Anyone remember the Majunga detachment?
 

I spent 6 months on the beach in a bamboo hut with a straw roof living the life of luxury in the Village Touristique............now that was a detachment!

I personally aviod places that remind me of the Hanoi Hilton myself.

The dreaded "M" place
 

You, mon brave,could be opening one of the bigger can of worms seen on this site since............ A bottle of "Trois Chevaux" anyone?
The Ancient Mariner

Anyone remember the Majunga detachment?
 

I certainly do, but I'm saying nothing until I see what emerges from the swamp .....

Jack

If I remember rightly, I was at Khormaksar at the time, but new a few that got a short detatchment there. Biggest complaint: bacardi and coke was
1s 0d in the day and 1s 6d at night due to coke being imported

Union Jack......we may have the same lurid history...
 

For I too ended up in the 'Swamp' :cool: after 'Madam's' Aug '66 - Feb '67 :) - oops!

Oh God,

The Majunga '66 brigade finally pulls themselves out of their bathchairs and gets their nurses to write something for them. Takes me back to the days of Lossie '88 and when the 8 Sqn crewroom was full of "Blah blah Majunga, blah blah Sharjah, blah blah Changi". Having just landed from 8 hours up and down the Aberdeen 120 radial looking for trade it was enough to make you puke. We weren't jealous, oh no!

If this thread is to continue I demand to know how Boots H***ken got the nickname. Didn't it occur out there?

Dit On.

Anyone remember the Majunga detachment?

NO, but I did three.:oh:

s37:O

Shack37...........?
 

Were you ex-37 Sqn Khormaksar? I was out there with your Sqn and with the great Olaf Berg from 38 Sqn Malta.

Dundiggin,
Yep, ex 37 K'sar. Only did one short trip to Majunga from Aden to assist with an engine change and later two dets from BK. The one from Aden (returning to K'sar by Shackair) resulted in an unplanned stop at Nairobi, Embakasi. There was a Britannia detachment based there at the time who, apparently, were caused great embarrasment by our presence.:mad:
We listened to the 1966 World Cup final on the Beeb world service whilst ensconsced tempoarily in the Spread Eagle Hotel.
Cheers,
s37

Shack37........
 

Interestingly perhaps, I and another bloke who was a Shack armourer in Majunga, subsequently were flying together on Pumas and went to Rhodesia as part of the Ceasefire Monitoring Force! We decided to keep our Majunga involvement quiet but eventually it was revealed and the Rhodesians were perfectly fine about it as they were getting their oil from SA!:*:* Perhaps the Majunga det was not as effective as we had hoped. Anyway it was bloody good fun. :ok:

Dundiggin
No arguments on that observation, fun was certainly had by most. Not always appreciated by some of our white French neighbours when we were briefly billeted in the (I think) Hotel de France in Majunga town. Many a rugby / shack song was interrupted by flowerpots raining down from three stories up.:eek:
Our version of the French national anthem didn't get many votes in the airport bar either:\
On the other hand, fraternisation was encouraged:oh:
Still, we were a happy little band:O
BTW Have had a few trips offshore as a Puma pax, think I prefer something with a galley:ok:
s37

Shack37.........
 

Aaaaah! L'Hotel de France was also the place to convert water to wine and back again! :ok: I was working in the bureau from Sep '66 to Feb '67 which was possibly after your time there. I saw the change from 37 to 38 and then to 42. Should have seen the natives move when the vipers lit up on the Mk III's or was it Mk II's?!!

I don't think any MkIIs had vipers fitted, just the MkIII, PhIII which needed a boost to get off the ground with the extra bits and pieces fitted. I wonder if the Hotel de France is still going. A wonderful place coming a close third after madames and villlage touristique. We once did a tour of all three in a landrover with 19 souls aboard. Never been so close to my friends before or since.:cool:
After that short trip with 37 I went back again twice 68/69 with 204/210 from BK.

Re: Majunga
 

Hi Shack37, This is the butterfly collector (in joke). We meet again.

It was only the MkIII PhIII that had vipers, ended up causeing so much stess on the airframe the MkIIs outlasted them.

