 'invited' to attend their normal workplace on, say, Sunday morning. This obviously entailed a degree of phoning around to give out the good news. Now phone calls from work at the weekend only meant one thing ... and thus disguised voices would be used by the recipient to confound the caller, hopefully leading to a disconnected line. I never answered the phone in person at weekends, as a precaution!

[Fareastdriver]

was in 1969 and being video recorded.

That's the one. Apparently the pilot gave his cine camera to a colleague and asked him to film the take off................................

[BEagle]

I understand that a Tornado F3 mate, whilst out at Akrotiri on APC, decided to see what height he could reach. Full burner, accelerate to speed of heat, pitch to the vertical...and wait until V/S reached zero. All was going quite well until both engines decided not to play...and it wasn't until he'd lost a lot of height trying to regain control and restart that he began to breathe more easily.

Allegedly, a certain very unpopular WIWOL Air Marshal was all for throwing the book at him for flying his aircraft outside release-to-service limits.

Until, I was told, someone happened to ask the Air Marshal whether Lightning reheat rotation take-offs were within the Lightning's R-to S.

Whereupon the atmosphere became rather...chilly. F3 mate was simply told "Don't do it again!"

Hmmm...

[roving]

MPN11 were you conscious of 48 Red Beard bombs being stored at Tengah?

[Percy Cute]

I understand that a Tornado F3 mate, whilst out at Akrotiri on APC, decided to see what height he could reach. Full burner, accelerate to speed of heat, pitch to the vertical...and wait until V/S reached zero. All was going quite well until both engines decided not to play...and it wasn't until he'd lost a lot of height trying to regain control and restart that he began to breathe more easily.

Allegedly, a certain very unpopular WIWOL Air Marshal was all for throwing the book at him for flying his aircraft outside release-to-service limits.

Until, I was told, someone happened to ask the Air Marshal whether Lightning reheat rotation take-offs were within the Lightning's R-to S.

Whereupon the atmosphere became rather...chilly. F3 mate was simply told "Don't do it again!"

Hmmm...

Lightning F Mk 6 Pilot's Notes Pt 3 Ch1 para 4(e):
"If a "rotation" is to be performed after a reheat take-off, it must be started at a minimum of 260 knots, and acceleration limited to 3G". End of paragraph.

This was added as AL5; not sure when but pre-1971 (AL7 was Sep 71) and most probably post 26 Jul 1970.

PS 48 in Akrotiri, Too......

[MPN11]

MPN11 were you conscious of 48 Red Beard bombs being stored at Tengah?
One was aware, but it was NEVER talked about. ;)

I just happened to have a lot of fellow living-in mates who were on 45.

[MPN11]

Then, of course, we had the Javelin Mk. 9R (with refuelling probes). No 64 disbanded just as I get there, being replaced by No. 74 with the Lightning ... No. 60 soldiered on for a bit longer, giving us TWO Air Defence sqns with vastly different capabilities.

At the end of their Service life, the Javelins exhibited 2 particular characteristics. The first was on start-up, when a blocked vent from the Avpin (?) starter system would result in a huge bang, and the 2 large slipper-tanks (240 gal?) crashing onto the dispersal. The second was the failure of the u/c down-lock, due to wear ... basically a large hook which held the main gear in place. This would result in a graceful fold of the offending mainwheel, leading to an inelgant excursion onto the grass after landing. We used to get one or the other almost (literally) every week, and was a specific brief for new Local Controllers who may never have hit the Crash Alarm in their previous careers!

No. 64’s aircraft, post-disbandment, were deposited in F Dispersal, in front of the Officers Mess. Occasionally No. 60 would send a tug across to collect a ‘better one’ to replace one of their victims!

[roving]

MPN11 did you ever get to Penang/Butterworth?

I think the Australians had taken over Butterworth by the time of your posting to Singapore.

The 'rovings' drove up to Penang for a holiday in 1958.

