ISSUE No. 39 SEPTEMBER 2007
DEDICATION
We
who served alongside other nations in the armed forces
are proud of our association with
and are justly proud of our place in the
history of NATO.
Through
our Association we have found old friends and made new ones.
We
are grateful for the opportunity to meet together in the spirit of comradeship
which will endure until the last.
To
those who are unable to join us and our colleagues who have passed on
Thankfully
we will remember them.
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EDITORIAL
As I write this we look forward to our Tenth Annual Reunion in 4 weeks time with 75 attendees. The first twins have been added to our membership and their details appear later in this issue. The website has proved fertile ground for recruiting new members. The joining subscriptions have covered the fee for the site for another year.
Napoleon's sword makes £3m
A
GOLD-ENCRUSTED sword worn by Napoleon when he ousted the Austrian army from
"It's
a world record for a souvenir of the emperor, for a sword and for a weapon in
general," said a spokesman for the auctioneers. The sword classed by
The
slightly curved sabre, forged for Napoleon by Nicolas Noel Boutet
at the
WELCOME ABOARD
SAC Ian Davis served as a driver in the International
Motor Pool from October 1957 until November 1958. When their call up came Ian
and his twin brother Brian who were aviation enthusiasts both wanted to enlist
in the RAF but resolved that it would be better to split up and Ian won the
toss leaving Brian to join the RASC. After a few weeks they regretted this
decision and encouraged by an article in the Daily Mail about splitting up
twins the “bullshine” was applied and they were
reunited in
After
his National Service Ian joined the London Office of Union Castle Line which
operated a weekly service of passenger liners – a ship sailed from
In
the early 1960s the number of passengers travelling by air overtook that
travelling by sea so a switch from shipping to aviation was made. After a
couple of false starts with Air Safaris and BEA Ian was
ready to team up with his bother Brian at Autair
International Airways at
Back
at the bottom of the tree Ian joined Aerocontracts
Ltd which provided spares support for airlines and air forces in 82 countries.
He retired in 1999 as Managing Director.
Married
to Gillian in 1972 they have lived in Horsham,
October 1957 ~
Sgt
David Block (RASC) arrived at the Quartier Chateaux in November 1955
working as a clerk until September 1957
After NS, David worked as a salesman for a while,
ending up with Olivetti where he broke the all-comers record for not selling a
single machine in an entire year. Then he moved into the entertainments
industry as an ad salesman for The Record Mirror, not much success there either
and onto Publicity, where things became more successful and stimulating. David’s
boss, Leslie Perrin, was a PR genius they worked for everyone from Frank
Sinatra, Nat King Cole to Judy Garland and Tony Bennett, Radio Caroline and
eventually The Beatles (after they'd split into 3/4). He started his own company and represented
people like Georgie Fame, Simon Dee, Dave Clark 5,
The Zombies, Jonathan King and Ed “Stewpot” Stewart writing his first TV show
and enjoyed it so much he quit PR and name-dropping to become a full-time
writer. Among the TV shows David
scripted was Wish You Were Here. . . ? and that started him out as a travel writer which he still
does ~ recently for The European magazine and currently for The Washington
Times and International Living. David
also writes speeches for the public and corporate sector. Retire?
He is not even thinking about it.
First because travel writing’s so exciting and second, he needs to
eat. David who works in Central London
mostly spends an increasing time at his partner Alice’s house in
November 1955 ~ First floodlit International football match
played at Wembley ~
Cpl
Brian W Davis enlisted for National Service in the Royal Army Service Corps in
November 1956. Following basic training in Aldershot,
he was lucky enough to be posted in June 1957 to the Secretariat Division of
the ALFCE HQ in
Intent
on a flying career after leaving the forces, he discovered that his eyesight
was not up to the required standard for a Commercial Pilot's Licence so he
opted for the next best thing
- a career in the management side of civil aviation. Brian secured his first traffic and
operations job with Hunting Clan Air Transport at Heathrow which was later
merged to form British United Airways. He later joined Autair
International Airlines, a fledgling scheduled service and charter operator,
which was subsequently acquired by the Court Line shipping company in 1965.
This association enabled the company to purchase a fleet of BAC 111s and
Lockheed Tristars to expand its inclusive tour
operations within Europe and then to the
Despite
this setback, Brian retained his enthusiasm for aviation and secured a post as
Commercial Director with Invicta International
Airlines, a specialist cargo operator.
After five years, he elected to take a sabbatical from the industry, and
then held senior management appointments with National Freight Company and a
large firm of international architects. When the call of the air became
irresistible again, he formed his own aviation consultancy, Astra
Associates, in 1992 which continues to operate today.
