• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

National Service

  • Thread starter Thread starter RayD
  • Start date Start date
Eddie 14 said:
Phil, what was the aircraft that you had to step over the framework which passed through the fuselage, was that the valettas
Dave.
Click to expand...
Hi Dave - I think there were wing spars inside Lancasters but Eric (cookie273uk) would know, he flew in Lancasters.
There were non in Valettas as far as I remember, and the Viking civil version was used by some airlines in the 1950s, so there would not be passengers climbing over wing spars.
Phil
 
Oldmohawk, You can fly in the 1920's Rapid out of the Duxford air field every week end £75 pp, round trip around Cambridge, did it a couple of years ago, bit tight for a big bloke, but very enjoyable.
 
Paul, What did you do on a dailey basis when in the forces, I thought being in the Guards it was mostly military but when the lads name a place you seem to have been there, all the different camps and places, were you staff driving, you said I had an interesting job but I think you did better.
Dave
 
I don't really know very much about National service, , my ex who was born late 1941 was too young to do NS it finished before he was 18.

Did you all go back to your old jobs when you finished your 2 years and was there a rule that your old employers had to keep your job available for you.
 
Alberta said:
I don't really know very much about National service, , my ex who was born late 1941 was too young to do NS it finished before he was 18.

Did you all go back to your old jobs when you finished your 2 years and was there a rule that your old employers had to keep your job available for you.
Click to expand...
It was compulsory for employers to take you back in your previous job for at least six months and most large companies did so. When I returned back to work, several workers in the office had recently done NS and we often gathered to talk about it, boring the pants off the non-military workers who used to shout 'they've got their tin helmets on again' ! A thought has just occurred to me that only men were called up for NS in those far off days !
 
oldMohawk said:
Hi Paul - I have been there several times but my Rapide flight was in Scotland at Prestwick and I remember you could sit on one side of the aircraft and almost touch the wall on the other side. They also have a fine collection of tanks, military vehicles and artillery at Duxford.
Phil
Click to expand...

oldMohawk you may know the answer to this..........In 1961 i flew from Jamaica to British Honduras (Belize) in an RAF plane but i can`t for the life of me remember what sort of plane. I do recall it had a big lump under the fuselage (for dropping bombs?)
 
Smudger said:
oldMohawk you may know the answer to this..........In 1961 i flew from Jamaica to British Honduras (Belize) in an RAF plane but i can`t for the life of me remember what sort of plane. I do recall it had a big lump under the fuselage (for dropping bombs?)
Click to expand...
Hi Smudger - The only one I can remember at the moment is the Vickers Varsity. The 'bump' had windows at the front and was used for training bomb aimers. We had Varsitys at RAF Topcliffe and if you had a friendly pilot he would let you lie in the 'bump' for a magnificent view of North Yorkshire. However I not sure they could easily get to Jamaica so it might have been another type.
Varsity.JPG
 
#1098, Hi Phil, I regularly go to Duxford with my old soldier Mates, we tend to visit the "Land warfare Museum", part of the site but it can be irksome when everyone keeps saying , I used that, I drove that, we all used those!!!, makes you feel as you are a museum as well. 'O' happy days. Wink, wink.Paul
 
oldMohawk said:
Hi Dave - I think there were wing spars inside Lancasters but Eric (cookie273uk) would know, he flew in Lancasters.
There were non in Valettas as far as I remember, and the Viking civil version was used by some airlines in the 1950s, so there would not be passengers climbing over wing spars.
Phil
Click to expand...

I don't wish to butt in but in the many war books I've read, there have been many references to the difficulty Lancaster crews had, wearing a parachute, in getting over the wing spar to bale out of a stricken aircraft.
Many didn't make it.
 
Phil, the aircraft with the spar through the fuselage was used by a holiday company here in Brum to fly passengers from Manston airport to ostend in the 60's also by S.A.S from Denmark to Sweden, I used to know the name a long time ago but it's gone, I might remember tomorrow or maybe not.

Dave
 
Dave/Old Mohawk, Yes, there was a wing spar, in the Lanc, referred to as the Main spar, just behind my position (wireless op) and during long survey flights in Africa I would often stand on it to give myself a clear view out of the Astra dome to relieve the boredom of 10 hour flights. I never found it a particularly cramped a/c and the main spar was only about 2 foot high, of course it was peace time and we only carried the basic 4 man crew, no gunners, bomb aimers etc... Must confess we very rarely wore our 'chutes !! The only time you had to step over the main spar was to use the chemical toilet at the rear of the a/c.. Ericwireless ops position in Lancaster ac.JPG
 
That's it Sospiri, the 1154 transmitter, rather crude to tune, but very powerful, the 1155 receiver very accurate so I would 'back tune' the transmitter to it. American I believe. Eric
 
oldMohawk said:
Hi Smudger - The only one I can remember at the moment is the Vickers Varsity. The 'bump' had windows at the front and was used for training bomb aimers. We had Varsitys at RAF Topcliffe and if you had a friendly pilot he would let you lie in the 'bump' for a magnificent view of North Yorkshire. However I not sure they could easily get to Jamaica so it might have been another type.
View attachment 91609
Click to expand...

