No.1 Flight
Roy Eames. royston.eames@nthworld.com Served in 1955 as Radar Operator. On demob Roy returned to Quantity Surveying, later working on his own account before becoming a PE teacher. Roy lives in Bromley. He remembers Len Warmsly who was also an operator, now living in Newport I.W. Roy learnt fom him (July 07) that Derek Lamb who was an operator on their shift had recently died.
Roy's contacts from his Saga advertisment were:
Terry Hope
Ricky Pratt
A.J.Smith
Ken Bysouth
O.W.Kemp--served 1949-54
Addresses & telephone numbers of above are available.
Gordon (Rick) Richards having volunteered for overseas, was posted to Ventnor in February 1951
after training as a Radar Mechanic at Yatesbury. He had to endure tented accommodation at the Down Lane
site before 'graduating' to a wooden hut but later in 1953 enjoyed living at the 'luxurious'
Lowtherville Road site. He recalls Corporal Ron Evans, Tony Rossiter, Ken Howe, Bob Munroe, Bill Will (now d),
Taffy Evans, Dick West (now d), a John who coloured photographs, somebody Pollard, and Tony Riches.
Rick played football for the station team and Shanklin. He married Monica Bracken from Shanklin and after
his demob they lived in Sussex. Rick now lives in Canada and is happy to chat via computer to those who
also served in a similar capacity.
Bernard Bannister was Corporal of the FireSection 1951- 52 Keith Antoine from Northolt arrived at Ventnor in 1952 via West Kirby and
Yatesbury, as an AC2 Radar Operator. He was billeted in the old domestic site
situated at the bottom of Down Lane. He says that the accommodation consisted of
wooden huts sleeping about ten, heated by the usual iron stoves. While he was
there the new 'luxury' domestic site opened at Lowtherville road. The top site
equipment at that time was the refurbished CH2 kit, but there were other
rotating aerials for GCI work. Keith recalls that the height finders (early Type
13?) rarely worked effectively, and also that Gee was still in use. Keith was
posted on to Heathrow and then to work on mobile gear in Germany. He had trips
to the Far East before returning to Sandwich. Keith remembers his time at West
Kirby as a combination of probably the most formative and most miserable
episodes in his life. He now lives on the other side of the world near
Brisbane.
Alan Reed arrived in 1953 from Yatesbury as one of a posse of seven Radar
Operators only to be told that there was no accommodation for them! They had to
lodge at a guest house named "Cosy Nook" until billet beds became available.
Alan was the founding father of the Rugby Fifteen mentioned below. Geraint
Hughes served at Ventnor as a NS Operator from 1954 to 1955. In later life
he entered the Church and ultimately became Dean of Brecon cathedral. Geraint
has kindly sent in several photographs including one of the RAF Ventnor rugby XV
and these, which identify a considerable number of his old comrades, I have
grouped on a separate page.
Mike Powell was present in 1954/55. He remembers Flt.Sergeants Daniels and
Halliday and Corporal Michael Angelo Figini. At that time the Technical Officer
was Flt.Lt. Harry Barnes. Ron Cripps. Arrived in 1956 and departed in 1959, the start of
a long career in the RAF. He well deserves his own special page. Until a Group
Captain joins in the fun perhaps we should regard Ron as our honorary CO?
Geoff Parker served as a National Service Radar Operator between 1955 &
1957. He was a Trad Jazz fan and favoured The Hole in the Wall. No doubt you'll
have fond memories of the Merrydown cider and red current wine then Geoff? The
HITW is still there, just. A sorry example of that sad sight, a dead pub. The
Prince went decades ago though, and merely to improve the road on that
corner. Ern Martin remembers a Sergeant/Warrant Officer Dave Davis.
Don Adams from Oxford, Chas Wickes from Leicester, Bob Turton from Tadcaster,
Graham Bowden from Bristol (now lives near Lymington), Geoff Carter from London, Cpl. Lewis from Bembridge,
'Steve' Stevenson (presently lives on the Island), Mike (Lefty) Collins
(presently lives on the Island), Sgt.Attril (this is a local Island name).
Cpl.Peter Noake and his cheerful wife Beryl, lived in married quarters off
Down Lane, where I visited them on several evenings to be taught the rudiments
of photographic enlargement by Peter. Beryl, now in Runcorn, has been in contact
and reports the sad news of Peter's premature death in 1989 after a career in
Computing.
