RAF Gaydon Victor fox hunt incident
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Thank you! Yes a senior moment, I did mean 10 and 15, and also forgot to mention, [in 1962] the trials unit of four Victor B2s. "C" Squadron as I recall
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Johnny Johnson.
I never encountered Johnny Johnson on "V" Bombers , but he was A.O.C. of M.E.A.F.while I was in Aden.When he took over the job everyone was trying to get a look at him , to see if he was wearing "Bondoo Boots". The regulation RAF shoe was uncomfortable in that heat , and there was a rumour that the new boss would change the footwear rule by example . Anyway , he was seen wearing bondoo boots and everyone else started wearing them too .He obtained a couple of early Canberras which he had sprayed white , with "V" bomber anti flash paint .It was said to cost £500 a tin in 1960 money . I suppose they were his personal sports cars. Anyway they kept going U/S and it was decided that ASF jets and ASF pistons would do a major on one each . I worked in ASF jets so got to work on our one for about 3 months . The riggers changed the canopy but it would not fit , despite hours of filing . Eventually they found they had a Belfast hood but it was a Wharton Canberra , or the other way round . Anyway they got the right hood and fitted it . After a couple of test flights , both Canberras were scrapped . The [brand new ] engines were removed , placed outside the hangar , and later smashed up by an old corporal who,s job was to cut up old aircraft .[As were both hoods from our one .]
Various rumours circulated about Johnny Johnson , none of which may be true . One was that he sent a Beverley down to Kenya to fetch some top soil for his garden . Another that he ordered another AOCs inspection of a base in Kenya , because he found a cigarette end in a hangar.The AOCs inspection was said to cost £6000000 , but I can,t imagine what that was for? The Canberras were replaced by an Avro 748 and I saw Johnny Johnson run it into the soft gypsum next to the runway .
My own gripe with him was this . I had a jazz band in Aden . " The Original Treadmill Snycopators" . ASF Jets gave me a day off after each gig that we played , as I was contributing to the morale of the chaps . [making it worse , probably] Unfortunately , this meant that the work I should have done was done by my corporal , Bob [Jock] Robertson from Inverkeithing . So I just used to go in late . I was staggering in one morning , still reeling from the many pints of Tiger beer that the W.V.S. had paid the band in [[in lui of cash] I had to walk past a Twin Pioneer .I passed under the wing and very close to the prop when Johnny Johnson fired the starter cartridge , just about level with my ear . No doubt his idea of a joke . To conclude , Aden was said to cost £2000000 a week to run [in 1960 money , you know , groats ] What a waste.
Various rumours circulated about Johnny Johnson , none of which may be true . One was that he sent a Beverley down to Kenya to fetch some top soil for his garden . Another that he ordered another AOCs inspection of a base in Kenya , because he found a cigarette end in a hangar.The AOCs inspection was said to cost £6000000 , but I can,t imagine what that was for? The Canberras were replaced by an Avro 748 and I saw Johnny Johnson run it into the soft gypsum next to the runway .
My own gripe with him was this . I had a jazz band in Aden . " The Original Treadmill Snycopators" . ASF Jets gave me a day off after each gig that we played , as I was contributing to the morale of the chaps . [making it worse , probably] Unfortunately , this meant that the work I should have done was done by my corporal , Bob [Jock] Robertson from Inverkeithing . So I just used to go in late . I was staggering in one morning , still reeling from the many pints of Tiger beer that the W.V.S. had paid the band in [[in lui of cash] I had to walk past a Twin Pioneer .I passed under the wing and very close to the prop when Johnny Johnson fired the starter cartridge , just about level with my ear . No doubt his idea of a joke . To conclude , Aden was said to cost £2000000 a week to run [in 1960 money , you know , groats ] What a waste.
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Not as bad as the day when the 12 Sqn (Vulcans) mascot, a fox, escaped from the Oi/c and was flattened by a 12 Sqn Vulcan on its T/O run as the fox crossed the runway on its escape route back to the wild
!
Foldy
!Foldy
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Similar at Topcliffe in the early 80's. The Bedale Hunt invaded the airfield. Bulldogs buzzing about, Hounds huzzing about, Charlie Fox f****** about, Horses horsing about (?)....whatever.
I was despatched in the ATC Landrover to get them off the airfield. Coo, what fun. 40 odd hounds, 1 Master, 2 Whippers-in and muggins trying our best, when over the STORNO radio came the ATCO i/c (he was never a SATCO), "I WANT THEIR NAMES, I WANT THEIR NAMES".
My response that there were "Spot, Rex, Bingo, Prince, Bonzo, Laddy etc" did not go down well.
The chap had no sense of humour. Although the Matelot's thought it was a lark.
Ah well, I really enjoyed being Orderly Dog for two weekends in a row.
Happy days.
