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Singlies Christmas Dinner served by the Staish and all below him. Food fighting with the Staish and all below him. I was going to mention it but thought that they couldn't possibly have got rid of it... |
;)
mstjbrown ...... I thumbed a lift in a Beverley back to Khormaksar ...... Back in '67 when I was at Khormaksar 5 of us young lads went to Addis Ababa for 2 weeks leave. Coming back we were stranded across the water at Djibouti with no money left when a 84 Sqn Bev came in to collect the mail. A quick word with the 'Q' and we were sitting up in the boom on our way back. No paperwork and no fuss. Thanks again 84. 'We knew how to whinge but we kept it in the NAAFI bar.' |
Originally Posted by Airborne Aircrew
(Post 3522115)
Have they stopped this wonderful tradition? :sad:
I was going to mention it but thought that they couldn't possibly have got rid of it... |
the SWO, Jack Holt When JH was SWO at Odiham, young Fg Off Teeters found himself hanging around the Staish's outer office for some reason. Staish was the namesake and the "lesser" son of a very well-known WWII Air Marshal and post-war CAS and MRAF. Said Staish had very receding hair, but made up for it by growing it very long (well over the collar) at the back. JH marches in, stick under arm, slashed peak etc, delivers scary salute and: JH: Sir, I have checked your diary with the PA; it is free at 1530 today, so I have arranged for the Station Barber to come to your office. Thank you Sir! Another scary salute, about turn and march out. Ohmigod I thinks, I've just seen the SWO tell the Staish to get his :mad: hair cut! |
I remember when...
You kept your old serge hairy working blue trousers long after they should have been consigned to the dustbin, as new ones would take the skin off your legs! :eek: ... bright blue new working blue blouses matched with old slate grey trousers. V-force duty suppers - throw a steak or two onto the hotplate .. we had a V-force The skys of East Anglia were chocka with mil jets Crew-neck wooly-pullies with tie-strings at the neck; trogg boots with white sea-boot socks - lineys for the use of. No guards on the main gate and a myriad of entrances and exits |
Those Were The Days
;)
Things of days long gone; PORs, FFIs, Pot Belly Stoves, PBX, .303s, Transit Camps, Early calls from the Guardroom runner (Towel on the end of the bed) Overseaes postings; Singapore, Borneo, Malaya, Hong Kong, Gan, East Africa, Persian Gulf (Still), Cyprus (Only just still), Aden, Libya, Malta, Deep Sea Boxes Chasing rabbits at night while strapped on the front wing of a David Brown tractor racing over the airfield at Lyneham with a pick axe handle in hand. All bedding stores were run by a Cpl GD 'Paddy the Blanket'. Who walked around the bedding store with bumber pads under his shoes to protect the highly polished lino. Getting 3 days jankers for being late at a previous (7 days) jankers parade. 'We knew how to whinge but we kept it in the NAAFI bar.' |
Teeteringhead,
Brilliant, where have all the good SWOs gone? I remember a SWO turning up one day with a black eye.. he'd been fighting! :D We've been talking about Mike Jackson recently, and I was reminded of a similar incident with him. I was doing TACP in N Bosnia a while back, and he visited the troops. Although a Battlegroup asset, we had a remit to wander as tasked and were always trying to clock up more miles than the Bootie TACP. Anyway, one day, we bowled up in the clank and debussed, being in real (and I mean REAL) rag order. He wanders over, takes one look at me and says 'Aha, someone in theatre with longer hair than me!!'. The RSM's eyes bulged and he hissed 'Wait here you f#cking Crab' as he followed in the man's wake. Like hell. I refuelled, turned around and got the clank out of there as quickly as possible. Incidentally, having had cause one day to discharge my main armament and personal wpns (IW and SLP), I was asked by the QM of the same unit to write a statement about it as I was in the process of getting replen'd. Biting my lip, I did so (I have the photocopy still, it was done on the back of a Bluey). Then, he asked me where the empty cases were. 'In a f#cking minefield near Sanski Most, you want them you go and get them' I suggested none too subtly. He got his own back. When later asking for sh#thouse paper for the back of the wagon, he smiled and asked me 'How many men do you have? I need to work out how many sheets I can spare you.'. Go Army. :ok: |
My first 1250 was cardboard, in an open ended acetate packet. All details handwritten, with space for three promotions as and when they occurred.
