"Main Point" (Archive 27).Main Point Newsletter Archived 20th July 2010.
Tony has received the sad news that.
Malcolm Husbands died on 27th April 2010.
Malcolm had been in hospital suffering from a kidney and other tumors. If anyone has more information this would be appreciated.
Plus another sad email from Australia tells of the death of an Australian brother 74ther.
Please turn to John's autobiography to pay respect to his eventful life and work.
John Milner Saunders 588632.
Regretfully I pass to you the news that John passed away on the 31st March 2010. He had been ill since before Christmas.
John's funeral was held in Brisbane on the 8th April 2010. A large number of family, friends and work colleagues attended. It was a wonderful celebration of his life.
John had suggested to his family that he would like his ashes scattered from 40,000 feet. We are working with the family on this. The RAAF may be able to assist.
if you have any suggestions as to any assistance from UK for this would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards
Chris Hill
Operational Lead Auditor
Virgin Blue Airlines
Another contribution to our Autobiography Section thanks to ...
John (Digger) Davis of The 74th Entry.
[John passed out of Halton with 74th entry as instrument fitter navigation.]
68 days continuous jankers - something of a record.
My contribution to Halton folklore was 68 days continuous jankers - something of a record. The problem was LOVE. I was courting a maiden in Aylesbury and persisted in going out when confined to camp. Cpl snoop Slim Turner and I became closely and frequently acquainted. Needless to say, I was heartbroken when the love of my then life abandoned me for a civilian apprentice deisel fitter who was better paid than an AA.
My further crime was selling replacement groundsheets at five bob a throw (I had access to the stable store by the Astra).
First and Fantastic Tour in Singapore.
Changi followed Halton with 3 years in the infamous Block 151 ground floor. Highlights of this first tour were too many to recount. At one time, Tex Grundy and I were running Changi Radio. Tex was the lugubrious announcer while I manned the turntable.
I boxed for FEAF against the Army and entered the annual 25K Johore to Singapore racewalk each year. RAF plimsolls were not the ideal footwear and in my last race I was overtaken at the 20K marker by a 70+ year old Malay walking barefoot! Tex and I became proficient at Ronggong Joget in the Happy World downtown - 3 dances for a dollar and no touching the girls! I dimly recall one Christmas, with either Tex Grundy or Tony Dovner riding shotgun, pinching the Padre's bike and distributing sweets from a big jar to all the kids and waifs in Changi village. I went to Japan on a Hastings as support ground crew with Dave Holcroft (our ex-HAAA Welfare Rep - sadly died 2009). Thus ended a fantastic tour in Singapore.
Returned to UK and Began Flight Engineer Training Late 1960.
Returned to UK late 1959 aboard Empire Fowey - not so fantastic! A whole regiment of Green Howards was not my choice of cruising companions. Spent a year or so at Cranwell inst fitting on the Varsity. Began flight engineer training late 1960.
Converted onto Hastings and then did 3 tours on the whistling tit (Argosy). In 1965, someone said I had become the youngest commissioned flight engineer since WW2. If true, I can set it against my Halton jankers record as the second of three dubious lifetime achievements.
Some Interesting Mess Games.
A tour as flight commander at Toplciffe introduced me to some interesting Mess games (helped by copious supplies of dry sherry). Examples I recall are how many people can we get standing on the mantlepiece and last one under the dining room carpet buys a round of drinks. One late evening following a successful dining in night, and before the breathyliser became law, a few of us (including Bill Kelley - Haltonian Editor) felt peckish and drove to a well known greasy spoon near Newark. A few truck drivers appeared bemused when waiters in bow tie, waistcoat and medals gave a new meaning to roadside service!
Last Posting: Boscombe Down as Flight Engineer/Flight Test Observer.
Following a short tour on Britannias, my last posting was to Boscombe Down as flight engineer/flight test observer. Around 18 aircraft types in as many months plus a few changes of underpants (try stalling a Jetstream in severe turbulence) was the background to my last tour. We were tri-service and part of MOD where different rules applied. Where else could I be delivered and collected by Andover aircraft to referee or judge boxing matches around the UK? My last flight was in a Hunter T7 that shuddered its way to Mach 1.03 at the second attempt. I left the RAF in 1974 with regret to earn enough money to support my family. I became chief flight engineer with Air Malawi on their ex BCAL VC10. Three years later I moved to Gulf Air and became training flight engineer on the Tristar. Three years later I was a casevac out of Bahrain and thus ended my aviation career.
In 1980, my second career began and lasted for 26 years.
In 1980, my second career began and lasted for 26 years. I sold the business in 2006. I like to think I have put something back into the engineering world. Ten apprentices passed through my firm and became fully dual qualified electricians and alarm fitters - all are doing well in life. With a family of two wives (one ex), three daughters, two sons and five grandchildren, I consider myself well blessed. I am in danger of becoming a great-grandfather soon. However, we are now empty nesters and I am semi-retired. I drum for the Golden Oldies, play dominoes for the next village on Tuesdays, administer our village emergency plan, monitor the village hall committee and, lastly, continue working for my third dubious lifetime achievement - a degree in Humanities! I enrolled at the Open University the year it opened (1969) commencing with a maths module then quit to pursue my RAF activities. I rejoined the OU in 2006 and was surprised to be still registered as an undergraduate. I anticipate being awarded my BA in 2011.
