The blahblah of the forum

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Barlow Boy
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Re: The blabla of the forum

Post by Barlow Boy »

Davycc wrote:Meet 9 week old Zac

Have you got this fella Davy ?
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Davycc
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Re: The blabla of the forum

Post by Davycc »

Barlow Boy wrote:
Davycc wrote:Meet 9 week old Zac

Have you got this fella Davy ?
Yes spent his first night here last night, a couple of wee accidents (me not picking up on his subtle signs) but no whinging or howling during the night and showing no interest in our cats whatsoever so all good there.

Had to do a bit of detective work to insure I wasn't buying from a breeder so picked him up yesterday.
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Wigan White
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Re: The blabla of the forum

Post by Wigan White »

Barlow Boy wrote:
Davycc wrote:Meet 9 week old Zac

Have you got this fella Davy ?
Looks like a proper cracker. :thumbup:
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johnh
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Re: The blabla of the forum

Post by johnh »

Davycc wrote:
Barlow Boy wrote:
Davycc wrote:Meet 9 week old Zac

Have you got this fella Davy ?
Yes spent his first night here last night, a couple of wee accidents (me not picking up on his subtle signs) but no whinging or howling during the night and showing no interest in our cats whatsoever so all good there.

Had to do a bit of detective work to insure I wasn't buying from a breeder so picked him up yesterday.
Davy, when you said he showed no interest in your cats, maybe he just wasn't hungry.
I once played against Don Revie.
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johnh
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Re: The blabla of the forum

Post by johnh »

Reading today about the giant tanker blocking the Suez Canal. The article stated that ships may have to go round the Cape of Good Hope. I thought 'what's new'? In 1957, due to the Suez crisis, the Canal was closed and our troopship had to go round the Cape. Took 42 days to reach Southampton and I had my 21st birthday in the middle of the Indian Ocean!
I once played against Don Revie.
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Barlow Boy
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Re: The blabla of the forum

Post by Barlow Boy »

johnh wrote:Reading today about the giant tanker blocking the Suez Canal. The article stated that ships may have to go round the Cape of Good Hope. I thought 'what's new'? In 1957, due to the Suez crisis, the Canal was closed and our troopship had to go round the Cape. Took 42 days to reach Southampton and I had my 21st birthday in the middle of the Indian Ocean!
You really should write a book about all these little short stories Sir John, they are brilliant :thumbup:
When you retire, you switch bosses - from the one that hired you, to the one that married you.
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Re: The blabla of the forum

Post by johnh »

Barlow Boy wrote:
johnh wrote:Reading today about the giant tanker blocking the Suez Canal. The article stated that ships may have to go round the Cape of Good Hope. I thought 'what's new'? In 1957, due to the Suez crisis, the Canal was closed and our troopship had to go round the Cape. Took 42 days to reach Southampton and I had my 21st birthday in the middle of the Indian Ocean!
You really should write a book about all these little short stories Sir John, they are brilliant :thumbup:
Thanks BB. I got out to Singapore a lot quicker as I went by air. Only took 5 days. Took off from Blackbush in Hampshire on Monday and landed in Singapore 10.00pm Friday evening. What happened in between would make up a story on its own. :lol:
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Re: The blabla of the forum

Post by Davycc »

Get writing John :thumbup:
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johnh
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Re: The blabla of the forum

Post by johnh »

