Adventures of a Cold War Fast-Jet Navigator by David Herriot

Author:David Herriot
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / Aviation
ISBN: 9781526706614
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2017-10-30T04:00:00+00:00

This was the PMC’s response:

‘I am extremely grateful to you for bringing this unhappy state of affairs to my attention. I have spoken to the mess manager about this and he has assured me that he has placed a pair of sugar tongs in the gents’ toilet which should resolve the issue once and for all!’

Brilliant! The culture was thus in the 1970s and little regard was given to those narrow-minded souls who would, today, have been able to take civil action against all the transgressors for fear that it would have been against their human rights! Bollocks! We had no human rights in 1973, just a great sense of humour and a zest for life and flying.

It was in the Laarbruch bar at Happy Hour that the first germs of the XV Squadron songbook were written. Songs like, ‘When XV Came to Laarbruch: What a Happy Day! Rocketry and Stripro visual all the way!’ (to the tune of Lily Marlene) and ‘2’s little boys fly 2’s little toys, they call it the Phantom jet’ (to the tune of Rolf Harris’ Two Little Boys) positively flowed from the musical talent of the XV Squadron song writing duo of Nick Berryman and Colin Tavner. If we were not singing raucously at the expense of other squadrons or booming out the Horst Wessel song, famous amongst the U-boat crews of the Third Reich, we were playing Liar Dice or, after a bombing competition, burning the mess piano on the patio or some other beer-soaked activity. The very large mahogany table that filled the mess reception area had, once upon a time, held pride of place in Herman Goering’s Headquarters. Some irreverent Canberra pilot had sawn it in half at some point in its Laarbruch life, but, now repaired, it stood magnificently as a welcome feature inside the front doors. It was now in two halves, but neatly joined, and indeed, the chainsaw action had made the table much more manoeuvrable! So manoeuvrable, in fact, that we could easily break it in two and ride bikes up and over it as part of a slalom course or, joined together, use it to do flying belly slides down – not the best of ideas when drunk, as a poor flying leap often meant sudden impact with your forehead on the under curve of its leading edge!

At our first attempt at the RAFG bombing competition, the Salmond Trophy, in August 1972, XV Squadron came second behind 14 Squadron, a Phantom outfit, at RAF Brüggen. Elated, the bar was awash by 1900hrs! The Boss was propping up the corner of the bar; Goering’s table had been trashed with leaping cycles and dive-bombing aircrew and a full-blown singing battle between the ‘kill it with film’31 mob and the ‘Salmond Runners-Up’ was well underway. Our party lasted well past midnight and at one point the mess piano was dragged out onto the patio, thrown on the grass and set ablaze. It was well alight and we were happily

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