So, Guiness Book of Records, here we come - "he took 42 years to get a degree!"
Any ex-74th visiting Blenheim Palace or passing near - e-mail me at haltonite@hotmail.co.uk - we have spare beds and cold G & Ts always available.
John "Digger" Davis
Email received - may be of interest to our members.
Handley Page Victor K mark 2 55 sqd RAF Marham.
Dear Sirs,
My name is Edward (Ted) Taber.During the years 1992/93 I produced two video documentaries based on the Avroe Vulcan XH 558 (RAF Waddington) and the last remaining seven Handley Page Victors (RAF Marham).Both these videos were released on VHS and withdrawn from sale in the late nineties.I now intend to re-release them onto DVD. At the moment I am building my web site which will contain substantial information surrounding these majestic aircraft and the support needed by both air and ground crews.I was wondering if you would like me to keep you updated on any further development as to when the videos are available and when the web site will be complete?
Edward J R Taber.
[Editor: OK see how it goes.]
A story from RAF Halton by Peter "Tommy" Thomas (588545) 74th Entry.
Just Another Memory.
Whilst going through some old papers from my mother's house I came across the a programme of a play put on by the Halton Drama Group. It brought back memories of grease paint and people trying to remember their lines. My task was to wire the stage although I was training to be an engine fitter.
How many Apprentices Does it Take?
We had a rheostat on a control board, which was even then, very old. There were several places to plug in various lighting effects. One evening we decided to wire a light bulb holder so that we could put a light bulb under coloured paper in a fireplace. Dave Nisbet my "assistant", another 74th engine fitter, took on the wiring of the light bulb socket and I put the plug on the other end. The cable was two core lighting cable with transparent insulation joining the two cores.
When I finished my end I put it down and decided to check the foot lights, I picked up a plug thinking it was the footlights plug, pushed it into an empty socket on the board and climbed up on to the stage. No sooner had I got there than I heard someone shouting and realised it was Dave.
He was standing there with one of the cores wrapped around each fore finger and jumping up and down. After I unplugged him he went a horrible shade of grey and collapsed in a heap. One of the officers came to see what all the noise was and make sure he was still alive. Later we found the only damage was two burn marks one on each thumb.
I met him a few years later and he showed me the marks were still there. He didn’t hold a grudge (I don't think!). Wonder where he is now?
NOTE:I thought Min may be interested in the programme for the Archives or the Museum, so I sent it to him.
Peter "Tommy" Thomas (588545) 74th
Another Canberra Story from Tony.
"I have just read Stan Norris's canberra experiances.
You might be interested in one of mine, even though I had not laid hand or spanner on the subject aircraft.
The Turbine Wheel Came through the Engine Nacelle.
At Watton sometime in 1957 a Canberra (I don't recall the mark) had just undergone a Minor Inspection and was rolled out of the hangar for ground running test to be followed by a compas swing, The trollyac was connected, a SNCO, qualified to ground run, was in the cockpit, the ground crew put thumbs up and indicated to start the port engine.
Contact was made, there was the customary noise if the cartridge firing followed by an even larger noise as the starter disintegrated, the turbine wheel came through the engine nacelle, struch the side of the fuselage, ran round the fuselage and disappeared across the airfield leaving the fuselage looking like the perferations on a roll of RAF Form 000!
Cheers Tony
Stan Norris tells of his first posting abroad.
2. My First Overseas Posting.
My First Posting to No.137 MU RAF Safi, Malta Was a Fascinating Experience.
[Photo: Bessoneau storage hanger at RAF Safi 1958. On the back row 5th from the left is Mike Monaghan ex 74th and extreme right back row is myself (Stan Norris).]
May 1956. Malta. I had arrived on the island after an overnight flight from Blackbushe in the civilian version of a Valletta. It was about 08.00. The three ton truck ground to a noisy halt outside an unimpressive building at RAF Safi after travelling the short distance from Luqa. Old hands had told me that this place was known as 'Happy Safi' throughout the RAF.
After the usual preliminaries in the General Office I was directed to the domestic site, a collection of Nissen huts on the outskirts of Safi village where I was to take up residence in hut B.1. My first impressions was that I had entered a bygone age, it all looked very rough and unready after Halton.
Some Sort of Paradise?
I tentatively pushed open the hut door to reveal a scene which I could only describe as squalor - I was subconsciously comparing it with Halton. A snoring drunk lay on the first bed inside the door, mosquito nets hung askew over and around the other bed spaces, washing lines spanned across the room, flies everywhere and it looked as though the occupants had vacated the place in a panic. It looked anything but a military establishment and I was wondering was this some sort of paradise?