For SWO stories. I was in charge of a barrack block floor. At the end of one Station Master's inspection a Warrant Officer comes to me and asks when the block had last been decorated. I said I had no idea, but supposed it was in the normal 'Wonders and Blunders' programme. He replied 'I wouldn't keep horses in this place. How can I discipline airmen when they aren't smart and tidy if they have to live in these conditions.' with that he bade me a good day and taking his stick from behind his back and hurried after the rest of the party. We thought it was an OK place, not the Ritz. As for all the other reminiscences, I can recall a lot of them but, some are too recent for me to know let alone remember. Must be getting old. |
Buying the Stewards a drink every night in Brampton's Sgts Mess got your bed made and room cleaned every morning
'Falling over in the drying room' when not meeting Flt Enforcers standards during AAITC Making sure your flights were scheduled for the mornings on Fridays so you could miss the traffic Your instructors being more hung over than you the day after a cold-weather barrel Trying to pee quietly out of the first floor window of the WRAF block whilst snowdrops patrolled outside |
Quote: Singlies Christmas Dinner served by the Staish and all below him. Food fighting with the Staish and all below him. |
;)
NAAFI Leave Centres in Mombassa. The NAAFI club in Chippenham. The Chevrons Club just off Baker Street in London. The Britannia Club in Singapore. KD with buckles at both sides of the shorts and the rubber buttons. Woolen KD socks. All Bomber Command personnel had to have up-to-date Smallox, Yellow Fever and Cholera certificates. Jnr Techs, Cpl Techs and Chf Techs in the General Office and Accounts - and in the Cookhouse and in Stores. Cookhouse, Accounts, General Office. When we had Clks Personnel, Accounts, Postal, Organisation and Administrative Assistant. TAGs that worked in the Tin Room - What a job ! 'We knew how to whinge but we kept it in the NAAFI bar.' |
Singlies Christmas Dinner served by the Staish and all below him. Food fighting with the Staish and all below him. |
Whe your clearance chit included the Bike store
When I was making a nice addition to my wages buying King Edwards in the PX at Bruggen.....and selling them to the Canberra crews at Gut...who ordered in advance,,,,,,thanks guys :ok: A visit to Roermond was essential....to buy ex Dutch AF blue in lieu of the hairy we were still issued with ! A very old Flt Lt Devon pilot arriving at Valley one day....spoke with a broad Yorkshire accent on arrival.....and Home Counties English on departure the next day. Eating fish n chips ( and guarding ... in theory ) under the wing of the first F-111 ro divert into Valley...the mag in the SLR was empty...the full mag was sealed in about 5 sheets of polythene wrapping....watching the Yank engineer who came to fix it sign another guys name in the log with the explanation "the :mad:has done it to me". Watching the expression on a two pip grunts face on Ex Snow Queen at the bottom of a hill....he had alleged that the RAF contingent had learnt nothing on the course....almost true....we learnt about every watering hole in the local town....and challenged me ( selected at random it seems ) to prove otherwise.....he was wearing down hill ski's....I had cross-country ski's...he went round the outcrop.....I went over it....arrived at the bottom and said "Beat you, you bastard !".....I was then reminded of my lowly airman status in life. Happy days ! |
Ident Documents
JamesA
And the lad on the line at Honington who had a picture of a gorilla in place of his mugshot on his security tag - one of the leather ones which were hooked to the breast pocket button. It lasted for a few months before anyone spotted the difference. |
When Harry the B@stard was the pilot and Juan A Phuc was his crewman...
When Harry the B@stard was thrown out of Leeming(?) OM bar after being invited to remove his HtB name badge and replace it with his real one. He did, but his real name, (of Polish descent), looked sufficiently suss that the Wg. Cdr.(?) threw him out for p1ss-taking... When carrying a broom or a clipboard was a guaranteed days skate. When "Big Boots", (OC II), led the friday after lunch run round the peri-track at Catterick - When you finish the run you were finished work for the week. |
I remember when
You could travel from London to Norwich (81) and see at least 10 different types of RAF A/C in the sky.
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Can't remember if I mentioned it AA, Gp Capt (retired) Billy 'Big Boots' Bremner died last year of cancer.
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I remember when air cadets were routinely flown in any and all operational RAF aircraft.