For
leisure interests Brian has enjoyed a reasonable amount of private flying ~ his
first solo flight being in a De Haviland Chipmunk
operated by the BOAC Flying Club. Sadly
this activity is now too expensive to pursue. Locally, he was Secretary of the Radlett Lawn Tennis and Squash Club, a founder member of
the local Rotary Club and continues to be active in church and local school
governance. Brian lives in Radlett, Herts with his second wife Chris where his 3 sons and
daughter were born. With the aid of
Chris' 3 boys, they now have 14 grandchildren between them - and still
counting!
June 1957 ~ Headless body of
frogman Buster Crabb found in
SAC Joseph Harry Horn a 3 year regular airman arrived in
April 1958 ~ The newly formed CND
march to attend a rally at AWRE, Aldermaston
Cpl.
Mike Evans was posted to Quartier Chateaux in September 1964 as an Armourer
in the REME. He remained there until April 1967 spending a further 3 years in
the Army at the RMP Depot at
September 1964 ~
FROM THE POSTBAG
Seeing
the horrific pictures on Australian TV of the flooding in England, hope you are
all OK, even if treading water and swearing a lot....The climate's obviously
gone raving mad and knowing you all live in proximity to rivers, trust that you
have been spared a lot of the dramas we've seen on the "box" Let us know
how you are coping if you have been affected and we hope that the insurance
companies are not digging out small print...
Please can we have some of your rain - send it this way!
Christine
and Ronald Fraser (
Whilst
recently reading through the Newsletter No.38, I came across Stan Bone's reference to living in the
On my
second posting to
I remember
when she was going to make the pilgrimage to Lourdes I drove her into Fontainebleau to the 'Prisnic' to buy a new coat - she was so small we ended up purchasing one from the children's
department. The Summer was good in the
village with the River Seine flowing through, separating the
In
1984, whilst providing security at the BBC Elstree
studios for the construction of the Eastenders set I
met the studio manager named Phil
Pitcher who told me he had been a "service brat" who spent
time growing up in Thomery
in the late 50's / 60's. Perhaps some of
our members may recall
his father?
Brian Samways (Poole,
I had
two contacts from people who were in
Brian Bursell (
On 25 April I will be taking part in the
ANZAC DAY PARADE, here in Geraldton.
As Air
Chief Marshal Sir Basil Embry spent his retirement here in
Bernadette
and I are returning to the
It has
been really good having Brian look after my
I
apologize that I have not sent an e-mail to Jock Fraser yet but I will try to
do so before I leave.
Please
pass on my regards to all my friends in the Association.
Les Hills (
During
my time at
The
weapons were rarely out of store, once for the summer 'Camp' enjoyed by all on
the banks of the Loire at Gien, and once for annual
range classification, but every now and then there was a “2 Alert" that
demanded all personnel to carry their personal weapon with them at all times
when on duty. It didn't happen too often, and in fact the first time I
experienced it was soon after my new wife joined me in
The
"Alert Exercise" was called and I asked the QM (Lt. Col. of the Black
Watch) how he wanted the guns issued. He handed me a stack of business cards
for want of a better description. On each one was printed "
For exercise purposes the bearer of this card is deemed to be in
possession of his personal weapon"
My new
missus cracked up and couldn't stop laughing. She wrote "BANG" on the
back of mine......
Mike
Evans (Langtree,
On a
recent visit to my late wife’s family in
Sipping
my aperitif & glancing across the road I thought about how all the surroundings
had changed. Of course, many of the shop fronts were different, but not the
buildings themselves. Tucked away in a corner stands a relatively small bar and
I was immediately reminded of an amusing incident that happened there just a
couple of days after my arrival……………
Many of
us, I am sure can recall the oddball plumbing & quaint toilets in
Another
dark and grotty toilet actually came to my rescue a few months later but this
time in
Brian
Gibbons (
Just
found this article in today's Dorset Echo. Les Hills and I have been friends
for some time now and Claudine was pally with
Pauline, so we saw quite a lot of each other. Les's health has really improved miracuously......a few years ago he was in a very poor
state. I stayed at his flat in
It's never too late to fall in love ~ by Sarah Goldthorpe
The OZ
couple
sweetheart.
Friends of
"She's
gorgeous - a typical straight-talking Oz," he said. Mr Hills said his ill
health improved dramatically after falling in love. He lost four stones in
weight and is more active advertisement.
Brian
Gibbons (
It was
1948 when I first flew a Spitfire and such joy it gave me. It took 3months to
build, the feel of the balsa-wood and smell of that glue, the tightness of the
paper over the wings. I knew then I wanted to join the R A F. that kit cost me
2/11d and it was wrecked on its first flight. I went on to build many more
before leaving school at 14 to join my father in the family fish business.
