Memories of RAFG
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blindfire.....
-13 plus wind chill.?
"Balmy" compared to middle Germany during winter of 62/63.
I was stationed in a small town in the American zone north of Frankfurt.
Part of a small detachment operating the southern tech. site of the Decca Nav. trials for the RAF.
First snows started in mid Nov. through to March.
In the town the temperature fell to -28C Day and Night for three weeks around Feb.
This combined with a wind chill from a gale force easterly wind dropped the temp. even more.
The Tech site was on a 1000' high hill outside the town, so the temp. was lower still , off the scale!!!!
We had no extra winter type clothes so we were allowed to wear what ever we could get on, to keep warm.
We had a "landy" for transport, with a 50/50 mix of water and anti freeze.
At night we had to run it every hour to operating temp. to avoid it freezing up.
The Tech equipment was in an air transportable container, each rack normally was quite warm when operating.
With the door sealed shut to keep as warm as possible there would be a frost covering the lower part of the racks in the mornings during the worst of the cold.
We had a small number of German men to look after odd jobs around the site during the day.
One of these men had been on the eastern front at Stalingrad, he said the cold during the worst of the 62/63 winter at the higher tech site was as bad as the Russian winter at Stalingrad.
You had to be there!!!!
OPF
-13 plus wind chill.?
"Balmy" compared to middle Germany during winter of 62/63.
I was stationed in a small town in the American zone north of Frankfurt.
Part of a small detachment operating the southern tech. site of the Decca Nav. trials for the RAF.
First snows started in mid Nov. through to March.
In the town the temperature fell to -28C Day and Night for three weeks around Feb.
This combined with a wind chill from a gale force easterly wind dropped the temp. even more.
The Tech site was on a 1000' high hill outside the town, so the temp. was lower still , off the scale!!!!
We had no extra winter type clothes so we were allowed to wear what ever we could get on, to keep warm.
We had a "landy" for transport, with a 50/50 mix of water and anti freeze.
At night we had to run it every hour to operating temp. to avoid it freezing up.
The Tech equipment was in an air transportable container, each rack normally was quite warm when operating.
With the door sealed shut to keep as warm as possible there would be a frost covering the lower part of the racks in the mornings during the worst of the cold.
We had a small number of German men to look after odd jobs around the site during the day.
One of these men had been on the eastern front at Stalingrad, he said the cold during the worst of the 62/63 winter at the higher tech site was as bad as the Russian winter at Stalingrad.
You had to be there!!!!
OPF
only joking
tbf I hate the cold, I much preferred the 3 yrs in Oman, never a cold day there.
Winter in Germany – I remember it well from the early 1970’s with my BFG registered Volvo — see below.
Plus over the border into Austria and Italy.
"Winterreifenpflicht oder Schneeketten an Bord" = Winter tyres are mandatory or [have] snow chains on board.
Plus over the border into Austria and Italy.
"Winterreifenpflicht oder Schneeketten an Bord" = Winter tyres are mandatory or [have] snow chains on board.
Last edited by Warmtoast; 3rd Dec 2017 at 10:07.
In 1970, I was an aviation-obsessed 10 year old, living with my parents in Bielefeld (my father was a civil servant attached to the army there).
I wrote a school project about the RAF and the Head Teacher sent it to the CO at RAF Gutersloh. I was invited to spend a day there and was shown around as a VIP - it was wonderful! I even got interviewed by BFBS at the end of it.
As I recall, I spent some time in the control tower, sat in a two seater Lightning, had a go in the Lightning simulator, and crawled all over a Wessex. Of course, some of those memories might be a bit hazy but I will never forget how wonderful it all was, or the magnificently named F/O who showed me over the Wessex:
Paul Akehurst De Visme!
I wrote a school project about the RAF and the Head Teacher sent it to the CO at RAF Gutersloh. I was invited to spend a day there and was shown around as a VIP - it was wonderful! I even got interviewed by BFBS at the end of it.
As I recall, I spent some time in the control tower, sat in a two seater Lightning, had a go in the Lightning simulator, and crawled all over a Wessex. Of course, some of those memories might be a bit hazy but I will never forget how wonderful it all was, or the magnificently named F/O who showed me over the Wessex:
Paul Akehurst De Visme!