I was in Majunga in 69 or 70 (memory a bit hazy) 204 Squadron detachment from Ballykelly. Stayed at Camp Brittanique... and then the Village Tourisique prior to departure. Best detachment ever.... I think :)

Wings / Dundiggin
If we keep pushing we may get a few more coming out of the woodwork:suspect:
Come on now, we know you're there, you know you want to...............:uhoh:

Eight posters so far, there were more than that most mornings in Jospin's waiting room:oh:

Cheers
s37

Dundiggin'

"Perhaps the Majunga det was not as effective as we had hoped.

Absolutely correct! Your patrolling achieved the big ZERO when it came to effect on Rhodesia's fuel supply.:E

Jean-Baptiste Jospin
 

In my role of "little helper" sat in on one or two of his consultations to help with language. Wonderful chap. He was great humanitarian and very understanding of the weaknesses of mankind. I think that stemmed from the fact that as a very junior army doctor he'd been posted to Devil's Island. Many, many years later I met a v. senior medical chap who told me that they were still doing medical/admin discharges as late as the early '90s of chaps who had caught (or thought they'd caught) a nasty anti-social complaint at Mere Chabot's establishment . I think that the problems started after a certain boss decided to put Madame's out of bounds and she was forced to augment her client base with South Korean fishermen. Bloody puritans - the trouble they cause.
The Ancient Mariner

Rossian....
 

'Mere Chabot'?? Do you mean Madame Chapeau?

Biggest laugh was when 'Madame' appeared in the bureau shouting (in French naturally!) words to the effect that one of her daughters was pregnant and it was one of our detachment wot dun the dirty deed! Olaf Berg (not known for his ability or desire to speak French) wanted interpretation at this very noisy and French interruption to his daily work schedule. Eventually he told her to 'Bugger off' in a broad South African accent! That seemed to solve it!!

Rossian
I seem to remember that the period that madame's was "out of bounds" was one of her busiest. It certainly didn't affect the traditional "handover night" when relievers and relieved got together for (de)briefing.
I still have a, slightly fuzzy, mental picture of a visitor arriving one night with some of our aircrew and thoroughly enjoying the wine/trois chevaux. I saw him the following morning, apparently still a little woozy because he'd managed to put his collar on back to front.

Wholeheartedly agree about Dr. J. a great character. I believe the RAF took him to the UK to pass on some of his expertise and managed to lose him for a while in Bahrein.
s37

I have seem Madam's spelt Chabot, Chabeau and Chabaud. There is still a Madam Chabaud advertising a restaurant, bungalows and hotel in the attached, half way down on the right:

www.majunga.org/images/guide-ortm/guide-touristique-majunga2006.pdf

And here still in Mahibibo:

http://www.madagascar-guide.com/fr/P...nga/resto.html

and here in Katsepy... just across the river:

http://www.majunga.org/chabaud/

Luckily I never had cause to meet Dr Jospin :)

Interesting advert in that link for la Chaboud restaurant "Service Simpathique"
Nothing new there then.:ok:

I did visit the good doctor once. Sporting injury I think. Incurred during a football match against the local lads.:yuk:

Yeah right
 

Yeah right :cool:

I looked at Village Touristique on Google Earth, still seems to be some buildings in the same location but much overgrown now, hut seem closer together and water closer to the buildings with a sandbar further out....

I'd like to locate camp Brittanque if it is still standing, but too built up around that area now

15 42'26.50" S 46 18'17.68" E

think you'll find it was May 70 (or Mar 71) that you met us in bundu boots and butterfly net as our new copulate !!

Best birthday I ever had was at Majunga.. Francoise stepping out of a large cardboard box with det com's house keys in one hand, and landrover keys in the other.. good old Dickie.. he knew how to look after his junior officers !!

And I did get to know doc jospin.. and not for a sports injury !!

:) Last weekend I was at the 75th birthday party for our 38sqdn skipper who led us on three Majunga detatchments! Nearly all the old crew was there, so many tales were told, and we had to stay an extra day in Devon before we were fit to drive home. Beat ups of the beach and the Maison were the norm, as was sending an "Ops normal" to Salisbury control every hour as we were in their FIR, but they were never less than pleasant and helpful. A very civilised detatchment.