When my
National Service papers came I had no hesitation and signed up for 3 years, I
was told signing for 3 years would give me a better chance of a posting abroad.
At that time I never thought travel would become as it is today and I would
ever get to see the
I
failed all the top gun tests and had to settle to become a driver, which was my
next passion (driving). That came to me early on when my father came home after
serving in the RAF in WW2. I was about 8 years old and he would take me with
him on school holidays to his work. After WW2 the family firm bought a
After
RAF Padgate and Weeton I
was posted to RAF Hope Cove in
I had
enjoyed my time at RAF Hope Cove and made many friends possibly because I did
every weekend duty driver. Most of the lads lived fairly local and could get
home on a 48-hour pass. I only did it once and it took me 16 hours to get home
and 15 to get back. Then one summer my wife came to work in a hotel in Salcombe. Happy days with lots of good
friends and memories. I regret
not having kept in touch with the lads and only 2 years ago I managed to find
one and we now write to each other.
I was
looking on the net for the AAFCE badge when I came across your site and how
happy I was to see the photos and read
the letters. Many memories came
back, I did have a few souvenirs of my time there but over the years and
moving house many have been lost. My first son managed to destroy my NATO
service document when he was a baby. I did have a piece of a sycamore
helicopter that I flew in just before it crashed, but that's another story.
I was
assigned as 2nd driver to an officer and gentleman whom I will never forget.
Air Chief Marshal Sir George Mills K.B.E. D.F.C. Sgt. Peter Fryer was his number one driver
and a finer NCO and mentor I have yet to meet. Sgt. Vic Barnes was the
Commander’s chef and Sgt. Barnes’ wife his housekeeper. My main and very hard and
difficult job was to deliver a newspaper and take Sgt. Barnes shopping. Once
done it was back to the Motor Pool for a rest and stand by if I was needed. I
had some interesting driving to do when Sir George was away but that's another
story. I took over from Sgt. Fryer when
he left to go to the Pentagon,
In all
my service days I was never called by my name it was always Geordie and I met
many fellow Geordies in the RAF. SAC Malcolm Wellings
was in the MT section when I left, he was from
Well as
I said I am new to computers and I am trying to learn to type to help me with
my story of my life, mainly the 50 years I have spent in the Fish trade. My
ancestors may find it interesting. Thank you so much for giving me the reason
and the opportunity to type this story. Not bad for a learner it has just taken
under five hours to do this, over three days. What a lot of Dribble. Sorry.
Harry Horn (Cullercoats,
Tyne & Wear)
SAGA
magazine printed a letter saying that the search for the diamond ring of the
young NS man from Fontainebleau, who had only the box, is being questioned by
an ex customs officer (also an ex-serviceman) in Dover. No-one would invent
this, and I do not like being told it did not happen. Could you put a note in your next Newsletter
saying this and asking members to recall any difficulties they had as
servicemen, or any problems experienced by their comrades in arms with the
British customs officers, to email you for forwarding to me?
I know
from many years experience in
Peter
Kinsley (Peckham,
I'm Joe
Connelly and my wife, Cathy (
Editor’s
note : Joe has declined our invitation to join the
Association but Cathy has promised to send some items for the Newsletters.
Joe Connelley (Columbia, South Carolina, USA)
Accessed
News letter 38. Thanks. I hope you are well and in training
for the
Ken
Harriman (Wigston Magna, Leicestershire)
Air Chief Marshal Sir Basil Embry
~ 1902 – 1977
Brian
Gibbons and Mike Capon have been researching Sir Basil Embry for Les Hills who
was his Personal Steward at
Sir
Basil, Air Chief Marshal, and farmer, was born on 28 February 1902 at Longford,
Back
home, in 1939-40 Embry commanded No.107 Bomber Squadron and became famous for
his leadership, courage and exploits, including two daring escapes from the
Germans after being shot down over
Following
World War II, Sir Basil was assistant chief of Air Staff (training) at the Air
Ministry, then (from 1949) commander-in-chief of Fighter Command, in which post
he was promoted air marshal. In 1953 he was appointed K.C.B., promoted Air
Chief Marshal and sent to
In
March 1956, accompanied by his wife Hope, Embry left
Embry
became active in the politics of agriculture through the Farmers' Union of
Western Australia. After only a few months involvement in that organization, he
was elected general president in 1971 and held office for two years. He
assisted in restructuring the union and making it more professional. Embry
focussed on perennial concerns of the farming sector: the burden of protective
tariffs, the need for long-term rural finance, the level of farmers' returns,
and, especially, the state of overseas trade. In the context of rural recession
with depressed prices for wheat, wool and livestock, the need for new outlets
was pressing. Convinced that farmers needed to market their own products in
order to receive a greater share of their value, in 1972 he led a delegation
through
Small
and spare, wiry and strong, 'with extremely piercing blue eyes under fierce
eyebrows', Embry had 'a puckish face' which could express 'a wide variety of
emotions from demoniac rage to delight, laughter, and goodwill, often within a
few seconds'. He was a forceful man of great energy and powers of persuasion,
who believed in 'leading from the front'. The span of his activities in
MEMBERS SNIPPETS
Colin Hogg has suffered a
mild stroke which is now under control
with medication. Although Colin
and Daisy will be at
Having sold their property in Hampshire
before their “world tour” Peter and Ruth Fryer have settled in
Brian Bursell is
planning to meet up with Monique Matthews who he has not seen since he left
AAFCE in 1964. Brian will report on his meeting in the next Newsletter.
