208 Squadron Galleries

6 - At Ease!

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Life on the line     

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Crème de la Crème     

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Not in use     

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Aircraft     

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On Ops     

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This section includes subjects such as sporting and social events.

Leisure time

A gathering of Squadron pilots in the Officers' Mess bar at Eastleigh in 1959 (Pete McLeland)

From l to r are; Pete Biddiscombe, Alastair Macnab, Sam Key (fez), Mike Telford, George Ord, ???? Miers and Bebe Sharman.

The party in full swing, Derek Bell attempts to take a sip from his glass while being held in a beer-lock by a determined young lady (Pete McLeland)

Also enjoying the proceedings are: Terry Hill (cheq shirt), Tim Cohu (red shirt), Pete Biddiscombe (back to window) and George Ord (in front of Pete).

With balance unsteady and vision impaired, Derek Bell and Alistair Macnab, in nurses dress, crash out on the settee alongside a local nurse (Pete McLeland)

Doug Bebbington and Sam Key dream of the delights to come as they head for The Brown Trout Inn (Pete McLeland)

The Brown Trout Inn is the venue for this beer-garden line-up of 208 pilots and 8 Sqn guests (Pete McLeland)

Barry Raffle(8), George Ord, Cyril White(8), Pete McLeland, Sam Key and Doug Bebbington(8).

Sam Key (seated) and Pete McLeland relax in the very English-looking surroundings of The Brown Trout Inn (Pete McLeland)

Squadron pilots entertain nurses from Nairobi Hospital with a picnic in the Ngong Hills (Pete McLeland)

The inevitable froth blowing competition; Ngong Hills picnic (Pete McLeland)

Another picnic but this time a family occasion with George, Tamara and Nicky (in the basket) Ord, and Derek and Sheila Bell (Pete McLeland)

See note below:

The same picnic pictured from a different angle captures, in addition, Liz and young Neil McLeland on the right (Pete McLeland)

See note below:

Four intrepid adventurers, Derek Bell, their driver, Terry Hill and guest pilot, seen while on a photo-shoot in a game reserve (Pete McLeland)

Taking a break while en-route to the River Thiba, in the foothills of Kilimanjaro for a fishing trip, are George Ord and Tim Cohu (Pete McLeland)

The red mini belonged to Pete McLeland and must have been one of the first to be imported to Kenya.

Roy Morris, a Rhodesian, and Pete McLeland persuaded the Boss to let them drive down to Thorn Hill as the advanced party .....

.... for an imminent detachment. Two views show Roy driving at speed and topping up the MG TF's radiator while heading south (both, Pete McLeland)

Driving two hours on and two off, and keeping the car open all the way, they had to be well protected from the sun and dust - hence Roy's attire.

Let down by their loan car after it threw a conrod through the block, Squadron members await a lift to Bulawayo (Pete McLeland)

From l to r: Dicky Brown, George Ord, Des Melaniphy, Sam Key and Alistair Macnab. After a 'dizzy' weekend seeing the sights and drinking screwdrivers, they went back to Thorn Hill by train.

Members of the Aerobatic Team relaxing at The Entebbe Hotel having given a display at a local event (Pete McLeland)

From l to r: Pete Biddiscombe, Boss Ramirez, George Ord, Paddy Thompson (EO) and Sam Key.

A room party while on detachment to Bahrain or possibly Sharjah (Pete McLeland)

From l to r: Stu Grieve, Huck Sawyer, Mac McLeland, Sam Key and Peter Biddiscombe.

Station Commander at Bahrain doing his rounds of the Airmen's Mess, Christmas 1962 (Les Dunnett)

Two Squadron pilots join airmen in the civilised start to Xmas. Patrick ????, on the right, finishes the first of many a glass of ale (Les Dunnett)

Still singing their heads off, Eddie Dawes and 'Stan' Stanley are guided through the Bahrain Mess exit by Flt Lt Mumford, Xmas 1962 (Les Dunnett)

He is awake, honest! Inebriated airmen leave the Mess after their Xmas dinner and glass of 'juice', Bahrain 1962 (Les Dunnett)

Judging by this afternoon visit from one of the pilots, it would appear that their Xmas lunch was just as liquid as that for the airmen (Les Dunnett)

After a hearty Xmas lunch, the rot sets in, Bahrain 1962 (Les Dunnett)

Any names would be welcome please.

Patrick ???? shortly before he was admitted to hospital! Wonder what the diagnosis was (Les Dunnett)

The second day of Xmas in Bahrain sees Les and fellow airman stoking up for another day in a permanent haze (Les Dunnett)

Better get another one in soon, this one's nearly empty (Les Dunnett)

Day three of the Xmas break and the lights have gone out for this comatosed unfortunate (Les Dunnett)

Not far away and another airman lies out-for-the-count on his pit, having been incapable of even taking his glasses off (Les Dunnett)

Wonder where these came from! Les Dunnett has that 'don't look at me guv' look following another Xmas session in the bar (Les Dunnett)

Oh dear, the morning after! Looking like something out of a western, this pair of bleary-eyed airmen would be lucky to be passed 'fit for work', Bahrain 1962 (Les Dunnett)

Back in Aden, 'Stan' Stanley, Les Dunnett, Ray Pritchard, Barry Freeman and Al Hudson sing bawdy songs and .....

..... indulge a schooner race during Ray's birthday celebration at The Rock Hotel in Steamer Point (Les Dunnett)

 

Note: The nose of the red car in the second of these two images is Pete McLeland’s Standard Flying Nine which he bought for £25, while the large black saloon is Derek Bell’s splendid Lagonda. “Derek let me drive it once”, says Pete, “and I was terrified. It had the throttle between the clutch and the brake, so when you were driving you had to constantly remember that ‘the brake was on the RIGHT!’. If something popped out in front and you performed a normal foot off the throttle and moved it to the left to hit the brake, then all you would do was stamp on the clutch and...CRUNCH!”.

 

African scenery

 

A small selection of the most popular tourist locations.

Three views of Fourteen Falls named, as you might expect, after the number small falls that make up the whole (Pete McLeland)

Fourteen Falls was one of the more popular destinations (Pete McLeland)

Fourteen Falls again, much enhanced by the lady in the Sari (Pete McLeland)

One of the places the Squadron visited during the detachment to Rhodesia was Victoria Falls at Livingstone (Pete McLeland)

 

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