A visit to the snake temple was fun but the highlight was a trip in RSL1654, which included a stop at a small island. I recall the fishermen standing in shallow water pulling in the fishing nets and there being great excitement that the catch included a small shark.
https://rsl1654.weebly.com/history-of-rsl1654.html

[Blacksheep]

The best place to be in Singers was, without doubt, that RAF R&R Centre better known as RAF Changi. Nothing else in the then huge, worldwide Royal Air Force came anywhere near it.
(P.S. ...and Tengah didn't have a monopoly on nukes)

[Davita]

My first trip overseas after 3 years as a Halton brat, as a new corporal, was to RAF Butterworth to service our detached Sqdn of Canberras sent from Binbrook to bomb the Malay Communist rebels in the jungle. Half-way thru' we were sent back to UK as the Suez Canal epic was brewing. I flew on the jump seat of a Canberra all the way back as one of the servicing crew.
Soon after bombing the airfields in the Suez we were returned to Binbrook where I had a notice of an overseas posting...to Singapore. I went on the maiden voyage of the Oxfordshire and, after landing in Singapore, a group of us were given a train ticket and told to go to Butterworth....alamat!

I served at Butterworth on the 'transit aircraft servicing flight' and occasionally went to Penang (Glugor) to work on visiting Sunderlands. The Australian Air Force took over Butterworth and the later leader of the "Baron Knights' (another story) and I drove my 'pride and joy' Riley one and a half litre to Singapore...we stopped at RAF KL for a night. The road then was hairy and full of twists and we saw a few accidents, where we took some people to hospital.. There was also a possibility of hijack by rebels so they gave us machine guns, unfortunately, they didn't instruct us how to fire them so they lay in the back seat.

My post was to RAF Tengah to be a seconded member of the Malay Aux Air Force. We had a couple of Chipminks and would fly them at weekends. Our two RAF pilots instructed the potential aircrew while we lectured the ground crew during a couple of weeknights at Paya Lebar and then practical at Tengah on the weekend..I flew on the Chipmunk so often I was able to return to UK and easily get my PPL.

I think that must have been when Tengah started to get more active with fighter aircraft as we were sent to Seletar to do the same job on the far side of the runway...which had traffic lights.

Exciting times for a young 18-21 year old.

[MPN11]

@ Blacksheep ... Oh, I remember Changi. It was where our controllers were sent when they couldn't cope with the pace and intensity of Tengah. I worked in Changi Tower for a couple of weeks with a colleague, training them on their shiny new PAR. It took quite a while, due to the lack of traffic ;)

@ roving ... no, furthest north I got was the public-funded fortnight’s mid-tour leave in the Cameron Highlands, where I discovered that Golf and MPN11 were not natural companions ;)

[Tengah Type]

I arrived at Tengah in Oct 63 as a 19 Year old Pilot Officer Navigator on a Bomber squadron. The land of Tiger Beer (Tiger Tops is for wusses) and numerous schoolteachers. In two and a half years I learnt all my bad habits which stood me in good stead on the Tanker Force.https://www.pprune.org/images/infopop/icons/icon14.gif
I can back up MPN11's assessment of "the pace and intensity" of Tengah ATC. One day, in a four ship of Canberras, we broke into the Visual Circuit as " Numbers7,8,9 and 10 Downwind with 4 in the Instrument Pattern". The traffic could vary from any/all of the Tengah based types plus a Single Engined Pioneer, a Beverley and a couple of FAA Buccaneers. Quite a range of airspeeds downwind.
"The pace and intensity" also applies to the Social life. Details of which can be read in my autobiography after the 50 year embargo has expired.https://www.pprune.org/images/icons/46.gif
Flying was also amazing with most of it being at 250ft AGL over the 200 ft trees covering most of Malaysia. One attack profile was level at 60ft. It is "rumoured" that a Canberra hit two Flying Fish over China rock range. These days you would be grounded before your first 6 months was up!!https://www.pprune.org/images/infopop/icons/icon7.gif

[MPN11]

Oh, getting Single Pins in amidst all the jet traffic was always ‘fun’. I recall telling one once to orbit the Officers Mess at 250ft .. “and I’ll call you back”! Or another one, on a rare brisk crosswind day, who I cleared to land effectively across the rw at the 36 threshold ... from where he gently taxied straight ahead into F Dispersal, where 20’s SPins lived in ‘69.


However, that’s enough ATC for now. Who else has printable Tengah memories? ;)

[Tengah Type]

In July 64 the Navy were preparing for a major exercise. All the ships were giving cocktail parties before sailing. The Monday night party lead to invitations to the Tuesday night party on a different ship on 21 July. I duly arrived, clad in white DJ, with 3 lady schoolteachers, wearing low cut tropical Cocktail Dresses. The party continued normally until it was time to leave. One of the ladies was remaining overnight on the ship, so the other 3 of us left to go home. When we got to the North Gate we were told by a Sikh guard that the gate was closed because " All of the natives were revolting!". We went to the South gate where an RN Policeman told us that there were massive riots taking place and that a curfew was in place. We then went to the Wardroom for news and refreshments, quite a good impromptu party occured. Eventually we were told that the curfew was on over night.