The Arrival Proceedure.
I dumped my kit on the one vacant bed space. Having failed to get any response from the drunk (who I later found out was the Cpl i/c hut B.1) I went to the picket post for directions to the hangar. Following the dusty track I eventually found myself crossing the apron in front of the hangar to a barrage of humorous comments about my standard of dress, my lily white knees and my obvious youth.
The arrival procedure didn't take long and after lunch I met the rest of the occupants of B.1. The Cpl i/c was in his late thirties who during his career had served six months detention in Colchester, he was as hard as nails and his brutalised face was evidence of past brawls. His two drinking companions were also Cpls., one, an overweight, loud 36 year old Geordie, the other in his mid forties with a row and a half of campaign medals was a taciturn Scot from Glasgow. Then there was an ex 69th entry member and finally an SAC supplier in his late twenties - and me, an 18 and a half year old new boy. I quickly settled in but it was a tempestuous few months before the older ones were tourex and replaced by Mike Monaghan (74th) and Pete Russell (72nd/74th). During this time a small, white dog adopted us in B.1 and we called him Brumas and he loved us all.
Safi Seemed to be a Unique Place.
Safi seemed to be a unique place. The Station Commander, Wg Cdr Harry Hester and his wife Marie were wonderfully different to what I would have expected! On several occasions, normally near the end of the pay fortnight, the pair of them would drive to the domestic site, tap on the door of the first hut and ask, "anyone coming up to Pop's Bar for a drink?" Pop's Bar or the Blue Star Bar to give it's proper name was our nearest watering hole other than the NAAFI. It was always a good party on those nights. Marie Hester made a birthday cake for each living in airman's birthday and delivered the cake to the billet, she visited any Safi personnel in hospital or Sick Quarters and that included families. Those and many other little personal touches endeared them to us.
At work I was put in the Modifications Bay with about six Maltese civilian aircraft workers and we were led by Cpl Fenwick-Walpole. Wally, as everyone else called him had a definite European accent and he disliked ex-apprentices intensely. First of all he took me all round the hangar, oil stores, ground equipment area and all the time asking me questions. At the end of it all he told me I had done quite well as all the questions were from the Snr Techs exam that he had recently taken! The very first job he gave me was to replace and wire lock the Avery hydraulic connections blanking caps on a Meteor Mk 13. Wally came along, gave it a thorough inspection, snipped the locking wire and told me to do it again. I thought I had done a good job, puzzled and mollified I did. This time Wally looked perfunctorily and told me to sign the F700. I asked him what was wrong with it the first time and he said "Nothing, I wanted to see if you could do it again to the same standard!"
Building a Number of Bessaneau Hangars.
But I loved the variety of aircraft and tasks. Beaufighters, Meteor 7's and 13's, Shackletons, was our main bred and butter but many other aircraft types came our way if not at Safi it was Hal Far, Luqa, Ta Qali, Idris, and El Adem. When there was no aircraft work a dozen of us were tasked with building a number of Bessaneau hangars. These were large wooden structures covered in canvas which we had to build and erect at various locations on Malta. We worked hard and played even harder. The Suez Crisis hit us very hard and I was one of a small team detached to Luqa as a mobile line rectification party to cope with the huge number of aircraft staging through to Cyprus.
I had not been at Safi for very long before I was promoted to acting Cpl (paid), but I never found out about it until five weeks later when I was nominated to be the Safi representative on the Vernon Club Committee (an all ranks all services club in Valletta), I went to SHQ to find out what it was all about. I was greeted with, "Where are your badges of rank Cpl?" My innocent protests that they had the wrong chap was swiftly and I thought rudely, over ruled and there was no apology when it was discovered that my promotion had been omitted from promulgation in Station Routine Orders which is when I would have found out about it.
I Learnt so Much During My Tour at 'Happy' Safi.
During 1957 I had Asian flu, in November I got married and just a few weeks later my wife was admitted to hospital with appendicitis and was also told she was pregnant. The next six months was a busy phase of the tour. Detachments to Idris and Ta Qali, a long spell in isolation with infectious hepatitis, the Malta riots, the arrival of a new Station Commander Wg Cdr Ellard-Styles, the complete opposite to Harry Hester, the birth of our daughter Teresa, life was now far from plain sailing. Tour-ex by November 1958 and it was home to Ipswich to await my UK posting which turned out to be RAF Wittering instead of Martlesham Heath and a complete of change lifestyle. It was a good first posting, an ideal foundation for a career for a naive 18 year old straight out of Halton. I had learnt so much about so many things during my tour at 'happy' Safi.
588543 Stan Norris (74th Entry - Airframe).
For more Stan Norris Stories...
News Items and Stories Needed.
[Editor] Please send me any news items or stories that may be of interest to members of the 74th Entry Association or any other visitors to the 74th Entry Website.
Joe Bosher (74th).