In March 1962 Corporal Technician Alan England landed in Singapore, after a twenty-three day "luxury cruise "on the troop ship Oxfordshire, courtesy of Her Majesty. This obviously affected me for I was to spend my tour travelling.

My posting was 390 MU RAF Seletar, and what a contrast this was to my previous posting working on Victor V bombers at RAF Cottesmore.
First was the accommodation, a room of my own, with a "bearer " to clean it and keep my kit clean. I was to spend my time working on Pembroke. Pioneers and the venerable Dakota, which managed to land one day with all the fabric peeling off its elevators. Work was very easy going, as our "Chiefie" was very laid back and had unfortunately spent the war in a Japanese prison of war camp. I am still coming to terms with the social fabric as we were in a time warp; we had five toilets to cater for officers, senior NCOs, airmen and locals. No we were not "PC" in those days. Occasionally the routine was broken when I had to go 'up country' with rifle and live ammunition to stand guard over a crashed Single Pioneer. I also got in some flying with our CO when he went flying to keep his hours in.

Then one day shortly after the start of Indonesian confrontation in 1963 Chiefie asked me if I would "volunteer" to fly with our Pembroke to Labuan and return after a "few days' [didn't I learn anything at Halton? Never volunteer]. So of I went with rifle and live ammunition. Accommodation was in the "Snake Pit [was previously the theatre] and food was not quite 5*. Things were to "improve " after a month when we were accommodated in tin huts with large gaps between the floorboards allowing mosquito's access to you from under your mosquito net!

The highlight of my stay was to go off to a jungle strip in the interior to salvage parts from a crashed Single Pioneer, which had attempted to take off with ammunition boxes the pilot had been told were empty. Unfortunately he learnt the hard way when he failed to clear the trees! We spent the night in a "Long House" with the Indians, sleeping on a bamboo bed, never have I slept so well.
After three months and one 1/2 day off I was "repatriated back to Singapore.

Other highlights of serving Queen and country were the riots, which took place and interrupted our social life!

However, on a more serious note was how was I going to spend my social time. I could become a "POSBY" [i.e. save all my money in post office savings].
This I decided was a waste of chance of a lifetime. On camp we the Malcolm club, theatre, plus a variety of sports activities. Plus taunting the "snoops" with their guard dogs at night from the safety of the barrack block, trips to "Pops" in the village for mind blowing curries, or to Singapore to visit "Bugi street, the death houses, Raffles Hotel or the Britannia Club

My previous attempts at sailing had included three weeks standing in a boat at Halton, an afternoon standing on the banks of the river Trent in rain and never getting near a boat. However, I decided I would give sailing a try, as the weather seemed ideal. This was to affect the remainder of my life. We had boat boys to help with launching the boats, a fantastic yacht club and social club, plus a large selection of trophies buried during the war. We considered our selves the top club with a very active racing programme amongst ourselves and against the Navy and Army and also the other RAF yacht clubs. We had trips up to Malacca to sail against the Army who tried doing the dirty on us by keeping us drinking until 4 am while they sneaked off to bed. However, at 8.30 am we were afloat, bleary eyed in a blazing sun, to get our revenge.
The big events were the annual regattas, the FEAF and inter service championships, in which I managed to represent the RAF. and also the annual "Around the Island " race. Unfortunately my only attempt in this race ended in failure with loss of mast at Changi!

The other taxing subject was how to spend one's limited leave. For me this included sub aqua swimming in Paula Tiomin; Leave in Kuala Lumpar, Pennang, Hong Kong; 24 hour train trip to Bangkok; Combined services effort of RNZAF DC6, RAAF Hercules and RAF Hastings to visit Darwin, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane to see my girl friend from Malta.
My final leave was spent with a month cruise on the French cargo passenger ship Laos visiting. Hong Kong, sailing up the Mekong River to Saigon with a few shells lobbed at us and being escorted back to the ship by the military police in the early hours of the morning! Final ports of call were Kobe and Tokyo before returning to Singapore.

What a tour, or should I say holiday? Well I did get my active service medal!
It all comes back whenever I watch the film " The Virgin Soldiers "