I arranged for the ladies to stay in the RN Teachers Mess and, since there were no spare cabins, shared the settees in the Ladies Room with a Canadian and an Australian Lts. The first few Lt Cdrs to say " It's nice to see sombody dressing for Breakfast" were quite funny, but it did pall with repetition. The curfew had been lifted so I collected the ladies to take them home. We were stopped every few hundred yards by roadblocks manned by British, Gurkha and local forces. They all seemed to enjoy the low cut dresses of my companions! Late morning I arrived at the Mess and phoned the squadron, to be told to report as soon as I was ready.

At the squadron I was told to report to the boss's office. He said " I hear you are a bit of a ladies man." I replied " Possibly, Sir". " Good" he says "All of the station wives have come in to the Coffee Morning, and the curfew has been reimposed. You are the Convoy Commander to take them home. Get your pistol from the Armoury and report to the Regt Flight to meet your escort". At the Regt Flight I was briefed on the situation - which was that all of the husbands were confined to base and the wives were on base for the Coffee Morning, leaving the kids at home with the Amahs. The wives had to be got home in convoy sharing cars. The escort was a Plt Off and 15 Regt personnel. If we were stopped by rioters I was to deploy the troops to protect the dozen or so cars and occupants, and stand in front pointing my .38 pistol at " The Ringleader" and say "Halt or I Fire" three times. If the attack continued and I ordered "Open Fire" I was now standing between the rioters and 16 Regt firing Rifles or Sterling sub machine guns!!. In those days General Duties officers were required to carry out " General Duties", hence me as a 20 year old Navigator as Convoy Commander.

We successfully delivered several wives home before we got to a large hirings patch.We were then told that the riots had broken out in the patch and one of the wives, who was at home, had rung Tengah to ask if somebody could remove the head that had just come over the garden hedge. I sent one of the Landrovers and crews up Chestnut Drive to recce the situation before attempting to take the ladies home. Followed shortly thereafter by a Landrover giving a passable impression of a Formula One car on its return. The Sgt briefed me that there were "Fahsands of the F******" so I decided to take the ladies to the nearby Bukit Gombak GCI site, until it was safe to take them home. We delivered the other ladies home safely and were recalled to Tengah. I never saw any rioting but had to negotiate my way through several Police and military roadblocks, none of whom knew we were coming. That was my entire career as a soldier. It seems not a lot had changed since the " Virgin soldiers " days!

[MPN11]

Ah, Chestnut Drive and the hirings known as The Squash Courts! A quick Google Earth shows that they've been demolished and replaced by a large estate of something entirely different. Well, they were a rather strange design! Another bit of nostalgia gone - my girlfriend's parents lived there. And, my subsequent little hiring at 18 Jalan Selanting in Bukit Timah has also been replaced by a bigger/better property. Vandals!! ;)

Your mention of the riots in 1964 has resonance. I guess it was 1968, when I was driving my 'topless Sprite' back from Kranji ranges after a morning out with the Stn shooting team. On the way, whilst passing through a village (Mandai?) I encountered a small crowd of protesters. I had little option but to floor the accelerator and get through as quickly as possible before they noticed me ... as I had half a dozen small-bore rifles in the boot!

[roving]

MPN11

I recall the golf course at Fraser's Hill.

Fun drive up there. Was it mornings for driving down and afternoon's for driving up?

[Tengah Type]

Roving

Can't remember, but it makes sense. Depart in the morning to get home in the evening, and arrive after lunch after the journey up there..

[goudie]

I was detached to Tengah in ‘64 with 32 Sqdn. Most of it is now rather hazy but I do recall the FAA guys placing a Citroen 2 cv ( the CO’s staff car!) on the roof of the officers mess.
I was most impressed by the extravagant ‘Christmas bars’ and doing the rounds was most enjoyable

[roving]

The only time I ever recall my dad being 'the worse for wear' was when he visited all the messes at KL on his leaving do.

When we arrived in KL in January 1956, we lived in a letting some distance from the Camp. I really liked it. I used to be transported in an Army truck to school, which was on an Army Camp known as Batu Cantonment.

