ROBERT JAMES POWDITCH,
ST. PETER’S STREET, STAMFORD, LINCOLNSHIRE.
His unedited Memoirs, dated JANUARY 1984.
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Please Note that the following extracts from the Memoirs of the
late ROBERT JAMES POWDITCH
have been reproduced exactly as he had originally typed them in 1984.
No attempt has been made to correct any spelling or typing errors, and all words, spacings, crossings-out and XXX's etc, have all been faithfully reproduced from his originals.
I would also wish to state that permission by Robert's family had been provided before any
reproduction of his Memoirs had been included on this website.
A copy of ROBERT JAMES POWDITCH's Memoirs (minus certain wording) is available by
clicking on www.powditch.plus.com/Chile/index.htm although an user name and password is required for certain sections of same.
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Version 1
I joined the Royal Air Force. Due to passing out top
of my entry I was given the chance of joining a newly
formed team of six people, including myself, that
was xxxxxx being formed due to the high rate of
AOG's (aircraft on ground) xxxxxxxxxxxxxx incidences
that were occuring at the time. Our duties were to
both investigate and report xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx on
all AOG's throught the middle east and at the same
time bring ground crews futher into line with more up
to date techniques. With this team I left England
from RAF Lyneham.
RAF Lucas in Malta via Gibraltar, in one of the last
remaining York aircraft flying at the/that time, the
previous wee k a similar aircraft had crashed just
outside Lucas airfield with the loss of its entire
compliment, so xxxxxxxx one can imagine our
feelings at the time! --1955/
a week or so at RAF Lucas we moved to Takali air
field near Mosta some five miles from Lucas, here
we spent xxxxxxxxxxx some three months at our job
and xxxxxxx enjoyed the sights. We departed from
Malta in a Dan-Air DC3 on our way to Abu-Suier in
Egypt near Isma 'iliya on the Suez Canal at the start
of the Great Bitter Lakes, here our task was to make
sure that our transport command aircraft would
contribute towards a smooth British Forces
evacuation from Egypt that was taking place at the
time. It was also the place where Maxi, one of our
group, during a night incident on that camp, fired a
xxx very pistol flare at the Ordely Officer, xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx hitting him on the right backside
cheek, hospitalizing the poor chap for a month or
two,/ this, on top of a severe reprimand. Evacuation
completed, we moved on to Akrotiri in Cyprus,
where our main problem/TASK was to xxxxx
establish a safe efficient and simplified way of
starting the Avon engines xxxxx fitted to xxx Hunter
aircraft, quite simple in retrospect to write about,
but when one realizes that some nut was allowed to
design a starter for a fighter aircraft that operated
on High Test Peroxide then one starts to realize
the very real dangers experienced by the ground
crews in handeling this highly corrosive and unstable
liquid with a bit of give and take, we laid down a
much safer procedure than that that had hitherto
existed. We left Akrotiri after about three/TWO
months, with destination El Adem, near
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tubruq in Libya. Here our problem,
was similar to the previous one, in that it involved a
dual cordite catridge operated engine starter, on
the Venom aircraft , which was constantly failing to
operate, the fault was an electrical relay xxxxxxxx
switch, that, due to the high current passing through
it during a starting operation, became very hot, and
not being completely sealed to the elements, baked
desert dust into a clay-ike substance that effectively
insulated it, the problem was solved, neatly, by
wrapping the switch up with car exhaust bandage.
xx xxxxxxxxxxxxxx During my stay at El Adem, I
entered the 'middle east services annual sports
competitions' being held at Benghazi, we traveled
there overland along the costal road by land rover
visiting en route many of the ruins along that stretch
of coast. During g the competitions I won xxxxxxxxx
the Hammer throwing event. I also tried,
unsuccessfully, to find the underground German
hospital/ near Tubruq that sealed off after the allied
liberation of that area during the second world war.
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Version 2
I joined the Royal Air Force and due to passing out
top of my entry was given the chance to join a newly
formed team of 6 trouble shooters brought together
at that time due to the very high A0G's ( aircraft on
ground ) incidences that were occuring. With this
team I left England from Lynham, in one of the last
York aicraft flying at that time, we flew from Lynham
to Lucas in Malta and were stationed at Takali for
three months training ground crew
TO trouble shootxxx and THEREBY keepxxx aircraft
in the air. From Takali to EL Adem in Lybia where I
took part in the YEARLY Middle East Sports
Competitions HELD AT BEMGHAZI winning the
Hammer xxxxx event outright. From EL Adem to
Cyprus stationed variously at Akrotiry, Famagusta,
LIMASSOL and Nicosia. from Nicosia to Beyrouth
were we spent
courted the Chilian Counsul's daughter, from
Beyrouth to Habanya where I rebuilt a small sailing
boat and sailed it down the Euphrates to Basra
where I was picked up by Squadron Leader
Thomson x in a Pembrook aircraft and flown back to
Bagdad airport where the team was by now
stationed. We had to leave xxxx that place in a
great hurry flying at very low level xxx OVER the
Jordan, the necessaty for this was caused by the
violent overthrow of King Fisal, to say the least I was
quite glad to leave that place. From Amman IN
JORDAN where we spent three months, WE
MOVED to Mafraq ALSO IN JORDAN another three
months and then on to KHartoum where we
supervised the, then secret Camberra rocket
assisted take-off trials under hot weather conditions,
we were to continue these trials at Aden where we
spent some six months and where I sucsesfuly
passed my desert and mountain rescue
examinations
team traveled over-land to Salala Sharja BY AIR and
then Bahrain where I volunteered to run the open air
cinema for nearly eight months we were then trans-
ferred to Entebe airport in Kenya. Later moving into
R.A.F. Eastly where we spent about six months
during the Mau-Mau troubles which was the reason
for our move into Eastly Airport. I remember 32
Fighter Squadron being there at the time. At Eastly I
bought a 350 Matchless motorcycle that I used to
travel around that country climbing mount
Kilimanjaro, both Kibo And Kizer points likewise I
attempted to climb mount Kenya but was
unsuccessful in the attempt, reaching just short of
the summit.