I was despatched in the ATC Landrover to get them off the airfield. Coo, what fun. 40 odd hounds, 1 Master, 2 Whippers-in and muggins trying our best, when over the STORNO radio came the ATCO i/c (he was never a SATCO), "I WANT THEIR NAMES, I WANT THEIR NAMES".
My response that there were "Spot, Rex, Bingo, Prince, Bonzo, Laddy etc" did not go down well.
The chap had no sense of humour. Although the Matelot's thought it was a lark.
Ah well, I really enjoyed being Orderly Dog for two weekends in a row.
Happy days.
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the 12 Sqn (Vulcans) mascot, a fox,
Flt Lt 'Deux Crosses' of 20 Sqn Hunter days, if I recall correctly from the 20 Sqn scrapbook back when I held at Wildenrath for a few weeks in 1975? Of course they had Harriers by then.
The tortoise had a couple of white crosses painted on its shell.
The tortoise had a couple of white crosses painted on its shell.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Don't know the answer to that but I do have a 'decent' photo in my log book. The coffee bar had originally been moved from Binbrook to Coningsby and eventually sold to IX.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
He bought an Armstrong Siddley as his duty-free car. Kept it in the garage most of the time and had it flown home with just 1600 miles on the clock. Customs were not in awe of the famous ace and charged him full duty as he had not used the car in the previous 12 months.
JEJ wasn't the only one though. The Flag Officer needed a new residence. To save money it was decided to use the concrete gun platform from WW2. A round house was duly built and so was special curved furniture to fit.
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Gaydon Incident 1963
This thread is getting further away from Gaydon and I,d like to bring it back if I may? Firstly I,d like to thank PPRuNe for enabling me to have a conversation with a good friend who I havn,t seen for 45 years . I don,t know much from computers and my son logged me on to PPRuNe and chose my age as 32 , and the daft name of "Janot Lapin" . I was told in Brittany that this was Bugs Bunny,s name in France? Janot is pronounced Janno , and NOT Janet! And I am actually 65.
I am also grateful to the chap at Karup who started the thread. As John Moore [Patricia Forrest,s husband] said , "There is no such thing as bad publicity. And many more Christmas cards will have been sold , and the charity benefitted due to this thread .
Sam Weller has told me that he saw the fox hunting incident . The pans were in a four leafed clover layout and he was looking at the hunt from the same angle as me , but further away . He said he,d assumed somebody took a photograph of it . Not so .
I decided to commission the painting after attempts to contact old comrades had drawn a blank . I joined "Friends Reunited" , but the only person listed there , somebody I,d worked with every day for two years , didn,t remember me . The idea of the painting , and the Christmas cards , was that people would like them , buy them , send them to old mates and finally I would get in touch with somebody who actually remembered me! And so it has turned out.
Chiefy Swinburne ordered one of the prints , Group Captain Everitt [ex Station Commander] phoned me up one day to chew the fat . I complained that as I was not allowed to have a camera on the squadron , I had no photos of my time at Gaydon . Group Captain Everitt posted me his personal photo albums and I had some of the photos copied , which are now framed and hung on the wall .
I have been asked by e mail which Victor it was . On this my memory disagrees with Chiefy Swinburne , I say XA 926 , but he says it was his aeroplane , XA 941 . I,ve had another e mail saying that there should have been a ground generator parked next to the Victor . True there was , but I couldnt find a photo of one to send to the artist . I contacted I.W.M. Duxford to ask if they had a photo , or a generator in the collection [it was a massive piece of kit with a Rolls Royce engine] Anyway , I got no answer from Duxford so decided that as it was a narrative painting , and done from a memory 45 years old , it didn,t matter that much .
I have been asked how the scene was conveyed to the artist . She asked me to sketch what I wanted . To say I have no artistic talent is putting it mildly , I just couldn,t do it .
So , getting a large piece of white card [snow] I bent up the back edge and one side edge . Then drew trees on the left and a fence on the back . A "Corgi" Victor B2 would have to do for the aircraft [which was actually a B1] and Chiefy Swinburne and I were little china figures , cheap Spanish souvenirs , belonging to my wife . The hunt were portrayed by donkeys , also ex Spain . I photographed the scene and posted it to Pat Forrest . When she had stopped laughing she started work on the painting , and all things considered I think she did a good job .
To conclude , I have had several e mails concerning incidents involving Artie Shaw , security at the base , and one about "Bluey" , the drinking buddy of the "Artificial Horizon leveling set" diminutive Scots storeman .
The people concerned do not want these stories to appear on PPRuNe and I can only comply with their wishes .
That,s about it from me , and a Happy New Year to all PPRuNers , all who contacted the thread , and anyone who bought cards and prints .
Ex S.A.C. John [Shingles] McVey.
