P.A.W.K
POSTINGS AFTER WEST KIRBY.
Click on MAXIMISE for best viewing.
Cliff East sent me a portrait photo from Eddie Wybrow, and I wondered if
we could start a page with them and include the stations they were at.
I will put mine on below with the information on my postings,
and see if I get any feedback.
If you have a photo as you are now, and could let me have it,
it will go on beside the one in uniform.
If you would put your comments on our guest Page,
or E-mail them to either Cliff or myself.
Les Haines.
Padgate - West Kirby, Jan., Bovey Tracey, Devon 2007.
1947 - April 1947.
My other postings were:-
No.1 Parachute & Glider Training School Upper Heyford,
Oxfordshire.1947 - 48.
The Berlin Airlift:- Wunstorf, Fassberg and Lubeck 1948 - 1949.
Returned to Oakington, for Demobb, April 1949.
Left the RAF Reserve in 1958, to join the R.M.P.'S, did 9 years with them.
Ronald Miles.
West Kirby 1948. Ronald in 2007.
Lakenheath, Mildenhall.
Watchett, demob in 1952..
Elwyn White.
West Kirby, June 1948. Elwyn, taken at Cosford Museum, 2008 ?.
Posting, Cosford, for Engine Mechanic training,
Colerne 1950, working on Spitfires and Lancasters.
Dennis Fickling.
Dennis in Reims, France July 2008
I was at R.A.F. Padgate 28/7/48
then on to R.A.F. West Kirby from 6/8/48 to 6/10/48
from there to 3 Radio School R.A.F. ComptonBassett.
Then to H.Q.(U)T.C. R.A.F. Bushy Park my permanent
posting apart apart from two attachments,
one to R.A.F. Watnall and another to R.A.F. Manston
Eric Lewis.
West Kirby, then spent a few weeks Eric now, September 2009
at Sutton Bridge before being
posted to RAF Dalby radar station,
on the Isle of Man, then to RAF Orby radar station, Skegness.
Stayed there for the remainder of national service.
Eddie Wybrow.
West Kirby, Eddie, Bournemouth, Dorset 2008.
Nov 26th - Dec 24th. 1949.
His other postings were:-
Leighton Buzzard, Jan 1st - July 15th 1950,
RAF Halton, worked on the butts at Bisley, in the above time scale.
then to RAF Mildenhall. July 15th 1950 - Oct 19th 1951.
George Clark.
West Kirby, George & his Wife Dolly 2008.
November - December 1949,
then posted to Leighton Buzzard,
and spent his service time there,
and worked at Bisley during the above time.
Eric Todd.
West Kirby, Sept 1950. Eric 2008.
His postings are so great
I will have to put
them on as he gave them
to me.
Joe Twycross
July 1951 Cardington. Joe in France 2007
July 1951 West Kirby.
Sep., 1951 Weeton Driving School.
1951 RAF Weeton P/S M T Section.
Oct 1954 RAF Eindhoven BFPO S ND TAF.
1956 TRANS/E RES
Ted Tedman.
Ted on his 70th Birthday.
West Kirby, Jan - Feb 1952.
Was back at W K 1956, attached from PMRAF,
Hospital Halton, as a Cpl., Physiotherapist,
helping out during an pneumonia epidemic .
RAF Cardington, 2 R.U. 8 January 1952
RAF West Kirby, 5 School of Recruit Training 14 January 1952
RAF Lytham, Medical Training Establishment 19 March 1952
RAF Hospital Wroughton 11 June 1952
RAF Southampton, 2 Movements Unit 30 March 1953
RAF Titchfield 11 February 1954
RAMC Royal Victoria Hospital Netley & Royal Herbert Hospital Woolwich 10 September 1954
PMRAF Hospital Halton 4 November 1955
(including attachment to RAF Hospital West Kirby 1956)
RAF Technical College Henlow 11 June 1956
Discharged to G Reserve 8 January 1959
Terry Forman
West Kirby Jan. - Mar., 1952. Terry 2007.
March 1952, No. 4 site, 16 MU RAF Stafford.
May 1953, RAF Aston Down, preparation for the Coronation.
January 1954, RAF Hereford, Supply 2 Training.
November 1954, Supply section, RAF Butterworth.
January 1956, Sqdn., Storeman, 205/209 Sqdn., RAF Seletar.
March 1957, Supply Section, RAF Wittering.
May 1960, 389 MU RAF Seletar.
June 1961, Supply Section, RAF Tengah.
January 1963, HQ Unit, Bomber Command, RAF High Wycombe.
January 1964, Demobbed.
John Henderson.
West Kirby October 20-10-1952. John at the Memorial Stone.
Joined the R.A.F. at Cardington as a Registered Tradesman,
mechanic and Driver, 16-10-1952.
Posted permanent staff, M.T. Section,
weeton, Lancs, 31-12-1952.
M.T. detachment 288 O.C.U. 25-11-1955.
Finished at R.A.F. leeming until demob, 16-11-1956.
John would like to get in touch with Joe Tycross, (Joe's info., is 3 photos above)
I have John's permission, to put his E- address & Tel., Number on below.
E-mail:- tothendas@googlemail.com Copy and paste the address.
Tel:- 0191 5361602
Cliff East.
West Kirby June 1953. Cliff and friends,
Barrow on Soar 2006.
His other Postings were:-
Melksham July - Dec 1953, 30 Mu Stoke Heath Dec 1953 - April 1954.