When we eventually moved on to the R.A.F. Camp, I had a clear line of sight of the runway from the garden of the MQ, which was on the hill side above it. Saturdays in 1958 provided the highlight of the week. The scheduled passenger aircraft included a Bristol Britannia. I can smell the intoxicating perfume of its engines now.

[goudie]

roving, I spent ‘67-‘70 seconded to the the RMAF at KL. Best years of my service life

[roving]

goudie, a favourite of my mother's -- see photo above -- was Sandy Johnstone, a man of great charm. He was the founding father of the RMAF. Its pride and joy was a Twin Pioneer.

add:

This one.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/community/2014/10/17/planes-from-the-past-rmaf-museum-has-a-lot-of-potential-to-be-a-major-tourist-draw/

[MPN11]

Ahem ... meanwhile, back at Tengah ... :)

[goudie]

Thread drift, yes, most unusual. Did someone mention Changi?
Thanks for that roving

[MPN11]

BALLS. Towards the end (whimper) we had a very prolonged detachment of RAAF Mirages from Butterworth in 1969, as their runway was being resurfaced. To be more precise, Nos 3 and 75 Sqns RAAF moved in en masse, and operated their Mirage IIIs from Tengah for a couple of months or so. This event had a dramatic effect on Mess funds! So much so, in fact, that at a Mess Meeting it was considered that the under-used Mess tennis courts could be excavated and replaced by an Officers Mess Swimming Pool. This was generally regarded as a ‘Good Idea’, as it would save having to travel to the other side of the Stn to use the community pool.

And then Politics intervened, with the “Withdrawal from East of Suez”. Tengah’s days were numbered, the Pool became a bad idea. A further Mess Meeting was convened to determine what to do with the accumulated largesse kindly provided by our RAAF mates’ drinking habits. “Decision: It was agreed that a Ball would be held, at no cost to Mess Members and Guests attending.” It was a belter!! Bands of various types here there and everywhere, including the Gurkha Signals Pipe Band. Food and drink in profusion, enhanced by half a dozen Makan Stalls imported from downtown to provide constant nourishment inbetween the main dining offering (they were installed on the croquet pitch). The RAAF flew in by Mirage, with wives/squeezes/etc coming by RAAF Dakotas.

It was an amazing night of festivity and comradeship, helping slightly to overcome the fact that we were approaching the end of an era.

When the Ghurka Pipers had finished their performance I went across and asked, through their officer, how they ended up as Pipers. I was told by one Piper, “They came along the line and said ... Signaller, Driver, Piper, Signaller ... I became a Piper, Sir!” With the officer’s permission, I swapped a Mess Kit button with ‘my’ Piper. I’m not sure who was most pleased (although I was told he was thrilled to have an RAF Officer’s button) but that Gurkha button still lives on my Mess Kit link to this day.

[MPN11]

MPN11
I recall the golf course at Fraser's Hill.
Fun drive up there. Was it mornings for driving down and afternoon's for driving up?My major recollection of my introduction to Golf was one hole where you drove off towards a vertical hillside, with a marker at the top showing the direction of the hole.

[goudie]

More of an assault course than golf course.

[roving]

MPN11
Was this crash during your time in Tengah?
The BoI must have been difficult for all involved.

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=143816

[MPN11]

Yes, roving. Indeed I knew Frank W fairly well ... I have a couple of photos of him in my albums. A very sad event, and IMO un-necessary. I could add other comments, but that would be disrespectful.

At the time there was an opinion that he tried to fly it out of the super-stall using power, instead of just grabbing the stripey handle. I am in no position to comment on that.

We lost a few, although thankfully less than a handful in my time. Peter (?) T was the only other fatal I can remember (reheat bay fire, ejected too late downwind on his first F.6 trip on 74). I had met him for the first time the night before.

Athough a few bent airframes did occur on or adjacent to the airfield ... including Pete Squire’s VERY late ejection over Tengah Village when I was doing Local. His ‘chute deployed just as he reached the tree-line. As he said in the Bar later, “The chute deployed, the harness snapped, my visor dropped down, and as I reached up to lift it ... I hit the ground.”

