20
RAF CHANGI ASSOCIATION including HQ FEAF August 2017 Issue No. 64 Changi Swimming Pool pic: Ken Lehrie

RAF CHANGI ASSOCIATION including HQ FEAF · 2018-09-18 · Changi-ite Newsletter 2 August 2017 RAF Changi Association (Including HQ FEAF) Founded May 1996 The aim of the RAF Changi

  • Upload
    others

  • View
    51

  • Download
    1

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

RAF CHANGI ASSOCIATIONincluding HQ FEAF

August 2017 Issue No. 64

Changi Swimming Pool pic: Ken Lehrie

Changi-ite Newsletter 2 August 2017

RAF Changi Association(Including HQ FEAF)

Founded May 1996The aim of the RAF Changi Association is to bring together all those who were stationed at

RAF Changi (including HQ FEAF) Singapore, in order to renew old friendships and make new ones.www.rafchangi.com

Chairman/Archivist: John Dicks4 Langley Crescent, Kings Langley, Herts. WD4 8EW. Tel: 01923 400221 • [email protected]

Founding Member/Newsletter Distributor: Mike James12 Shiners Elms, Yatton, Bristol BS49 4BY. Tel: 01934 833170 • [email protected]

Secretary/Regalia Officer: Pat Holt14 Burrowfields, Basingstoke, Hants RG22 4XJ. Tel: 01256 477253 • [email protected]

Treasurer: Richard Collins115 Station Road, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex CM0 8HQ. Tel: 01621 785096 [email protected]

Newsletter Editor: Les Davies4 The Bryceway, Liverpool L12 3HJ. Tel: 0151 228 9874 • [email protected]

Membership Secretary: Malcolm Flack14 Highfield Close, Amersham, Bucks. HP6 6HG. Tel: 01494 728562 • [email protected]

Publicity/Press Officer: Brian Lloyd32 Redwood, Burnham, Bucks. SL1 8JN. Tel: 01628 661005 • [email protected]

Webmaster: Tony Holt14 Burrowfields, Basingstoke, Hants RG22 4XJ. Tel: 01256 477253 • [email protected]

Almoner/Medal Adviser: David Haylock37 Pierces Hill, Tilehurst, Reading, Berks. RG31 6RB. Tel: 01189 425753 [email protected]

Reunion Liaison Officer: Peter Mersh24 Asher Reeds, Langton Green, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN3 0AN. Tel: 01892 862643

[email protected] Liaison Officers

Iberia: Brian Morgan Tel: 0034 951 573547 • [email protected]: David A. Wood Tel: 0061 2 8338 9103 • [email protected]

New Zealand: Brian Churcher Tel: 0064 7 549 4230 • [email protected]: Lim Tow Soon Tel: 0065 43 1106 • [email protected]

THE RAF Changi Associationhas appointed Lim Tow Soonas their Singapore LiaisonOfficer. Towsoon has for manyyears been a friendly port ofcall to ex-RAF Changi personnel visitingSingapore and he has extended hishospitality to the the RAFCA group manytimes on their biennial visits. I havepersonally been a recipient of hisgenerosity when he and his wife visitedme twice when I was a patient in RafflesHospital last year. Members visiting orpassing through Singapore can be sure ofa warm welcome at Jacob’s Café inChangi Village. Les Davies

THE CHANGI MURALS(A reply from Singapore National Library)Dear Mr Davies,Thank you for the letter and the maga-zine copies. We have amended theInfopedia article to highlight that therehad been some awareness of the murals’existence prior to 1958, as evidenced bythe accounts of several former RAFpersonnel who recall that the murals hadbeen visible earlier. Thank you for yourinterest in Infopedia and we look forwardto your continued support.Regards,Yogeeta D. (Ms) Quality Service Manage-ment, Singapore National Library Board.(http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/

SIP_487_2004-12-23.html )

EDITORIAL CONTENTS

Committee Reports ..............................360th Anniversary of Merdeka ....................4RAF Changi Marathon Soccer ...................5The Moxey Murals ................................6205 Squadron ......................................7Searchline..........................................8Your Letters.....................................9/10The Veterans’ Clinic .............................11RAFCA’s 21st Annual Reunion..............12/13A ‘Yellow’ Labuan Experience .................14Wong Gong Huan, Master Baker...............15National Service Highlights ................16/18New Members/Obituaries.......................19Forthcoming Events/Regalia Shop............20

© RAF Changi Association. No part of this Newsletter may be reproduced in any form or by any means, graphic, electronicor mechanical, including photocopying, without the prior written or verbal consent of the chairman or secretary.

August 2017 3 Changi-ite Newsletter

The 15th Annual General Meeting passed successfully. The full Minutes would occupy an excessiveamount of space in these notes, but you can obtain a copy by sending me a written request.

You may already be aware that I have now taken over as Regalia Officer and future orders shouldbe directed through me. Details are on the back page of this magazine.

We have had two Committee meetings since the last AGM and I have sent out quite a few “getwell” cards, but if anyone knows of a member whose health is not too good, please let me know.

Peter Mersh was officially appointed as a Committee Member at the AGM and he was thanked for his efforts inarranging the current Reunion. Pat Holt (Secretary)

I am pleased to say that our Annual Reunion this year was a great success (report from Tony Holton p12). This was our last reunion to be held at the Tillington Hall Hotel, and I have explained tothe hotel manager that our reason for not provisionally re-booking for next year is that we haveexhausted places to visit in the Staffordshire area. Next year the Annual Reunion will be held at theNovotel in Nottingham where, I am assured, there are many good venues for coach trips.

I have now booked our next biennial trip to Singapore and Penang, which will be leavingHeathrow on Monday, 27 February 2018, at 2205hrs. If you are interested, please telephone or email me for detailsand I will tell you who to contact. The basic holiday will be for the usual seven days in Singapore followed by fourteendays in Penang, returning home on Wednesday, 22 March.

Are any members interested in marching at the Cenotaph in November? If you are contact me for the securityrequirements, which are much the same as last year. You will not get into Horseguards Parade without a pass bearingyour printed name and other pertinent details.

I am writing this report early as Les Davies is off into hospital on 8th June for a hip operation, so I hope that youwill all join me in wishing him the best of luck, although by the time you read this it will be history. (Hopefully!).

Very little is coming in now for the archives, although I am receiving many photographs of our Annual andmini-reunions as visual reminders. Odd pictures of our glorious Changi days and maps do occasionally arrive, mainlyfrom new members.

I’ll wish you all the best for the summer months and look forward to meeting some of you at local mini-reunions.Kind regards. John Dicks (Chairman)

Chairman/Archivist’s Report

Treasurer’s Report Financial Year 2016The Association’s audited accounts for 2016 were presented at the Annual General Meeting onSunday 7th May 2017. The Association continues to be in a sound financial state. Expenditure forthe year exceeded income by £6250.

This figure included payment of £6500 to the NMA as RAFCA’s contribution to the “maintenancefor life” contract with NMA. Expenditure on nearly all items showed a decrease compared with2015 and if £6500 had not been paid the account would have shown a balance of income over

expenditure of around £250 comparing favourably with last year’s deficit of £1746.Funds held in the bank at the end of 2016 were £2944 in the Current Account and £25476 in the Capital Deposit

Account . A full summary of the accounts is available to members on request to the Treasurer.Richard Collins (Hon. Treasurer)

alcolm Flack (Membership Secretary)Malcolm Flack (Membership Secretary)

Secretary’s Report

As we have just passed the halfway mark of 2017, I have to report that we have registered only 10new members so far, despite all our efforts to follow up each and every one where there has beena mention of RAF Changi in days past. This then lets me report that our total paid-up membershipstands at 913 (as at 26th June).