Blame Davycc. :D

I was advised that I would be posted to Singapore (1955). I would be going by air and because we would be refuelling at several stops, due to the rules of certain countries, we had to travel in civvies and with a civilian passport. I had never had a passport so it was my first one. (I still have it). After a weeks embarkation leave I had to report to the transit camp at Ash Vale near Aldershot. I spent a couple of days there and was then advised that I was booked on a flight from Blackbush in Hampshire. Take-off time was 11.30am on the Monday. I then had to report to the transit centre in London. It was at Goodge Street, which was a disused Tube station. It was a 'deep' line, so to get to the accommodation meant walking down about 150 steps. There were lifts but only for Sergeants and above! The bunk I got was the top bunk in a tier of three. It required some gymnastic skill to get in the bunk as when I lay on my back, my nose was only 6 inches from the ceiling. The tubes still ran through the station, so every few minutes there was a lot of noise and vibration. This lasted until the tubes closed at about midnight. Fortunately, I was only there for the one night.
Next morning, we were up early as we had to get to Blackbush for our 11.30 flight. I hadn't sussed out that this meant getting up the 150 steps which when carrying all our army kit in the duffel bags was no fun.
There was a coach to take us to Blackbush and we made it in good time. I had never been in an aeroplane so was keen to find out what the plane was. It was a Hermes 4 engine propeller plane which didn't mean much to me as I'd never heard of it. They gave us some bits of paper with information on. All I remember is that it gave the top speed as 210 miles per hour, which didn't seem much to me.
We sat about for a while then got the order to board the plane. We all got on and the plane taxied to the start of the runway, the engines revved, then revved down - and stopped. We were ordered to get off. After about an hour or so we were back on the plane, start of the runway, engines revved, then revved down. All off! Back to the terminal for a couple of hours. Third go and we took off, we were airborn! I particularly remember flying over the coastline and across the English Channel. I settled down for a long flight. After several hours the intercom came on and the pilot said 'if you look out of the port side windows you will see the French Alps'. We looked and saw them covered in snow. It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes later that the intercom came back on and the pilot said 'due to technical problems we are returning to Blackbush'. Several hours later we landed at Blackbush and what seemed like several hours later we took off again. We landed at Rome for refuelling.
The next stop was Nicosia in Cyprus where we were delayed for 6 hours while they worked on the dodgy engine. From there we flew to Bahrain for refuelling. I remember sitting in the airport terminal, there was no air conditioning and a large thermometer on the wall told us that it was 128F. We got back on the plane and for some reason there was a hold up and we sat at the end of the runway for about half an hour. There was no air conditioning on the plane and it was so hot that the sweat was just dropping of the end of my nose. Finally took off and landed at our next stop without incident. That was Karachi and we stayed overnight in a rather impressive 'hotel'. We got a coach from the Airport and seemed to go forever and finally arrived at a place which must have been an Oasis. It was in the middle of desert like country and surrounded by a wall, like a fort. Inside, everything was lush and green.
From there we flew to New Delhi, which was a refuelling stop before continuing to Calcutta, where we stayed overnight. I had read about Calcutta, how there were 2 million homeless refugees. After our evening meal, me and another guy decided to go out and have a look around. We walked about 100 yards from the hotel and then gave up. Homeless people were sleeping in every spare place on the pavement and also on the road. No traffic moving. We were just stepping over people who were trying to sleep. Next morning, when we got on the coach to take us to the airport, there were lorries going round picking up the bodies of those who had died in the night.
Next stop was Bangkok. I had teamed up with a guy who had a pocket chess set. We spent the whole of the flight playing chess. He was a good player and probably won about seven of every ten games we played. We had a window seat just ahead of the wings and during one game my new mate said 'is that supposed to be like that?' He was pointing out of the window so I looked out and the nearest engine had a propeller which was motionless. It appears that this was the engine which had given all the trouble and had finally given up the ghost.
Needless to say, we were delayed again at Bangkok while they tried to sort the engine. Finally, we landed at Changi airport Singapore, 24 hours late.
There was a very senior RAF Air Commodore on the flight and there was an article in the Singapore Straits Times about the Air Commodore who had to land in Bangkok on three engines. Wish I'd kept it.