I am also grateful to the chap at Karup who started the thread. As John Moore [Patricia Forrest,s husband] said , "There is no such thing as bad publicity. And many more Christmas cards will have been sold , and the charity benefitted due to this thread .
Sam Weller has told me that he saw the fox hunting incident . The pans were in a four leafed clover layout and he was looking at the hunt from the same angle as me , but further away . He said he,d assumed somebody took a photograph of it . Not so .
I decided to commission the painting after attempts to contact old comrades had drawn a blank . I joined "Friends Reunited" , but the only person listed there , somebody I,d worked with every day for two years , didn,t remember me . The idea of the painting , and the Christmas cards , was that people would like them , buy them , send them to old mates and finally I would get in touch with somebody who actually remembered me! And so it has turned out.
Chiefy Swinburne ordered one of the prints , Group Captain Everitt [ex Station Commander] phoned me up one day to chew the fat . I complained that as I was not allowed to have a camera on the squadron , I had no photos of my time at Gaydon . Group Captain Everitt posted me his personal photo albums and I had some of the photos copied , which are now framed and hung on the wall .
I have been asked by e mail which Victor it was . On this my memory disagrees with Chiefy Swinburne , I say XA 926 , but he says it was his aeroplane , XA 941 . I,ve had another e mail saying that there should have been a ground generator parked next to the Victor . True there was , but I couldnt find a photo of one to send to the artist . I contacted I.W.M. Duxford to ask if they had a photo , or a generator in the collection [it was a massive piece of kit with a Rolls Royce engine] Anyway , I got no answer from Duxford so decided that as it was a narrative painting , and done from a memory 45 years old , it didn,t matter that much .
I have been asked how the scene was conveyed to the artist . She asked me to sketch what I wanted . To say I have no artistic talent is putting it mildly , I just couldn,t do it .
So , getting a large piece of white card [snow] I bent up the back edge and one side edge . Then drew trees on the left and a fence on the back . A "Corgi" Victor B2 would have to do for the aircraft [which was actually a B1] and Chiefy Swinburne and I were little china figures , cheap Spanish souvenirs , belonging to my wife . The hunt were portrayed by donkeys , also ex Spain . I photographed the scene and posted it to Pat Forrest . When she had stopped laughing she started work on the painting , and all things considered I think she did a good job .
To conclude , I have had several e mails concerning incidents involving Artie Shaw , security at the base , and one about "Bluey" , the drinking buddy of the "Artificial Horizon leveling set" diminutive Scots storeman .
The people concerned do not want these stories to appear on PPRuNe and I can only comply with their wishes .
That,s about it from me , and a Happy New Year to all PPRuNers , all who contacted the thread , and anyone who bought cards and prints .
Ex S.A.C. John [Shingles] McVey.
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Gaydon Incident
Hi, and Sorry, unless my miserable memory has failed me it was 232OCU RAF Gaydon. Whilst I was there 1958-9 we had A & B flight. A of Victors and B of Valiants. Guess nobody could work out that V was for them all. In 1963 I'd returned from Akrotiri, 32 Sqdn to RAF Cottesmore with 10 and 15 Sqdns Mk1 Victors and later to become Mk 2 Vulcans but after that I'd gone off to a vacation in Aden!!
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Cottesmore
Having only just caught up with this Forum. I was at Cottesmore 1962 - 1966 with Johnny Johnson as CO.
I was an armourer and could be seen many a day on the top of any of 10 or 15 Sqdns Victors arming them for QRA.
What particularly grabbed my chain from you forum chat was, and maybe I've got this wronge, Snow locked Cottesmore I can recall, especially in 1962 after the snows!! But it sounded as if you might have a picture of it, or was that in your minds eye?
I was an armourer and could be seen many a day on the top of any of 10 or 15 Sqdns Victors arming them for QRA.
What particularly grabbed my chain from you forum chat was, and maybe I've got this wronge, Snow locked Cottesmore I can recall, especially in 1962 after the snows!! But it sounded as if you might have a picture of it, or was that in your minds eye?
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Victor Fox hunt incident
Of track slightly, as a student nav at Bishop's Court in 1952, one of the staff pilots ran a beagle pack, and students were detailed off as followers. To the unitiated beagles are followed on foot.
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Victor and Sycamore.
Something that has bothered me for 46 years. Maybe somebody will know the answer.
At Gaydon there was a series of tests done as follows. A Victor MK 1 would go to the end of the runway and prepare to take off. A Bristol Sycamore helicopter would hover, at about 50 feet, about two thirds of the way down the runway. The Victor would accelerate up to flying speed, when the previously drooping wings would "stand to attention" ready for takeoff. Shortly after this the Victor would pass directly under the Sycamore. The Victor would land and it would all start again. Unusually, I never heard any rumours or explanation about this. I watched many such tests, while doing pre-flights on "A" Squadron Victors. Sitting in the cockpit I had a grandstand seat. I was always impressed by the courage of the two crews. It could so easily have ended in tragedy.