In the meantime, however, June has realised a suddenly flurry of names through our variousefforts (the National Annual Veterans’ Days being largely responsible) and which has brought our

year to date total of new enquiries up to 36; and so there could be a few more in the pipeline. Malcolm Flack (Membership Secretary)

Membership Secretary’s Report

Changi-ite Newsletter 4 August 2017

Malaya set to celebrate its

60th year of independence

ON the 31st August 1957 theFederation of Malaya gained its

Independence from British colonisa-tion, forming part of what we knowtoday as Malaysia.

e day is also known as HariMerdeka in the Malay language andthe celebration of Independence Dayis incomplete without the sevenshouts of “Merdeka!”, a practiceinitiated by Tunku Abdul Rahman,the first prime minister of Malaysia atDataran Merdeka.

is month Malaya celebrates the60th anniversary of their indepen-dence, and during the month ofAugust the people express theirpatriotism and love towards theirculturally unique country by raisingthe Malaysian flag on their vehicles,

balconies of their homes and alongthe streets. e whole build uptowards Malaysia’s Independence Dayis celebrated with pride and joy wherecompetitions and parades will be heldand schoolchildren practise forperformances which will be presentedduring Independence Day itself.

Once it became increasingly clearthat the Communist threat posed

during the Malayan Emergency waspetering out, agreement was reachedon 8th February 1956 for Malaya togain independence from the BritishEmpire. However, for a number oflogistical and administrative reasons,it was decided that the officialproclamation of independence wouldonly be made the following year.Tunku arrived home from Londonwith the good news thatindependence would finally come toMalaya.

e Merdeka Day Parade is one ofthe most prominent events of thecountry, and is held on the morningof August 31st to mark and celebratethe country’s developments.

From Changi-ite to the Malaysianpeople Happy Merdeka!

Kuala Lumpur on 31st August 1957

Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur Merdeka Day 1957 © Malay Mail on line Merdeka Newspaper © The Straits Times

RAF bans women from wearing skirts on parade� e Royal Air Force has banned women from wearingskirts on parade and issued a trousers-only rule in anattempt to become more inclusive. e move is partlyowing to an increase in transgender troops and wasdiscussed at a meeting by officials who address issues suchas diversity, inclusion and uniform policy.

It is believed to have been put into action last year aspart of a regular review of uniform policy. No decision isbelieved to have been made on whether to continue withthe ban. e rule change has been criticised by someservicemen and politicians. Philip Davies, theConservative MP, said: “It’s a ludicrous decision.”

e RAF first allowed women to wear trousers onparade in 2001. Women serving in the Royal Air Forcewill no longer be able to wear skirts on parade, in case itoffends people who identify as ‘transgender’. e newuniform policy, which has yet to be enforced, is part of abid to reflect the RAF as a “modern and inclusive

employer”. Under the plans, women will have to weartrousers on parades, on barracks and during public events.

An RAF source said: “We have men who want to liveas women, women who want to live as men and personnelwho do not identify with any gender. e view was weneed a uniform policy to cut through all of that and saythere is one uniform for everyone and that’s that.”

Women make up 14% of the RAF. ey can serve inall roles across the RAF, other than as Regiment Officersor Regiment Gunners.

An RAF servicewoman commented: “Everyone’s livid.We’ve been wearing skirts since World War II. It feels likepolitical correctness. e world’s going mad.”

Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of Britishforces in Afghanistan, said: “ere are obviously too manypeople in the RAF with too little to do if they have timeto agonise over whether or not women should wear skirtsin ceremonial uniform.” (Royal Air Force News)

August 2017 5 Changi-ite Newsletter

Royal Air Force setworld marathonsoccer record

Report in The Sunday Mail, November 23, 1969

SINGAPORE, SaturdayROYAL AIR FORCE Police teams ofChangi and Tengah played non-stopsoccer for twelve and a half hours from8pm last night to establish a worldmarathon football record, beating theprevious best by one and a half hours.

At the floodlit stadium of RAFChangi, where the game was played, aslight cold wind blew all night, but therain kept away.

A heavy shower just before the start,however, kept the going easy for theplayers throughout the marathon match.

During the game the playersconsumed 45 gallons of tea and softdrinks, about 50 salad rolls, 10lb of

tomatoes laced with salt, and an equalamount of apples and oranges.

Enthusiastic supporters, includingRAF women, stayed up all night toencourage the players, who carried onand on bravely.

e game was under the critical eyesof timekeepers, recorders, officialobservers and spectators along the touch-lines. e actual playing time was 675minutes.

ree referees took turns to controlthe game. e teams took a five-minutebreak every 45 minutes.

e final score: RAF Changi 44, RAFTengah 38.

Alexander Varghis

� The director of War MemorialsTrust ‘Bulletin’ reported:

Grants paid last year include theFar Eastern Prisoner of War steamlocomotive (pictured left). The loco-motive was captured by the JapaneseImperial Army at the fall of Singaporein February 1942. Accounts fromformer prisoners confirm that thelocomotive was put to work by theJapanese, often alongside parties ofprisoners from a local PoW campunloading Japanese supply ships. Itreturned to Britain in 1953, working at

Chatham Dockyard until retired in1972. Initially preserved at Ashford,Kent, it was acquired by the RutlandRailway Museum in 1979.

In 2016, War Memorials Trustgave a grant of £1,300 towards worksto clean and re-paint the locomotive.Works also included the removal oflacquer and cleaning of the brassplaques, which were then polishedbefore the lettering was re-painted.Volunteers supported the project,including pupils from a local school.

David Haylock (M690)

Pilot: ‘Changi, I’m notgoing to make it!’

SINGAPORE, ursdayALL seemed well with a Beaufighterwhich had developed an engine fault as itspilot followed radio instructions from airtraffic control on an emergency landing atR.A.F. Changi.

But when the plane was two miles offthe Changi runway, it made a sudden turnand crashed into the sea almostimmediately after the pilot had radioed:“Changi, I am not going to make it!”

Squadron Leader Keith BerkleyCrosby, senior air traffic control officer atRAF Changi, said this today at an inqueston Flt. Lt. Albert Eric Pike, 37, of RAFSeletar.

Pike was the pilot of the Beaufighterwhich crashed at 11.37am on November13 while on a naval exercise flight.

e Coroner returned a verdict ofdeath by misadventure.

Inspector Jalaludin bin Yusof said thata second man in the Beaufighter, who wasrescued after the crash – was the plane’swinch-operator, LAC Brian Smiles Taylor,who had since returned to England.

Squadron Leader Crosby said thatwhen he got a message that the plane wasin trouble, he contacted Pike by radio andgave him instructions on how to steer theBeaufighter and reach Changi.

“ough the plane was graduallylosing height while all my instructionswere being complied with, it appeared tobe doing all right,” he said.

It was just two miles away when itplunged into the sea.

Pike’s body was found at sea four dayslater. (Singapore Standard)

Blast from the past

Changi-ite Newsletter 6 August 2017

The Malcolm ClubBuilt in the same formidable styleas the billets, the midde floorhouses a dance hall, which is alsoused as a jazz club. The groundfloor, which is used as a communalhall, is quite presentable anddisplays low-slung wicker chairs andglass-topped wicker tables, offeringconsiderable comfort. A juke box isinstalled and has a suitable variety;popular and traditional jazz take agood proportion. The corners seemto be considerably attractive assales centres. For in one is awell-stocked bookstall and oppositea neatly-designed counterdistributing the wares of coffee,

cold drinks and cooked meals. Quietly placed is a neat and rather attractive bar with tables ofconverted barrels and the walls have a decoration of palm trees. A garden is nicely placedbehind the club, completing nearly a circle in its entirety. Marble tables and stools comprise theseating, while lights in trees convey the atmosphere.

His name to all and sundry is John.Whether it is right or wrong matters

not, for he recognises it as his own.His sole attire is a pair of faded, yetclean pair of blue PT shorts. A shirt

sometimes adorns his upper half, butvery rarely. His age is difficult to

determine but I think 42 would be afair assumption - and neither

flattering nor insulting. Hisefficiency is to be marvelled, for

although he has 45 of us to attend tohe finds time to see all. This is no

mean task seeing as we all workdifferent hours and make it

extremely inconvenient. Yet wheneverone comes off night duty the bed is

always made. When cleaning shoes hejust takes away a whole heap, yet the right pair are always returned under the right bed.