Majunga memories
 

I was hauled in for questioning ( well invited for a beer or two) by you lot. I was the only English crewman aboard the MV Wumme, (a scruffy looking trawler full of stuff that went bang) that seemed to attract your attention as we minded our own business off the Madagascar coast. Our German skipper had already tightened the strap on his U boat commander's hat once after refusing interception and boarding by the Royal Navy on the high seas. I was having a quiet beer one afternoon in the Hotel de France when my eyes focussed on a 'Keep Ballykelly Flying' sticker behind the bar. The conversation started with a simultaneous ,'what the bloody hell are you chaps doing here?' With an American colleague we had a great night at your club bar. I remember him being amazed that we all knew the same songs about basic bodily functions.
Thankyou for reminding me about pleasant days at the Village Touristique, a bamboo hut with a bed and a mosquito net and a bit of bent water pipe as a shower, what more do you need? Ah those barbecued crayfish! I remember a restaurant near there with a large domed ceiling. The chameleons would run up the walls until they lost traction, then plummet down on to the dinner table. We drank the bar out of red label and convinced the barman that his stock of black label was useless stuff that he would have to sell us it half price. Remember the dart board in Madame Chapeau's bar? Somebody had constructed a large pair of pincers for extracting the darts, embedded to the hilt, by the local spear throwers. I sailed off into the sunset, well Lourenquo Marques actually, and eventually took to flying aeroplanes for a living. I hear that bubonic plague broke out in Majunga in 1997, not surprised.

Majunga
 

Pinching Pedro the bus driver's gearstick and passing to the back just as we were going up the hill from the village touristique. Oh how we laughed when he got his own back by flinging a firkin great chameleon in my lap days later:eek:
Regards Den.

Phone call from officers mess person to airfield guard warning that detachment Duty Prat had left a note inside one of the aircraft with the word "Bomb" written on it. Note found and the word "disarmed" added.
Officers mess person rewarded with large gin, Duty Prat rewarded with large grin.

s37:D

catching butterflies
 

I was stationed at majunga commcen in 1970 for the regular 6 months tour. Happy days. I enjoyed reading the majunga forum. brought back memories. one incident spings to mind. About 6 of us organised a trip up to the top end of madagascar to collect sea shells. Seemingly they are quite rare. Two landrovers with trailers carrying all the gear, including fresh water, tents ect. An officer approached us and asked if he could come with us as he was a keen butterfly collector and he was desparate to catch some of the rare butterflies which are native only to Mada. We ofcourse agreed. We didnt make our intended destination, got lost in jungle and some of the roads were totally impassable. So this guy persuaded us to help him catch butterflies instead of sea-shells. He majically produced three or four nets and gave us a few basic tips on the art of catching and killing the butterflies without damaging the wings or bodies of the beasts. So there we were prancing about in the jungle catching butterflies. You couldnt make it up. he was like a young kid let loose in a sweetie-shop. And we all joined in the big game hunt with loads of enthusiasm. I have just discovered, in attic, some slides of that particular hack. Now on my pc. If you are that officer then i would be more than happy to send you these photos. Or to anyone else who is interested. My email address is
[email protected]

Majunga 42Sqn 1967
 

Oh, I remember it well:ok:
Well, that's not strictly true as many will back me up. The days were warm and hazy and the only brain stressing activities were listening to Mel Quick (armourer) brow beating the patron at Village Touristique about the battles the English won over the French.
I'm surprised there has been no mention of the Flying Saucer - any memories?
I lived in one of the shamba huts on the beach and was entertained most day and nights by "boomarang flies" and Marty Robbins belting out from the bar.
Here is a link for our Shacks:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/27862259@N02/6437001489/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/27862259@N02/6437001489/Did any of you run the gauntlet from Uganda to Aden via Egypt? 500 feet with lights out so the Migs didn't catch us - fun, NOT!
I think I can safely say it was the best 3 months of leisure we ever endured:)

Majunga
 

I went there 4 times with 205 from Singapore, 2 of them on 3 day visits from Gan, and 2 from Honington with 204. I wish I had had more time to explore the island. Christmas 1971 was memorable, with Gibraltar staff casting covertous eyes on our Christmas trees on the way out. The locals at our film nights in the "Maison" seemed to appreciate "Zulu" when we showed it at a film night! Plus collecting bodies from tin town as we went in for a flight. and the 3 dogs Snoopy, Ratbag and S***bag, at the airfield site.

