“There occasioned a bizarre event one evening outside the Astra cinema. It was published in Khormaksar Routine Orders that airmen were to wear KD trousers to the cinema lest they offend members of the opposite sex who might (very well) catch a glimpse of male genitalia! Naturally the lads did not take very kindly to this order as wearing long trousers made their nether regions even hotter and so they ignored the order. When the dogs were brought out to quell the ensuing ‘riot’, a jolly time was had by all. It should be remembered that any behaviour was fair game to break the monotony!

As a prelude to the evening’s big film at the Astra, cartoons would be shown. Mickey Mouse featured every night. As the credits rolled and Fred Quimby’s name appeared, up would go a roar from the audience ‘GOOD OLD FRED!’ - quite scary upon first experience! Another example of intuitive audience participation was in the form of a post script to an advert for Alsops lager where, in championing the lager’s attributes, the final voice-over would say................‘cools your blood’, the response to which was ‘AND ROTS YOUR GUTS’! Oh what joy to be in the anonymity of the crowd!”

Into Kuwait

With General Kassim poised to enter Kuwait, 8 Squadron was ordered up to Bahrain and from their on to the tiny oil rich state. Having just touched down at Kuwait New Airport, which was still under construction, in an 84 Squadron Beverley, we deplaned and prepared to unload our equipment and gear. I was convinced I was standing in the exhaust of a Houchin petrol/electric power generating set as the heat was so intense when compared to Aden! As the newly-laid tarmac had not fully set, the aircraft slowly began to sink into it and we actually cracked an egg on the wing of a Hunter and it fried quite quickly! With regards to our accommodation, it can be described as skeletal at best; no fans or air-conditioning and we had to sleep on spring-wire camp beds sharing each others warm, second-hand body odours - not very nice! I seem to recall that most of our time was spent in assembling HE rockets.

 

Brotherly Love. It was mid ’61 that my brother Mick was posted in to Khormaksar. In an attempt to get him on to the squadron, I paid a visit to the General Office and complete a form to ‘claim’ him. Much to my surprise, my efforts were rewarded and Mick was duly posted on to 8 Sqn. Imagine his chagrin, however, when he discovered that he could have spent two blissful years in the Instrument Bay - ‘AIR-CONDITIONED’! He hasn’t forgiven me to this day!!!   On our first detachment to Bahrein (that was the original spelling!) at the end of a busy day’s operations with the aircraft on the line ‘chocked & locked’, I decided to show ‘Mooney’ brother one of the tricks of the trade, such as, how to gain entry into the cockpit when there was no access ladder available. 1st Trick: Grab hold of the port wing extension, leg up onto the 230 gal drop tank, onto the wing, then the spine, slide back the hood and ‘hey presto’ you’re in! 2nd Trick: Take a running jump, stick your left foot into the spring-loaded ladder flap whilst simultaneously sliding back the hood and ‘hey presto’ you should have been in!!! Didn’t quite make it, bounced off the fuselage, a bit winded and thought no more of it. Next morning, on attempting to rise from my bed, no way - result, three cracked ribs!!! Moral - don’t show off when you’re tired! Common ailments that would make you ‘crook’ in Aden were: sunburn, heatstroke, Montezuma’s revenge, Camel spider bites (very often in the nether regions) and Aden ear. Now this particular agony was caused by sea water entering the ear canal and not finding its way out - hence, severe pain. The cure, however, was far worse than the ailment itself, viz: a long thin bandage duly soaked in ascetic acid (vinegar) and then threaded into the raw ear canal - excruciating!!!