He keeps the place in tidy order by sweeping methodically every morning.John is worth every bit of his two bucks a fortnight!

The Bearer

The Moxey “Murals” - off the wall!

August 2017 7 Changi-ite Newsletter

ALAN (‘ACE’) SWAN (M1476) (the ‘Ace’ conferredon him by his Squadron workmates) was stationed at

RAF Changi with 205 Squadron from January 1964 toJune 1966 with his wife Dorothy, his son Jonathan anddaughter Carolyn.

He remembers it as two and a half incredible years andsays that it will come as no surprise that he has maintaineda love of Changi and an interest in 205 Squadron eversince.

Alan recently contacted Changi-ite to say that he is inthe process of compiling his own personal early history of205 Squadron and had purchased and read Bomber Pilot1916-1918, by C.P.O. Bartlett, this being a personalaccount of his experiences in WW1 flying with RNAS 5Squadron, which eventually would become 205 Squadronin 1918.

In the book, the author mentions 205 SquadronMuseum and the Wilkinson Battle of Britain MemorialSword presented to 205 Squadron in 1971. Alan isdesperately trying to find out the location of the Museumand details of the Memorial Sword, since his efforts so farhave produced absolutely nothing.

In desperation, Alan pleads: “Please Changi-ites,HELP! If you can I would be most grateful.

One further conundrum has arisen from this: on the1st April 2018 the Squadron will be 100 years old. Hasanyone heard or seen anything with regard to some sortof 100th birthday celebrations?

How nice it would be to stand at Coudekerque withthe Sword and watching a Shackleton flyover.

If you have any news of a pending celebration, pleasecontact [email protected].

205 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit formed on 1 April 1918. Prior to this ithad existed as No. 5 Squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). In 1929, itbecame the first RAF squadron to be permanently based in Singapore, taking as itsmotto Pertama di Malaya (“First in Malaya”). e Squadron operated during theSecond World War and the Cold War, before disbanding on the 31st October 1971.

� I WAS on Shackletons at Changi (1968-’71)for a tour that was extended in order for theSquadron to be there for the hand-over to theKiwis and eventually to the SAF.

I was involved in the fly-past referred to recently andwe were number six, which meant that we were tail-endCharlie for the in-line astern first pass and piggies in themiddle of the aft three for the second, in the photographabove right.

As you may imagine, there isn’t much requirement forformation flying in Shackletons and for practice, O/C AFlight decided that a spectacular six-ship start up androlling in-line take-off was the order of the day.

Now the Griffons were notoriously temperamental tostart and could require prop counting and carefullypriming before they finally gave in and joined the party.As a consequence, the start-up, while noisy enough towake the dead, was not exactly to parade groundstandards.

e rolling take-off, for us as number six, was, to saythe least, interesting. We experienced so much waketurbulence from the preceding five that instead of turning

left after take-off, we, with full left aileron and judiciousamounts of left rudder, still went to the right.

is, of course, meant that we were woefully late forthe in-line pass, and when we finally caught up, we weregoing so fast that we flew under almost the wholeformation before we finally got our speed reduced and gotback in our slot. O/C A was not impressed!

Suffice it to say that the debrief was extensive. As far asI recall, this was the only practice we were allowed.

e rolling formation take-off was abandoned and, onthe day, bearing in mind the fact that it was probably thefirst and last six-ship Shackleton formation ever, it wentpretty well.

David Campbell (M2407)recalls 205 Squadron’sflypast at Changi prior

to repatriation to the UK

Changi-ite Newsletter 8 August 2017Changi-ite Newsletter 8 August 2017

Searchline

No. 64Compiled by Brian Lloyd

(Please respond directly to: [email protected])

1. PAT SKINNER, WRAF CIRCA 64/66. Do youremember her or know her current contact details?Believed to have married a soldier from RASC, AirSupply Drop Section, at St. George’s Church. Didyou attend the wedding? Member M637, now MrsBancroft (née Owens) would like information. Alsoany contact details for WRAF Brenda Tomlinson,Clerk, from Block 117.

2. RUGBY, 66/67. Two new members, Roger Parry(M2412), Avionics, and Peter Dawson (M2413),Clerk Sec., would be pleased to hear from you,including rugby team pictures with captions andoutstanding memories.

3. PAT PATMAN, now known as Elizabeth Proctor(M2416), would be pleased to hear from anyone whoremembers her. Operations, Flight Planning andATC, January 1963 to January 1965. Swam in theFEAF swimming championships in 1963 (picturebottom right). Do you know their current location orhave memories of them? Also Changi wedding(pictures top and middle right). Any memories or doyou know current whereabouts of anyone pictured?

4. ANYONE have memories or participation in musicgroups The Fortunes, The Shadows or The FolkClub? If so, do you have any pictures with captions,dates, names or did any current members take part?Or perhaps location details of any non-memberswho played in any of these groups? Twin brothers,both J/Ts, played in Folk Club events. Any news oftheir location (circa 68/71).

5. RE ITEM 7 (April Newsletter). Block 144 (Middle).Would the member who phoned Brian Lloydconcerning this item please call again as I have arevised telephone number for contact. Thank you! Left to right: Pat Patman, Glenis Robinson, Eileen Pearce, unknown.

Left to right: Pat Patman, Mick Weber, Phil Porte (now Weber), unknown, Mick Doubleday.

Extract from the RAF News (1963)

Two WRAF girls at RAF Changi, Singapore, brokerecords in the FEAF swimming championships.SACW Eileen Pearce, aged 23, who works in

Changi’s telephone exchange, broke the WRAF50 yards freestyle record; and 21-year-old SACW

Pat Patman is the new 50 yards backstrokechampion.Pat, an Operations Clerk, was also first in the

women’s breaststroke race and diving. Eileenwas second.

SWIMMING RECORDS GO AT RAF CHANGI

Wedding of Phil Porte and Mick Weber on the 3rd October 1964. Back row, extreme right,Margaret Styles (known as Tracey) and second from right, Avril Fletcher (known as Mickey).Bridesmaid is Pat Patman and Glennis Robinson is seated on the bride’s immediate left.

A trip down with your letters and photos to Changi-ite

I REFER to the story of the Queenunveiling a memorial to the Iraq andAfghanistan wars, which was coveredby the BBC in March this year.

While agreeing that the memorialis a well-deserved recognition of thosewho fought in those wars, it onlyserved to remind us that no suchtribute was paid to those who wereinvolved in the Korean and Malayancampaigns.

I lost a cousin in the Korean warand our involvement in Malaya haslong been forgotten, despite the factthat we lost many good men, knownpersonally to many of our ownmembers. Could the reason be thatthe Malayan conflict was neverafforded the title of “war”?

David Haylock (M921)

DENIS BARCLAY’S interestingletter relating to the missing Valettafrom KL in March 1956 remindedme of a friend I made at the RutlandCounty Golf Club following myreturn to civilian life.

He was Sqdn. Ldr. Ted Guy whowas the pilot of the Sunderland FlyingBoat involved in the search.

Ted was a married man and inquarters somewhere near Seletar. Hiswife still lives in Stamford.

Sadly, Ted diedon the 9th May2013 and I attendedhis funeral. I wonderif any members willremember him fromhis photograph.

Mike Frankish(M1614)

GROUP CAPTAIN FULLERGOODwas a man who loved his Willys jeepwith the joy of scooting around thecamp catching any airman or air-woman who ignored his manoeuvresby doing u-turns and skidding

alongside them with a roar, “Airman(or airwoman), don’t you salute anofficer?”

You would give the excuse, “Butsir, you came behind me!” You had tohave eyes on the four points of thecompass!

So, on the 21st May 1951, I wasadmitted to Changi Hospital withappendicitis. I had just turned 21yearsof age; and 12 days later I wasdischarged but no transport came forme to take me back to camp, so Istarted walking downhill to thebillets, hanging on to my gut with

both hands – the pain was mighty.en out of seemingly nowhere a jeepcame to a screaming stop alongsideme with the usual “airwoman, whydon’t you salute an officer?” I turnedto face a very red-faced officer and,ignoring what he said, I replied: “Youcame up behind me, sir, and I’m in nocondition to remove my hand frommy gut in case it falls out; I wasoperated on 10 days ago!”