Whilst on annual camps from the early 70's to mid 80's I have flown in: F4 Phantom Chippy Canberra Lancaster (BBMF) Herc VC10 Puma Chin Chinnook Sea King Wessex Gazelle Whirlwind Bulldog Dominee (sp?) to name a few.... |
Can't remember if I mentioned it AA, Gp Capt (retired) Billy 'Big Boots' Bremner died last year of cancer. |
Swapping a threepenny stamp for a cigarette at the shop on E Camp St Athan
How to beat the bobbies in NI when picking up a penny when driving absolutely pissed (always pick up the middle one) Being pissed on by fruit bats outside the Camp Stack in Gan Gan Staish on a bike with his flag on the handlebars Curried shark caught that day in the Lagoon Knowing all the duty free beer times for Malysia and Singapore Dead rats thrown into the fans in the Malcolm Club at Tengah Rock Apes using heads trying to stop fans at full speed Minesweeping 37 portions of peanut sauce outside JC's in Tengah village Circumnavigating the Tengah Bar without touching ground whilst ripping out all the wall lights Surving a nights sleep in a monsoon drain between the Tengah Bar and base Biting into a marmalade orange fresh from the tree outside the Sgt's Mess at Akrotiri Never being threatened to apologise because of sincerity, loyalty and honesty Wearing your uniform in public with pride |
I'm just a wee snip of a lad compared to some, but...
I remember when you'd finish work at mid day in Akrotiri, hit Arabs at 1pm, back to the Mess for a sharpener at 5, before heading into Limi; not to be seen again until appearing at the front gate a 5am looking for a lift from the coppers back to the Mess, ready to start work at 7am... And repeat once more... :E These days it seems all they do is 'hit Arabs...' :8 |
Being pissed on by fruit bats outside the Camp Stack in Gan Being pooped and peed on by Spider Monkeys close to Caracol Ruins in Belize a year or two after they were found... It took a while to work out what was going on since they were so far above us in the canopy. A four ship slipping up the Belize river to attack APC just after dawn and racking up a total of twenty plus provable, (blood patches), birdstrikes... One ship had 9, mine had 5... Small birds, fortunately. Walking into a souvenir shop in Limmasol just after lunch and leaving it 3 hours later, utterly legless on free Cockinelli (sp)... with a plaster of paris statuette of Athena... :D |
Joining on New Years Day 1963 at Swinderby, then being put on three days jankers......Two days later :{ for "Unpressed No1, Unpressed Great Coat and Dirty Buttons [on both said items]"
I had had them 2 hours......:hmm: Hitch hiking in uniform. Once, an arctic stopped before the thumb went up [I was crossing a road] and he bought me lunch at the Transport Caff :ok: Doing the Lyke Wake Walk, 'cos the Journos at the Hull Daily Mail challenged us. Wng Cdr "Tiger" Woods accepted......and we won :ok: Being paid by a Flt Lt Lacey :) Watching the FCTU beat up Patrington domestic site...flying below roof top height...and these were "chalet" type buildings :D Setting a "World Record" for playing Dominoes non-stop for 48 hours, then being disqualifie for playing Yorkshire rules, not London ones :mad: Enlivend my an "Invigilating" WRAF Pilot Officer in civvies...wearin a Mini skirt and [just] tights underneath, and liked crossing and uncrossing her [long] legs :ok::D Then many years later, unashamedly crying, as I videoed my son passing out at RAF Hereford to the RAF March. watp,iktch |
This is the most "laffalot" thread there is:D
Oh sweet nostalgia. We really did have a lot of humour:ok: Keep it up! |
Oh sweet nostalgia. We really did have a lot of humour |
Chuff charts at Eastleigh when the standard overseas posting was two and a half years, with no phone calls or e-mail.
30 Sqn Beverley doing a ten-wheel drift in the mud at Eastleigh, then claiming he was 'testing the surface'. The numerous guys trying to convince the powers that be that they should be discharged because they were too eccentric to be 'in'. Rocks from Khormaksar trying to make out with the WVS ladies who ran that leave camp at Mombasa. They were never that good looking fellas. Inventory checks by junior officers who hadn't a clue what it was you showed them. A kit inspection at Cottesmore when said officer inspected some items at least three times, having been passed along behind his back. The Irishman who fell out of the upper floor barrack block window at Cottesmore, having opened it to take a leak. Fortunately too pi**ed to remember, and too relaxed to be injured. "Fat Jack" , the Maori guy from 14 Sqn RNZAF who removed the juke box from the McGregor Club. The cacophony made by chinese cymbalist who bounced off a funeral truck outside the gate at Tengah, and the Rocks who helped him to his feet! The entertainment provided by the Rocks whenever they went into the Tengah Bar, which was often! |
Trying to collect a full set of the girls on Tennants cans. Building walls out of the empty cans. Destroying the beer can walls of the oppositon.
