'GET SOME IN'
...brown coloured industrial stuff similar to Scotch-Brite.
The OM bar at Wattisham was (briefly) re-carpeted with the rubbish - until our excellent Luftwaffe exchange officers burnt a hole in it with a firework. They wanted to keep the damaged piece, to be framed with a plaque stating 'Luftwaffe attack on RAF Wattisham 1983 - 40 years late!', but some misery wouldn't allow it.
For a lad who were born in the mid 60s - you spent your 18 months `in' doing what?
I've checked on Wiki, but there doesn't seem to be much detail.
Basic training obviously, square bashing etc, but did you get taught a trade etc. Forgive my lack of knowledge, how close did you get to the sharp end?
Did anyone decide they liked it and stay on?
I've checked on Wiki, but there doesn't seem to be much detail.
Basic training obviously, square bashing etc, but did you get taught a trade etc. Forgive my lack of knowledge, how close did you get to the sharp end?
Did anyone decide they liked it and stay on?
Thought police antagonist
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Don't knock the much maligned bumper.....it had a secondary use....as a deterrent.
Shortly after arriving at 1 Wing Halton, some of the more established residents decided it was time to make a few social introductions one evening.
As social introductions go, sadly, there was little in the way of the protocols and etiquette usually associated with such meetings. Those of us in the penthouse suite on the top floor watched this lack of social graces with growing interest.
Enter a Scottish gentleman. He carefully selected a bumper, and, ever mindful of terminal velocity here, lowered it over the balcony first..... before releasing it.
The cracked tiles in the foyer bore silent witness to his strategy and the happy crowd of wellwishers decided that they now had other matters to attend to....this decision being made in a remarkably short space of time after the arrival of the bumper in their midst.
Thereafter, harmonious relationships with the neighbours duly ensued.
Shortly after arriving at 1 Wing Halton, some of the more established residents decided it was time to make a few social introductions one evening.
As social introductions go, sadly, there was little in the way of the protocols and etiquette usually associated with such meetings. Those of us in the penthouse suite on the top floor watched this lack of social graces with growing interest.
Enter a Scottish gentleman. He carefully selected a bumper, and, ever mindful of terminal velocity here, lowered it over the balcony first..... before releasing it.
The cracked tiles in the foyer bore silent witness to his strategy and the happy crowd of wellwishers decided that they now had other matters to attend to....this decision being made in a remarkably short space of time after the arrival of the bumper in their midst.
Thereafter, harmonious relationships with the neighbours duly ensued.
I too, was familiar with the bumper and that orange polish from my time at Swinderby in '66. When I returned for a 4-year stint in '80 they were still in use until the rooms were 'carpeted' (not sure when, exactly) with some brown coloured industrial stuff similar to Scotch-Brite. I must say though, that after swinging the bumper for a while, one could get some satisfaction from a nicely polished lino floor of a job well done!
The Barrack Warden called the stuff "Iron Jute", we called it 'hairy concrete'. The adhesive that was used to stick it to the floor made yer eyes water for days - smelt very strongly of ammonia. Elf n safetea zealots would be apoplectic if it was still used.
The orange polish was pretty good at getting those coke stoves going if you were a bit short of kindling wood.
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My time at RAF Cosford 1959-61, 16 yr old Boy Entrants in wooden huts cleaning linoleum floors with paraffin prior to applying polish and then bumpering the lino to a high gloss. What could possibly go wrong? Other character-building tasks included polishing metal dustbins (interior as well as exterior) with Duraglit or Brasso and using razor blades to scrape handles of brooms and bumper until they were "clean"
The Barrack Warden called the stuff "Iron Jute", we called it 'hairy concrete'.
We had some in the Flying Club (it was 'free'....). It subsequently clogged and ruined a Dyson vacuum cleaner.
Dreadful stuff.
The trouble is, as I explained when lecturing resettlement courses in the 90s, programmes like this and Ain't Alf Hot Mum were what politicians and employers, especially the latter, thought service life and ex-service people were like.