oldMohawk, I had one of those `light bulb` moments. I`m pretty sure it was a Shackleton. ( I think )
 
Hi Eric,

I can't find anything to substantiate it as being of American origin, and manufacture was shared by four British outfits - Ekco, Marconi, Plessey and EMI. I think the Americans were using Hallicrafters and Collins at that time and for quite a few years after the war. Although I did the TR1154/5 servicing component of my Yatesbury course, by 1955 it was almost extinct in the RAF. I spent most of my time on an MU at RAF Stoke Heath, and when I arrived there, just two guys were responsible for that equipment. After a few weeks spent helping out stripping & reassembling rotary generators from the VHF xtal-controlled comms equipent, I and two other guys set up a line to service the Marconi Radio Compass, and all three of us stayed there until demob in May 1957. That was fun.

The R1155 was still much prized as a receiver by the amataurs and short wave listeners for years after the war, and they are still quite a few kicking around now, including one owned by a mate of mine here on Crete.

Maurice
 
THE HRO receiver was an American one used by many branches of Allied forces during WW2. Maybe this was what was in mind.
 
Radiorails/sospiri, It's come back to me now, the w/op's on the ground were using Collins (American) equipment, it is over 60 years ago, got confused with air and ground radio equip. Sorry about that. I did a month on the ground after recovering from Malaria and remembered the Collins gear. Eric
 
Now Collinns radio equipment is very much a collectors and enthusiast (Ham radio ans short wave listeners) item. There is a large Ham radio society solely for Collins aficionados. The HF bands are very much still alive with radio hams by the way. I use them each week.
 
Hi Alan,

If you're in not too much of an urban area, I suppose the HF bands are still quite usable. My friend a few miles away still uses the HF bands quite a lot, but is the only British amateur resident on Crete. At least you can put up decent aerials here without anyone complaining! When my son was an avionics engineer at Hurn Airport, he was fully Collins qualified, but he got fed up of crawling around inside aircraft and is now fully into the sound studio business.

Maurice
 
Have a pic (poor quality but it is 64 years old) of the Collins equip I was referring to, Receiver on left and transmitter on right in its own portable carrying frame. Essential as we were constantly on move. Ericradio cabin.jpg
 
Hi Eric,

Flipping through some of the images of some of the Collins gear, I'm guessing that it wasn't exactly new then. But they produced such a vast array of equipment from broadcasting transmitters to the "portable" stuff, that it made people like Eddystone seem like real small fry. It's nice to see that there is still a demand for this sort of stuff even now though.

Maurice
 
I was thinking about the last C.O we had at Devizes, Major Parsons who unfortunately had a very bad stutter. when he was taking the Depot recruits on parade it was a test of when will the end of the command come, as he would attempt to complete the command but the words would not come out and every body was all tensed up waiting to bring the boot in. He would basically cancel the order and start again, it was a shame for him and the lads on the square. At Barton Stacey we had a C.S.M who saluted with his left arm and we as recruits did not know why, one day on the square he told us he had been wounded during the last war and he could not lift his arm to that position.
Dave
 
We hade a Chief Clerk, who stuttered badly unfortunately his surname was Fuller, I have been present when he answered the phone, he used to pick it up and say "CRC FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF, wait one, CRC,FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF, then say a naughty word beginning with F, then slam the phone down, followed by a slamming door and the Adj' head coming round the door with " I know your ------ surname fuller", I need file so&so, and then the Adj and Col saying a low voice's "He will have to go". and others in Orderly room sniggering into their NATO standard.
 
I suppose one thing NS taught me was to get along with all types particularly NCOs in charge.
In our section we had one NCO who had served five years and always shouted and found fault with everyone and we did as little as possible for him. The other NCO had served since the war with maybe two years to do and was a grey haired, care worn bloke, to us young ones he seemed like an old granddad. The other younger NCOs always seemed to talk down to him, but he never raised his voice, really knew his trade, and always quietly encouraged us so we respected and worked hard for him. He did have one problem with getting up in the morning and if there was a 'flap' on one of us would sneak over to his billet get him out of bed and down to the section. We even once 'bulled' his kit to make sure he was ok for a big 'Air Officer Commanding' inspection. We would never have done that for the other NCO.
 
Agree, oldMohawk. Many of those who didn't do NS missed the valuable lesson of knowing what it was like to be at the very bottom of the pile and (during square-bashing at least) to fear the world crashing around your ears for putting a foot wrong. Then and later one knew the people whom one could respect and for whom one would make the effort. And the converse. If in later life one had any responsibility for other people it was very useful to know from bitter experience just how NOT to treat them.

Chris
 
Last edited:
During my training at Blandford we had two cpls who I'm sure played the good cop/bad cop system.
But it back fired on the bad cop when some of the lads found him down town one evening, they gave him a right going over.
Put him out of action for a few days.
 
I remember the Huge NAAFI at Blandford Camp, "Royal Signals", in the 1970's, it also had a massive church I seem to remember.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top