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First aid lecture, cue Dick the Doc:"What do you do if you see someone having an Epileptic fit?"
"Lob him in a bath with your laundry?" Ted Vaughn at Wittering having shinned up a drainpipe on the WRAF block and edged along to his love's window, he taps on it, she opens it, and knocks him off the window ledge. Lovely cast on his arm. The stink in the back of the Hercs and Argosies doing Casevac in Black September. (Can't actually remember who they were evacuating, the aircraft had Red Crosses applied over the fuselage roundels). Phospheresence on the water in midnight swims from Ladies Mile. Using vodka to light the barbie at same. |
Originally Posted by Gainesy
(Post 3525572)
Phospheresence on the water in midnight swims from Ladies Mile.
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Using vodka to light the barbie at same. |
1. Being late out of breakfast at Shawbury and missing the transport to the Sqn so the four of us walked. Alarmingly the runway light was red, (highly unusual at that time in the morning). Looking up the glideslope I see a landing light about a mile out and immediately think "Mossie... Naaahhh, there's none of them flying". At 3/4 of a mile I say "That's a Mossie". Everyone says "Naaahhh, there's none of them flying". At 1/2 and 1/4 of a mile I'm still saying "That's a Mossie" even though I am convinced none are airworthy. Then I hear it and I am even more convinced it's a Mossie. Finally, the twin Merlins touch down immediately in front of us not 20 yards away... Beautiful... 2. Then, on another occasion, there's all of us reading the Sun, (ok, looking at page 3), and drinking coffee in the mess waiting for the transport to go to the Sqn when the whole mess begins to shake, (pictures on the walls, light fittings, tea shaking etc.). But there's no sound of a large jet and Shawbury probably couldn't handle a jet the size needed to create that amount of shaking... It stops and we go to the Sqn a little puzzled but thinking about the days flying. On the radio at the Sqn is the news... There was an earthquake.. :eek: 3. Flying my first mountain trip out of Shawbury with a certain Crewman Instructor with a patch over his eye. Somewhere deep in north Wales just short of Snowdonia the young pilot asks for his lumpy box. Crewman Instructor replies that he'll get it. A minute later, when I'm intently trying to navigate and not get lost, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to find myself looking down the barrel of a 1" signals pistol with "Take me to Cuba" written on the top of the lumpy box in chinagraph. I nearly fell out of the kite laughing... I did get lost!!! :sad: 4. Waking up in my house in Ash Vale and opening the curtains to find that all the little trees planted along the road are all damaged and debris is all over the street. "F$king Vandals" methinks. Go to bathroom and open curtains to find a 100' tall tree in my yard that wasn't there the night before, (horizontal). Wife asks "didn't you hear the wind last night?" Nope. Try to get to Odiham. Can't, trees down everywhere. Go home and call the Sqn only to be told I must get to work ASAP because they need crews. I finally get there after cross country motorcycle riding to find I am the first crewman in and the wind I slept through the night before was a Hurricane!!! 5. A week after said hurricane Michael Fish, (BBC weatherman), while trying to defend the BBC Weather Service after dropping the ball on predicting a hurricane, proudly announces that they get it right 48% of the time... :rolleyes: 6. Mid November Monday morning. The Monday Met brief is done by the Met Man at Odiham who has to drive all the way around the peri track. We're all sat there and he is giving the brief about 10k vis, 1/8 cloud at 3500', zero precip etc. etc. etc. while we are all looking out of the windows watching the dense snow. Sqn Cdr clears his throat loudly a couple of times and, when he has Met Man's attention, flicks a look towards the windows. Met Man pick up all his nice slides, throws them over his shoulder and, as he departs, says "Of course, you could just look out of the window... Classic!!! :D |
Talking of Tennents beer cans with pinups on, Akrotiri in the hayday of the mighty Canberra, dining in night, late in the evening Station Commander, an Air Commodore in those days, idley appraising said beer cans left around, young Cornish Flying Officer Navigator from 32 Squadron, known to all and sundry as Oggy, takes one to Stn Cdr, shakes it, hands it to him saying 'Here you are, sir, there's a bit left in this one'.
