postings

i dont know if this subject will qualify for this site or not,[because of the sites name].but here goes, what was your best ever posting,was it wierd,wonderful or exotic,maybe all three.some of you older comrades out there must remember some far flung places.

RAF Changi Singapore 65-68.....Heaven on earth

Stonecutters Island Hong Kong,a holiday camp,was better known as Fantasy Island.

11OFP Scheuen,just outside Celle,great unit.

43 RP Coy, 1 CSB Pombsen,terrific with a cracking set of lads.

23 Base Wksps Wetter,1600 German civvies and 30 odd military,perfect.

My Best and Worst posting was in Werl. The first 17 Months was spent with 1Bn The Black Watch. The RSM (Starchy Smith) gave me hell for most of my time with them, due to my colour. 1 Bn Royal Scots took over from them in 1985 and i spent the next 2 years with one of the best Regiments in the British Army. The town of Werl was a hive of activity and i returned there after the barracks had been closed for a visit and was informed by some of the locals that they missed the British Army terribly.

Nobby wrote:

My Best and Worst posting was in Werl. The first 17 Months was spent with 1Bn The Black Watch. The RSM (Starchy Smith) gave me hell for most of my time with them, due to my colour. 1 Bn Royal Scots took over from them in 1985 and i spent the next 2 years with one of the best Regiments in the British Army. The town of Werl was a hive of activity and i returned there after the barracks had been closed for a visit and was informed by some of the locals that they missed the British Army terribly.

What colour are you Nobby? Can't imagine the Black Watch worrying about that unless you are green or something?

SARDINIA without a doubt just brilliant sun , sea and cheap ale..great job in great location..loved it..graham

i posed a question last night and did not have time to give my own answer.my best and cushiest,was hong kong,the army was not allowed to exercise at weekends,only monday to friday,iwas stationed in sek kong camp in the new tritories and for some reason we did not do duties of any kind,during tropical storm season if a storm came close to the colony every thing slowed down if we got a direct hit every thing shut down completly and everyone went home untill it was over.it was the only time my wife and i have ever been able to employ a servent,[chinese arma],not sure if thats the right pronounciation or not, because the local overseas allowance was so generous.the climate was great the san mig was cheap and my third son was born in BMH kowloon,not even the ruperts could spoil that posting

While not army myself (dad was...even Mom was a WAC for a spell there...or whatever we Canadians called them...), I know for myself and I can safely say for my Dad too, being posted to Germany was, by far, the best posting ever. We loved both tours over there.

Again, for myself, it would be Soest that was the best of the lot, hands down. I loved it in Soest...the old city walls, the trees, the smell of cherry blossoms and rose bushes in Spring, the coolness of the green limestone walls and ancient buildings, the twisty-turny streets radiating out from St. Patroculus Cathedral, the sound of the church bells wafting out of downtown (there were 7 churches in the old inner city, all with massive bells) on a Sunday morning, the smell of fresh broechen hanging in the stillness of an early pre-dawn morning, the beer, even the smell of beer, wood polish, and cigar smoke in many of the gasthofs appealed to me.

I loved the idea, as Romantic as it might have been, that the street or alley I was walking along had been walked along by generations of 17-year olds, going back to the 14th, 13th, even 12th Centuries; that sense of continuity appealed to me greatly.

I loved the nightlife Soest afforded but I also loved the tranquility of the inner cloister attached to the Cathedral where I would often sit under the ancient tree...a weeping willow, I think it was...reading or just day-dreaming, watching the pigeons spiral up out of the Westfalen Turm whenever its bells tolled.

Soest will always be in my heart and there are times I miss it so much, it's like a physical stab.

Hi Stephen and all,

I was in Osnabruck 1951-1952, and the smells of Germany, that has stuck with me, is mixture of cigar smoke and two stroke exhaust. In those days there were a lot of two stroke little delivery vans, three wheels.

Anyone watching from 37 AER at osnabruck in those days?

Tony

I remember those three-wheeled delivery vans well. I always thought whoever designed them was a genius...true, they were ugly little things (so ugly they were kinda cute LOL), but absolutely perfect for navigating narrow older city streets.

Of course, in this day and age of "green technology" those vans would be touted as cutting edge...

Speaking of such vehicles...I also remember funny little 2-seater cars where the door was the front of the vehicle. Very bug-like.

I also recall Messerschmitt cars, similar to the above but a bit less lumpy looking; much sleeker. I'd have loved to have brought one of those back to Canada.

In fact, someone did as I recall seeing one zipping around Calgary a few years ago. Received considerable attention.

We now have, here at least, SMART cars which are, essentially, updated versions of the above vehicles. Everyone raves about them here but when they first came out I just sort of shrugged -- been there, done that....

Those cars were very common for a few years the round "lumpy" one with a front opening door was probably the Isetta.

