Mass murderer to Pilot
Orenda369
Late coming into this thread, but I have just read your #1 titled "Mass Murderer to Pilot". I know the poor old cooks tend to get a bashing from a lot of people, but it seems a bit harsh to suggest that the chef who then became an AAC pilot was progressing from mass murder. She can't have been that bad a cook?
OB
Late coming into this thread, but I have just read your #1 titled "Mass Murderer to Pilot". I know the poor old cooks tend to get a bashing from a lot of people, but it seems a bit harsh to suggest that the chef who then became an AAC pilot was progressing from mass murder. She can't have been that bad a cook?
OB
A chum of mine's dad was a coalface miner in Coventry before the war, enlisted and became a navigator on Lancasters flying out of Spilsby, got commissioned ending up as a Squadron Leader and at war's end returned to the coalface having stood as a communist candidate in the '45 election....!
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And then went back again! Make your mind up SL!!!!
Not surprised to read how many rocks made the transfer to aircrew. I suspect that many, like myself, had originally applied for aircrew but got knocked back by OASC for various reasons (in my case eyesight). I then decided that of the alternatives, RAF Regiment sounded a lot more fun than Secretarial or Equipment etc and so it turned out. I never regretted my time as a rockape, I got some great postings (Singapore and Hong Kong) and not many 20 year olds get a chance to run a flight of 80 men, which I did at Seletar. I think once you had got a few years in, their airships were more inclined to take a chance on you as potential aircrew than they were when you were straight from civvy street, and so it was when I reapplied.
LangleyB: As I recall, Tim Thorn went out after his SASO RAFG time to run security for De Beers.
Quite unrelated, I went through Nav training with a chap who had only ever wanted to be a Provost officer but OASC had pointed him along the aircrew path. He kept just squeezing through each part of the Course until about a month from the end when the System finally accepted that perhaps he'd been right all along, and sent him for Provost training. Last I saw of him years later was as a Wg Cdr.
Quite unrelated, I went through Nav training with a chap who had only ever wanted to be a Provost officer but OASC had pointed him along the aircrew path. He kept just squeezing through each part of the Course until about a month from the end when the System finally accepted that perhaps he'd been right all along, and sent him for Provost training. Last I saw of him years later was as a Wg Cdr.
Vulcan nav.......
.......to RAF dentist. At 38 point went to Uni and trained. Came to KSS. When not on call and there were barrels on squadrons worked his way assiduously along all sqns and the OCU and wibbled into the mess in a mess much later (And he was a good dentist).
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Orenda369
Late coming into this thread, but I have just read your #1 titled "Mass Murderer to Pilot". I know the poor old cooks tend to get a bashing from a lot of people, but it seems a bit harsh to suggest that the chef who then became an AAC pilot was progressing from mass murder. She can't have been that bad a cook?
OB
Late coming into this thread, but I have just read your #1 titled "Mass Murderer to Pilot". I know the poor old cooks tend to get a bashing from a lot of people, but it seems a bit harsh to suggest that the chef who then became an AAC pilot was progressing from mass murder. She can't have been that bad a cook?
OB
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The RAF Dental Branch seems make a habit of it. In addition to the two previous examples there were 'Pop' Morley who gained a DFM as an air gunner and then became a dental hygienist and 'Pop' Newton who qualified as a Lanc pilot just as the war finished and later joined as Dent Admin (both were nicknamed 'Pop' because they were a little bit older. Both wore their brevet with pride.
We also had a Cpl in the Branch called Alf Holham who was awarded the MM and BEM whilst a Warrant Officer in the 'Glorius Glosters' in Korea. He also used to wear a blue/purple medal ribbon above his Cpl stripes which was an award by the Americans for his work in the Korean POW camps. Alf never did parades because he out-medalled any reviewing officer.