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I remember the night of the storm well AA. We were back in the UK and my section was tasked with establishing a covert OP on the edge of a taxiway dispersal area at Lyneham. This we did, beautifully, and avoiding the ever so cunningly deployed trips :rolleyes:. Established comms, got comfy, time to stag on. Then it got windy and we lost the antenna. Then the next one. Then the trailing wire. And it got cold too. Oh, and wet. Extracted 2 days later extremely character built and reported that it had been a waste of time as there had been no flying. 'Ohhh', came the reply.. ' so thats where you've been, did no one tell you to get out of there as flying was cancelled?'.
:ok: If it ain't raining, it ain't training.. :} |
BigBlueCar wrote:
"...we used to go from Belize to Florida once a month, to top up the stn LOX supply" Ahh, the Homestead LOX run!!! Fond memories of having to go along for the ride just in case the loadie needed help to push the bulk LOX pot out the back in a hurry. :) as if! Also, - Belize, in general. - Watching Lightnings go vertical from the runway at night. - Ligntning Lineys with singed berets. - Getting 7 days Jankers for 'consumption of alcohol' in a barrack block. - Making sure that I didn't get caught again. - Being served beer on VC10s. - Blue 1250s. - Blue overalls. - Spares on the shelf. - Enough blokes on shift to fit said spares. - Lean being something that you did on a wall. - Meeting the EngO, now as a fellow Flt Lt, who once wrote 'Cpl Brat has reached his career ceiling plus one' in an ACR (only discovered once F6000 were unlocked from PMAs vaults).:} - Job satisfaction. |
Would that have been a full moon by chance? It'd be a Blue Moon before I can spoll that word for shinystuff in the oggin again. Or are Blue Moons at Gander? |
Originally Posted by Gainesy
(Post 3526163)
:ok:
It'd be a Blue Moon before I can spoll that word for shinystuff in the oggin again. Or are Blue Moons at Gander? Then when we used to have about 8 weeks leave including grants and travelling time but we didn't have enough money to go anywhere. All the fabulous things we could have bought in Singapore but . . . The chaffing dishes in Tehran. The money changer in the market in Nairobi. The crowd in the Long Bar of the New Stanley in Nairobi Eyeballing an RAFP SIB - he knew I knew who he was and he flashed a NO with his eyes. Same bar, same time, ex-9 sqn copilot present now flying for East African. Then there were the RAF SNCOs based at Eastleigh, on the town in No 5s. Nothing to do with two above of course :) |
The "Coon Saloon" in Keflavik where 5 bucks bought you 20 drinks
The "Brass Nut" at Kef when it was so cold there was a curfew and you were ordered to go on the piss in pairs for safety? Wearing a kilt whilst on airshows in the States - especially Cleveland, Ohio Getting laid for having a British accent in a southern Redneck bar 5 hour golf rounds stuck behind 6 ball nobbers giving high 5's after every shot The suspicion when you said NO to 3 fried eggs and a pound of grits with your breakfast The deathly silence in McDonalds when you said "No Mayo" with your order The reaction at the checkout when she say's "Have a nice day" - and I reply "Yes I'm going to, I'm playing golf in 20 minutes, then I'm going water skiing and then off to a barbie. Later I'm going to a few bars and a night club in South Beach and then back for some sleep as I will later be flying for 6 hours near the Bahamas and then back here tommorrow to see you at the same time - Gee I'm missing you already" Gas barbies, mountain bikes, chain saws, Toys'R'Us when dollars were pounds |
Originally Posted by buoy15
(Post 3526586)
The "Brass Nut" at Kef when it was so cold there was a curfew
Taxi arrives and C**** hobbles 10 yards or so along snow/ice/water path on crutches. Gets in taxi. Gives address. Taxi does U-turn, stops, says $4. C**** gets out hobbles 10 yards or so along snow/ice/water path on crutches to block. Total distance 25 yards, taxi 5 yards, cost $4. Only in Kef! |
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