And so it came to pass that in early July 1959, along with some thirty other stalwarts destined to join 1325 (Dakota) Flight on Christmas Island (but fated never to reach that notorious bit of "Paradise"), I found myself on a 216 Sqn Comet C Mk2 leaving Lyneham for all places East…..a window seat on the starboard side and a rapid realisation of where the word POSH originated…thank God for air conditioning. As an aside to anyone who might know why…this particular Comet had forward facing seats, something I had never seen before, nor have since, in any RAF transport aircraft….answers on a PC please.

First flagstop was Nicosia, unknown to me then but in later life to become an oft-visited kebab stop. My only memory from that short stop is of loads of barbed wire and blokes with guns, then off to Karachi. Here for the first time, but not the last by a long chalk, I came across the expression "Crew Duty Time". The slip crew waiting for us at Karachi was "sick" and unable to fly, our crew could go no further as they would run out of crew duty time, so it was off down town until one of the two crews could crack it. There may be others of you reading this who, at some stage in life, had the dubious privilege of staying at Minwallah's Grand hotel in Karachi. For those who never did I leave the picture to your imagination, five stars with Michelin ratings it was not!! The statutary hours for crew rest over and we left Karachi (if only I could say it was for good but not so, it was another place I was to visit often over the years) driven by our first crew (coz the other/s was/were still sick). Next stop was Katunayake where the aircraft was refuelled for the leg to Changi and also where many of us began to feel the first intestinal rumblings of what, we now suspected, had knackered the slip crew at Karachi. It was an "interesting" flight to Changi, as you can imagine, and our apologies to whoever had to empty the aircraft bog (which I now understand from Willie H-K was known as the "Cludgie"….ta mate, we only had an elsan on the Dak). Forewarned of our predicament, that of the passengers and crew on a families charter Britannia that had also night stopped at Minwallah's just before we did, and the slip crew still there, Changi's medical staff had the gumption to meet our arrival and we were whipped off up the hill to the hospital. I was lucky with only a mild dose (I don't like curry) but several of the others had it real bad, not just the "Squitters" but the real McCoy…dysentery. What a way to arrive in "Paradise

A month after arriving at Changi, and discovering that 1325 (Dakota) Flight was detached there from Christmas Island indefinitely, we had all recovered and settled down nicely to what was an idyllic life. OK the married guys had a good case and bitched continuously about the simple fact that they were quite likely to be spending a year unaccompanied in Singapore, but we "singlies" lapped it up. Three Dakotas, reliable and easy to service, three teams of groundcrew (one for each Dak) made up of corporals and mechanics (no J/Ts to be seen) with SNCO supervision thin on the ground, just a WO and three Sgts. It was Sqn Servicing at its very best; we were known as "Christmas Airways", our Daks had individual names and Christmas Airways markings painted on their noses, we were tucked away at one end of what had once been a Japanese airstrip (PSP'd) and Changi wanted nothing to do with us….so no station duties! It really was "Paradise"! If your kite was away, and you weren't away with it, you stood down until it came back. It was 12th of August 1959 (I still have the F 260), my charge (KN434 "Polynesian Princess") was away on route n'avec pas le groundcrew so we were deep into tiger beer and sun worshipping at the airmen's swimming pool when I was summoned to go and see WO Hooper back at the Flight: "Get hold of SACs Hockley (Engs) and Joines (Elec) and the three of you report to the Armoury. Collect arms and ammunition (they're expecting you), pack your kit and report to Movements. Here's a Movements Authority (F 260), you're off to "Paradise" (that word again), an island called Gan somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Your kite's been diverted there and their VASF need Dakota qualified (now there's a giggle) grouncrew to look after it. You may be away a long time so see you when you get back". In the event we didn't draw weaponry, someone saw sense, so with just our kitbags and expressions of total bewilderment we three "Musketeers (without the muskets) reported to Movements as ordered. Another Comet CMk2, rearward facing seats this time and with "I'm the boss so I'll sit according to POSH" we left Changi for Katunayake. A couple of nights there in Transit and we were tucked into the back of a New Zealand Air Force Bristol Freighter (nicknamed the "Vibrator" for obvious reasons that had nothing to with a more modernistic word for some bit of female sexual frippery; so they tell me!!) and flown over, what is undeniably, some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Six hundred odd miles of coral atolls then over the Equator (first time) and onto the RAF's brand new staging post at Gan, the most southerly island on the most southerly atoll (Addu) in the Maldives.

The sun was belting down as we disembarked our "Vibrator" and set foot on the biggest, whitest, dispersal I could then imagine; so it didn't compare with many I saw later in life (the biggest of which I still think was Lajes, in the Azores) but it was huge and there, parked in the middle of it, and all on her lonesome, was Polynesian Princess (KN434). We were soon to learn why we were on the Island….a threat to British territory existed because of a UDI declared against the Maldivian Government, way up north at Male, by the hierarchies of the two most southerly atolls, Addu and Suvadiva. The Government weren't well pleased and invasion was on the cards; Gan itself was threatened and needed protection so call in the troops, well one twenty years old Dakota (seemed ancient at the time but compared to the C130 and the B52 nowadays positively childlike), three aircrew, a Cpl and two SACs…."bring 'em on" as one GWB is prone to saying!!

So "Service" in Paradise had become (well sort of) "Active Service" in Paradise and if the editorial staff up at Publishing HeadQuarters are happy to continue printing my ramblings… there'll be more!