The Royal Air Force Years 1989 - 1996

 Some of you may be aware that I was in the Royal Air Force from 1989 until 1996. During this time I was a supply clerk and spent it all at RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire. My memory is going a bit but I can tell you two things that I certainly know to be true about this time: A) I did not fit in very well B) I did not like being in the RAF very much at all - in fact I hated it and could not wait to get out - if the Uni years are the best of my life, then the RAF years are most certainly the worst and in retrospect I cannot see how much worse my life could have been if I had remained in Runcorn on the dole. But still, it was years of my life of some kind and therefore I have given them their own page. Things you will not find here are any pics of me in the first Gulf War (I did not go) or pics of me drinking (I did not then, and still do not drink).

This is not me - this is Micky V - I have no idea what became of him. This was just after basic training at RAF Swinderby, July 1989 where we have both just spent six weeks getting shouted at by drill instructors. This base was on the main A46 in Lincoln and is now the headquarters of an edible oil company.

Inside my little room @ RAF Lyneham - accompanied by my Led Zep poster, Jean Shrimpton and Judge Dredd.

This is Dougie and Jim at RAF Lyneham in early December 1989. I worked with these guys at a place called Role Equipment - we worked out of a little hangar the far side of the airfield and spent our time working on the big old Hercules transport aircraft. I think the moth eaten barrack block behind us gives you some idea of the conditions that we were living in.....

This is my old bedspace in Halifax Block (now long since demolished I think). There is a bit of a Star Trek thing going on here. Also worth noting is the big old Tiger sheet (it had been used by my grandma and still had fag burns on it from when she used to smoke in bed!), the Sony™Cassette player that I left behind in the AES C1 Stores (I hope they enjoy it), the big old rug that just used to moult everywhere, my Commodore™64 computer that I had bought specifically to play Paradroid (round about the same time that the Commodore Amiga came out and made it obsolete).

Lee Simmo - worth including as he was a drummer in a band made up of RAF blokes..... also worth noting in the old photos is the old mini telephone switcher in the centre of the picture.....

Me and Dougie again - an airframes fitter from Crosby (posh end of Liverpool). Dougie had good taste in music, a happening car and was also a nice bloke. Where is he? This photo dates from 1990 and was taken in Swindon - our days out in Swindon usually involved HMV and McDonalds.

At Rutty's wedding in Lincolnshire (very much the RAF's county - most of the old bomber bases were in Lincolnshire - the basic training camp, the officer training college at Cranwell and the Dambuster 617 Sqn flew from Scampton - just up the road from here). The best blue uniform was quite nice - I sold mine on e-bay a few years ago.

Out on the airfield during the run up to the first Gulf War - working inside a C130 Hercules. I will have a go at remembering everyone: Sid Mulholland - a young chap from Glasgow is on the left. I remember that Sid spent a lot of time in trouble. Axel F (Rob Foley) is at the back in the middle - he was an old sweat from Liverpool and I do not recall much else about him - apart from his Austin Maxi with the magic collapsing suspension. Ian White is at the front - he was an Airframes Mechanic from the South somewhere - I saw him in the Philarmonic Pub, Liverpool late 2002 - small world. Ian is worth mentioning for taking his Austin Mini beyond design capabilities when he put it on its side outside his accommodation block. Jim - again - is on the right. I can only recall that Jim had a Mini Cooper and a good taste in music.

Jim and Scouse Klousen in the Role van. Scouse was a mean bass player and also a BIG fan of Rush. God bless 'im. Where is he now???  The last I remember of him was running off back to Liverpool.....

Me and Rick Paffet with the Forward Delivery Renault Commando - complete with those hissing airbrakes. I have no idea what became of Rick - but I know he was from Hastings.

Still with Forward Delivery with my little Ford Transit Van that was due for scrapping about four years before I was driving it. It's fave trick was directing the exhaust fumes through the heater system and condemning you to a slow death by asphyxiation (luckily we were never in them for more than a few minutes at a time). This picture was taken in the PFDS Hangar on B-Site (the other side of the main road.) These vans were also brilliant at being picked up and thrown around by the prop wash from the big old C-130's warming up their engines on the airfield.

Here is one of the Hercules - XV222 by the looks of things. I took this photo on families day back in 1995 - my Uncle Joe, Auntie Jackie, Mum (who has just banged her head on the radome as the picture was taken), Sue and Dad.

Mick Vaughn - I worked for the best part of a year with Mick on the graveyard shift in the priority cell. During this time I can only remember Mick doing any one of the following a) sleeping b) smoking (a pipe!) c) playing F29 Retaliator on the office Apricot. He was one of very few NCO's I liked. Also well known for having a huge collection of Stephen King novels printed in German. I seem to recall that Mick went back to Germany 'cos that's where his wife was from.

Kev Butler (recently found via friends reunited) and I perform a scene from a popular comedy film of the time. Kev was one of my best friends from this period and I still miss him a lot - he was just a nice bloke - but he looked like Flanders off the Simpsons.

All round nice guy and Star Trek fan, Al Scurr. I seem to recall he lived on Manchester Road, Swindon - just near the Magic Roundabout (if you have never been to Swindon, I decline to explain why this is worth mentioning).

Inside B3 Hangar - this is Steve Smith with an improvised Marshall Stack (does it go to 11?) and what looks like a Gibson SG - I do recall that Steve played a pretty mean real guitar and also played bass - he was also a loony but deserves a special mention for inspiring me to go and do a HNC @ Swindon College - which eventually led me to go to University.

Steve Smith again - with Andy Hiscock - and your eyes do not deceive you - these two were defending democracy in the RAF at the time of this pic! These guys had just returned from Glastonbury 1993 (I think) and had just popped in (they lived in a rented cottage called castle Greyskull) to use the showers. Andy has been relocated by Friends Re-United, but Steve remains MIA.

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