When I handed in my kit . . .
 

Following on from "In my last 12 months I will" Teamchief said In my case a lot of stuff was written off except one thing. A rare piece of nav kit which for some reason was not C Class - A Rude Star Identifier. Issued in 1961 and essential piece of kit when standing in the astrodome of a Lancaster or Varsity and never used since.

Had great trouble convincing the storeman that it was obsolete. No idea where mine went. I see you can buy them on eBay for £100!

Stores wanted all my rulers, protractors etc which were issued at Finningley and Cottesmore, they had gone into some communal box on a squadron years ago but the corporal would not budge. I went back to the planning flight that was part of my 'empire,' gathered a set from the box there and handed those in, stores very happy. "What are you going to do with them?" I asked, "probably give them to one of the squadrons" was the reply, "I have a planning flight in my section" I said, "you can take them if you want," so I did.

In the cadets, we once tried to hand returned clothing and unused round neck wooly pullys back to clothing store. They didn't want to know and asked if we had a nearby car boot sale.

On clearing from stations, you were supposed to check and sign your clothing card. Most of us trusted the stores bashers and just signed the things....

But in 1983 I had to clear from Wattisham on posting to Finningley for a METS refresher course. The stores chap discovered that I was deficient one Gnat oxygen mask and one Gnat g-suit. I hadn't even sat in a Gnat since 1975 and the last RAF Gnat had been retired in 1979. Both items were specific to the Gnat - the g-suit hose was on the opposite side to all others and the mask had integrated microphone cables running down the oxygen hose. The storeman wouldn't accept that I must have returned them at Valley 8 years earlier (yes, my fault for being lazy) and wouldn't budge.

Fortunately I'd been volunteered to be Oi/c the gliding club, amongst whose members was a very helpful Flt Sgt who worked in the Supply section. He found the solution - a couple of 'Scrap' labels were produced for the missing items and I dutifully them handed over to the storeman who was then content to clear the card. But what a silly faff!

And no, I don't dress up in a Gnat g-suit behind closed curtains!

Dear old Uncle Joe L'Estrange once told us about the time he'd decided to get rid of some old flying clothing which had been issued years earlier. Furry boots and goggles were handed over, but when Joe produced his ancient Sidcot suit and tossed it onto the counter, the young stores chap jumped back in alarm as though he'd been attacked by a bear. Joe told him that it was indeed a flying suit (he'd probably had it since being an air gunner in 1944) and that it was probably almost twice the lad's age.

One advantage of having made a Martin-Baker assisted fast exit was that all kit worn during one's escape was written off. As a result I still have my aircrew watch (Seiko chronometer type), a useful pair of gardening boots and gloves as well as a CWW jacket. and much more.

I had a pair of aircrew sunglasses from my brief time in the RN. When they finally broke, I tried to exchange them at Supply Sqn. No chance, as they weren't of course on my RAF clothing card. So I got an aircrew mate to do the exchange for me ... no problem. He was then given the old pair in case he even needed to do another exchange!

Exactly the same, plus we were starting on the "3 blue long sleeved shirts, 3 pairs number 2 trousers, one pair DMS shoes" palaver. Fortunately this was all from the stores Sgt who had come out to "help", he was soon distracted by the offer of a bacon roll from one of the civvy ladies who worked there and the Cpl took over. As he watched the door close behind the Sgt, "sorry about that, Sir, he doesn't know how this works, anything you want to keep?" as he signed the whole lot off in one go (except the watch :mad:)..

We had a Whirlwind 10 on 110 Sqn. that started off life as a Whirlwind 4 until it was re-engined with a Gnome. It was our oldest and I had a project to fly it back to the UK when it's decades of Far East Air Force time was up. The final, major exercise in 1970 was Basatu Padu which was a reinforcement exercise from the UK. Whilst en-route to that XD183 had a too often engine rundown and John, being a QHI, successfully landed it in a coconut plantation with minor damage.

I was the inventory holder for the squadron's aircraft so when the aircraft disappeared off to the MU at Seletar I was expecting it back. Weeks passed, months passed and no communication. I investigated and found that the airframe had been passed on as a ground instructional airframe to the Singapore Air Force and it was still on my chit.

Round I went to Stores with the inventory and told them the story and to sort it out.