Defiantly, I glared at him. Helooked confused and asked why notransport had been sent to take meback to camp? “Don’t know, sir, so I’mwalking,” I said.

He bent round and opened theback door of the jeep and I was toldto “get in”.

anking him, I gingerly climbedin and rode back to my billet in style,giggling at my open-mouthed billetmates as we passed.

I was dropped at my door. Ithanked him and, with one hand onmy gut, I saluted him with the wronghand; he actually grinned!

e girls crowded around with lotsof questions, the main one being –“how did you manage that?”

“Easy,” I said. “I thumbed himdown; he’s not such a bad bloke afterall!”

Jill Clark (M1539)(Jill worked in Ops Control as a FighterPlotter from 1949 to 1951. She was anactive member of the eatre Group as adancer and went up country to perform. Shealso appeared at Tengah and Seletar.Known by the unusual name of ‘Bloodnut’,Jill is now in her eighties, lives in SouthAfrica and is registered blind. e letter wassubmitted by her carer Cheryl Strydom.)

THE article about the Block 151murals states that they were redis-covered in 1958.

I was stsationed at Changi in 1953and 1954 and after work used to havea knockabout with a football. On oneoccasion it rained and we continuedplaying inside Block 151. When theball hit the wall, a painting wasrevealed.

I was demobbed shortly after that,so do not know what happened next,but I cannot imagine that they werepainted over again!

I was originally posted to Seletarwhere part of the Air Traffic Controlbrief included taking out a safety boatwith three Rolls-Royce engines.

Following a recent cruise whichterminated in Singapore, we took ataxi to Seletar, where the Rolls-Royceman said that in normal circum-stances we could have been takenround, but it was not possible since itwas a Saturday and a holiday!

I could just see the pier in thedistance but not the runway, whereelectric lights replaced the flares fornight flying. I am now 83 and wasone of four “Brians” at Seletar. Iwould love to hear from any ‘oldstagers’ who remember me.

Brian Hughes (M1359)

We welcome your letters, whether they express concern, offer advice,present constructive criticism, or just recall happy memories or events fromChangi days. Please send your contributions to [email protected]

and include your name and membership number.

August 2017 9 Changi-ite Newsletter

Changi-ite Newsletter 10 August 2017

WHEN I was called up for NationalService in October 1955 it was thebest thing that had ever happened tome. en, about a week in, I wasassigned my first guard duty and, asone of three to be selected, we madeour way to the appointed meetingplace.

ere we were introduced (in asort of way) to a corporal who was tobe our guiding light for the night.

It seemed to us that he didn’treally like us as he had a permanentscowl on his face and when he talkedhe placed his face about an inch awayfrom mine and spoke in a voice thatmade my ears vibrate; it was so loud,maybe he figured I was hard ofhearing.

My task for the night was to visitboth of the camp gates, there andback, at regular intervals. Our lovelycorporal said that it would be quickerif I used a bicycle.

With hindsight, I realise that Ishould have chosen my words morecarefully, but I said: “I don’t have abicycle!”

is seemed to infuriate him andhe came even closer than before andlooked at me as though I was thegreatest moron of all time and repliedin his own gentle way: “Find one!”

So, on my first trudge to gatenumber one, it wasn’t long before Icame across a nice shiny bicycleoutside a lit building, with lots ofnoise being made by the peoplewithin, who were obviously drinking;just what I needed.

For the rest of the night I pedalledback and forth from one gate to theother, having a lovely time. e nextmorning we were all lined up onparade feeling we had done a greatjob, until a big burly sergeantappeared in front of us. He had a veryunhappy look on his face as he glaredat us and bellowed, in a voice tomatch his face: “Who stole my bicycle?”

No one moved; most definitelynot the right response. “Who stole mybicycle from outside the Sergeants’ Messat about 6 o’clock last night?”

It suddenly dawned on me that Irecalled seeing a sign saying some-thing about Sergeants’ Mess – andperhaps this nice gentleman wasreferring to the bicycle that I had

‘borrowed’, so I stepped forward tooffer an explanation, but before Icould say anything I was grabbed bytwo S/Ps and marched into the mainguard room to be interrogated by lotsof angry-looking men. I thought Iwas going to spend the rest of myNational Service in military prison;but then I was given a chance to saysomething and told them that thecorporal had told me to just go andfind one. e room became silent andeveryone looked at each other.

I was eventually allowed to leave,and on my way to return to the lads,I noticed the corporal in questionbeing led into the main guard room.

Although I didn’t hear any moreabout it, I did seem to spend an awfullot of time scrubbing the toilets andshowers. Lesson learned! “Don’tadmit to anything!”

David Wood (M2196)

PICTURED (above) is an oldSingapore newspaper clipping fromJanuary 25, 1959, which I found inmy old Changi Log Diary. As you cansee, it raises questions similar to thosethat are in the April 2017, Issue No.63, edition of Changi-ite.

Ronald Searle did do some muralsat Changi during his Japanese-enforced stay, but they are in Block34, a ground floor room which, whenI was there, was the FEAF CommandMap Store.

e two murals were on the end

wall of the block and behind one ofthe racks. ey were done in somesort of greasy, black pigment; one wasof Leeds Castle, wherever that is orwas. e other I cannot remembertoo well, but think it was a scene ofsome sort.

In 1999, on a visit to Changi, Iwent to the old billet of Block 34 onthe off chance of going inside; but atsome stage the place had had somework done on it and now had glasslouvre windows on the upperbalconies.

I tried to use my camera throughthe slats on the old Command Store,but was unsuccessful; likewise gettingup to the centre to have a look round.

More work was being done andthe entrances were grilled off, so Ithought better not to push it as it wasin full view of a guard room on theold hospital billet.

e Stanley Warren Murals arecertainly catching a lot of interest andI hope you can get the Singaporeansto amend their tourism data to amore accurate version.

Lloyd Stridiron (M1244)

For the record, Lloyd, Leeds Castle isnowhere near the city of Leeds, but issituated in Kent, five miles south-eastof Maidstone. A castle has been on thesite since 1119. It has had many uses:a Norman stronghold, the privateproperty of six of England’s medievalqueens, a palace used by Henry VIIIand his first wife Catherine of Aragon,a Jacobean country house, a Georgianmansion, an elegant early 20th centuryretreat for the influential and famousand, in the 21st century, it has becomeone of the most visited touristattractions in Britain. Well worth atrip. (But maybe not from NewZealand!) - Ed.

When visiting orpassing throughChangi Village

take time out to rest yourweary legs and rediscover

Country Cookingat Lim Tow Soon’s

friendly watering holeJacob’s Café Pte Ltd, Block 5, Changi Village

Road #01-2049 Singapore 500005

August 2017 11 Changi-ite Newsletter

‘borr

On 13th March 1958, Flt. Lt. Price crash lands his Canberra on one wheel at Changi.Fortunately there was no fire. Paddy Gough (M2363)

Blast from the past

� FOLLOWING the mention and picturesof cars in several recent issues of Changi-ite,I thought members might be interested tohear of a syndicate formed by myself andfour of my buddies during our time at RAFChangi.

We initially acquired an old Ford(specification not remembered) which, whileit performed adequately, it unfortunately didnot have any seats. is problem wasovercome by the installation of fourdeckchairs and though it worked, thepassengers had to develop a special techniquewhenever the brakes were applied; this wasespecially important for the driver!

Our pièce de résistance, however, was theMG shown below – white and red leather. Ibelieve it was an MG Model A, but perhapssome member would be able to correct me.

e number plate, N3210, would beexpensive to purchase today. e model wasfairly limited in production 1937-1939 andvery difficult and very expensive today. Mineis the proprietary hand on the door ! “

David Haylock (M921)

Changi Signals football team, circa. 1956

Back row (l-r): M. Frankish, G. Learwood, J. Pitt, J. Butters, M. Stevens, J. Brown.Front row (l-r): T. Hollis, B. Carr, A. Bolden (capt.), A. Bakar, B. Ludbrook.