If you Google 'Hermes aircraft' you will see that it was notorious for engine failures. :D
I once played against Don Revie.
Davycc
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Re: The blabla of the forum

Post by Davycc »

johnh wrote:Blame Davycc. :D

I was advised that I would be posted to Singapore (1955). I would be going by air and because we would be refuelling at several stops, due to the rules of certain countries, we had to travel in civvies and with a civilian passport. I had never had a passport so it was my first one. (I still have it). After a weeks embarkation leave I had to report to the transit camp at Ash Vale near Aldershot. I spent a couple of days there and was then advised that I was booked on a flight from Blackbush in Hampshire. Take-off time was 11.30am on the Monday. I then had to report to the transit centre in London. It was at Goodge Street, which was a disused Tube station. It was a 'deep' line, so to get to the accommodation meant walking down about 150 steps. There were lifts but only for Sergeants and above! The bunk I got was the top bunk in a tier of three. It required some gymnastic skill to get in the bunk as when I lay on my back, my nose was only 6 inches from the ceiling. The tubes still ran through the station, so every few minutes there was a lot of noise and vibration. This lasted until the tubes closed at about midnight. Fortunately, I was only there for the one night.
Next morning, we were up early as we had to get to Blackbush for our 11.30 flight. I hadn't sussed out that this meant getting up the 150 steps which when carrying all our army kit in the duffel bags was no fun.
There was a coach to take us to Blackbush and we made it in good time. I had never been in an aeroplane so was keen to find out what the plane was. It was a Hermes 4 engine propeller plane which didn't mean much to me as I'd never heard of it. They gave us some bits of paper with information on. All I remember is that it gave the top speed as 210 miles per hour, which didn't seem much to me.
We sat about for a while then got the order to board the plane. We all got on and the plane taxied to the start of the runway, the engines revved, then revved down - and stopped. We were ordered to get off. After about an hour or so we were back on the plane, start of the runway, engines revved, then revved down. All off! Back to the terminal for a couple of hours. Third go and we took off, we were airborn! I particularly remember flying over the coastline and across the English Channel. I settled down for a long flight. After several hours the intercom came on and the pilot said 'if you look out of the port side windows you will see the French Alps'. We looked and saw them covered in snow. It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes later that the intercom came back on and the pilot said 'due to technical problems we are returning to Blackbush'. Several hours later we landed at Blackbush and what seemed like several hours later we took off again. We landed at Rome for refuelling.
The next stop was Nicosia in Cyprus where we were delayed for 6 hours while they worked on the dodgy engine. From there we flew to Bahrain for refuelling. I remember sitting in the airport terminal, there was no air conditioning and a large thermometer on the wall told us that it was 128F. We got back on the plane and for some reason there was a hold up and we sat at the end of the runway for about half an hour. There was no air conditioning on the plane and it was so hot that the sweat was just dropping of the end of my nose. Finally took off and landed at our next stop without incident. That was Karachi and we stayed overnight in a rather impressive 'hotel'. We got a coach from the Airport and seemed to go forever and finally arrived at a place which must have been an Oasis. It was in the middle of desert like country and surrounded by a wall, like a fort. Inside, everything was lush and green.
From there we flew to New Delhi, which was a refuelling stop before continuing to Calcutta, where we stayed overnight. I had read about Calcutta, how there were 2 million homeless refugees. After our evening meal, me and another guy decided to go out and have a look around. We walked about 100 yards from the hotel and then gave up. Homeless people were sleeping in every spare place on the pavement and also on the road. No traffic moving. We were just stepping over people who were trying to sleep. Next morning, when we got on the coach to take us to the airport, there were lorries going round picking up the bodies of those who had died in the night.
Next stop was Bangkok. I had teamed up with a guy who had a pocket chess set. We spent the whole of the flight playing chess. He was a good player and probably won about seven of every ten games we played. We had a window seat just ahead of the wings and during one game my new mate said 'is that supposed to be like that?' He was pointing out of the window so I looked out and the nearest engine had a propeller which was motionless. It appears that this was the engine which had given all the trouble and had finally given up the ghost.
Needless to say, we were delayed again at Bangkok while they tried to sort the engine. Finally, we landed at Changi airport Singapore, 24 hours late.
There was a very senior RAF Air Commodore on the flight and there was an article in the Singapore Straits Times about the Air Commodore who had to land in Bangkok on three engines. Wish I'd kept it.

If you Google 'Hermes aircraft' you will see that it was notorious for engine failures. :D

Quite happy to take the blame for that, a great insight on military travel, and to think back then it was classed as efficient and fast :D :thumbup:
All at Amazon Books

The Funny Corner
When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney
The Thrones Murders
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