A couple of days later I was called and asked to go there and sign off the aircraft. At this time they were posting people in for short tours owing to the deadline for Changi's closure and in the office was a stores Warrant Officer and a WRAF Plt. Off. on a short tour. There then followed half an hour of signing conversion chits where large quantities of aircraft components both in numbers and weight from various squadrons were brought on to 183's inventory. The final items were all my flying clothing.

It followed that as the aircraft had been Struck off Charge then all these items were written off.

Though there was the case of a baby pilot whose aircraft was a smoking hole in the ground. OC Admin, spying the column of smoke guessed the cause and thought to see if our hero was OK. There in some corner of a farmer's field was our hero burying his aircrew watch.

Fareastdriver wrote: No doubt it was your normal practice to fly in full tropical mess kit :E ??

It's amazing how much kit went down on the Atlantic Conveyor.............

Regarding the Atlantic Conveyor, I think it was calculated that the total added up to more than 5 ships worth of equipment. I remember some years after the event there was still some memos being sent out to ensure that the very long list could be finalized and signed off.

One Beagle will no doubt remember, I did possess for a number of years a nice cardboard cut out of the old Bulldog cockpit. Not sure where that ended up. I still have in my possession an x CFS chums MK14a, which I was hoping to 'slim' into, it hasn't happened yet!

Pontious

While searching just now for my Green Line book ( see 'How Heathrow used to look' in Nostalgia thread ) I came across my unused Rude Star Identifier and my trusty nav' computer and slide! What stories the latter could tell of my 6 years route-bashing in the Herc'!

As a S.N.C.O. I had a card to collect various departments signatures
so I passed it around during morning coffee break. It was all signed up by
11:00 and I was civilian by lunchtime. Clothing? Mostly in the bin
behind the mess. I left six weeks early and joined the ACP course at
Oxford ATS on the following Monday.

5aday, one of our copilots was posted with immediate effect (nothing bad - I think a CFS slot came up) and he was off. There was no question of clearing. Much fuss and bluster from the jobs lots.

We attached a photo to his clearly card "If you don't recognise this man, sign the card,". Job done .

When it came my turn to be promoted to civilian, the final step in the process was to attend at Gen Office with the dance card all filled in, and sign the OSA and then go. I had been on the strength of four different stations in the last six months, so I was confident that nobody knew where I was, never mind what kit I had.

So I turn up with my partly falsified blue card full of signatures, some of my kit dispersed among the troops, some at home, and some in the car outside.

The young Cpl in charge, picks up two copies of the OSA declaration form. He hands one to me, and said, "sign here please" as he signed, and stamped as witnessed, the other one.

I signed one and gave it to him and he hands me the other saying, "sign that one now" as someone else spoke to him, so he turned away. I put the unsigned one in my folder with the rest of the stuff I had collected and walked out the door, a free man.

I still have that form which I have not signed, but it is countersigned and stamped to say that I have.

Lots, the Squadron inventory holders were told to list what was lost and a lot of stuff lost beforehand and afterwards was added, it was such a rush job no one knew exactly what was on board, Odious was a hectic place, Chinooks were being modded, Puma was going, so company producing bags for them employed, then that cancelled and Wessex going as commonality with RN, then cancelled, helicopters swopping over to cover the NI detachments and then being cancelled, and then when the Conveyor went new Chinooks were having to be robbed to generate spares as a lot were now at the bottom of the Atlantic, even a Harrier turfing up to trial and see if a Chinook could be used as a glorified APU. They even lost ( as it was a civi ship ) all the cheques the guys had spent in the bar.

None of it matters. The system is too big to find out if all the stuff has been returned and forms filled in correctly.

I do not particularly care what you think SD, but I was there at Odiham on Chinooks mate, having come off Wessex and Puma, a lot of my mates, work colleagues and close friends were on the Conveyor...... But Hey Ho believe me of not.



..

A friend records in his autobiography, that I helped him resolve some deficiencies in his kit after an aircraft incident in some distant and inaccessible part of the Commonwealth.

As I was the supply officer at his unit, his claim that I helped him is a foul slur on my good name and reputation. I'm sure my exact words were: "Get your ass back up the jungle and don't darken my door again until you've found it all".

(I do have a professional modus to protect)!!!!!