Hip, hip, hooray! The Veterans’ ClinicTHE Veterans’ Clinic provides an NHS

service exclusively for veterans witharthritis. e service is open to those who haveserved with the UK military, includingNational Service, and treats arthritic lower limbproblems, especially those requiring hip andknee replacements.

e service is led by Lt. Col. Carl Meyer, aconsultant military orthopaedic surgeon, whohas been a consultant at RJAH for over threeyears. A graduate of Birmingham UniversityMedical School, Lt. Col. Meyer of the RoyalArmy Medical Corps completed hisorthopaedic training on the Oswestry/Stokerotation, before his consultant militaryappointment in 2011. Lt. Col. Meyer hasserved as a Medical Officer in both the GulfWar and more recently in Afghanistan, wherehe was involved in treating local civilians, aswell as injured troops.

He has special clinical interests in hip andknee replacement and in trauma and being a

military consultant has helped him understandthe experiences and expectation of veteranpatients.

Who can attend the Veterans’ clinic?Veterans who are serving or have served

with the UK Military, including NationalService, who require treatment for arthriticlower limb problems, especially those requiringhip and knee replacements.

When is the Veterans’ clinic held?Twice a month on a Tuesday morning,

usually 9am to noon.

How can I be referred to the Veterans’ Clinic?Via your G.P.

Who should I contact for more information?Lt. Col. Carl Meyer’s Medical Secretary,

Rebecca Jones, by Telephone: 01691 404344or Fax: 01691 404067.

Patient story: Retired engineer, people manager and companydirector David Bates, from Church Stretton, Shropshire, was referredto RJAH by his GP last year for a hip replacement. Former patientMr. Bates, who undertook his National Service in 1952, before hisdegree at Cambridge, observes: “The good Colonel Meyer is justthe man to make this service work. He combines competence,humour and compassion to engender instinctive respect andconfidence. I genuinely believe veterans will find it naturallyreassuring to be treated by a regular serving officer, who hasundertaken three tours to Afghanistan and who wears the Britisharmy uniform when seeing all his patients. The veterans’ clinicdemonstrates that Gobowen is still playing its part for the military– it will surely make them feel deservedly valued and much more athome when being treated by the specialist orthopaedic team.”

“They want all the medals back. Apparently you used aVicks inhaler before going over the top.”

Changi-ite Newsletter 12 August 2017

THIS year’s Annual Reunion took place forthe fifth time at the Tillington Hall Hotel,

Stafford. It was the final time there, as we thoughta change of venue was just about due, and mightpossibly boost attendance figures for next year.

The total attendance was 122, made up of 76members and 46 guests, slightly down on last year.Another reason for the change of venue was togive us new ideas for places to visit on our coachtrips. Peter Mersh, who has taken over as ReunionLiaison Officer, came up with a couple of excellentsuggestions.

On the Saturday a coach-load headed northto Liverpool to visit the Albert Dock WorldHeritage Waterfront Site.

Some of the party ventured out on anopen-top bus tour of the city, and I heard it wasjust a bit chilly out there!

Peter’s suggestion for the Sunday trip was tothe Aircraft Museum at Bruntingthorpe. Ratherless went on this trip as lot of us like to set off onthe journey home straight after the AGM.

The Saturday night Gala Dinner followedthe usual format. Chairman John Dicks welcomedus all, and proposed a vote of thanks to the staff at

Tillington Hall who have served us over the pastfive years. He presented the Chairman’s Cup toRichard Collins, our treasurer.

Following the dinner was the usual raffle, theculmination of a year of shrewd shopping by PatHolt, who always manages to get plenty of prizesat the best possible prices.

We thank those who gave us additionalprizes on the night. Pat also spent the weekendin her new role as Regalia Officer, and between uswe sold quite a few polo shirts, badges and othersundry items.

The weekend was considered a great success,and we thank Peter Mersh for all the planning heput into its organisation, along with Isle of WightTours for making all the detailed arrangements.

Next year’s gathering will be at the Novotel,Nottingham, right by Junction 25 of the M1, andwe look forward to seeing a good crowd of ourmembers and their guests in attendance.

The date for next year’s Reunion is theweekend of the 4th to 7th May.

Please watch the website and the Changi-iteNewsletter for details.

Tony Holt

RAF Changi Association (Including HQ FEAF)

21st Annual ReunionTillington Hall Hotel, Stafford

5th-8th May 2017

IT was with sorrow and a great sense ofloss that we learnt of the death ofDolores James on the morning of13th May 2017. In her role asRegalia Officer and AGM raffleorganiser she had raised over£23,000 for the R.A.F. ChangiAssociation funds, but had torelinquish the job recently dueto ill health. In her support forhusband Mike, the Association’sfounder, she has been unstinting.Dolores passed away after arelatively short illness. She was always

involved in the business-end at all of theR.A.F. Changi conventions, workingtirelessly to swell the Association’sfunds, and was an ever-present atcommittee meetings. Doloreswill be sorely missed.

When somebody loved life asmuch as Dolores did, we shouldtry not to be too saddened byher death; but her absence atfuture functions will be marked

and we extend our combinedsympathy to her husband Mike and

their family.

August 2017 13 Changi-ite Newsletter

Changi Association’s Reunion DinnerSaturday, 6 May 2017

Changi-ite Newsletter 14 August 2017

Blast from the past

SINGAPORE’S undefeated Royal Air Forcehockey team will fly to Hong Kong on January24 to play three matches in that Colony.

ese are against the Combined Hong Kong Civilians,RAF Hong Kong and the Combined Services betweenJanuary 26 and 28.

e party will be 14 strong and the team will beselected from: Corporal Perman (Seletar), Goal; Flt. Lt.Wood, Flt. Sgt. Montague (Changi), Backs; Fg. Off.Watts, Flt. Lt. Chase, Flt. Sgt. Taylor (Changi), Flt. Lt.Lovelace (Tengah), Halves; Sgt. Brown (Seletar), Sgt.Tilley (Sembabawang), Flt. Lt. McDonald, SAC Slacke,Fg. Off. Nugent, SAC Razalli, Sgt. Sandhurst (Changi),Forwards. Major Fisk (Royal Signals) and Sgt. Orr (R.A.F.)will accompany the team as umpires.

e team is undefeated this season. e airmen held

Singapore Civilians and FELF to a draw and defeated theRoyal Navy in the Singapore Hockey Associationquadrangular tournament.

e star of the team is the Captain, Flg. Off. Nugent,who played for Great Britain in the 1952 Olympics atHelsinki. He has also played for Singapore, Kent, and theUK Combined Services.

Flt. Lt. Wood, who plays half-back, had an Irishinternational trial, and also played county hockey forCheshire, Derbyshire and Warwickshire.

Among the other players, Sgt. Sandhurst representedthe RAF and played for Nottingham, Flt. Lt. Chase, Flt.Sgt. Montague and Flt. Sgt. Taylor have all playedCommand hockey, whilst Sgt. Brown, who is also a RAFplayer, played for Hong Kong in 1952.

Singapore Standard (January 1958)

SINGAPORE AIRMEN TO TOUR HONG KONG

This letter was printed in the Daily Mail a few years ago. It was suppllied by Brian Lloydand I think it’s worth a peek for those who missed it!

Yes, I was yellow . . . butI wasn’t in peril!

THE recent article about the anti-malaria drugLarium brought back memories from 60 years

ago.In 1949 I was 20 and an RAF wireless

operator on a small signals detachment(from RAF Changi, Singapore).

Our out-station consisted of a Flt/Ltofficer-in-command, a corporal medic,and about 12 other ranks, based on a smallisland called Labuan in what was thenBritish North Borneo.

We were housed in tents on the edge ofthe jungle, so we lived alongside snakes,iguanas and other nasty neighbours, plusclouds of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, ofcourse.

