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RAF Laarbruch memories
Hi There and happy christmas to everyone!
As a member of the only RAF Museum in Germany located at RAF Laarbruch I am on research for the station history for over 10 years now. I found many posts at PPRuNe but most of them are so old, that the photos are no longer available. I would like to ask everyone if he can ad stories or photos of his time at Laarbruch and post here. Otherwise it's possible too, to contact me via PN so photos or anything else can be send via EMail to me or directly to the museum, were they can be shown to interested people of course with any copyrights depending on! I hope to reach lots of people! Thank you very much! RAFG |
RAFG,
Could you PM me for a quick chat. Best regards, FB |
Good luck RAFG, with developing your excellent museum. Any sign of a Jaguar yet? |
Being a Jag it will get there eventually...... :E |
Nice work on the Hunter BTW |
Thanks Guys, my museum fellows did indeed a great job on the Hunter! Love those T.7s! :)
Anyone remember the sectors (Squadron dispersals at Laarbruch) were called: Blue Sector Black Sector Gold Sector maybe 20Sqn?? etc... Which squadron occupied which sector? |
Gold sector - Laarbruch’s premier Sqn. II(AC) Silver sector - missiles Some other squadrons were somewhere of course, but I can’t remember where. |
I was on 20 from 86-89 and for some reason 'Gold' seems to ring a bell. I may of course be wrong. |
Out of curiosity, what is the Hunter's history? The pictures have a variety of colour schemes. Was it an ex- XV or 16 Sqn one from Bucc days?
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Yes, Gold sector was II (AC) Sqn. I can't remember the others but when I did my second tour on XV, we didn't seem to use the colour thing anymore.
In relation to the runway, II (AC) were in the SE, XV in the SW, 16 in the NE and 20 in the NW. On my first tour the site that 20 later occupied was empty and just dispersals and a hangar. When I returned in 89 it was fully hardened with 20 Sqn in residence. I think I'm right in saying that the Siegfried line or West wall ran through the 20 Sqn site. |
Originally Posted by RAFG
(Post 10648130)
Thanks Guys, my museum fellows did indeed a great job on the Hunter! Love those T.7s! :)
Anyone remember the sectors (Squadron dispersals at Laarbruch) were called: Blue Sector Black Sector Gold Sector maybe 20Sqn?? etc... Which squadron occupied which sector? https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....e38ad7cf4f.jpg |
The first pic!!
:ok: Thanks! |
RAFG. PM me with an email address. I could attach a few pics from 76-79. The museum already has access to several FB sites of interest. ‘Heinz Willi’ and ‘Rod’ can help I’m sure. |
Originally Posted by NutLoose
(Post 10647940)
Being a Jag it will get there eventually...... :E |
Wasn't there something about the place being designed in metres and built in yards?? Only came to light when they resurfaced the runway and had a mound of the new materials left over? Also why rooms were too small for wardrobes. Or maybe that's all rubbish - just what I heard, but it would be nice to know of any truth!.
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From a post on an old PPRuNe thread by foldingwings:
Laarbruch was built post-WW2 by the Germans as part of their reparation for the war. As it was in the British Sector of West Germany it was allocated to the RAF. When it was discovered that the contractor had hived off a substantial financial gain by building it in metres (or vice versa, I can never remember) the German government was so embarrassed that he was prosecuted and sent down for a considerable number of years (30 if I recall). If you took the ring road to the north side of the airfield in the 70s, when I was on XV, it was a one-way traffic system because the road was built (outside of the spec) too narrow for passing traffic! Also, all the buildings were smaller than planned and consequently, so were the rooms in Blocks 13, 13A & 14 (OM) hence the reduced rent for livers-in! Mind you, all that aside, it was a bloody good place for a party!!!!! |
The same story was told about Wilders of course......
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Originally Posted by Four Turbo
(Post 10648875)
Wasn't there something about the place being designed in metres and built in yards?? Only came to light when they resurfaced the runway and had a mound of the new materials left over? Also why rooms were too small for wardrobes. Or maybe that's all rubbish - just what I heard, but it would be nice to know of any truth!.
Those waiting for a second room had their wardrobes in the corridor. |
Bucc Zones/Squadrons:
Blue = Decoys Lightnings/Phantoms (Eventually became 18 Sqn) White = 15 Sqn Black = 16 Sqn (Pink zone within) Gold = 2 Sqn (with RIC) |
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....7d70513f6c.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....fa2f2ea736.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ab28ca3873.jpg Anyone remember Peter Rolfe? He was a navigator with XVSqn in the 70s. These photos can be found at the website. I wonder which year it may be. The Buccs have already the camo all around. So may Winter 1978/79?? Can anyone help? http://thebuccaneeraviationgroup.com...ter-rolfe.html |
The On-camp airmen's married quarters were below standard as they should have been full size cellars but were only built with two small rooms. I don't believe there was any recompense from the builders.
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Originally Posted by Rigga
(Post 10649197)
The On-camp airmen's married quarters were below standard as they should have been full size cellars but were only built with two small rooms. I don't believe there was any recompense from the builders.
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Remember Peter very well - the photos were indeed winter 78/79.
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Laarbruch was blessed with the worst weather of the five RAFG bases in my time ............ inevitable because of exposure to any filth from West round to North. When at JHQ first time I had oversight of all RAFG TAFS as issued ................ poor old Laarbruch [EDUL ?] was usually the gloomy one.