Old Duffer

Conveyor
 

I was told, OK hearsay, that the Vulcan that crashed in Anglesey had a two-door cabinet with a load of docs on board. That was 20 years prior.

I think other aircraft that crashed also had all their kit, like engine blanks and wheel spats on on-board, so Atlantic Conveyor was not the exception.
​​​​

Atlantic Gonveyer
 

I was on Ascension a couple of days after the Atlantic Conveyer was sunk. I was talking to the Fg Off Supplier when we were joined by CAS. There was a continuous train of RN Helicopters loading and unloading the ships. The CAS asked the Supplier if there were any problems ,to be told that the Supplier was worried about accounting for the kit arriving and departing as there was no way of recording what went where. The CAS replied " Do not worry. We will work out what left UK, what gets back and everything else was on the Atlantic Conveyer."

I first heard of this practice in the early 60s when an RN helicopter Planeguard had to ditch from the hover after an engine failure. After all the lost tools, mess kits etc had been added it was found to be a couple of tons above MTOW!!

And then of course there was the "unfortunate" fire at the Army depot at Kineton, which cleared a lot of accounting problems!! https://www.pprune.org/images/infopop/icons/icon7.gif

Well possibly the two fires at Donington supply depot, the supply squadron at Lossiemouth, an RMAF Caribou in the Sabah rain forest and, I expect, many more!

O-D

All went well on my departure from Wittering everything signed and accounted for including my PE kit. I must have been the only person who ever returned a a complete set. That was until I attempted to handed back the 1 (F) squadron transit spares inventory of which I was the holder. I was short of 11 wing tanks ! To this day i cannot fathom why it was an odd number or that stores even believed I had them stashed away somewhere for sale at a later date.

On missing stores, I recall signing the arming log, 2986 or something close, pocketing a load arming pins, and returning with empty bomb racks. As far as I know we never reconciled what was loaded with where it ended up. Certainly if someone pitched up with the bomb serial number and a bill for a new greenhouse it could be checked back.

And the pins? Great for all the strong split rings.
,

Being in Germany when my PVR date came through, nothing simple like clearing from Bruggen ( and the RAF ) was allowed thus my one, and only, visit to Innsworth was duly decreed.

The stores bit was "interesting " in that it became evident from the immaculately attired career jobsworth she disapproved of my decision to leave and thus was determined to extract money from me. The first problem was a greatcoat, or rather the absence of one. I explained it had long been disposed of at Valley, true, but sadly failed to add the disposal was via Bangor Uni when such items were "must have " fashion accessories for any self respecting student. We moved on to the legendary "deep sea box" made of wood many will recall. Again, I was ahead of my time with re cycling because the gliding club had been the beneficiary of this item ( the second tour version was cardboard and fitted nicely into a skip )

Undeterred, she asked for the towels.....success ! the first "kerching ! " on the bill....likewise with the PT kit, long since used for rags, and not having the allocated number of shirts...as " we don't want you masquerading as a serviceman when you leave ! "....immortal words really as I pointed out I had been doing so for a number of years anyway, and having wasted 18months of my life waiting to leave ( this was late 70's early 80's ) strangely I was in no great rush to impersonate anybody in uniform. The total was about £ 7 or £8 quid.

Then came the paperwork.....and proof of life after death. Enter a room with one poor SAC clerk, I did feel sorry for the guy, seriously, surrounded by about 6 or 7 W.O..s ( see life after death because they must have been resurrected every morning ) one of whom made the enticing offer to stay in.....alas, my response was not quite to his satisfaction and I was reminded of my status ...until I pointed out the SAC had my 1250 and had signed for it thus one was now a Mr.

My major interest was scanning the chinagraph scrawls on a board giving dates for those I had just left as these only appeared a matter of weeks before you departed....apparently there were some very confused and upset admin people at Bruggen when my mates broke the news to them "somewhat prematurely ".

No. I had been frogmarched up to Kai Tak for a detachment with 28 Sqn.. :{:{:ok::ok::ok:

MPN11

I have one mug spare, no i did not nick yours. I was clearing out my attic last night in preparation for our last ever house move and i found my old one. I have no idea why i keep such Cra9

Some items have a magnetic attraction to their owner, or at least he/she who was originally issued with the item!

I keep telling myself to have a major purge, but what can one do with Greatcoats, No1 and No5 ... of both genders, as she has a magnetic field of her own!!