Snow!
I remember one family summer holiday in Bavaria. It was glorious week of Teeshirts, shorts and sandals as we drove through the mountains to Berchtesgarten where we unexpectedly met many of our daughters' School Teachers at the Lift to the Eagles Nest.
On stepping out of the Lift and walking through the Cafe area on to the Patio, we found we were stood (in Shorts and Sandals) in 6 feet of Snow!
I remember one family summer holiday in Bavaria. It was glorious week of Teeshirts, shorts and sandals as we drove through the mountains to Berchtesgarten where we unexpectedly met many of our daughters' School Teachers at the Lift to the Eagles Nest.
On stepping out of the Lift and walking through the Cafe area on to the Patio, we found we were stood (in Shorts and Sandals) in 6 feet of Snow!
Rigga ........ been there, done that .....
Glorious fortnight summer holiday Italian beaches, all six of us packed into the VX 2300 at 0500 to drive north over the Alps to JHQ. As you say, summer gear on.
Stopping for a necessary pee at the top of the St Bernard Pass [I believe it was there] was no joke in a blizzard, but we managed to perform with great ease!
My eldest: "dad is supposed to know about these weather thingies ........."
Dad was as cold and misearable as any.
Glorious fortnight summer holiday Italian beaches, all six of us packed into the VX 2300 at 0500 to drive north over the Alps to JHQ. As you say, summer gear on.
Stopping for a necessary pee at the top of the St Bernard Pass [I believe it was there] was no joke in a blizzard, but we managed to perform with great ease!
My eldest: "dad is supposed to know about these weather thingies ........."
Dad was as cold and misearable as any.
Gentleman Aviator
My eldest: "dad is supposed to know about these weather thingies ........."
Had a quarter at Gutersloh next door to a Met Man, who had turned his cellar into an excellent bar!
Went there for a few pre-ball tinctures one year; on leaving - into the p!ss!ng rain - he looked confused and said:
"That shouldn't have happened!"
We flew home as a family, minus my father, in the BUA Viscount in the winter 62/63 arriving at Gatwick. There followed a nightmare train journey finally arriving at Lincoln about 0400hrs. It should have been a short trip home from there but no readily available taxis due to heavy snowfall. When we finally arrived on the first bus, and went back into the house in North Hykeham my parents had bought four years previously, it had been trashed and that was done by another serving R.A.F. officer.
Having gone from Parseval Strasse at Gutersloh to a trashed house in North Hykeham I felt quite strongly but I never managed to find the guy responsible. We went to a hotel for nearly a month while it was sorted out. That was my final memory of my time as a sprog in RAFG. I joined up four years later. I never did get back to Germany though.
Having gone from Parseval Strasse at Gutersloh to a trashed house in North Hykeham I felt quite strongly but I never managed to find the guy responsible. We went to a hotel for nearly a month while it was sorted out. That was my final memory of my time as a sprog in RAFG. I joined up four years later. I never did get back to Germany though.
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One day UK roads will be as smoothly paved and clear of snow, slush and general detritus in winter..........
A genuine blacktop!
About as likely as a failure by the Home Counties to panic when a few flakes fall.
I recall that the standard textbook on weather affecting roads suggested that 4" of new snow marked the onset of "some disruption" and 6" "widespread disruption".
Really? Not for the Metropolitan elite.
About as likely as a failure by the Home Counties to panic when a few flakes fall.
I recall that the standard textbook on weather affecting roads suggested that 4" of new snow marked the onset of "some disruption" and 6" "widespread disruption".
Really? Not for the Metropolitan elite.
For starters, The Carpenters' Arms, Portadown Way JHQ.
I had no room for such, having been arm-twisted [he claimed] into a gigantic Marklin model railway set-up.
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Sadly I have to agree with you... we must get the wrong type of snow in the UK.. just like the leaves in Autumn.
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Camping in Holland
With all this talk of winter in Germany, it’s hard to realise we also had summers too!
Langlybastion was at JHQ about the same time as me (1972 – 1975) and as a weather man may well have been the weather man whose advice I sought when I took the family on our first camping trip whilst stationed in Germany.
