When I was posted back to the UK from Malta in 1977, I volunteered to do a tour as an instructor at No 6 FTS RAF Finningley , with several aims in mind . As a break from operational flying , 3 years working 8AM to 5PM seemed very attractive , a chance to settle down and buy a house , and with my 40th birthday fast approaching , a chance to investigate the opportunities of civilian employment . As it turned out , only my 40th birthday remained on schedule !!

As an instructor , we were expected to " fill in " with all aspects of Aircrew training , and if ever asked a question by a student that we could not answer , we had to find out PDQ . One side of the school that I did enjoy , was personal and crew survival training that required a lot of personal involvement , and we were able to volunteer for all kinds of courses to help us guide the students through their 2 survival courses up on the N. Yorkshire moors or later on up at Otterburn in Northumberland . I for one learned a lot .

3 years later with a growing family and my instructor days well behind me , I had bought a VW Camper that was fitted out with an oven , a fridge , a 25 gallon fresh water tank , a sink and with a roof that elevated was able to make up 1 double and 3 single beds . No space was wasted and with plenty of small cupboards and drawer space was able to carry enough on board permanently to cover all situations .

At the time I was stationed at Lossiemouth ( back on Shacks ) but was commuting whenever possible to my house down in Lincolnshire . Returning from a well deserved leave after an extended Xmas and New Year break , the journey north was uneventful until I reached Perth . Being winter , dusk had started by 4PM and with little traffic on the roads , I was making good time . I stopped for a cuppa when I refuelled and with my headlights cleaned set off once again pretty sure that I would reach Lossie by 9 or 10 that night . Through Pitlochry the old A9 started to climb up to Blair Atholl with the last homestead at Calvine ahead before the long lonely drive through Drummochter Pass . There had been some signs of snow , but it hadn`t laid for long , and apart from the occasional flurry I had no idea of what lay ahead .

Just north of Calvine is the highest point of the A9 , and as I crested the ridge instant whiteout hit me , and I was reduced to a crawl in a matter of seconds . To this day I don`t know why I didn`t turn back , but I guess the British " push on " spirit was there and I continued for about another 6 miles before I was stopped by a policeman waving a hurricane lamp wildly in the middle of the road . He asked why I hadn`t been stopped in Pitlochry as the road was closed and the chances of a snow plough before the morning hours was remote . Being well equipped , I was happy to stay there in the lay-by till the morning , so with other things to do he left me to return to Blair Atholl to stop any further traffic . The time ? 5.30 PM . But with the colour of the sky and the darkness enveloping everything , it could have been midnight .

About 8 PM from the warmth of my little house, I saw headlights approaching from the north and wondered who the hell was out and about with all the roads closed . I flashed my lights and waited for the oncoming vehicle to pull into the lay-by . It was an articulated wagon from the Hunt Bros of Inverurie and was he glad to see me . He had no heater and had left the Lodge at Dalwhinnie some 3 hours earlier only to get stuck in the snow . He did have 3 blankets and a small but now empty thermos , so he enjoyed a steaming hot cup of tea from me . Engrossed in conversation , we failed to keep an eye on the road outside and were amazed to hear banging on the outside of the camper not long after .

Opening the door , an elderly gentleman and his wife greeted us with a small bottle of whisky asking if we could let them in to warm up !! They too had come from Pitlochry but had seen no police to warn them of the road being closed . At least they were half prepared , with thermos , sandwiches , blankets and shovels . They were locals !! I had my radio on , and although the reception was not all that good we were able to make out the A9 was closed between Perth and Elgin / Inverness and that several cars were stranded as a result of the sudden snowstorm . At that point , the truck driver returned from his vehicle saying that the snow was somewhere near 2 feet deep , but he had raided his truck and opened one of the cartons inside , and with the word " breakages " donated a bottle of Johnnie Walker . We all gave a small cheer knowing that at least there wouldn`t be too much problem keeping warm that night .
Somewhere near midnight , shouting out in the darkness stirred me and I realised some one was in trouble . The truck driver and I stumbled out into the night and shouting out got a reply from some good distance away calling for help . The snow had stopped , the sky was clear and the frost was building fast , but about 150 yds down the road a flickering light from a dying torch gave us an idea of where to go . It must have taken about 10 minutes to cover the distance and when we got there a young guy in his early 20s dressed only in trousers , shirt and cardigan was kneeling in the snow . He couldn`t talk and the colour of his skin ranged between deathly white and lurid blue

. We got him back to the camper and after some 15 minutes or so warming him up enough to understand what he was saying , it transpired that his young wife was in their car some good distance away with their small infant son . They had no blankets and the fuel had run out so the heater was useless . He had driven up from Newcastle, seen the road block but drove around it as the roads in Perth were OK .

We left him in the camper with the elderly lady , and the rest of us set out down the road to find the young guy's wife . We were well dressed and with blankets, a thermos of hot soup were well prepared for the journey . We found the car some 2 miles down the road with both the mother and child suffering from hypothermia . Discussions weren`t going to prove anything, so the elderly gent took the baby and the truck driver and I carried the girl every inch of the way back to the camper . We got them through the night , and they were eventually taken out by helicopter in the morning .

Up till now , I have mentioned no names . But suffice to say , the elderly couple were both in their 80s , and without them we would have been hard pushed to save the mother and child . John the truckdriver still sends Xmas cards and the young couple I have never heard of since . Not even a letter of thanks . I guess some people just do not appreciate what others do for them . This all happened in the early 80s , and I was able to attend the funeral of the elderly couple in June of `92 just after I left the RAF .

I learned my lesson , what a pity others can be so stupid .

Kris Penney