To counter this, we had to sleep undermosquito nets and were ordered to take ayellow tablet named Mepacrine daily as aprecaution.

Not all of the other bods took the tablet as ordered,but being the good airman (allegedly) that I was, plusthe fact that I didn’t fancy getting malaria, I took mine

as ordered. The result was that I very soon turned astrong shade of yellow – skin, eyes, everything – and I

stood out, looking more Oriental thansome of the locals.

One day we had a visit from a seniorofficer at HQ Changi who inspected us onparade (a very rare event at Labuan). Hepassed me by and then did a classicdouble-take, came back for a second lookand asked the CO: “What’s wrong withthis airman?”

The CO replied: “Mepacrine tablets,sir.”

The inspecting officer looked me upand down again and carried on theinspection.

I am pleased to say that in spite ofbeing bitten, I did not get malaria and theyear-long daily consumption of the tablethad no effect, no effect, no effect, no effect

on me whatsoever.Basil (Jack) Frost (M357),

Stowmarket, Suffolk.

August 2017 15 Changi-ite Newsletter

SINGAPORE, Saturday

MASTER baker Wong Hong Guanwas today still recovering from the

shower of congratulations he has receivedfor the past week.

All the praise and back-slapping were,of course, for his excellent bakemanship.

Mr Wong, 58, who has been bakingfor 35 years without any fuss, suddenlycame into the limelight after the PrimeMinister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, said in hisNational Day eve speech that one of thebest bakeries in Singapore was at Changi.

Hai Suan Bakery, where Mr Wongworks is the only bakery in Changivillage.

(ere is another one - Sin Sin Bakery- in Upper Changi Road, whose officialswere not available for comment today.)

“I only hope that the Prime Ministerwas referring to our bakery,” said MrWong.

But the bakery owner, Mr Peter Foo,has no doubt at all.

He said: “We supply almost all thebread for Changi area, including theServices families and the Governmentbungalow where Mr Lee usually liveswhen he is here.”

But despite all the praise from hiscustomers, Mr Foo has a big problem –how to sell his bread.

For by October, almost all theServices families in the area and inTengah and Seletar – he supplies breadthere too – would have gone.

To make up for this loss, he is hopingthat the big hotels and the coffee houseswould place orders with his bakery.

In addition to the family businessbakery, Mr Foo also runs the base’sangling club and the golf (typo errorpublished as ‘gold’) club.

“Besides the business turnover I amalso worried about the fate of the 40-oddworkers I employ at these establish-ments,” he said.

I read this dated news four decadesago between the lines with amusement.

At no time did the Prime Minister’smessage mention the name of hisfavourite bakery in Changi.

However, e Straits Times’ resource-ful investigative journalist, R. Chandran,traced the bakery of Hai Suan Bakery in

Changi, Singapore, to interview theowner, Mr Peter Foo and Master baker,Mr Wong Heng Guan to file thenewspaper report the following week.

In his message on National Day eveon 8 August 1971, Prime Minister LeeKuan Yew was not speaking about ‘breadtalk’ and did not elaborate or recommendthe bakery of his preference or his goodtaste for bread. Not an intentional ‘foodieadvertisement’, but it does help Mr Fooin some ways in the business’s publicitythough.

According to e Straits Times on 9August 1971, by Cheong Yip Seng, thePrime Minister sounded a note ofcautious optimism in his sixth NationalDay broadcast.

ough all salient economic indica-tors have been showing growth theremust be no complacency, according toMr Lee Kuan Yew.

e Prime Minister called for a spurtin the remaining months of the year – anextra effort to cushion the firm impact onSingapore’s economy that completion ofthe accelerated run-down of the Britishbases would have in the next few months.

An excerpt of the speeches by thePrime Minister as described about thebread and bakery:

[ . . . Recently, I visited theconstituencies which are feeling theeffects of the British forces –Sembawang, Nee Soon, Jalan Kayu andChangi.

Base employees will have theirredundancy figures from 1968, over 30

per cent of them are likely to leaveSingapore. For those who have theirroots in Singapore, we will help findother jobs.

en there are the shopkeepers andothers catering to the Service families.ey have to make adjustments. One ofthe best bakeries in Singapore is inChangi.

Who will eat all the bread and cakesthey bake in Changi after 1971? Somehave savings, and are enterprisingenough to start new ventures. Some arelike the bakery owner who has severalother bakeries elsewhere. We will helpthem adjust their business].

ere were not many bakeries inSingapore three decades ago.

However, bakery businesses haveflourished everywhere in Singapore today,to cater to the taste and preference ofevery individual customer.

Next time when we put breads on thetable at home and share our breakfastwith the children, please have a chat and“bread talk” to tell them about “one ofthe best of the bakeries in Changi” informer Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s6th National Day 1971 message 42 yearsago.

e younger generations ofSingaporeans will learn the nationaleducation lessons of the tumultuousperiods of early Singapore’s path toindependence of our nation, theexperiences of our founding fathers tobuild and develop modern Singaporeover the decades.

Newsclip from The Sunday Times dated 15 August 1971 from Tony Parker and Alexander Varghisreproduced by courtesy of the National Library Board and Singapore Press Holdings

Bakemanship . . . introducing theman Mr Lee was talking about

Every morning the bread from the Hai Suan Bakery in Changi village was taken in twoRAF Beverley Transport planes to American forces in some unknown base in Vietnam.

Changi-ite Newsletter 16 August 2017

WE LANDED at Changi around8am having seen a beautiful sunrise

whilst approaching Singapore, but theheat and mainly the high humidity wassomething that took a little time to adjustto. After the normal signing in on arrivalat a new station, I was very fortunate to

be allocated a bed in Block 151 – groundfloor, where the end part of the billet hadsome wonderful religious paintings on thewall. e general story was the paintingswere done by Ronald Searle, the famousartist who had been incarcerated atChangi, but since those days I nowunderstand the paintings were done byStanley Warren.

Whilst in that billet, we were visitedby a team of television reporters fromAustralia and New Zealand who filmedthe paintings and us airmen walkingaround. I can’t remember the timing butI do know they were repainted after I hadmoved out of the billet but this time inpale green. Before I left Changi to returnhome, I have an idea they were starting toshow through again.

Once settled in at Changi, it was avery good posting and the food wasreasonable, we rarely had potatoes in theAirmen’s Mess during the day as they wereusually kept for chips which were thestandard food when having a duty supper.To qualify for a duty supper, you had tobe on a night shift and present a certificateor letter from your officer-in-charge toconfirm you were on duty that night. estandard meal being egg and chips withbread available on the tables so you could

make chip butties if you were very hungryand make the chips go further. Anothermemory was the 20-minute walk eachway to and from the mess and the normalstillness of the night, often a bright moonbut most of all the strong smell ofperfume which I think came from themimosa trees. In the daytime, potatoeswere substituted with Pom or somethingvery similar, not as good as ‘Smash’ –today’s equivalent!

Very occasionally there would be somepieces of dark chocolate on a plate on thetable and this was the chocolate whichhad been kept for emergency rations butwas approaching its ‘sell-by’ date, so it wason offer. Chocolate was relatively expen-sive to buy because it had to be keptrefrigerated due to the high temperatures,consequently it was a special treat.

A wide variety of fresh fruit wasavailable at reasonable prices and we usedto have an old Chinese lady called Marywho visited most billets each day,climbing the three flights of stairs to sellfruit from her two large and extremelyheavy baskets. She couldn’t speak muchEnglish but the story told, was that when

the Japanese were in charge during thewar, she would go to the walls of Changigaol and throw fruit over for the prisonersof war. I understand she was awardedsome honour and allowed to sell fruitthrough the camp.