Having bought a family sized tent and erected it in the garden to see how it worked etc. we planned to go on our first trip into Holland for a long weekend and I sought advice from JHQ’s weather centre as to what the weather would be like for that weekend. Advice was it would be hot with a possibility of thunder storms. Nothing daunted we went off to a camping site over the boarder. Got there, erected the tent and enjoyed the warm and sunny weather. Having enjoyed our first evening meal we put the kids to bed whilst wife and I had a drink or two and retired only to be woken at about 1 o’clock in the morning by the fiercest and scariest thunder storm I’ve ever been in – it was frightening with lightning flashing and thunder cracking just overhead whilst it absolutely pelted down with rain. Eventually in the small hours of the morning it all abated and we went outside to see what damage if any it had caused – apart from a flooded floor and a some strained guy-ropes we were all OK. Nearly everyone else camping at the site was doing the same and we got chatting to out neighbours who were checking their tents too. With the storm gone the next couple of days were lovely and we enjoyed the site’s facilities and socialised with out newly found friends who’d endured the terrors of the storm.
I don’t remember the name of the camping site, but did take some photos of what it was like and remember it as being very and well ordered with plenty of facilities – so happy memories of a memorable week-end – after that we were hooked and caught the camping bug and from then onwards we joined the Rheindahlen Camping and Caravan Club and regularly went camping at the weekends, not only in Holland but in Germany too.
With all this talk of winter in Germany, it’s hard to realise we also had summers too!
Langlybastion was at JHQ about the same time as me (1972 – 1975) and as a weather man may well have been the weather man whose advice I sought when I took the family on our first camping trip whilst stationed in Germany.
Having bought a family sized tent and erected it in the garden to see how it worked etc. we planned to go on our first trip into Holland for a long weekend and I sought advice from JHQ’s weather centre as to what the weather would be like for that weekend. Advice was it would be hot with a possibility of thunder storms. Nothing daunted we went off to a camping site over the boarder. Got there, erected the tent and enjoyed the warm and sunny weather. Having enjoyed our first evening meal we put the kids to bed whilst wife and I had a drink or two and retired only to be woken at about 1 o’clock in the morning by the fiercest and scariest thunder storm I’ve ever been in – it was frightening with lightning flashing and thunder cracking just overhead whilst it absolutely pelted down with rain. Eventually in the small hours of the morning it all abated and we went outside to see what damage if any it had caused – apart from a flooded floor and a some strained guy-ropes we were all OK. Nearly everyone else camping at the site was doing the same and we got chatting to out neighbours who were checking their tents too. With the storm gone the next couple of days were lovely and we enjoyed the site’s facilities and socialised with out newly found friends who’d endured the terrors of the storm.
I don’t remember the name of the camping site, but did take some photos of what it was like and remember it as being very and well ordered with plenty of facilities – so happy memories of a memorable week-end – after that we were hooked and caught the camping bug and from then onwards we joined the Rheindahlen Camping and Caravan Club and regularly went camping at the weekends, not only in Holland but in Germany too.
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My memory of camping was on detachment from Germany to Sardinia, we had a little fiat minibus for the weekend, so crammed a load of us in it with food from the mess, tents etc and set off for the top of Sardinia. Screaming the proverbial's off the little minibus on a brand new road we shot out the end of a tunnel to find the new road surface stopped without warning, we cleared the couple of inches Tarmac and dropped onto a unprepared gravel base before hitting another lip as we rejoined the old original road... Needless to say we pulled over to allow our rings to stop puckering.
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My squadron went on a dispersal exercise in Holland and we were camped out in a cherry orchard. The fruit was in abundance, just ripe and we over indulged somewhat. There were a a few rings puckering making a dash for the latrines
Spring and summer '82 we (wife plus two young sons) were living in Donderberg, a suburb of Roermond. I commuted to/from Brueggen on my trust Honda steed and if, arriving home of a sunny late afternoon / early evening to an empty house & no car in the drive, I knew exactly where they would be - swimming and splashing about at the lake alongside the Maas on the other side of Roermond. A quick change then tootle off to join them for a relaxing bbq and (one) beer. About the only good thing that could be said about living in Donderberg.
Fortunately the rooms in Oberharmersbach were en-suite, so we all had only one other to dodge. Noisy night though!