We also had a Cpl in the Branch called Alf Holham who was awarded the MM and BEM whilst a Warrant Officer in the 'Glorius Glosters' in Korea. He also used to wear a blue/purple medal ribbon above his Cpl stripes which was an award by the Americans for his work in the Korean POW camps. Alf never did parades because he out-medalled any reviewing officer.
Here's one for you - downtown Hollywood back 8 years ago after HAi 2009 me and my then friend got approached by a big guy preaching religious stuff outside souvenir shop and turns out he heard was from Cam and claimed he was ex Lakenheath F-111 aircrew but flying with them kind of f**** him up so he was some street evangelist lol
Cheers
Cheers
And another one :
Farnborough airshow 04 - headed to DoD booth and. There was a TSAS aircrew vest simulator demo - (it vibrates and buzzes parts of your body if say the sensors in a/c receive a threat or a problem if for some reason you're not seeing the rWR etc ) anyhow the navy captain whose from their aviation medicine branch was telling everyone about how when he was at uni he ran the local skydiving club and he had a lng beard and when skydiving it would flap up in his face. He was a medical doctor with clinical physiology and learnt to fly as he had to attend classes up in Canada as well as USA. He also did a flight instructors course thus he taught one classmate to fly and purchase a light a/c Cessna or Beech.
I think he got his commission trough ROTC
Cheers
Farnborough airshow 04 - headed to DoD booth and. There was a TSAS aircrew vest simulator demo - (it vibrates and buzzes parts of your body if say the sensors in a/c receive a threat or a problem if for some reason you're not seeing the rWR etc ) anyhow the navy captain whose from their aviation medicine branch was telling everyone about how when he was at uni he ran the local skydiving club and he had a lng beard and when skydiving it would flap up in his face. He was a medical doctor with clinical physiology and learnt to fly as he had to attend classes up in Canada as well as USA. He also did a flight instructors course thus he taught one classmate to fly and purchase a light a/c Cessna or Beech.
I think he got his commission trough ROTC
Cheers
Bertie Jukes who was a plotter on 214 Victor tankers left to train as a dentist. He rejoined the RAF as a Dental Officer and in recent years was a civvie dentist in the West Country. Great party man, and when I saw him at a V Force reunion a few years back didn't seem to have changed!
"Mildly" Eccentric Stardriver
Was that the same Tim Thorn who banged out of a JP following a collision, 1966? Just asking. He was the instructor of an old friend.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
Nimrod flt lt copilot, previously trained in a medical specialty, can't remember exactly, transfers to RAMC as a major.
The RAF knows how to look after its people.
Army Staff Sergeant to RAF wg cdr eng to airline pilot.
The Army knows how to look after its people.
The RAF knows how to look after its people.
Army Staff Sergeant to RAF wg cdr eng to airline pilot.
The Army knows how to look after its people.
I knew of an RAAF F/A18 pilot who came over to blighty to do UKSF selection. He passed that no problems (and this was in the days when it was still reasonably difficult, unlike today) so could have gone to an SAS squadron. But he then decided to do the additional bits required for non-RM for SBS selection, passed that, and qualified as swimmer-canoeist.
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TTN
Bertie Jukes is a great buddy of a friend of mine, another Ex RAF Dentist called Chris Strevens. They both seemed to have hollow legs. He officiated as Best Man at Chris' recent wedding in Porthcawl and outraged most of the welsh chapel folk with his colourful Best Man's speech. It beat the "4 Weddings" effort. Great guy.
Bertie Jukes is a great buddy of a friend of mine, another Ex RAF Dentist called Chris Strevens. They both seemed to have hollow legs. He officiated as Best Man at Chris' recent wedding in Porthcawl and outraged most of the welsh chapel folk with his colourful Best Man's speech. It beat the "4 Weddings" effort. Great guy.
Grandfather started out in the cavalry in aug 14 changed to artillery then the intelligence crops then the RFC as a observer came out between the wars went back in in 1938 was in france far the fall and escaped by going south and back by gib then was in bomber command before finishing up in photo recon