244 SQUADRON &KINDRED SPIRITS

ASSOCIATION

Newsletter No: 48

JIM SAYS, 2006 has started badly for the Association. Already this year we have lostold established members who attended most of our Reunions. Alex Alder (mem. 26),Ken Bovingdon (mem. 25), Jack Hill (mem. 141), Hector McKinnon (mem. 120), andFrank Sheppard (mem. 7). All were ex 244 at Sharjah and Masirah, but Hector was aKindred Spirit. He flew with 216 Sqdn. who delivered the Mail down the Gulf in the oldBombay.

We salute them!

Now, news on the disposal of the Squadron badge. An approach was made to RAFMuseum Hendon. They do not want it! Further to this, Ray Scott (mem. 222) recentlymade the long trip from Cromer, Norfolk to RAF Museum Hendon. He searchedforour badge amongst all the other squadron badges on the wall - no sign of it! Enquiriesshow that our badge is presently held in the Reserve Collection' at Stafford

So much for promises! When we made the Official presentation of the badge toHendon in 1966 we were told that our badge would join the others on the wall whenrefurbishment took place. At the time of our visit the badge was placed in a showcaseof its own directly opposite the wall on which the other badges were on view.Currently the position is this. Air Commodore Jack Broughton, a friend of ourAssociation is making enquiries at the RAF Club in London. It seems that all thesquadron badges are on view down a long corridor in the club. This is what we need.The badge should be on view, and not locked away in some dusty archive. Has anyoneany ideas about its disposal?

'Q CODES'

P.S. Do you know anyone who has a full set of the Q Codes we used to use? I can only remember a few. Also,what was Masirah's HF/DF call sign when we were there? In my day it was MRZ with KR (Khormaksar), MRR(Riyan), and MRS (Salalah), HF/DF was on 4575 Kc/s.

Khormaskar air traffic control was GFQ, Gibraltar was G5GF, can't remember any others. ATC was 8885Kc's .Our point-to-point communications call sign at Masirah was YC5Q but I can't remember the frequency, though I doremember the sets. They were beautiful sets with a very accurate dial and a guard frequency for listening out on aseparate frequency. One of the first things I did was to set ours to 500 Kc/s, the marine distress frequency. I don'tknow what we would have done if we had picked up a marine distress message, but that would have been the C.O'sproblem!

This was 1951/1952. Happy days eh?Jack Sharing (Mem. No. 95)

NB. Jim says - the memory fades but in my day (43/44) HF/DF was still 4575Kc/s. QDM's please (give me acourse to steer) 244's ops frequency was 5555 Kc/s. Also, Masirah's RT/sign was 'Twirla' - that is if those awfulTR9 sets would work properly. Also, 244 aircraft's call sign was L5B followed by the aircraft letter.

NOSTALGIA – the way we were

It was October 1945, at last the war was over, and thoughts were turning towards home, demob, and a changelifestyle. He was posted back to Aden from Salalah to await return to the U.K.

As was usual he had to fly from Salalah in a Lockheed Hudson piloted by the Flight Sergeant, who made the weeklydelivery run to all the places from Aden to Ras-al-Hadd, and then on to Karachi. His philosophy of flying duringthe monsoon season was, if visibility is fifty yards when you get there you could see to fly another fifty, and so on.Back at Khormaksar life seemed more relaxed with many of the `erks' with a low demob number suffering from`demob happiness'. Some of them had spent many years overseas, and were eagerly awaiting a home posting. Hisposting eventually came in November, and with one of his friends from Scotland, Hughie Vass, they boarded a flightKhormaksar to Heliopolis in Egypt, with an overnight stop in Asmara.

This was going to be his last night on Maloti Beer, a night to visit the 'fleshpots' of what had been part of ItalianEritrea, and in a tour of the city taking in the beautiful architecture for which the Italians are renowned.The following morning with thick heads and 'queasy' stomachs they boarded the plane for the flight to Cairo, andthen by train to the transit camp at Khasfereet in the Canal Zone.

There they were given their orders for returning to the UK. The system was named 'L.I.A.P.' leave in advance ofpython (whatever that may mean), and would entail travelling to Alexandria by train, joining a troopship, andsailing to Toulon in southern France, then going overland to Dieppe and crossing the Channel to Newhaven.His next visit to Alexandria was thirty years later, cruising on a luxury liner, and viewing the city while sitting onthe deck drinking a glass of lager. A bit up-market than the days he visited the cafes in Rue-deSoeur (Sister Street tothe boys), drinking Stella Beer, and watching the world go by.

