Supplement to Installment No 26

Baor(27CIB) surfers,
This supplement is in reference to Historical Report No 51 where it was stated that No 410 Squadron of the RCAF would be based at North Luffenham Airfield of the RAF in the English Midlands in Nov 1951. Anyone who has ever served in the military knows that events following many operational orders seldom unfold as planned with some operations destined to become 'fubar'. The story which follows is truly an exception to Murphy's well known law. Following a lapse of 60 years it becomes very difficult to find reliable and long forgotten sources of research and eye witness accounts of events. The unlikely source of this anomaly comes from some obscure postings on the internet called,''The Postal History Corner'' cobbled together by the Canadian Postal Corps. North Luffenham mail was handled by CFPO 101. The account shown below starts with a brief article entitled,''R.C.A.F. in Britain Again'' dated 23 Nov 1951.

The story now jumps ahead twenty years to 15 Nov 1971 to Goose Bay, Labrador/Newfoundland, Can. where an RAF pilot, Flt. LT. P.G. Green, climbs into his aircraft for a flight to Waddington, Lincolnshire to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the taking over of RAF North Luffenham by the RCAF.

This historic flight was made in a Vulcan Mk11 with a flight time of 4 hours and 17 minutes. This unusual story is a testament to the close and friendly cooperation and friendship between the RAF and RCAF.

Ritter,

Talking about the RCAF, I came back from Cyprus in 1957 with my motorcycle as guest of the RCAF. I got as far as Naples on a planned journey and unfortunately the old bike gave up the ghost. I scrounged a lift on the RCAF 'North Star' which landed at RAF Langar, but my bike was impounded by customs which I later picked up 3 months later. Found all the Canadians on board very friendly and happy as they were eventually returning on the next leg of their journey to Canada.

Jimsigs1
Thanks for your interesting story about your return from Cyprus in 1957 with the help of the RCAF. Its another fine example of the well known friendship of the Brits and the Canadians. I remember the old four engine 'North Star'. When Trans Canada Air Line, the precursor of Air Canada, established foreign travel, the North Star was used. I have never flown on this plane but it had a bad reputation for excessive noise giving most passengers a headache.
Cheers
BobR

BobR, I thought you would appreciate my ramblings on about my travels. I'm afraid it wasn't very well planned. Having got permission to travel home on my own I set about organising a route and found out that the Royal Navy patrolled the waters around Cyprus so I was delighted when I found out that they periodically returned to their base in Malta. Having got that far, I arranged for a ferry trip across Malta to Sciliy then onward to mainland Italy. But the old bike was playing up and stretching the primary chain to the point that the bike sounded like a tractor. I got as far as Naples and went with cap in hand to the Yanks. They referred me to the RCAF and the rest is history.

I hung onto that bike until I could save up and buy one of the then new Triumph Bonneville's. I'm still tinkering with bikes and have currently a 1964 triumph 500cc which I rebuilt from a wreck. Don't go out on it much but nice to own one and tinker.

Jimsigs1
The further details on your trek home from Cyprus on your bike and rides courtesy the RN and RCAF are also of interest, something I doubt that I would have tried. I was never into the biker thing but do remember when I was a young teenager attempting to ride my friend's bike, an Indian I believe. I think that it had a clutch on the right foot pad which I could not master. One attempt taught me to forget about biking. My daughter-in-law has had a number of bikes, presently a Japanese model but cannot remember the name. Sheila and my son Jim were both in the military based at CFB Chilliwack, BC where they met during the late 70's. I am very familiar about trading my whiskey and cigarette allowance with one of the officers in the 27th but was getting a bit nervous about it as I thought he was into the black market.
Thanks
BobR

I flew to Canada from 1 Wing North Luffenham,had to wait two days for a North Star and then found out it was a freighter,we shared the space with a strategic cargo of dustbins and ladders. Took off at 1600 Fridayfirst stop Preatwick,then Keflavik where the wind was so strong it took seven goes around before we got landed, had to have hand ropes from the plane to the terminal,dined in the US cafeteria under the eagle eyes of the Icelandic Police then off to Goose Bay Labbrador,finally arrived in Dorval Montreal at 0800 loca Saturdayl, I think that works out to about 20 hours, a real endurance test.After all that I still managed to get to see the Montreal Canadiens play the Boston Bruins that nightl,with all the stars I had only read about in the UK.
It still took till midday on Monday to get to the RCASC School at Camp Borden.

Tony

Wow TonyE, what a trip. the angels were with you on that occasion. My trip on the North Star was also on a freighter but with canvas seats along the sides. We took off from Naples and landed on a wet saturday evening at RAF langar near Nottingham. The HM Customs were conveniently on hand and shout out ' anything to declare' I said I had a motorcycle and they empounded right away because duty had not been paid when it was originally exported to the HM Colonial Police in Cyprus. 3 months later, I paid the princely sum of £27, fitted a new primary chain & battery, all the time locked in a Customs cage then rode the bike home in freezing, icy weather on 23rd Dec 1957.

