RAF Gan 1958 and Later
Certainly looks like it. One crew out from 205 Sqn at Changi for 2 weeks in every 20, 20mins readiness 24/7, covering the whole Indian Ocean. Ostensibly for Transport Command movements, but it could be used for any emergency in what was (had become?) our area of responsibility.
Warmtoast,
as Coff rightly points out I do like your Amateur Radio pics and the QSL cards. Never operated from Gan but used to from Masirah until some clod worked Israel and got the radio station sin binned for a while.
When the Shacks of 205 were hard pressed we used to do SAR standby at Gan with the Hercules from 48 at Changi.
as Coff rightly points out I do like your Amateur Radio pics and the QSL cards. Never operated from Gan but used to from Masirah until some clod worked Israel and got the radio station sin binned for a while.
When the Shacks of 205 were hard pressed we used to do SAR standby at Gan with the Hercules from 48 at Changi.
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Warmtoast (your #60),
goofer3's #53 is the best pic of the things I mean. Assuming the photo to be correctly oriented (which I understand, it is not), then they are at the SE corner.
Have had a good look at your pics Nos. 13 & 14 on your #33, and goofer3's #63 (the Hastings [?] near the oil [?] storage tanks), but they are much further away along the coast to the left.
Nothing I see on any of the structures on other pics remotely resembles accommodation buildings with a plan like these, but if that is what you say they are, then of course it is so. But why align them with such mathematical precision ?
Puzzled, Danny.
goofer3's #53 is the best pic of the things I mean. Assuming the photo to be correctly oriented (which I understand, it is not), then they are at the SE corner.
Have had a good look at your pics Nos. 13 & 14 on your #33, and goofer3's #63 (the Hastings [?] near the oil [?] storage tanks), but they are much further away along the coast to the left.
Nothing I see on any of the structures on other pics remotely resembles accommodation buildings with a plan like these, but if that is what you say they are, then of course it is so. But why align them with such mathematical precision ?
Puzzled, Danny.
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Warmtoast (your #59),
Another visual feast ! Of course, a "ham" radio station would be a perfect way of spending spare time which might otherwise hang heavy on your hands; you have all the skills and you seem to have set up a very professional outfit indeed - congratulations !
One thing troubles me: pic 3 shows a "Pyrene" type fire extinguisher on the wall. These are carbon tetrachloride devices, and were supposed to have been withdrawn in the '50s because the vapour is highly toxic. Still, where you were, adequate ventilation would be no problem.
It is most useful stuff, as it will clean almost everything (including the residue from Sellotape), but it dissolves plastic, so it is no use trying to keep it in a plastic bottle !
Cheers, Danny.
Another visual feast ! Of course, a "ham" radio station would be a perfect way of spending spare time which might otherwise hang heavy on your hands; you have all the skills and you seem to have set up a very professional outfit indeed - congratulations !
One thing troubles me: pic 3 shows a "Pyrene" type fire extinguisher on the wall. These are carbon tetrachloride devices, and were supposed to have been withdrawn in the '50s because the vapour is highly toxic. Still, where you were, adequate ventilation would be no problem.
It is most useful stuff, as it will clean almost everything (including the residue from Sellotape), but it dissolves plastic, so it is no use trying to keep it in a plastic bottle !
Cheers, Danny.
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"The Buildings" ... as GlobalNav noted earlier, some are still visible on Google Earth. Zooming in shows no trace of a footpath to the short extensions [my first thought was some sort of entrance porch], so I would surmise they're the ablutions associated with the accommodation block. Sadly there are no decent images pre-2005 using the 'time-line' imagery on GE.
And of course they were laid out neatly - this is post-War work, with no need to distribute randomly in case of air raids
Laying drains and other utilities would also be easier in straight lines, I suspect.
And of course they were laid out neatly - this is post-War work, with no need to distribute randomly in case of air raids
Laying drains and other utilities would also be easier in straight lines, I suspect.
Last edited by MPN11; 20th Apr 2016 at 11:37.
Danny.
The photo in Goofers post is upside down. The accommodation blocks were on the NW of the island.
In '75 there wasn't any resident or detached ASR there, just the MCU.
A local dhoni went missing, and a transiting Herc was pressed into service. I went up in it on a search mission looking for the boat. Para doors open an leaning out. There was a Caribou engine on a pallet IIRC , but we never found the boat.