These had no reverse gear so could be driven on a motorcycle licence. The down side was it was easy to park too close to something and find you were trapped inside until some passer by could be persuaded to push you back a bit, once they had stopped laughing.
The Messerschmitt

was similar in that the small two stroke engine had no reverse gear but it was top opening. The story goes that the original was built from a wartime Messerschmitt cockpit.
Another,around at the time, was the BOND Minicar
Slightly, but not much, more refined from what I recall this had no reverse as such but had a system by which to reverse the engine was re-started and ran backwards (two strokes can do this) so you could then use your 3 gears in reverse.
Ah! the nostalgia kicks in....... I think I'll go wallow in it...I may be some time

My best posting for me was CFS Alert 817 Km's from the north pole. I was the baker. The most northerly permanetly inhabitant spot in the world. I was doing what I did best baking. It was a 6 month posting. It was a satellite of CFB Trenton which is in Southern Ontario. All coming and goings were done by air (C130's). No trees, 24 hr sunlight in summer and 24 hr night in winter time. I was there from May 1980 to Nov. So experienced both night and day. My first 3 months it was still an all male posting, then it was finaly changed to a male/female posting. If I had knowen wife No 1 was doing a screw over on me, I would have taken the 3 month extension they offered me. The PER they did on me, got me promoted, so I must have been doing something right for a change. The lad in the picture is not me, but a fellow cook.[/img]

it looks sort of bleak,and that is what i would call the sumer months, may to november.i bet it was raw in the winter.

exelent photos,i personally dont remember the bond mini car but i do remember the other two quite often when i was younger.

Thanks, wrinkles, for posting these shots of the Isetta and Messerschmitt cars. I also don't recall the Bond mini-car (I suspect it was a British thing?), but certainly do recall the other two.

The top-loading Messerschmitt, I'd forgotten that aspect and had been wracking my brains trying to recall how one accessed it, looked and still looks even today like some sort of character out of Dr. Who or even Star Wars LOL...a cousin of R2D2 perhaps?

If cars can have "personalities" (and I believe some do), then these little guys have that in spades.

I also remember an acquaintance of mine from school, who later was down in Lahr, having a Volkswagen Karmen Gia. While not as odd looking as these vehicles, it also had personality...and given that the fellow, who we nicknamed Stretch, was well over 6 feet tall at the age of 17 and 18, (6'3" as I recall), seeing him ooze in and out of a Karmen Gia was worth the price of admission LOL

The added advantage of the Isetta and Messerschmitt were, despite not having a reverse gear, they were soundly made and lasted forever.

I also remember the first incarnation of the VW Bug (the later remake just didn't have the same 'feel' to it at all). Quite Deco-ish, actually, but plain and serviceable and reliable; a true Wagon of the People (Volkswagen....).

Remember the little porcelain flower vase attached to the dash? The Isetta had them as well. Always thought that an nice, albeit odd, touch and VERY German.

Did you notice that CFS Alert is closer to London UK than Toronto Ontario Canada?

It reminds me of a story a friend once told me about his time as a national serviceman in the RAF when he was posted to a radar station in the Orkney Islands. It got interesting at leave time because MoD regulations stated that travel warrants were to be issued from the nearest railway station. In this instance the nearest railway station was Bergen Norway, despite the fact he was still posted within the UK.

I guess they found a way around it because travelling from northern Scotland to Liverpool via Norway would have been somewhat ciruitous.

Bit of an old 'war story' from your pal, recce83, I'm afraid. My cousin used to come up with a very similar story about one of his comrades.

I hate to be a crashing bore and a party pooper, but the the distance of furthest extremity of Orkney (North Ronaldsay) from the British mainland is a mere 69 miles from Thurso (Caithness), where there still exists a railway station.

Bergen is 279 miles from North Ronaldsay. So about 4 x the distance.

Even in the far NE extremity of Shetland (Unst), where once existed a RAF Chain Home Radar site (RAF Skaw). the distance to this most isolated site is 182 miles from Thurso, whereas Bergen is 210 miles.

Don't ever take me to a party. I can ruin stories!

Glad you came out of your scabbard to offer a geography lesson, Claymore. I couldn't remember, some 45 years later, whether it was the Shetlands or Orkneys. Guess it doesn't matter because either way he was out by quite a few miles.

Guess it's a good thing for mankind that he wasn't estimating the distance of patrolling Soviet aircraft on his radar screen!

It's usually me that acts out the part of myth-buster. Perhaps we should team up.

recce83 wrote:

It's usually me that acts out the part of myth-buster. Perhaps we should team up.

I've a feeling that we would be sitting in the corner, on our own, at that party!

i say a good story does no harm,its the walter mittys you have to look out for.

dandc wrote:

i say a good story does no harm,its the walter mittys you have to look out for.

Are you trying to say I wasn't on the balcony?

i mean real walts,did you read the sun to-day,3 years in the catering corps,and the world was his oyster.ps whos balcony.