After 3 years brainwashing I left Halton and headed for Wittering. " Look out V Force !, here I come to sort out your problems " I was one of the 'cream' and if I could have illuminated my J/T stripe I would have. I was so proud!

CRASH!..... Told to report to the SWO I had to do a fortnight with 'The SWO's Commandos' before I could get any where near the armoury. Scrubbing the stairs in Air Traffic; washing dishes in the Sgts Mess ; painting lines in the road - oh yes I was brought down to earth with a bump.

A chastened JT reported to the Ejection Seat Bay eventually , to have his spirits boosted again. The Sgt i/c took one look at me and said " Just the man I have been looking for! Put on your denims and come with me" We headed for ASF and I came face to face with a huge white Valiant ! Phorr!! -- this is the real thing. The Sgt took me to the main undercarriage bay and pointed out a small opening into the wing. Handing me a torch and a 2BA spanner he told me to climb in there and remove the fire bottle cartridges. It was my small size that was wanted not my expertise. Another humbling experience.

I put it down to age that I can recall many incidents whilst at Wittering but not in chronological order. i.e:

• Being told on a Friday lunchtime that since we had put in a good weeks work to bring our 'going home kit'(motorbike) in that afternoon and we could go home early. The Sgt let us go at 10 to 5!
• Hearing a muffled bang and then 'Chad 'Chadwick come staggering into the armoury from the detonator prep' room ,where a 108 Det had gone off in his face( losing an eye)
• 7 Sqn moving up from Honington and shortly after losing a Valiant a few miles from the airfield.
• Passing the civvy driving test and being allowed to drive the Armoury Vanguard(remember them?)
• Being Duty Armourer and booking out the tractor from MT in the early hours during the winter and seeing how many times we could spin it on the icey peri track.
• Having to work on a Saturday morning blackening the radar dome with boot polish before the a/c went to an independance celebration somewhere in Africa.

One of the rumours ( i.e Barrack room facts )was that if you were posted to Bomber Command on Vs you had to serve at least 5 years before being posted. So I was suprised , but delighted , to be told to report to the Orderly Room as I was being posted to Germany , after only 2 1/2 years .I told the lowly clerk that he had spelt 'Cologne 'wrong- he had put Colerne.

" No mistake" he said" Colerne is where you are posted, it is near Bath and is a Hastings base."

" But I'm an armourer" I stated proudly.

" Not my problem " he said ( I wonder if he was refering to your posting or your trade, Nye?. )

So I went to Colerne to be told that I would be responsible for servicing the the signal pistols on the two Hastings that were being detached to Nigeria for 9 months!

Big Deal!! 3 years training , several years on V's and now reduced to 2 very pistols to tax my gray cells.
Thank you RAF for those 9 months. Nigeria..........now that's another story, parts of which can only be told on stag nights!

Hope we hear the expurgated version one day .