The Best and Worst Postings in the RAF

[smujsmith]

My best has to be Akrotiri, early 70s despite Coul de tats and unaccompanied tours. The people I had the honour to work with made it bearable. The worst, a tour in Scotland with a WO who was having some "personal problems", and decided it was my fault "Mull of Kintyre" indeed.

Smudge

[bill2b]

Best
Lossiemouth (like BFG but without LOA)
Laarbruch
Cottesmore
Bruggen
Marham
Waddington


Worst
Swinderby
Halton
St Athan

[Rosevidney1]

Moaning about Khormaksar? It was bloody luxurious compared with Falaise Field near Little Aden which was the Army base where the AAC operated Beavers and Scouts along with the Sioux Air Troops. The stench from the oil refinery was unpleasant and continuous.

[Shack37]

Moaning about Khormaksar? It was bloody luxurious compared with Falaise Field near Little Aden which was the Army base where the AAC operated Beavers and Scouts along with the Sioux Air Troops. The stench from the oil refinery was unpleasant and continuous

You lucky barsteward, we had cardboard boxes as billets WITHOUT air conditioning. We would have given our eye teeth for a refinery to smell

[Force For Good]

Best: Anything pre SDSR 2010

Worst: Everything post SDSR 2010

[oldpax]

Khormaksar

my first weekends there were a bit of a surprise to me when on the Saturday night there was a power cut and the camp went mad ,fires all over etc and the NAAFI full of very irate drunks !RAF police turned up to restore order but were driven of and their land rover er damaged a little .Happened again the following week after which the groupie had the station on parade on sunday and read out how it was going to be!I was on guard duty the second wkend and as the fires were lit was told to go(with others)and sort it out!!"You have to be joking !"so we shuffled of and watched as furniture and anything that would burn was lit.The old accommodation blocks had great cracks in the walls which you could repair with mash from the mess which set hard ,oh yes the bedbugs would climb the walls and drop on your bed as usually the bed legs were stood in tins of water!Eating in 30degs plus was not pleasant but on the whole it was better than Muharraq where the mess walls were stained by people throwing their meals at them in disgust!!Khormaksar also housed the army despatchers(?)in the block opposite me .Eventually I obtained a bed in Hunter block which was air conditioned and was sheer luxury!!

[Vendee]

Best:- Abingdon. My first posting out of training in 76. Sleepy little hollow. No barbed wire, no exercises and we all wore blue. Local area was very nice. Met my missus there but won't mark it down for that
My two tours at Laarbruch come close second.

Worst:- Marham. Was there as serviceman and later as a civvy. Its got nothing to commend it IMHO.

[Old-Duffer]

Best UK: Tern Hill (both times) - best overseas: Kai Tak


Worst UK: MOD London (all four tours in equal measure) - worst overseas: Kuantan.


O-D

[Q-RTF-X]

Best – Akrotiri early 60’s (18 months of which was on transit servicing) and again early 70’s (Frightening 1st line – loved it) and also Masirah (between Akrotiri tours). In the UK, Valley (Missile Practice Camp)


Less enjoyable - Scampton

[Finningley Boy]

For me it's a toss up between Ramstein (actually billeted at Neubrucke then Birkenfeld to be near SWHQ) and Portreath (actually billeted at St Mawgan because of lack of accommodation at Portreath/Nancy Cuke!)

FB

[cuefaye]

Best, in no order --


Khormaksar
Chivenor
Muharraq
Valley
Honington
Canberra
Bawtry


Worst


MoD Main Building

[Deepest Norfolk]

Best: - Ops Lyneham and Ops 39 Sqn (1PRU) Marham

Worst: - Scatcc and Eastern Radar

DN

[4mastacker]

I reckon the best was a little gem on the Suffolk coast - a posting that was usually outside the posting choices for the folks who flew or maintained the flying machines. I give you RAF Bawdsey.

[dkh51250]

Worst Honington in the early 70s when some guy called B*****o was running the show, from my point of view not very well. Undervalued, undermotivated guys who got no support from the man at the top.


Best Waddington mid 60s to early 70s, what a place to have a misspent youth. Perhaps all those good staishes ruined me when put alongside B*****o

[Barksdale Boy]

dkh51250


I agree. Boots, Mike and Des were three of the best.

[kaitakbowler]

Best.Ternhill, I was the last orderly Cpl, Market Drayton Plod delivered a slab of ale at 0200 to "celebrate". Keys to Securicor? in the morning.

Worst. St Athan.

Best overseas - Kai Tak/Sek Kong

[pbk]

Best........... Thorney Island, such a holiday camp just didnt know it: Still nice to see the sailing club at reunion time every year along with Big E. Wonder what happened to Imshee?

Waddo, Line Sqdn was full of outstanding characters, it was almost anarchic yet the work still got done. proud to be a PIG. Best C.O. in Des. Met 2nd wife.

All of the Med postings looked great, many happy weeks at Akrotiri, Luqa, also Tengha; never applied so my own fault.
Valley was a great place, good Mess life but STCAAME wasnt my bag and a trip to Chester for a posh frock for Mess do's' was a pain. Best SWO in Danny McArthy
Lyneham. Loved being on the line but could never hack 4 on 4 off; 6442 invariably said ' looses interest after midnight'.............

Worst
Cosford, (met 1st wife and Bob Fuller)
Sealand, terminally boring stripping and rebuilding C12 and MD1 gyros for 3 yrs in cleanroom conditions.
Scampton, late 70s altho' got red flag out of it. How could it be so different to Waddo.
Marham

[Kerosene Kraut]

How about RAF Gatow?
Must have been quite interesting with the Chipmunk flights for BRIXMIS and everything back then?

[Exascot]

Northholt, Benson and Brize all great including many 5 star hotel rooms down the route

Next offered was a mahogany bomber at MoD. Opted for Gatwick which was not so great but a fantastic airline.

[philrigger]

OLDPAX

Eventually I obtained a bed in Hunter block which was air conditioned and was sheer luxury!!

Obviously you were not in my room in Hunter block. The air conditioning rarely ever worked.


philrigger.