Boots
 

There were 2 stories, one was that his use of the foot pedals was pretty fierce, the other was that one afternoon when he was on SAR standby at Gan (205 Sqn) he was so upset at a decision against him on a the volleyball pitch outside the accommodation, that he booted the ball over the hut roof, and retired to sulk. I was there at the time.

I think it pre dated 205, AM. He arrived on 205 late 1969, and we flew together about a dozen times in Oct/Nov, before I came home. I'm pretty sure he was known as Boots when he arrived on the Sqn.

Ox, you could well be correct, it was all long ago, although I still remember the bedbugs in the Hotel de France, and the appalling toilet on the hotel's 1st floor!

GIGFY

Your link shows a Mk3 and is labled 42 Sqn. I thought 42 had Mk2s back then. I'm not sure but I don't think they ever converted to Mk3s.
Happy to be corrected.

I was there with 37 Sqn. in 1966.

Like you I had thought 42 stayed with Mk.2s, but Joe Ashworth's book shows them having 3s from NOV65 - SEP 71, when they converted to Nimrods. It also shows 977 as being with 42 from MAY66 (post Viper fit) to MAY68.
I did 2 months in Majunga from 205 in summer 68, and a short detachment in Oct 69, with Boots as my co-pilot and Gerry "Primrose" Lane as Nav Captain

42Sqn Definitely had MkIII's
 

Hi, Shack37
Yes, we had the MkIII's - pain in the butt if you forgot there wasn't a tail wheel - think about it:ooh:
At one point, St Mawgan was host to 210, 201, & 42 - all MkIIIs.
Just a matter of interest, I was posted to Helicopter Flight just down the road from 37 from 1962-1964 before being "volunteered" to return to Khormaksar to initiate closure in 1966. Thankfully I wasn't there in 1967 when the last Wessex flew off.
I've tried to find out from comrades the names of the locals we had contact with but no luck.
I believe a 37Sqn guy married a lady from Madagasgar and he has a website somewhere.
PS: here it is:
Return to Majunga 2008

Thanks GIGFY, memory could be fading a bit.
I was at St. Mawgan from November 1961 to June 1966 with a break for fitters course mid 63 to mid 64. During that time we had 201, 206 (Mk3s) and 42 (Mk2s). This changed when 206 moved to ISK and MOTU came to St. Mawgan but I'm fairly sure 42 had Mk2s when I left there for K'sar.
On escaping Aden in 67 I went to Ballykelly, home to 204, 210 (Mk.2s) and 203 (Mk.3s). I think that was unchanged when I demobbed in 1971 but it's possible 203 may have move to Honiton??? prior to my leaving.

That website is the 37Sqn site run by Dave McCandless. It was Dave who married the daughter of the lady owner of the most popular pub in Majunga's famous Tintown neighbourhood. I visit it regularly (the website) to catch up on any new messages which sadly sometimes include departures of old mates.

42Sqn Shacks from mk2 to mk3s
 

Thanks for the feedback, Shack37 - I did a check for memory's sake and found that our change over from 2s to 3s happened between Nov 1965 until Jan 1966. I joined the squadron in January 1966 and was on board for the acceptance flight of one of the first 3s.
While at Khormaksar, I had a great number of mates on 37, specially one Porky Dring, engines, who, I don't believed ever washed but managed to get hitched to a millionairess! He didn't sign on again - funny that.
My association with shacks continued when posted to Lossie to run the engineering side of the SAR 202sqn choppers. I use to swan over to 8Sqn for a couple of TGIFs. It was interesting to learn the EWS domes collected seaweed just as well as the dustbins on mk2s!

GIGFY
Thanks again, that clarifies pretty much everything from T4s to Mk3Ph3, where and when, over a number of years.

As for dustbins and seaweed, we had a 206 Mk3 return to St. Mawgan with part of the dustbin missing. There were some ATC Cadets on board that trip, one of whom was enjoying the view from the tail end as scanner met water. He appeared unfazed on disembarking, probably thinking it was quite normal for bits of a maritime aircraft to submerge occasionally.

Happy days.