My second boss on leaving university, had an air of authority about him and alluded a sense of confidence. It came as no surprise when he showed me his 'Green Card' and Meteor night rating. He had been a National Service pilot and had employed me when he saw my UAS time on my CV, but didn't mention it at the time, or that we went to the same school!
I often suspect that the "genuine occupational requirement" when I got my last (paid) employment in the 90s in a large yacht club was being an "Old Cranwellian", as that is what my new boss was too.
I always though it ironic that all three Services had popular fictional series about them on the box around the same time in the very early 70's . (" Warship"? ) was almost an RN recruiting tool. The Army had something similar ("Spearhead"?).
The RAF:
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. "Get Some In"
The RAF:
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. "Get Some In"
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After the floor had been given a good bumpering, to preserve the shine,
everyone glided around on pads, which were made from old blankets.
For a highly advanced technical Service the RAF had some very old fashioned ways.
everyone glided around on pads, which were made from old blankets.
For a highly advanced technical Service the RAF had some very old fashioned ways.
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Bumper............
My Dad says that 1 person stood on it and another pushed them round to get a good shine.
He also confirms the 'bunch of rags on feet' to make sure the shine stayed...............
Re: Trades - apparently after RAF Cardington to report for call up, RAF Bridgenorth for basic he went to RAF Yatesbury for Radio school followed by 18 months at RAF Luqa on ASV13 (Shackletons 37 & 38 Sqn) followed by back to RAF Cardington for Demob. If he stayed the RAF would have given him promotion to Cpl (10 shillings a day) but Marconi were recruiting people outside the main gate for 15 shillings a day............. so that was where he went...............
Arc
My Dad says that 1 person stood on it and another pushed them round to get a good shine.
He also confirms the 'bunch of rags on feet' to make sure the shine stayed...............
Re: Trades - apparently after RAF Cardington to report for call up, RAF Bridgenorth for basic he went to RAF Yatesbury for Radio school followed by 18 months at RAF Luqa on ASV13 (Shackletons 37 & 38 Sqn) followed by back to RAF Cardington for Demob. If he stayed the RAF would have given him promotion to Cpl (10 shillings a day) but Marconi were recruiting people outside the main gate for 15 shillings a day............. so that was where he went...............
Arc
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MQ's in the 50's & 60's had the same flooring,(Iron Duke linoleum); however we did have a central carpet leaving a border round the room edge of said brown shiny stuff. My mum made us slippers out of old felt underlay so we could 'skate' round lino and therefore keep floor shiny and clean, good game good game!
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My 12 years of "man's service" 1961-73 were mostly enjoyable (especially Akrotiri) but towards the end at RAF Mountbatten I came to the conclusion that that I'd grown out of the RAF and happily joined the Civil Service as a GCHQ Radio Officer - thanks to the excellent RAF trade training & practical experience.
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My 12 years of "man's service" 1961-73 were mostly enjoyable (especially Akrotiri) but towards the end at RAF Mountbatten I came to the conclusion that that I'd grown out of the RAF and happily joined the Civil Service as a GCHQ Radio Officer - thanks to the excellent RAF trade training & practical experience.
Yes the RAF trade training in those days was second to none. Even our National Service chaps admitted that. Of course some of those called up signed on for an extra year to get better pay. My son in law's father did just that and became an Air Engineer just in time to fly on the Berlin Airlift. Then it was back to Jaguar as a test engineer.
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At Cosford we were sent Morse at 21 wpm but with huge gaps between characters, as we became more proficient the gaps became shorter. I think we learned the shorter characters first - E, T, A, N and finally the figures with a few bits of punctuation (full stop, brackets on/off, hyphen, quote, unquote)
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At Cosford we were sent Morse at 21 wpm but with huge gaps between characters, as we became more proficient the gaps became shorter. I think we learned the shorter characters first - E, T, A, N and finally the figures with a few bits of punctuation (full stop, brackets on/off, hyphen, quote, unquote)
It's a long time ago now, the other pattern groups have long since faded, but it's amazing what still pops up from time to time.
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