It was in May 1955 when theSingapore riots took place with a numberof fatalities and many locals injured. Iremember coming off a 15-hour nightshift having had no break because one ofthe local lads I worked with couldn’t getinto work, due to a curfew being imposed.On returning to my billet I was absolutelyshattered, only to find the RAF policewere rounding anyone up who was offduty to go into Singapore with rifle androunds of ammunition.

e only way I was to avoid this wasto keep my uniform on and start walkingback towards the Met Office but laterturning back as it was quite a way in theheat and I was so tired. On arrival back atthe billet I found a note from my boss forme to report immediately back to the MetOffice. I did, only to find I was onanother 15-hour night shift starting at5pm with only two of us on again insteadof three, so no break was possible. I don’tknow how I got through it but I got backto the billet in the morning exhausted andjust got down to have a sleep when I wasrudely woken up by the RAF Police andordered to go to the armoury and getsome ammunition for riot patrol. I triedto reason with them and told them to ringmy boss but they would only do that ifthey found enough other airmen not onduty, so my morning was taken up withall this but by mid-day they must haverealised how shattered I was andpresumably had enough airmen to fill thelorries, so I did get to sleep that afternoon.Fortunately these riots didn’t last too longand normal working was soon restored.

RAF Car NicobarAfter another spell at Changi I went to

what must have been the best posting inthe RAF – to Car Nicobar–an island in the Bay ofBengal. As a lad, one of thefew books I had read wasCoral Island by R MBallantyne and never in mywildest dreams did I everthink I would live on such

My National Service HighlightsChangi and Car Nicobar

Stewart Renshaw (M2369) • Trade: Meteorologistrecalls happy memories of his service life

My plane ticket to Singapore.

Above: Changi Gaol. Below: Mary Tan.

August 2017 17 Changi-ite Newsletter

an island. I flew out in October 1955 andthe flight took us firstly to RAFButterworth for refuelling and then outover the Bay of Bengal for a couple ofhours to Car Nicobar, but when weapproached the island, it was in the midstof a heavy thunderstorm. It was on theone day of the week when two aircraftarrived at a similar time, ours fromSingapore and the other from RAFNegombo (Sri Lanka now, but Ceylon inthose days). We were being buffetedaround and in and out of cloud then atone point we were dropping like a stoneand suddenly could see the tops of palmtrees on the island then we rose rapidlyagain. e Air Traffic lad told me laterhow concerned he had been because ourpilot had been told to keep circling at1500 feet and the other one at 1,000 feetbut then ours said he was going to dropdown to see what he thought about theweather for a landing but in doing this hecrossed through the flight level of theother aircraft and with the minimumamount of aides there, it wasn’t thecleverest of things to do. Anyway, weeventually landed safely.

Once on the island, I joined up withabout 25 or so airmen and one officertogether with around 8,000 localinhabitants, who were delightful, friendlyand happy as they lived their veryprimitive life style with very little moneychanging hands, bartering was the mainway of obtaining items you may require.I was advised before going there to takesome cheap brightly coloured shirts fromSingapore and they would be good forexchanging for souvenir items, such ascowry shells and carvings the locals woulddo.

I arrived in the South Westerlymonsoon, when the weather could bequite stormy with high seas but there weregood sunny spells too. It improved duringmy period of four and a half months asthe North Easterly monsoon set in. isgave lighter winds, more sunshine andbeautiful weather on many days, but stillwith the odd shower around. In thosedays I was a reasonable swimmer butwhen I saw the state of the sea and wavesin the South Westerly monsoon, Icouldn’t imagine anyone swimming inthose conditions, but the lads who hadbeen there for a time ran in to the sea and

timed their arrival at the big waves andwere swept up high, so you could see theirsilhouette in the waves which must havebeen 15 feet, then they would dive downthe other side and you would lose sight ofthem. It took a bit of courage to riskdoing it to start with but once youthought you had it sorted out, it wasexhilarating and that is when troublecould strike. I remember becoming overconfident once I thought I’d got it sussedout. Occasionally two waves would comein very quick succession (which I’ve sinceread about) due to an effect caused by thecoral reef and on this particular day, Idived over the wave but then got caughtin a second wave as it crashed down onme. I knew I was being tossed around andwhen I opened my eyes it was dark. iswas when it was easy to panic. I realised Ijust had to keep holding my breath as Ihadn’t a clue as to which way to swim.Fortunately it got lighter in the onedirection and by the time I broke thesurface I couldn’t hold my breath anylonger – I was lucky no other wave wascoming down on me. I came out asquickly as I could, quite shaken but muchwiser. By the time the North Easterlymonsoon became established with onlysmall waves, you could see through theclear water all the coral formations andfish - unbelievably beautiful !

We worked every day in the Metoffice, the two of us sharing either earliesor lates with never a day off. Everyone wasgiven a second job to do on the island andmy second job was to help the air Trafficlad run the NAAFI shop. e CO gaveme the customary interview and briefingon arrival and explained what I wasrequired to do on taking over the shopduties. We would normally workalternative days (lunch times andevenings) and at the end of the day youhad to do a complete stock check of allthe items sold, from soap, toothpaste etcto soft drinks, beers chocolate, cigarettesand all the other items stocked whichanyone on the camp may require. Weworked in Rupees and Annas and the

books and money had to balance everyevening with all the sales details carefullylogged. Any short fall in the takings hadto come out of our own pockets, but tohelp this, we were given one Anna (under1p) when we sold one brand of soft drinkand one brand of beer. If we didn’t makeany mistakes or break anything, anysurplus could slowly build up forourselves – so you really did learn how tobe careful. I managed to just about live onwhat profits we made but it was a verysimple life.

For evening entertainment we had onebingo night a week and three quitemodern films were flown out fromSingapore for us to see and those eveningscould be very interesting. You can imaginewith no officer present in the NAAFI ifthe film was not very good, there wasplenty of banter and the humourgenerated by the lads could beat many afilm, so even if it was a poor film we couldcome away having had a good laugh anda great evening. On the other eveningsthere was darts, cards, chess and the oddboard game to play.

ere were a couple of wild waterbuffalo that roamed the area, snakesaround which you had to be wary of andI had a narrow escape one day in ourhydrogen shed. It was an open endedNissan style shed in which we keptcylinders of hydrogen for filling our metballoons. We had to release these balloonsand follow them through a theodolite andthen calculate the wind speeds anddirections using a complicatedmulti-curser slide rule. ese observationswere very important for the weatherforecasters at Changi in forecasting thewinds for aircraft crossing the Bay ofBengal.

On this particular occasion we had gotdown to our last cylinder of hydrogen,which in the past could never be openedfor some reason but now I was told bysignal from Changi – it must be opened.I sought the help of “Chiefy” the RAFtechnician responsible for anything andeverything on the camp and on visitingaircraft. He tried to open it with hisequipment and couldn’t – he said send a

Tthe Valetta that took me to Car Nicobar.

The balloon goes up!

Changi-ite Newsletter 18 August 2017

signal back that it won’t open. I did thisbut was told again in no uncertainmanner it had to be opened. I tried allsorts of things with no luck and in the endI lay on top of it with a leg each side as itlayon the broken coral surface andwrapped rags around the top, then hittingit with a hammer – something that wouldnever be tolerated normally. I did manageto get some movement on the cap whichwe later found must have been hammeredon because there was no threads left.However as I lifted it up, a green viperleapt in to the air and it had been lyingdown the length of the cylinder – my legmust have almost been touching it. Iimmediately dropped the cylinder andgrabbed a broom handle we kept there forthis sort of eventuality and it tried to getme but luckily I managed to kill it.

I must admit I went a bit over the topbecause it kept moving when I thought I’dkilled it so I battered it some more, butwhen I took it to the doc as we had to –he was very annoyed as he hadn’t got oneof these in his display jars for snakerecognition and this one was now toosmashed up for him to use.

Finally it was time for my last swim inthe lagoon, my last day of work in theMet Office, (situated in the ControlTower) and to use my return ticket backto Changi – a sort of sad day!

Return to ChangiAfter my tour was finished in Car

Nicobar I returned to Changi but thistime moved in to Block 140 – middlefloor, just a little closer to work but still agood mile of walking to get there. It waslike “Coming home” and memories ofevents in the past came back to me.