Strangely there was always a Nimrod there when a Royal went out to the Far East. I got a trip in one and went and did an approach to Diego Garcia.
The photo in Goofers post is upside down. The accommodation blocks were on the NW of the island.
In '75 there wasn't any resident or detached ASR there, just the MCU.
A local dhoni went missing, and a transiting Herc was pressed into service. I went up in it on a search mission looking for the boat. Para doors open an leaning out. There was a Caribou engine on a pallet IIRC , but we never found the boat.
Strangely there was always a Nimrod there when a Royal went out to the Far East. I got a trip in one and went and did an approach to Diego Garcia.
MPN11.
Yes those stubs half way down the 'wings' were indeed the ablutions.
It was always a good idea to lift the seat with your foot and drop it a foot or so to get rid of any cockroaches that had a habit of lurking under the rim/seat. These were big buggahs, about 2 inches long, and could shift and even fly.
We never had any problem with mosquitos as after it rained, a little Maldivian guy would spray puddles with a paraffin mixture, and every week he would come round with a back pack machine that gave out clouds of blue/white smoke. If you were in trap one after a curry the night before, even despite your protestations, he'd stick it under the door so you got a face full!!!
Yes those stubs half way down the 'wings' were indeed the ablutions.
It was always a good idea to lift the seat with your foot and drop it a foot or so to get rid of any cockroaches that had a habit of lurking under the rim/seat. These were big buggahs, about 2 inches long, and could shift and even fly.
We never had any problem with mosquitos as after it rained, a little Maldivian guy would spray puddles with a paraffin mixture, and every week he would come round with a back pack machine that gave out clouds of blue/white smoke. If you were in trap one after a curry the night before, even despite your protestations, he'd stick it under the door so you got a face full!!!
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uffington sb,
Geriaviator in his boyhood recollections of Khormaksar, # relates how there were small land crabs which kept the cockroaches under control. Did you have anything like that in Gan ?
(# On "Gaining a RAF Pilot's Brevet" Thread - read Page 178 #3558 if you really want a good laugh !)
Danny.
...These were big buggahs, about 2 inches long, and could shift and even fly....
(# On "Gaining a RAF Pilot's Brevet" Thread - read Page 178 #3558 if you really want a good laugh !)
Danny.
Danny42C:
We were still using neat CTC to clean the chinagraph off the ops (perspex) boards in the 1970s. We used gallons of it and nobody told us it was dangerous. I can also remember using neat toluene to get exhaust stains off cowlings. How I got to celebrate my 75th birthday is difficult to understand!
We were still using neat CTC to clean the chinagraph off the ops (perspex) boards in the 1970s. We used gallons of it and nobody told us it was dangerous. I can also remember using neat toluene to get exhaust stains off cowlings. How I got to celebrate my 75th birthday is difficult to understand!
Danny,
I can't recall any land crabs, but there were fairly large lizards with none to keen eyesight. If you saw one running towards you, you did a quick sidestep other wise they'd end up in your shorts.
Although I was the flight planning clerk working the usual Monday to Saturday routine, I filled in for the tower guys when they were sick or on leave.
At night there was just one assistant on duty, and we would adopt a relaxed posture on the camp bed and turn the lights out. After a few minutes you could hear the rustling noise of the critters. On with the lights and whack whack whack with a rolled up newspaper. We used to keep a score of how many we got!!
We would get a Springbok call up every night bound (I think for HKG) Springbok 247 and 248 on the way back.
One night some jolly japer called up hours out while I was still alone, with one of those ghostly laughing recordings. I nearly cr*pped myself.
Funny thing was, I got so used to the 10 taking off at 04:00 I would sleep through it, but wake up if it didn't come in.
I can't recall any land crabs, but there were fairly large lizards with none to keen eyesight. If you saw one running towards you, you did a quick sidestep other wise they'd end up in your shorts.
Although I was the flight planning clerk working the usual Monday to Saturday routine, I filled in for the tower guys when they were sick or on leave.
At night there was just one assistant on duty, and we would adopt a relaxed posture on the camp bed and turn the lights out. After a few minutes you could hear the rustling noise of the critters. On with the lights and whack whack whack with a rolled up newspaper. We used to keep a score of how many we got!!
We would get a Springbok call up every night bound (I think for HKG) Springbok 247 and 248 on the way back.