[roving]

Lightning F.6, 26 May 1970

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=143815

[Fitter2]

Just like Null Orifice (Post #2 in the thread) I was posted to 60/64 Sqdn. Kuching detachment in May '64 never having played with Javelins, so was sent to Tengah or a month in June for familiarisation training. Accomodated in the 'Stables' convenient for the swimming pool and JC's curry stall. Frequent Mercedes taxi races to town and back. One day was advised by a local to get back to base as there was trouble - apparently a Chinese resident had thrown something at a Mohammed's Birthday parade and it escalated. We were confined to base until it died down, and as part of the preparations for further trouble found myself issued with one end of a banner reading 'If you pass this point you will be shot' in multiple languages. Requests for information om my personal status if they passed that point did not elicit an encouraging answer. In the event, after a few days normal Bugis Street sorties were resumed.

While at Kuching we could take 2 weeks leave either locally (transport to/from Changi available) or save it for return to UK. As a singly, local was welcome; I set of on a leisurely trip up the peninsula to Penang via Malacca, KL and Ipoh, intending to visit a few other places during the second week; arriving at the Sandycroft NAAFI Holiday Centre outside Georgetown started a 6 day stay there - too much opportunity for tourism and mischief.

Commuting Singapore/Sarawak on RNZAF Bristol Freighter or Beverley wasn't luxury air travel, but got you there. Happy days.

[roving]

arriving at the Sandycroft NAAFI Holiday Centre outside Georgetown started a 6 day stay there - too much opportunity for tourism and mischief.


A decade earlier, but at 7 minutes 15 seconds into this Astra Gazette film, you will see the NAAFI Penang holiday centre.

Astra Gazette No 4 - British Pathé (http://www.britishpathe.com/video/astra-gazette-no-4/query/Royal)

[lauriebe]

Roving, the leave centre shown in that news clip is not Sandycroft but the original RAF Leave Centre, Elysian.

The building was an old colonial villa that belonged to the family of an ex-RAF Changi Stn Cdr who, around the start of the Emergency period, allowed its use as a leave centre for Singapore-based RAF personnel only. Elysian was some two hundred yards up the road,closer to town, from Sandycroft which, at that time was the Army Leave Centre.

Elysian closed circa 1960(?) and NAAFI took over the Army centre which was then used by all the services. It was demolished some time ago and the site now houses four tower blocks of high-end condos.

Much of Sandycroft is still recognisable today and is now known as the Dalat International School.

[nipva]

MPN11 and Roving
In your posts on 29 May I think that you might be muddling 2 separate losses here (in addition to that of Frank W). It was Mike T (not Pete) who had the control problem downwind but that was in September 1968. The 26 May 70 loss was John (Jock) Webster who flew into the sea at night.

[India Four Two]

Much of Sandycroft is still recognisable today and is now known as the Dalat International School.
I’ve spent many years in Vietnam. The idea of a school in Penang having a Vietnamese name intrigued me, which lead me to this fascinating history:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalat_International_School

http://www.dalat.org/web/da-school-history/

As conflict began to grow in the region around Dalat School, missionaries who worked in neighboring countries questioned the wisdom of sending their children to Dalat. Was it safe? Then on Friday afternoon, April 16, 1965, the US. Embassy in Saigon notified the school that it could no longer guarantee its safety. Dalat was given 48 hours to pack up and leave.

It was Easter weekend. The school choir sang its cantata as planned on Sunday morning, but the rest of the time was spent sorting, packing, and crating. The librarian was allowed to choose 100 books. All file cabinets had slat crates build around them. The children’s bicycles and pets were left behind.

On Monday, four C-123 U.S. military planes safely transported the entire student body with its 11 tons of belongings to Bangkok, Thailand.

http://i.imgur.com/NEu88ZW.jpg

[polyglory]

Roving, the leave centre shown in that news clip is not Sandycroft but the original RAF Leave Centre, Elysian.

The building was an old colonial villa that belonged to the family of an ex-RAF Changi Stn Cdr who, around the start of the Emergency period, allowed its use as a leave centre for Singapore-based RAF personnel only. Elysian was some two hundred yards up the road,closer to town, from Sandycroft which, at that time was the Army Leave Centre.

Elysian closed circa 1960(?) and NAAFI took over the Army centre which was then used by all the services. It was demolished some time ago and the site now houses four tower blocks of high-end condos.

Much of Sandycroft is still recognisable today and is now known as the Dalat International School.
Happy days Laurie:))

[MPN11]

nipva ... yes, I did indeed get some of the facts muddled. It’s an age thing, of course!