One of these occasions was going tosee a wrestling match at the Happy WorldStadium in Singapore. In my early teensI’d been to watch the occasional matchbut this one hit the local headlines whenSingapore’s resident favourite “KingKong” a Hungarian giant, weighingalmost 30 stone was to meet Gora Singh,

the man mountain from India, weighingin at almost 39 stone. After the match Imet them both and they both signed oneprogramme for me, and King Kongsigned another.

e local newspapers ran a lot ofstories about this contest and how special

flight arrangements had to be made to getGora Singh in from India. I remember hecouldn’t climb in to the ring as normal, sothey had a ramp and took the ropes downfrom one side. e bus journeys werereally something from Changi toSingapore, they really threw the busaround and it was always interesting totake someone in for the first time to seehow they enjoyed it.

Final days to demobSuddenly, the “Demob” calendar was

down to single days and it was time to saymy good-byes and move in to the transitbillet – not the best of places but whenwaiting for demob, you would acceptanything in those days. We always jokedabout how many days you had left andyou added “an early breakfast”.

After a few delays the day eventuallycame and I met up with another Met palI had made in the early days of my tourin Singapore Peter Wyatt who hadfinished his time in Hong Kong so we hada lot to chat about and then we were takento the “new” in those days SingaporeAirport at Paya Lebar and I can rememberhaving that breakfast which includedsome beautiful cold pineapple juice – itwas great!

Travelling back once again on theHermes aircraft but this time no problemsen-route apart from my own doing. Ourlast night abroad on the way home was anovernight stay in Brindisi, Southern Italy.My friend Peter and I celebrated this witha cheap bottle of local wine and I wasreally ill the following day. So much so asthe aircraft flew over the English Channeland all the lads were cheering, I was stillbattling against being ill again andcouldn’t enjoy the moment I’d beenlooking forward to.

However, once on the ground andsome fresh air, I soon picked up andremember ringing home and hearing thevoice once again of my parents andgirlfriend who later became my wife over

57 years ago. Within a few days I’dfinished the demob procedure at RAFInnsworth – only 20 miles from my homein Pershore and I still have the specialSingle rail ticket for the journey whichstates on it “Government Agreed Rate -Gloucester to Pershore” to add to myother tickets I kept as souvenirs and arenow “Collectors’ items”

Car NicobarAfter spending such a happy time

there I was greatly saddened to hear in2004 about the Tsunami whichdevastated the island with tremendousloss of life.

e Indian air Force lost over 100personnel including their met staff. ebase re-opened again a few months laterbut it must have taken a great deal ofwork, and I understand the island is stillone of these places which is very difficultto get permission to visit.

Final thoughtsLike so many of us who did not look

forward to National Service before wejoined up, I know it did me the world ofgood and they used to say you join as aboy and come out a man, and I really dobelieve that to be true in most cases. I alsoconsider myself to have been extremelyfortunate with my postings.

I’ve written these notes whilst I am stillable to remember certain things whichcan be read by the family and to anyoneelse who may be interested. I would liketo have known more about mygrandfather’s life in World War I, but thefacilities didn’t exist for this in those days.

If anyone who reads these pages canadd anything worthwhile, I’d be morethan pleased to hear from them and foranyone who may have known me, againI’d be delighted if they would contact me.email: [email protected] tel 0161-483 1297.

My plane ticket back to the UK.

Among my souvenirs!

Please submit any itemsto be considered forinclusion in theNewsletter to

[email protected]

and please include yourmembership number

OBITUARIESIt is with deep regret that we report the deaths of the following members.

We offer our sincere condolences to their families and friends.

Mem. First Name Surname Rank at Service No. Trade Squadron/Section/ Arrival Departure DeceasedNo. Changi School Date Date

158 William Burrows G4079867 MT Driver MT Section June ’54 June ’56 April 2017

485 Derek Hopper Cpl 4054685 Surface Worker Flight Maintenance C.-in-C. June ’52 June ’53 Jan. 2017

1500 Dolores James Civilian N/A RAFCA Regalia Officer May 2017

1644 Colin Howlett SAC V4273147 Radio Mechanic FEAF Operations Jan. ’68 July ’70 April 2017

LM1741 Albert Bennett Cpl. 1645599 Instrument Technician 155 Spitfires June ’45 July ’46 Oct. 2016

AM1845 Keith Armitage Cpl. 22973572 Draughtsman 19 A.F.S. March ’54 March ’57 April 2017

LM1867 Joane Byrne Cpl(W) 2806369 Nurse Changi Hospital Jan. ’50 June ’52 May 2017

1964 Brian Breyley Cpl. 3514824 Operations Clerk Air Traffic Control June ’54 June ’55 March 2017

AF2166 Edwin (Ted) Kinch Cpl. 1187143 Ground Equipment Station Workshops Jan. ’49 Dec. ’50 April 2017

2198 George Pope Sgt/Ch. Tech. W4240041 Ground Radio Fitter Comcen. July ’65 Dec. ’67 Feb. 2017

2375 Margaret Skene Cpl./Sgt(W) 449747 Clerk G.D. Base Personnel Office April ’46 Dec. ’46 Jan. 2017

2378 Robert Auckland SAC 1930605 Air Radar Mechanic 205 Sqdn. & A.S.F. Jan. ’60 July ’62 Feb. 2017

Mem. No. First Name Surname Maiden Name Service No. Trade Sqdn/Section/School Arrival Departure Block No.

2415 Brian Reynolds F4269565 SAC Photographer 205 Squadron August ’63 Feb. ’66 151

2416 Elizabeth Proctor Patman 2835360 SAC(W) Operations/Flt. Planning Air Traffic Control Jan. ’63 Jan. ’65 117 (WRAF Block)

2417 Philip Rowley G2469301 W.O. Clerk HQ FEAF Dec. ’68 Oct. ’71

2418 Leslie Carter 2758844 Cpl Ops. Clerk Changi Operations Oct. ’55 May ’57 131 (Mid.)

2419 Andrew Marr N/A Civilian Singapore resident

WELCOME ABOARD!We welcome the following five new members who have joined between 21 February 2017 and 26 June 2017

Rank orFather’s Rank

August 2017 19 Changi-ite Newsletter

(Son ofBrian Rowley)

(M.D. Singapore BuildingCo. at Airport)

(Waddington Rd. &Tangmere Rd.)

When notifying the Membership Secretary Malcolm Flack of his mother’s death, Kevin Byrne wrote: “I’m saddened to inform you that mymum passed away on the 20th May. She always showed me the Changi-ite Newsletter and read it from front to back. In the April issueshe explained to me that Penang Leave Centre (April cover) was where my dad, who passed away 33 years ago, had proposed to her.”

AC1Cpl

Kinch (son ofGeorge - Decd.)

Mar. ’53June ’60

Oct. ’56June ’64

AM = Associate Member AF = Affiliate Member LM = Lapsed Member

Changi-ite Newsletter 20 August 2017

Forthcoming Events for your diary

September Friday 1st 11.30am ESSEX – Informal Local ReunionThe 2004 Ltd. Club, 168 Station Lane, Hornchurch RM12 6LS(Off the A124 near Junction 29 M25).Next to Hornchurch District Line StationLocal Member: Len Daniels (Tel. No 01708 555077).Members in adjacent counties will be notified. All are welcome.

September Friday 8th 11.30am HAMPSHIRE – Informal Local ReunionRoyal British Legion HQ, Love Lane, Romsey SO51 8DE(Off Junction 2 M27). Car park in Alma Road, SO51 8EDLocal Member: Anne Moore (Tel. No 01794 513737).Members in adjacent counties will be notified. All are welcome.

October Saturday 14th 11.30am HERTFORDSHIRE – Informal Local ReunionKings Langley Cricket Club, Vicarage Lane, Kings LangleyWD4 9HS (Off Junction 20 M25).Local Member: John Dicks (Tel. No 01923 400221).Members in adjacent counties will be notified. All are welcome.

OTHER EVENTS ARE BEING PLANNEDNot one in your Area! We need more Local Reunions

So why not consider help to arrange one Guidelines are available on request