Dave Taylor, Consoles J/T at Ventnor in 56/57 was a friend of Graham Parker,
a fellow Trad Jazz fan. I am happy to report that they have been able to make
contact via this site. Dave would now like to hear from Jim Smart of Morden,
Surrey who also served at Ventnor. Tony Garret has recently joined our ranks. He arrived at Ventnor in September
1958 as an 'R' J/T, went back to Locking for 'C' training, and when he returned
in the Spring the camp was operating on a Care & Maintainence basis. That
meant only one morning's work per week only so unsurprisingly he has fond
memories of the Lugano coffee bar, the beach and an undisclosed number of young
lady holidaymakers. Nirvana indeed! Despite the short working hours he contrived
to be inside the Type 14 when some capacitors chose to explode allowing him to
shoot the line that he and his companion had been blasted off the plinth. John Winkles hailed from Birmingham and arrived at Ventnor in November 56 via
Bridgnorth and Compton Bassett. He served at Ventnor until August 58 as an SAC
telephonist at the domestic site. He met and eventually married Doreen, a girl
from Niton, their first date being at the Rex cinema. They moved back to the
Island in 1983. John now lives in Ryde and was able to retire early in 1993 from
his job of managing the Ryde to Shanklin railway. John's close friends were
domestic site men, medical orderlies Cpl.John Homer and SAC Charles Munday, who
sadly are now no longer with us. John's little circle frequented Jack's Snacks
in the High Street and the Thistle cafe in Pier Street where they were served by
Marlene and Muriel who he still meets regularly. John tells us that F/Lt.
Houghton was the Adjutant during that period and he wonders where the man who
really did the work in Admin, Cpl. MIck Gostick, might be these days. Sqdn.
Leader Bell was replaced by Sqdn. Leader Deytriek during John's time. More
memories are promised.
Brian Stanbury arrived at Ventnor in it's final months. He was a Storeman and had to make many trips to Sopley transferring equipment.
He had to sleep in the armoury near the Guardroom prior to taking the contents away the following day. It seems that we were well stocked with pistols, rifles, Brens and stacks of ammo. Brian now lives in Fareham.
John Brown
who served at Ventnor for most of 1958 has sent a nice letter telling of how
he found the place then. I wonder if anybody else recalls the 'Manhattan' bar in
a pub opposite Burts Brewery?
George
Sutton served as a 'Snowdrop' during the sad days of the camp winding down,
and he tells us a little about that on his own page.
Well not reunions in the strict sense but..... In October 2005 the author met up with George Sutton and
they spent a very pleasant afternoon together touring the perimeter of the top
site and taking a look at what little remains of the domestic site.
The following week there was a repeat performance for the author when he
enjoyed a similar experience by meeting the man who lit the blue touchpaper for
this site, Roy Eames.
In late March the author met up with Harold Lewis at the same venue for a
most pleasant natter regarding the varied experiences of their Ventnor days. In
October they met again and went on to inspect The RAF St.Lawrence site. Their third meeting was in March this year.
At the end of April Graham Bowden and his wife Margaret visited the author at his home for a coffee stop on their way to a conference organised by Graham for fellow academics at Ventnor. It was the first time we had seen each other in 50 years and it was evident from the outset that his characteristic infectious enthusiasm quite clearly remained.
Keep coming blokes, the car-park is forever open.
Tony Smith 12.53-7.55
Jim Cook 54-55
Brian Stone 6.55-2.57 Dick West 11.55-5.57 Dick was a Radar mechanic from Essex and
lived in the same billet as Ron Cripps. David Groves 9.47-9.45 Names kindly provided by Mike Crowe, the local RAFA organiser.
Alan Lambert: he served in 1956. He contacted the IW Nostalgia site, which
passed his name to me. Waiting to hear from you, Alan.
Maurice Clarkson has been in touch from New Zealand to tell me about his
father Bill who served during the war years. He was at No.1 RDF School at
Cranwell in early 1942. (That is interesting as I had previously believed that
all CH training was done at Bawdsey). After serving at Dunwich and elsewhere he
arrived at the Needles CHL which had a centrimetric Type 41. The site was a Combined
Services affair. After further service on the mainland, including Poling and
Truleigh Hill, he was demobbed in 1945. I think Bill is the earliest serving RDF
man we have heard about so far. Besides the sites already listed in my
Acknowledgements section, Maurice has found the RAF Neatishead museum
near Horning, of great interest both on foot and on-line.