In later life I was its inspector, and visited several times a year for six years. It seemed that every time I was driven or drove from JHQ to Laarbruch, the vis decreased, the cloud base lowered, and the windscreen wiper came on. Perhaps I do Laarbruch a disservice, but in retrospect I am glad by junior forecaster stint was at EDUO ! Good luck with the project, very worth while. |
Originally Posted by langleybaston
(Post 10649725)
Laarbruch was blessed with the worst weather of the five RAFG bases in my time ............ inevitable because of exposure to any filth from West round to North. When at JHQ first time I had oversight of all RAFG TAFS as issued ................ poor old Laarbruch [EDUL ?] was usually the gloomy one.
In later life I was its inspector, and visited several times a year for six years. It seemed that every time I was driven or drove from JHQ to Laarbruch, the vis decreased, the cloud base lowered, and the windscreen wiper came on. Perhaps I do Laarbruch a disservice, but in retrospect I am glad by junior forecaster stint was at EDUO ! Good luck with the project, very worth while. |
By some strange coincidence, I had cause to open our ornaments cabinet yesterday, then saw this thread.
The one item I had cause to move in the cabinet was a stemmed, 0.2 litre drinking glass for "Stern" beer, given to me in 1972 when I visited Laarbruch on a CCF cadet camp. It has the crests of the local town Weeze and of RAF Laarbruch and below them states "Britisch-Deutsche Maiwoche, Anglo-German May Week, RAF Laarbruch-Weeze". How it's survived 47 years and at least 14 house moves I don't know. |
I can add some detail to this photo:
Personnel are L > R: Wg Cdr P D Oulton - OC XV Sqn - January 1976 - July 1978 / Flt Lt Martin Spalding - OC Aircraft Servicing Flight (OC ASF) / Flt Lt Pete Rolfe - Navigator XV Sqn The aircrew are handing over the Aircraft Form 700 for a Buccaneer S2B - that they have just delivered from the UK to RAF Laarbruch - to OC ASF for "Acceptance Checks" in ASF (the 2nd Line servicing facility in Hangar 1). It is most likely XZ432 - the last Buccaneer S2B manufactured - one of a batch of 3 built in 1977 originally for the Ministry of Defence (Procurement Executive) [MOD(PE)] for trials - which arrived with very low flying hours on it compared to rest of the fleet. It was essentially still a "new" aircraft compared to some ex-Royal Navy aircraft built 10 years prior or the RAF new build batch of 46 from 1973 onwards. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f0534649c2.jpg |
Ahh, my old mate Martin Spalding. Average glider pilot IIRC 🤔 Last seen (by me) back in the 90’s I think. Is he still around?😉 |
According to 'Peter', the photos were 1975 for the XV Sqn 60th anniversary. I asked him. He apologises for the poor definition and, thus, the unidentifiable members!
Bloggs |
Consistent with them all being in a 'haze' much of their time - and you Bloggs
HNY:ok: |
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Peter Rolfe photos
Maybe the photos are taken in february, but I wonder, whether these Buccs have a camouflage painting all around. I thought this was from mid 1976 on ....
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Don't think so Bloggs - I am on them and didn't arrive on XV until April '77!
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18 Sqn
I moved to Laarbruch from the G-spot with 18 Sqn in 1993 and was there nearly until the end. We are banned from saying it was Better at Gutersloh, hence the phrase it was Guter at Bettersloh.
I think that at the time the 18 Sqn site (formerly 20 Sqn) at the NW corner was called Bronze. When the Chinook apron was built there, the question was asked what the minimum clearance required from the rotor tips was. I think the answer was 3 metres. The apron and lamposts were then built with exactly 3 metres clearance from the rotors tips. Taxying in and out of there concentrated the mind as a tipstrike in a Chinook would be really bad. |
I moved to Laarbruch from the G-Spot with PCSF in 1993 to form the Chinook Team in PCMF. I was there for just a year, but this was the second of my three tours there on Buccaneers, Chinooks and Harriers. I returned again in 96 and decided to PVR as it closed in 1999. It was my only regular posting. Laarbruch was indeed the best of all the RAFG bases for its location and mostly for its local population of which I still have many friends in that area. I was there again this year.
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Originally Posted by Rigga
(Post 10649745)
I had three tours there (none on Tornadoes) and all I remember is sunshine and snow!
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Originally Posted by Rigga
(Post 10650610)
I moved to Laarbruch from the G-Spot with PCSF in 1983 to form the Chinook Team in PCMF. I was there for just a year, but this was the second of my three tours there on Buccaneers, Chinooks and Harriers. I returned again in 96 and decided to PVR as it closed in 1999. It was my only regular posting. Laarbruch was indeed the best of all the RAFG bases for its location and mostly for its local population of which I still have many friends in that area. I was there again this year.
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Originally Posted by t7a
(Post 10650436)
Don't think so Bloggs - I am on them and didn't arrive on XV until April '77!
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I may well be wrong about the Laarbruch weather .................. I often was back in the day.
Forecast: sunshine and snow. |
I was on our squadron's transport Comet, in the middle 60's,
We had landed on 27 and taxied all the way past the ASF pan and to the right turn off to the pans at the bottom of 27. After travelling a few yards into the dispersal we found that trees and pitot tubes are not good friends.:eek: Fortunately no serious damage, one pitot head replaced and no Comet into dispersed pans again. |
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