Hi Tony E,
Nice to hear from you; it's been awhile. In one of your previous messages you mentioned Max Silverman, a former hockey executive from Sudbury. About a week ago I was watching an NHL game and during one of the intermissions the color commentators were talking about some of the early characters in hockey and Max Silverman's name was mentioned which resonated with some of the guys on the panel. This evening I'm watching the Bruins playing Winnipeg Jets which is a new team this year in the NHL. Jets are in a real dog fight with the Leafs for the last playoff spot in their division. Everyone around here is a Leaf fan but not me. I'm pissed off with Toronto because their general manager, and two of their coaches are Americans. Do we need Americans in our national sport as executives ? I don't think so!! I've been a 'Dee-troit' Red Wing fan for about 60 years because when I was playing Jr B hockey with Waterloo Siskins in my teens, we had two guys on our club who made the Red Wings via Windsor Spitfires, a Jr A club. We used to go to Detroit but it's a dangerous city now. I suppose its hard for you to follow hockey in the UK now. What team do you follow? That was an interesting trip which you described. Not too much happening at Goose Bay now since the Americans left.
Score in the 3rd period now Jets 4 Bruins 2, Good, Jets need those 2 points.
Cheers
Bob R

Hi Bob R,
I don't follow any team in the NHL anymore,we used to get it on Chanel 5,but that has long since gone.My favoutite memories are of the Leafs in 61-62 when they had a team of castoffs,Allan Stanley,Al Arbour,Johnny Bower etc as well as the regulars Karl Brewer ,Tim Horton.,George Armstrong,Dicky Duff, and one of your old Red Wings Red Kelly,also crazy Eddie Shack. With all the expansions it's got out of hand,I prefferd the old six team league.We have the Elite league which is classed as professional,when my grandson was at Cardiff Universiy we used to visit him and always take in a game of the Cardiff Devils, they have a pretty good succes record,and seem to bring a lot of the local boys along in their minoe league programmes,I thought it was good to see their dedication to the real youngsters,even down to pee wees. If you go into NHL.com and scrol down to the bottom on the left you can call up all the bush leagues,including the Elite,I go down ther once in a while just to see how the little guys are doing.
My first night n Montreal wa a thrill,I saw Rocket Ricard and his line working,plus the old Kraut Line for Boston,lotd of bragging credits when I wrote to my old pals at Richmond Ice Rink. Tony

Hi TonyE,
Thanks for your interesting response; I did a quick google on 'English Elite Hockey' and came up immediately with a site with all of the teams and stats. Cardiff Devils which you referred to are currently holding down 4th place in a 10 team league. Had not heard of this league before; do you think they (the league) is strong enough to send a team to the Winter Olympics? You picked a good one in Montreal to see Canadians play the Bruins at the renowned old Forum with stars like the Rocket and the Kraut line. I never saw the Rocket live, only on TV. I agree with your view about a very inferior league today.You know your players very well. I had a try out (must have been in 1948) with a Jr A team in Stratford, Ont. We played the Galt Red Wings a Detroit Red Wing Jr A club and I played on a line with George Armstrong who was called the "Chief'' because of his Indian(sorry 1st Nation) heritage. He was a very nice guy; the Red Wings beat us by one goal but the high Light for me was scoring a goal in the game against the great Terry Sawchuck. They invited me back for further tryouts but I declined because I had been accepted to attend university and decided to play university hockey, a good move because i knew I was not good enough to make it. I knew a lot about the Kraut line because they came from Kitchener, Ont. where I attended high school. Milt Schmidt, Bobby Bauer, and Porky Dumart were all of German ancestry in a city also know for its German roots. The city was called Berlin until 1916 when an ugly incident happened. There was a bust of Kaiser Wilhelm 11 (called the Peace Monument) almost next to the statue of his grandmother, Queen Victoria, who presided in regal splendor, scepter in hand in Victoria Park. During a recruiting campaign in the city and following a night of drunken carousing, the battalion recruits went down to Victoria Park and threw the Kaiser's bust off his monument into the lake. The citizens of Berlin chose the name Kitchener for their city. He was a Field Marshall who had made a name for himself at Khartoum in the Sudan and he was also the Secretary of Defense in Britain. Unfortunately he went down in WW1 with the ship( HMS Hampshire) which struck a mine off the Orkney islands while he was on a trip to Russia. Many felt that this was a bad omen for the city. Sorry that I got off the hockey thread; just felt compelled to tell that story.LOL
Cheers
BobR