The Good Old Days...
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Here is a 208 Squadron photograph that I have not published before:-
Taken at Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) in 1959...
The pilots on the front row from left to right:-
Alastair Macnab, Terry Hill, Dinga Bell, Tim Cohu, Roy Morris, Dicky Brown, George Ord, Boss Ramirez, Sam Key, Mac McLeland, Pete Biddiscombe, Des Melaniphy, Mike Telford, Stu Grieve and the last is our Engineer Officer, Paddy Thompson.
Taken at Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) in 1959...
The pilots on the front row from left to right:-
Alastair Macnab, Terry Hill, Dinga Bell, Tim Cohu, Roy Morris, Dicky Brown, George Ord, Boss Ramirez, Sam Key, Mac McLeland, Pete Biddiscombe, Des Melaniphy, Mike Telford, Stu Grieve and the last is our Engineer Officer, Paddy Thompson.
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What nostalgia! I remember the Akrotiri Strike Wing well, 5 Canberra Sqns, 1 Hastings Sqn, 1 Javelin Sqn, a Lightning Det & a Whirlwind Flt. The world was out oyster. Those were indeed the days.
Interestingly, I'm now off to have a beer with an ex 20 Sqn Hunter mate.
Interestingly, I'm now off to have a beer with an ex 20 Sqn Hunter mate.
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If you would like George Ord's contact details, send me a PM. Having 'crossed' his path when he was Staish at GUT, I was was somewhat surprised (so was he, I think!) to find him and his wife living in the same village as my wife's parents, not far from Wittering - oh, 25 years ago - but he is still there and we are still in touch.
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I finally got this to work how it was supposed to:-
http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpo...n_in_Kenya.zip
Unzip the downloaded file to anywhere and it will create a folder called 208_Squadron_in_Kenya...Open the folder and doubleclick the file "208_Squadron_in_Kenya.pps".
The PowerPoint presentation should now play with music.
If you just let it run then it will go for about half an hour.
If you do not have Microsoft's PowerPoint then you can download a free PowerPoint Viewer here:-
Download details: PowerPoint Viewer 2007
http://www.petermcleland.com/powerpo...n_in_Kenya.zip
Unzip the downloaded file to anywhere and it will create a folder called 208_Squadron_in_Kenya...Open the folder and doubleclick the file "208_Squadron_in_Kenya.pps".
The PowerPoint presentation should now play with music.
If you just let it run then it will go for about half an hour.
If you do not have Microsoft's PowerPoint then you can download a free PowerPoint Viewer here:-
Download details: PowerPoint Viewer 2007
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Gp Capt DPJ Melaniphy
Hello,
My name is Richard Melaniphy and I am the son of Des Melaniphy who is in the photo you have posted. I'm trying to get together some pictures of my father (RIP 1998) during his raf years. He flew Meteor's, Hunters, and Harriers and was also the commanding officer of RAF west Rayhnam. If you have any pictures or even stories about my father I would really appreciate it if you could post some more or email me some please. I'm trying to put together a collection / scrap book to show my son (Des's Grandson) who sadly never met his grandfather.
Your help would be much appreciated.
Regards
Richard Melaniphy
My name is Richard Melaniphy and I am the son of Des Melaniphy who is in the photo you have posted. I'm trying to get together some pictures of my father (RIP 1998) during his raf years. He flew Meteor's, Hunters, and Harriers and was also the commanding officer of RAF west Rayhnam. If you have any pictures or even stories about my father I would really appreciate it if you could post some more or email me some please. I'm trying to put together a collection / scrap book to show my son (Des's Grandson) who sadly never met his grandfather.
Your help would be much appreciated.
Regards
Richard Melaniphy
Nostalgia
Apart from aeroplanes, cars and women, we pilots also love nostalgia.
Peter, I have just had a really good look at your powerpoint presentation. Exellent! Though I was not there (I only joined in 1964), I had an equally splendid time in Cyprus towards the end of the sixties. Halcyon days, the like of which we will never see again.
Your presentation has inspired me to do my own; something for our great grandchildren to enjoy.
Peter, I have just had a really good look at your powerpoint presentation. Exellent! Though I was not there (I only joined in 1964), I had an equally splendid time in Cyprus towards the end of the sixties. Halcyon days, the like of which we will never see again.
Your presentation has inspired me to do my own; something for our great grandchildren to enjoy.
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Thank you Peter. A wonderful nostalgic trip!
I had two and a half years at Eastlegh, from 1958-60 which of course include the transition of 208 from the Venom to the Hunter. I recall the Venom in the Mossie ditch very well; there being no permanent lighting on this airfield. Night flying was a messy job, involving dozens of ‘goose-neck’ flares the length of the runway and at the touchdown point for an aircraft landing. The taxi-ways were marked with battery-powered ‘glim’ lamps, in red blue and amber to mark off various turning areas. Taxying can't have been easy.
The flares were essentially a container for the fuel, kerosene, with a long neck which held the cotton wick. The problem was you could put them in place on the runway, but not light them until you knew how far away the aircraft was from landing, as the flares had a life dependent on the amount of fuel. You also couldn’t leave them unlit for too long, as the local Africans weren’t above sneaking onto the airfield to steal the kerosene! Once you had all the facts in place, the flares could be lit, as quickly as possible so that they burned more or less at the same rate. We achieved this by removing the door from a Landrover, and driving down the line of flares with the passenger hanging precariously out of the door with a lit flare in one hand, the other hanging on for dear life. Needs must!
I also recall your Standard Nine, because we had an identical one in collective ownership which we did indeed sell on! There can't have been two at Eastleigh surely? Twenty five quid seems about right!
A fascinating postscript to this story might be to relate where all your friends ended up fifty years on!
I had two and a half years at Eastlegh, from 1958-60 which of course include the transition of 208 from the Venom to the Hunter. I recall the Venom in the Mossie ditch very well; there being no permanent lighting on this airfield. Night flying was a messy job, involving dozens of ‘goose-neck’ flares the length of the runway and at the touchdown point for an aircraft landing. The taxi-ways were marked with battery-powered ‘glim’ lamps, in red blue and amber to mark off various turning areas. Taxying can't have been easy.
The flares were essentially a container for the fuel, kerosene, with a long neck which held the cotton wick. The problem was you could put them in place on the runway, but not light them until you knew how far away the aircraft was from landing, as the flares had a life dependent on the amount of fuel. You also couldn’t leave them unlit for too long, as the local Africans weren’t above sneaking onto the airfield to steal the kerosene! Once you had all the facts in place, the flares could be lit, as quickly as possible so that they burned more or less at the same rate. We achieved this by removing the door from a Landrover, and driving down the line of flares with the passenger hanging precariously out of the door with a lit flare in one hand, the other hanging on for dear life. Needs must!
I also recall your Standard Nine, because we had an identical one in collective ownership which we did indeed sell on! There can't have been two at Eastleigh surely? Twenty five quid seems about right!
A fascinating postscript to this story might be to relate where all your friends ended up fifty years on!