Come on PPRuNers, What was it for?
At Gaydon there was a series of tests done as follows. A Victor MK 1 would go to the end of the runway and prepare to take off. A Bristol Sycamore helicopter would hover, at about 50 feet, about two thirds of the way down the runway. The Victor would accelerate up to flying speed, when the previously drooping wings would "stand to attention" ready for takeoff. Shortly after this the Victor would pass directly under the Sycamore. The Victor would land and it would all start again. Unusually, I never heard any rumours or explanation about this. I watched many such tests, while doing pre-flights on "A" Squadron Victors. Sitting in the cockpit I had a grandstand seat. I was always impressed by the courage of the two crews. It could so easily have ended in tragedy.
Come on PPRuNers, What was it for?
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Gaydon Reunion.
Is anyone interested in an R.A.F. Gaydon reunion? It will be 50 years next year since I went there,and the Heritage Museum there sometimes hosts reunions.The chap to contact there is John Bishop if interested.John Shingles McVey
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RAF Gaydon - Victors & Dogs
Having received a Christmas card with the Gaydon Incident on it, I decided to go on line and found all the comments which brought back many memories of my service at Gaydon 1959/1961. During that time I was and RAF Police dog handler and spent many hours walking around the Victors overnight, but can't say I recall any fox hunts. However, it was not unusual to have independant securty check visits attempting to get undetected entry at all time of the night on the airfield and on the adjacent high security Bomb Storage - fortuntately I always managed to catch them - with the help of my dog called Air Dog Major of course. Would be nice to hear from others at that time.
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I was at Gaydon 1961-62, 232 OCU Victors, as an NBS Cpl. Tech. The Squaddie was named Hall, always known, of course, as Henry because of the band leader of that name.
Memorable moments:
The whole station was abuzz in '61 at the news that NATO C. in C. General Nordstadt was paying us a visit. Everything that wasn't moving was painted, and we ground staff were issued white overalls. We were all keen to see what would be the latest USAF jet he arrived in, and were surprised when he arrived in Lockheed Super Constellation of the "suck, squeeze, bang, blow" propeller-driven kind. They took the overalls away after he left, of course.
The same year we were urged on by the squaddie and wingco. to try to get our Victors at the top of the quarterly flying hours "football table." Several hints of goodies, like extra leave and even flights in the Victors for a few erks and junior NCOs. So there was a spirit of competition and - God help us - quite a few of us volunteered for extra duty, or worked on for a couple of hours after our shifts. After we did in fact top the table, squaddie Henry Hall and the wingco came to congratulate us, and very soon after that Hall made wingco and left the station. Goodies? Don't make me laugh. "You shouldn't have joined if you can't take a joke." Very funny if you hadn't "joined," but were called up.
I paid a nostalgic visit to the station some years ago when on a Christmas trip to see our remaining family in England. I admired the vintage and veteran car collection, then sat in the tiny movie theater and watched a scratchy 8mm film of Victors taking off, some of which I had worked on, like XA934 and 936. It was eerie to think that where I was sitting would have been bang in the middle of the runway. Even more eerie was to realise, as I walked out of the gate, that it was 50 years less two days since I had walked out the same gate after being demobbed.
Memorable moments:
The whole station was abuzz in '61 at the news that NATO C. in C. General Nordstadt was paying us a visit. Everything that wasn't moving was painted, and we ground staff were issued white overalls. We were all keen to see what would be the latest USAF jet he arrived in, and were surprised when he arrived in Lockheed Super Constellation of the "suck, squeeze, bang, blow" propeller-driven kind. They took the overalls away after he left, of course.
The same year we were urged on by the squaddie and wingco. to try to get our Victors at the top of the quarterly flying hours "football table." Several hints of goodies, like extra leave and even flights in the Victors for a few erks and junior NCOs. So there was a spirit of competition and - God help us - quite a few of us volunteered for extra duty, or worked on for a couple of hours after our shifts. After we did in fact top the table, squaddie Henry Hall and the wingco came to congratulate us, and very soon after that Hall made wingco and left the station. Goodies? Don't make me laugh. "You shouldn't have joined if you can't take a joke." Very funny if you hadn't "joined," but were called up.
I paid a nostalgic visit to the station some years ago when on a Christmas trip to see our remaining family in England. I admired the vintage and veteran car collection, then sat in the tiny movie theater and watched a scratchy 8mm film of Victors taking off, some of which I had worked on, like XA934 and 936. It was eerie to think that where I was sitting would have been bang in the middle of the runway. Even more eerie was to realise, as I walked out of the gate, that it was 50 years less two days since I had walked out the same gate after being demobbed.