Air drops and pick ups to Falklands in 80s
 

Would anyone care to admit to a part in these exercises where mail was apparently picked up without actual landing. These episodes of the campaign have evaded me up until now.

I participated in the trials of 'The Snatch' as we called it but did not participate in any of the live trips down south. The idea was to airdrop mail and then to take the homeward bound mail via the snatch. I have put up several pics of the trials on the Hercules thread.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....cdda2f0517.jpg

Thanks AN. I'll look on the hHerculese thread.

Alan Batty, 78: Boy soldier turned SAS officer who raised funds for Ethiopia

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/53...1-6517026e24df

Looks like this chap had some involvement with it.
Perhaps AA62 knew him? Bit before my time on Hercs.

TT,
greetings
yes I remember Alan Batty as he was with 47 AD in my day. Are you still with the A400M trials ?

AA62: PM sent

TT,
many thanks and you have a reply.

I recall the tale of Roger Waitout, that well-known gormless naval wireless operator bobbing up and down in one of HM Grey Funnel Lines' war canoes somewhere in the sun-soaked South Atlantic, conversing with Albert Airlines who were en-route with the long-awaited mail...

"Hello *****, this is Albert!"
"Ahhh...Roger, Wait out..."

"Hello *****, this is Albert - again!"
"Ahh...Roger. Authenticate Zulu Tango Mike" (or whatever)
"Sorry, can't - are we cleared in?"

"Ahhh….Authenticate November Delta Bravo" (or whatever)
"I authenticate DO YOU WANT YOUR BLOODY MAIL???"

"Ahhh...Roger, Albert is cleared in"

BEagle .. pretty near the truth :) Actual cause of the "problem" ?? Grey Funnel Lines using local time authentication table...... Albert Airlines using GMT ....... result .. total confusion... which was resolved in the way you describe !!

Did drops in both the C130 and the Nimrod during and after the conflict, never did a pick up of mail though

What goes around comes around:

Similar circumstances in a way (recent battalion changeover in S Armagh, all resupplies flown in by heli) - call goes to ground station "Two Zero this is Whiskey 63 Lima, your location 2 minutes, over". After a pause while the XMG op scrabbled for his BATCO: "Unknown callsign, authenticate Golf Bravo". Immediate reply was: "I authenticate - do you want your rations or not?". Dates back to mid-70s - perhaps one of the Albert crew had been on SH in a previous life.

I can remember a report on TV of a C130 return flight from Ascension without stopping just after the surrender. They dropped pallets of cement to fill the craters on the airfield. I worked at the factory where the cement came from and we had a letter on our noticeboard from the MoD thanking us for the help..
mmitch.

Just had a look in my log book for Ascension-Stanley-Ascension. 13 Aug 82 - XV200 24hrs30min, drop and snatch, 19 Aug - XV200 25hrs50min, drop and snatch, 22 Aug - XV196 24hrs 45min, drop and snatch, 26 Aug - XV200 25hrs50min, drop and snatch. Only one snatch missed but successful at second attempt. After that we all seemed to have just 'dropped'. On the radios, a true story. The codes changed so rapidly and the experience level on the subject was low. Solved by getting an AEO to join the crew. Those were the days.

Does anyone know if Terry L is still around? I have a suspicion that his prediliction for CW3 and B&H may have foreshortened his time.

I am pleased to be able to tell you that Terry is alive and well, still bucking the statistics!

YS

Excellent! Flew with him a fair bit, and he was always an absolute gent. Last time was in Jan 1986.....

Re Mail
 

I was on 824 SQN C Flight in RFA Fort Grange flying in ASW Sea Kings at the time. Watched a couple of drops and pick ups. We liked the personal mail but were not so keen on the official mail though. Long time ago!

Scarily, the Falklands War is as far back from us now, as D-Day was from the Falklands then....!