RAF Practice Camp Brookwood ( Bisley ) April - Aug 1954.
30 Mu Stoke heath Aug 1954 March 1956.
Demobbed March 1956. E Reserve.
Jack Leatherbarrow.
West Kirby July/Sept 1953. Jack now.
Trade training as Cook at Halton Sept 53/Jan 54, Innsworth 03-10 Jan 54,
Sailed from Southampton on Troopship ' Orwell ' 10th Jan, for RAF El Firdan
( Suez Canal Zone ) arriving Port Said 20th Jan 54, & on to El Firdan the same day.
Returned to UK 27th June 1955 on Troop Ship "Empire Halladale", landing at Liverpool 7th July 55,
onward to Innsworth, to be Demobbed on the 9th July 1955.
Harry (Bill) Titley.
Harry now.
(Harry was known as Bill,
during his national service)
22nd November 1954 ,
RAF Cardington for induction& kitting out.
29th November 1954 ,
RAF West Kirby for square bashing,
indoctrination and de- personalisation.
25th February1955 - 17th August 1957,
RAF Wahn, 2nd TAF Germany,
Equipment Accounts Clerk.
21st August 1957, Demobbed.
I would be very pleased to hear from anyone I served with
during my national service.
My E mail is:- annandharry@talktalk.net
I have given permission for my E mail address to be used.
Tom Ellis
West Kirby, May - July 1954. Tom in Winnipeg 2008.
St Athens for trade test,
airframes mechanic,
My permanent posting was to Thorney Island,
with dettachments to Cambridge Summer 1955,
& to Kinloss for 2 weeks, in the Winter of 1956.
De-mobbed May 1956.
John Ades.
West Kirby 1954. John today.
I was trained as a cook.
I became, a Cpl in July of 1955
Stationed at RAF Watton Norfolk
Demobbed 11th Jan 1957
Wes Howard.
Wes at RAF Cosford 2008.
Began at RAF Cardington April 25th for kitting out then to West Kirby May1st 1955, 3 Flight,Smuts squadron Hut 187.
July 13th.posted to RAF Wellesbourne Mountford School of Photography.
September 28th1955, then posted to RAF Driffield where I spent 6 months on 219 squadron which had just been reformed and fitted all the Venom NF2's with gyro gun sight cameras and G45B under wing cameras.
February 2nd.1956 along with 33 squadron, posted to RAF Acklington for six weeks air firing exercise.
March 6th.Returned early to Driffield to take education test.
March 1956 left 219 to spend the rest of my service in the photo section as station photographer, covering air crew and officers and sergeants mess parties, AOC's visits,general ground photography, processing and editing air to air cine films.
Demobbed in April 1957 and returned to my old job as a press photographer with the BIrmingham Mail, and later with the Southend Standard.Coventry Standard and Coventry Evening Telegraph.
Finally took early retirement in 1990 and worked as a freelance photographer for a further three years, then decided retirement was a better option.
SAC Wes Howard.
Alan Walton.
Alan at Dornoch Castle, Scotland.
West Kirby,
October / December 1955
Trade training at RAF Shawbury, for Control Tower duties,
and spent the rest of his duties at RAF Halton Airfield until September 1957.
Glyn Davis.
West Kirby 1957. Glyn & his wife Ann,
at a recent Family Wedding.
I joined the RAF on 19th February 1957 and after being kitted out at
RAF Cardington in Bedfordshire I came to West Kirby.
After leaving West Kirby I did my trade training at RAF Creeden Hill in Herefordshire,
followed by a short space of time at RAF Colerne near Bath.
I then spent a fortnight in the emergency in Cyprus before embarking on HMT Dilwara for the remainder of my service at
RAF Khormaksar in Aden. Whilst there I took a tennis team to Djibouti in French Somaliland
to play the French Airforce and another tennis team to Bahrain to play the RAF there.
As an after thought whilst at West Kirby the RAF was given the freedom of the City of
Liverpool and remember marching through there with fixed bayonets. If after this length of time anybody does remember me I would like to hear from them.
Tel:- 01625 861737
Peter Russell.
Peter's latest photo, is below.
I arrived at RAF Cardington, near Bedford, in early June 1957, with the intention of signing on as a Radar Fitter but had second thoughts as, in the meantime, the minimum term for a fitter’s course had been increased from 4 to 9 years. Then spent two gloriously sunny weeks with a group of other ‘misfits,’ most of them on medical grounds, until my National Service papers came through.
After WK I was posted to RAF Swinderby, Flying Training Command, halfway between Newark and Lincoln, and assigned to the trade of 'Hollerith Systems Recorder', which mainly involved collecting data on aircraft servicing, rectification, flight turnaround times, etc, for Vampire Mk 5s and Mk T11s – in other words, a clerk with a clipboard and clearly retribution for not having signed on as a regular! Was discharged as an SAC in July 1959. My son, Andrew, was later to do his ‘square bashing’ at RAF Swinderby, which rekindled many happy memories when I attended his passing-out parade there.
Peter being presented with his 'Veterans Badge',
by Viscount Montgomery of Alamein,(Monty's Son)
at the Firepower Museum, Woolwich, South East London,
on 14th December 2009.
John Austin, the MP for Erith & Thamesmead is in the Background.
And the next ones for our PAWK page please.
Copy and paste the following address:
les.haines@btinternet.com
Les Haines, web Manager.