The sail from Alexandria to Toulon was very relaxing, just sitting on deck, usually sleeping, but taking in the beautyof the Mediterranean and the distant coastline.The ship docked in Toulon and he disembarked by walking on gangplanks laid across the French Navy ships thathad been scuttled in 1940.

Toulon was beginning to come to life, the bars were flourishing, and most of the mirrors behind the typical Frenchbars bore the Cross of Lorraine, to show their support for the Free French. Two nights were spent Toulon beforehe caught the train for Dieppe. A cold November night in a railway carriage without windows made the journeyone of the most uncomfortable he had experienced in the whole of his service life, and not what he'd expected on hisjourney back home.

The weather in Dieppe was cold and wet, and washing and shaving facilities were out in the open. Not suitable formen with years of service in the hot spots of the Middle East. (Oh for the sea and sand of Shalaha).At last the boarding of the cross channel ferry to Newhaven, and then the short journey to RAF Hornchurch, thereto be paid and given a month's leave.

The memory still remains of the first night in England after three and a half years spent overseas.Waiting five hours in London for a train to Manchester, most of the time being spent in a 'pub' in Euston Road,drinking the London beer, which he'd never liked. Never mind!, twenty-four hours and he could have a pint of JohnSmith's best bitter.Alexandria, Aden and Salalah were his past, the train to Manchester was now taking him to an unknown future.

John Broadbent (mem. No,335)

THE FLIGHT OF THE VINCENTS Continued...

Feeling now a little less in control of things, I clambered back into the cockpit to settle down as best I could for thecoming four and a half hour flight to Port Sudan. Within half an hour my troubles started and, as the aircraft wasequipped only with facilities for 'peeing' relief I had to use my working topee for the rest. And this, despite the sizeof my head, would only cope with about three pints.

My condition progressively deteriorated and I was soon lying short-less on the cockpit floor with legs apart andtopee at the ready, getting paler and weaker with each successive spasm. After some two hours flying I began tofeel desperately ill but just had the strength to stand up to throw a well-filled topee over the side. We were flyingclose in to the coast line of Eritrea, which was then under Italian occupation, and by coincidence we were just offMassawa, the Italian air base, and the wind was in a favourable direction, putting it in some sort of danger. But nointernational complications followed so one must assume that no direct hit was actually achieved For my part, ourlanding at Port Sudan could not come soon enough, and by now I really didn't care what happened and I just layprostrate on the floor, except for the spasmodic and automatic muscular reactions trying to evacuate an alreadydehydrated and empty bowel. Eventually, on landing I was stretchered off to a small hospital in the town and canonly remember waking next morning to the comfort of white sheets, no pain and the quietness of an empty ward,having been skilfully seen to by the doctor and a nun dressed as a nurse, or vice versa, or probably both. TheSquadron had continued on its way, leaving me to mend in luxury.

This in fact did not take so long, due to the resilience of youth, good luck and good care. The rate and quality ofmy recovery was checked daily by analysing a specimen faeces, and I was able on the third day to present twobeautifully sculputured and embracing turds, 'Rodinesque' in their perfection and sufficiently germ five to allow thedoctor to certify me fit and functional enough for onward transmission to Khartoum by rail.

His journey took some sixteen hours, I had no money, no knowledge of the language, and no luggage. Just me anda package lunch launched on their way, and strangely my only reaction was a feeling of isolated freedom. But notfor long for soon after I had ensconced myself in a corner seat in an empty carriage a family group of Sudanesearrived and I was squeezed first right into the corner and then right out of it. This performance was repeated inseveral more carriages before the family size diminished enough to leave me sufficient space and breathing room.Despite all the inconveniences, my overall impression of the Sudanese was that they were a friendly and proud race.Unusually tall and muscular, with beautiful white teeth which they kept in perfect condition by continuous rubbingwith a short fibrous stick some four or five inches long. And as I watched the crowded platform just prior todeparture I noticed that it was the men who held hands as they walked, or waited for the train to start, with thewomen discreetly in the background Absorbing and appreciating the customs of other lands can sometimes beintriguingly puzzling.

Extra activity and a few prolonged whistle blasts indicated that the journey was about to start, and those passengersnot already on board leisurely and one footedly hopped along as they got board, spreading their good-byes alongthe length of the platform as the train slowly got underway.

Fred Hitchcock (Mem. No.272) Uplifted from his "A Shillingworth of Promises".