Income and
Expenditure Account ~ 11 months to 31 Aug 2007
Sep-06
£ £ £
Cash Balance at 30 Sep 06 334.45 334.45
Income
Subscriptions 107.00
Merchandise Sales 90.75 791.25
Total Income 1125.70 1440.00
Expenditure
Postage & Telephone 152.00
Printing Stationery & Copying 10.00
Donations 44.00
2006
2007
Web Fee 98.42
Other 23.20
Total Expenditure (766.02) (1456.31)
Cash Balance at 31 August 2007 359.68 318.14
Stock at
cost
16 Ties 110.40
10 Blazer Badges 102.50
29 Table Mats 88.16
45 Coasters 65.70
16 Mouse mats 74.24
117 Enamel Badges 146.25
5 Books 40.00
Wine for 2007 reunion 158.40
Total value of stock at cost 785.65 836.12
Balance ~ cash & stock 1145.33 1154.26
To enable the
Accounts to be available for discussion at the AGM at the
The above shows that our financial position is healthy – our total assets are almost a mirror image of September 2006. It is proposed to continue without calling an annual subscription.
MERCHANDISE
In addition to the usual blazer badges, ties table mats,
coasters etc. there are some of Peter Kinsley’s books in stock. Recently
purchased were the last 3 copies of “Gunner Strikes Back” available at £8.00
each. Peter’s most recent novels “To Catch a Paedophile
and “The Gambio Killing” are also available from
David Rogerson. Gunner Strikes Back is the story of the author’s experiences in
the RASC at the Quartier Chateaux,
Page 11
OUT OF THE BLUE
The following unsolicited message came across my desk recently from an RAF Apprentice who takes issue with the non-availability of a service pension for those who completed less than 22 years. This may strike a chord with some members.
From: "David Davies" david.davies6527@ntlworld.com Fri, 14 Sep, 07
To: <davidrogerson@talktalk.net>
Subject: A simple RAF bod,
Apprentice at Halton 73rd entry. Jan
1953, leaving Dec 1955. Aircrew, leaving 1968
Please
excuse my 'latching on' to folk who are motivated and highly organised. I have
tried the 'writing to my MP
route' and received the usual 'Bull-Shitting ' responses. The 'bottom-line' to most of the responses
was, ' and the Civil Service would have to be considered'. I could not get across the fact,
that, a Civil Servant can walk away from their job. At 16 years of age,
in an establishment containing 3000 Apprentices, I was given the week-end to
decide whether I would sign for the training + 12 years service
afterwards. Having come from a kindly
household that were not related to me, I had no options - other than respect
their generous help in getting me there.
It was
this point I wished to 'ram down' the Minsters throat
about the Civil Servants. I was, and the
bulk of my comrades ( of multiple nationalities)
effectively 'Press Ganged'. We could not walk away.
Before
the 'whinging' trails away in to nothing my apprentice days are so precious,
and, gave me such valuable contacts with people from all over the World. Three years together, really does make the
Human Race begin to work as one.
In
conclusion, I wish to re-iterate the plight of those Military Apprentices -
Army, Navy, and RAF. They were little boys, when they signed the Legal
Documents that took 12 years of their lives.
Oh yes.
You really do have a brilliantly organised system - It sort of smells of 'Sergeant Bilko!'
I wish you continued success in your most
professional enterprise.
Kind Regards, David Davies
AND
FINALLY……………..
To
enable us to reach a wider audience, if you have any material you wish to put
on the website could you please send it to me to edit and where appropriate
include it in the Newsletter. Over half our members do not have internet access
and receive their Newsletter in hard copy.
Editor
: David Rogerson, Tel : 023 8040 2846