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Parliament was to be the cause of one of the more
bizzare of my adventures and without doubt my most
dangerous one. Whilst stationed at El Adem, great
concern was being shown by xxx British people and
questions were being asked in the House, as to the
veracity of newspaper reports that young european
girls were being sold into slavery xxxxxxxxxxxx from
somewhere in the interior of Libya. Needless to
say, being versed in the arts of desert rescue
xxxxxxxxxxx and belonging to that team, as
navigator, I was xxxxxxxxxx asked to volunteer or
else. The essence of what happened next is as
follows. We left El Adem in three long wheelbase
landrovers one of which was the radio/navigators
vehicle, and a three ton lorry specialy adapted for
desert operations. The human compliment was
composed of twenty RAF so called volunteers. We
wandered here and there, in fact we wandered
everywhere for six weeks with nothing but dirt, dust,
Libyans and smelly/dromedarian camels to show
for our eforts, we were refurbished as and when
necessary by air, with food, water and fuel. On our
fortyfourth day into the exercise we were given
instructions by air drop, to proceed to Guerende in
Wadi Al Farigh near to the Al Kufrah oasis in Lat. N
2333' 3" by Lon. E 2134'1" where it had been
reliably assertained that slavery was in evidence,
our arrival there had been anticipated, as expected,
but the fact that we were armed to the teeth and fully
determined to acomplish our mission with speed
and vigour, had not. It took us about ten minutes to
determine which of the few mud huts were being
used to encarcerate these unfortunate people,
when we attempted to entre we were met with
substantial small arms fire, six hours or so later we
apprehended two Germans and four Arabs, buried
two more and handed over thirtythree females,
none of which was european, to the Libyan
authorities. The fact that so many females were
involved and that the two Germans were ex SS Nazi
soldiers ( determined by their tattoes) caused the
corridors of power to completely suppress all news
of the event under the official secrets act to which
we were all sworn and I suppose still are. Some
while, after our return to El Adem, our team was
summond to the camp adjutants office and there
informed that as from that time on wards we were
on active service until further notice. That we were
to be kitted out by the camp stores/armoury for such
a purpose, that we were to wear identification tags
at all times and that our faithful Pembroke aircraft
piloted by our boss, Squadron Leader Thomson,
was to be our home and transport from then on. We
had a small campaign tent ( 8x10 ) that we errected
behind the tailplane of the aircraft so as to increase
our living accomodation space. Meals and toilet
facilities I'd rather not discuss as they were chaotic
to say the least. That very same evening we flew out
of El Adem en rout to Akrotiri, Cyprus and the start
of the Suez Invasion by the British, French and
Israeli armed forces. What a mess! the whole thing
for the whole of the duration from our point of view,
was far worse than Dad's Army, orders: counter
orders: two or even three orders at a time and
needless to say, all in contention with each other:
fly here, fly there: we flew everywhere, in and out of
Jordan, lraq, Iran, Egypt you name it, we flew there
and back, the point of it all we failed to comprehend
and whats more we were constantly being told off
for not being in the right place at the right time. During the entire campaign we did not do a stroke
of work and that so help me is the truth of that matter,
but the fiasco doesn't end there, xxxxxxx we were all
given a medal: what for, to this day I still don't know,
the whole thing just baffles me, I dare say it always
will. From Akrotiri we were transferred to Nicosia,
the capital of Cyprus, where we remained for some
weeks before proceeding to Habbaniyah in Iraq for
two purposes. The first of which was to see that the
Hunter aircraft bought by the Indian Goverment and
being ferryed through Baghdad, did so, without to
much trouble, and secondly, to rid airport kerosene
fuel tanks of bacterial growth that was causing
considerable trouble to aircraft engine fuel pumps.
Whilst at Habbaniyah I took a months leave and
obtained permission to sail one of the salvaged
sailing club boats down the Euphrates to Basra,
and then on through Shatt-al-Arab into the Persian
Gulf skirting Faylakah island and on to Kuwait
harbour, where I had arranged to meet Squadron
Leader Thomson who would fly me back to
Habbaniyah. On this trip I took one o the
recommended camp bearers by the name of Abdul
Fazir or something like that, he was not afraid of
work an exelent interpreter and proved to be a very
good companion. He enjoied two days with his
relatives somewhere between Basra and the
Persian Gulf, the name of the actual place I have
long since forgoten
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Whilst all of the above words, sentiments, comments, descriptions etc are those written by and of the late ROBERT JAMES POWDITCH, neither I nor any other member of my family can be held responsible for any errors, innacuracies, omissions or any other details (whether factually correct or not) which might be deemed by others to be litigacious, offensive, libellous or slanderous or of any other nature, whatsoever.
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