One night some jolly japer called up hours out while I was still alone, with one of those ghostly laughing recordings. I nearly cr*pped myself.
Funny thing was, I got so used to the 10 taking off at 04:00 I would sleep through it, but wake up if it didn't come in.
Last edited by uffington sb; 20th Apr 2016 at 18:03.
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Flights through Gan
Nugget90 - your#41
Thank you for stirring the memory cells! Two things I particularly remember about Gan: (1) those hot, still nights and an aircraft loaded with fuel & payload to the last lb of its AUW for that long drag up towards Masirah, over Iran and Turkey to destination Akrotiri – V1 seemed to take an age to come up with not over-much stopping room left, and then how at lift-off one was immediately plunged into a totally dark environment as we climbed away over the water. (2) you mention post-flight fried chicken but my recall is of bangers & chips, a match made in heaven with a cold beer or two (or more!)
Re uniform this was something the shiny element of the transport force never got right, for to the best of my knowledge it was the only flight organisation in the entire world that required its crews to buy their dress out of their own pockets (and no allowance for it) – I refer to tropical uniform, although of course for officers the no.1 blue was also a 'private' purchase – a most convenient arrangement for HM Treasury! Visiting international airports in the superb VC10 it was good to meet the 707s and suchlike on equal terms, but I always felt sadly let down by our rumpled, dowdy KD – what high-up goon thought this to be suitable wear in the late 20C for those tasked with upholding the honour and prestige of her Majesty's Royal Air Force?
Thank you for stirring the memory cells! Two things I particularly remember about Gan: (1) those hot, still nights and an aircraft loaded with fuel & payload to the last lb of its AUW for that long drag up towards Masirah, over Iran and Turkey to destination Akrotiri – V1 seemed to take an age to come up with not over-much stopping room left, and then how at lift-off one was immediately plunged into a totally dark environment as we climbed away over the water. (2) you mention post-flight fried chicken but my recall is of bangers & chips, a match made in heaven with a cold beer or two (or more!)
Re uniform this was something the shiny element of the transport force never got right, for to the best of my knowledge it was the only flight organisation in the entire world that required its crews to buy their dress out of their own pockets (and no allowance for it) – I refer to tropical uniform, although of course for officers the no.1 blue was also a 'private' purchase – a most convenient arrangement for HM Treasury! Visiting international airports in the superb VC10 it was good to meet the 707s and suchlike on equal terms, but I always felt sadly let down by our rumpled, dowdy KD – what high-up goon thought this to be suitable wear in the late 20C for those tasked with upholding the honour and prestige of her Majesty's Royal Air Force?
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FED ... the old GCA truck (of fond memory) had many dozens of luminous buttons and switches and text everywhere, together with a UV lamp on a bungee cord at each of the 3 control positions to wave around to wake them up. In my day we all wore dosimeter tags, replaced and sent to SHQ at regular intervals. However, I no longer glow in the dark, and it didn't seem to affect my reproductive abilities.
Danny42C:
We were still using neat CTC to clean the chinagraph off the ops (perspex) boards in the 1970s. We used gallons of it and nobody told us it was dangerous. I can also remember using neat toluene to get exhaust stains off cowlings. How I got to celebrate my 75th birthday is difficult to understand!
We were still using neat CTC to clean the chinagraph off the ops (perspex) boards in the 1970s. We used gallons of it and nobody told us it was dangerous. I can also remember using neat toluene to get exhaust stains off cowlings. How I got to celebrate my 75th birthday is difficult to understand!
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ATC had a small industry of AATC's cleaning perspex totes and GCA plaques ... I was just glad someone else did it! No idea what they used, but it was in small red 250 tins [or Imperial equivalent]
We used to have "Cloths, Cleaning" to wipe radar tubes etc. My contribution to the Defence Budget as a SATCO was to suggest to my SNCO Admin that instead of binning them when filthy, they might be laundered. He complied, somehow, probably at his own expense ... because Dave was like that.
We used to have "Cloths, Cleaning" to wipe radar tubes etc. My contribution to the Defence Budget as a SATCO was to suggest to my SNCO Admin that instead of binning them when filthy, they might be laundered. He complied, somehow, probably at his own expense ... because Dave was like that.
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goofer3 ... NP, many [but not all] of us can read maps and radar tubes upside down