Left; Lt Col LepriUS Army, holdingRAF HabbaniyaAssociation wreath

Centre; Capt Cortes, USAFholding flowers forthe Levies memorial

Right; Mst Sgt LongUS Marine Corpsholding KORR wreath

Photo; Capt Jutta Cortes, USAF28 November 2005

ACT OF REMEMBRANCE

During October it occurred to me that with mycontacts in Habbaniya it would be possible tosend out a wreath to be laid in the cemetery onRemembrance Sunday. Unfortunately I lostcontact! However some inspired detectivework led me into contact with Captain JuttaCortes, USAF. She became very enthusiasticabout the project and considered it her serviceand moral duty to commemorate the dead in anAir Force cemetery. Her superiors gave herpermission and encouraged her.

I therefore obtained a poppy wreath andlaminated a colour copy of the RAF StationHabbaniya Crest for the centre. The dedicationcard was In memory of all who lie in thiscemetery from the RAF HabbaniyaAssociation'. I also contacted the Kings OwnBorder Regiment and they were able to sendout a poppy wreath with the KORR crest in thecentre. Understandable postal delays meant theceremony could not take place until 28thNovember.

Jutta Cortes asked for the correct Britishprotocol. and order of service for an Act ofRemembrance and these were supplied. TheBritish versions of Last Post and Reveille(actually called the Rouse) were also sent outby Email. The American use different versionsfor their Taps.

Capt Jutta Cortes also felt ashamed by the stateof the cemetery and organised working partiesto clear away all the rubbish and undergrowth,to cut up and remove the fallen trees (theeucalyptus are massive!), . re-erect fallengravestones and generally make the cemeteryas tidy as possible. They even had to re-bury alittle kiddie's bones. This work was performedby American Forces and Iraqi Defence Forcespersonnel - and at considerable personaldanger from the incoming rockets and mortars- there is still much insurgent activity aroundHabbaniya. The photos show how they havetransformed the cemetery - and by all accountsit is actually in the best condition of all theBritish cemeteries in Iraq.Everything was finally in place and theceremony took place on the 28th November.The Forces were paraded, Chaplain Etterconducted the service and Act ofRemembrance. The Commendation They shallgrow not old... was read and the 2 minutesilence was marked by Last Post & Reveille.They held the salute in memory of our dead.The wreaths were laid at the foot of the Crossof Sacrifice and Jutta Cortes laid a large bunchof bougainvillea flowers (from plants datingfrom our RAF days) at the memorial to theRAF Iraq Levies. They finished with a 21round salute in memory of those who still lieburied in our RAF Cemetery at Habbaniya.

The Habbite Edition N° 26 December 2005

THE FIRST ACT OF REMEMBRANCE SINCE THE RAF LEFT HABBANIYA • 47 YEARS AGO.

Holding the saluteduring the 2 minute silence

Capt Jutta Cortes USAF pays tributeto the RAF Iraq Levies

US Forces at the salutebefore firing the 21round salute

Capt Jutta Cortes wielding a chainsaw Iraqi Army soldier clears undergrowth near

on a fallen eucalyptus the (crossless!) Cross of Sacrifice

The Habbite Edition N° 26 December 2005

ACT OF REMEMBERANCE RAF HABBANIYA CEMETERY.

As we all know 244 Sqn had its origins when 'S' Squadron was formed at RAF Habbaniya on 21 st August 1939 andthen designated 244 Sqn on 1st November 1940 on moving to RAF Shaibah. The precise origins of ' Squadronseem to be a bit confusing as one reference book states it was formed by re-designating the Iraq & PersiaCommunications Flight whereas this does not appear to be the case from Mike Skeet's researches in the officialfiles of the Comms Flight.

There were half a dozen burials in the cemetery during the time 'S' Squadron was at RAF Habbaniya and thesegraves are among the 289 British and Commonwealth Servicemen, civilians, women and children who still lieburied at Habbaniya. The cemetery was a beautiful place, shaded by lemon trees and full of flowers and shrubs.Sadly after the RAF left it became unkempt and vandalised.

At my suggestion of performing an Act of Remembrance, Captain Jutta Cortes USAF went into action and thefollowing report and pictures show how the cemetery was tidied up by the American and Iraqi Forces and an Act ofRememberance carried out for the first time in 47 years.

I feel very emotional that the dead were remembered in this way, a feeling shared by members of the RAFHabbaniya Association, many of whom have friends buried there or who took part in burial ceremonies.

April 2006

Jim Heslop20 Links Avenue

SouthportPR9 9QBTel: 01704 226995

(Hon Secretary/Treasurer)

W/cdr. Ron RotherhamMorningside'Goodworth ClatfordAndoverTel: 01264 352050

(President)