Jeff Chambers served at Aird Uig as a J/T from 1959 to 1961 where he worked
on a Type80 with four turning motors. He now lives near Brisbane.
Tom Vellacott who served at Trimingham made contact regarding 'Steve'.
Derek Helling was a NS Operator at Trimingham, now residing in St.Louis.
John Holmes was an SAC 90 Group man at Ventnor in 1956 to install UHF aerials
on a CH steel mast. He recalls climbing through the clouds at times! He lodged
with a Mrs. Knightly and enjoyed off-duty times with Nora, Warrant Officer
Littleton's daughter.
Mike Rees passed through Locking in 1959 (Class GRF69) and was posted as a
nineteen year old fledgling J/T to RAF Seletar There you may
read his interesting account of working for two and a half years with the mobile
kit of 61 Signal Unit in a hot and humid exotic location, and where he enjoyed a
social life markedly different to my own at El Adem.
Tony Young has been in contact. He bashed the square at Hednesford and later
served at the large R3 site at Seaton Snook where they had seven Type 13s.
I have been contacted by Roy Taylor who served at Trueleigh Hill. He has
requested information concerning his Operator friend SAC Dave Glyde from
Enfield, who was posted from Trueleigh to Ventnor in 1957. Dave badly damaged
his back in a swimming pool diving accident and Roy would dearly like to know
what subsequently happened to him. Roy has written a 195 paged book entitled
'RAF National Service in Six Movements' ISBN 1 - 873203 - 98 - 5 which tells of
his life as a Gee Operator and his involvement in athletics. It is obtainable
from Woodfield Publishing who
specialize in RAF subjects.
Brian Balshaw served '57 to '59 as a J/T Ground Radar Fitter employed on
Babs, Eureka and Tacan at Duxford and thus he considers himself to be..... a
'Cambridge man!' He bashed the square at Wilmslow before enjoying the Locking
life and seems to have enjoyed reading the whole site. Being a virtual
Liverpuddlian, he was able to correct an error in my West Kirby section regarding Lime street. He has now
forsaken his home area and lives.......a mile from me! So I expect to hear more from Brian.
If he shouts.
Ken Irwin reports that
his father Bob was a Sergeant in charge of Supplies in at Ventnor in 1957 and
his reminiscences are now appended here.
Colin Ensor has just fallen in (30.08.07) and has supplied some very interesting details about Leeming which dovetail nicely with my account.
In the event that I have omitted to mention others who have made contact,
then I apologise for that, it certainly would not have been intentional but more
likely due to muddled organisation on my part. Accordingly anybody thus offended
should make contact again if they would like to be mentioned here.
Text © 2007 D.C.Adams
Rev300807
Our Earliest Serving Contact
Harold Lewis
served as a Ground Radar Mechanic from March 1950 to June 1951 working on the CH
equipment. From his eyrie at the top of one of the steel masts he observed the
start of the construction of the Rotor site. I have had the very great pleasure of
meeting Harold at the top-site on several occasions, the most recent being on 04.10.07. Click on his name to read what he
has to say about his time at Ventnor.
Gordon Reid arrived about 4 months after Harold and like him was a keen footballer. He was posted on to Sopley in 1951.
No.2 Flight
But
his holiday at Ventnor was all to good to last so he was sent to learn about
Bloodhound and then worked at missile sites in the UK and at Woomera. Eventually
he returned to the Type 80 at Buchan and to the superior FPS6 heightfinder. Then
it was out east to RAF Penang. He was demobbed in 1969 and after a career in the
Computer industry retired in 1993 and now lives in Macclesfield.
Reunions:-
The Royal Airforce Association Local Flight
Fall In, the Supernumeries!
I have been contacted by the mysterious'Paperant' a fellow
resident of the Isle of Wight I believe. This picture shows him at Cosford as a
Boy Entrant in the fifties. He has kindly donated for display this image of an
unusual medal, the reverse of which is shown to the right.
Is that man 'tugging of war', or is he abseiling? I wonder if anybody is able to
shed a little more light about the sporting event at which this medal was won?
Click on the picture to see the very apt inscription on the obverse.
Many, many thanks 'Paperant' for allowing me to display this probably
unique artifact.