BP Aden Kids

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Re: www.onstuis.co.uk

Roddy,

That’s the problem of a sailor trying to recognise aircraft!

I found this information when searching for that number on the tail plane in the foreground of my photograph that I make out to be 716. This seems to indicate that it is a Comet 2 from 216 Squadron, RAF Lyneham.

http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1038846/

Given that so many emails I have received about my web site have been from RAF folk who served in Aden in the sixties I am astounded that no one else has picked up on this.

Please explain the significance of the orange nose and rear fuselage colours.

It would be great to get a final and definitive answer so that my information can be corrected with certainty.

Regards,

David

Email: mail@onstuis.co.uk

Re: www.onstuis.co.uk

Hi David
I really am not surprised that the anomoly wasn't picked up before especially by someone with an airforce background......the truth is that many were support staff who didn't know an iota about aircraft, many of which preferred it that way!!!! So why join in the first place?
I digress, so lets give you the definative answer on our Comet 2. Three Comet 2R's were operated by 51 Sqn at RAF Wyton as 'sneaky petes' monitoring soviet and warsaw pact nations radio traffic amongst other things.
Whilst operated by 51 sqn they remained on 216 Sqns inventory purely as a smoke screen to cover their covert operations during the cold war. As far as the public were concerned 51 Sqn did not exist, and that is why I had to sign the official secrets act, as did many of my colleagues involved in aircrafr ops.
As for the orange banding, this was usually worn by training aicraft as a warning that 'learners', were about, however given that 51's ops were very close to hostile airspace such markings aided the subterfuge.
Whether this is the case with this particular aircraft is not clear, however I would lay my bottom dollar on it!!!!! If your caption was to read 'Comet 2 of 216 Sqn RAF Lyneham, then you would be absolutely correct.
By the way, I will not be shot at dawn, as the details of 51 Sqn became common knowledge after the USSR fell apart!!

I have two more snippets for you....... the 111 Sqn hunter came down in the Aden Protectorate Levies lines
at Khormaksar with some fatalities (including the pilot) however no civilian spectators were hurt.

The 'beach road' mentioned in the Little Aden section was called Marine Drive, and ran the whole length of Ghadir beach.

Cheers
Roddy

Email: wade@sky.com

Re: www.onstuis.co.uk

Good morning Roddy,

A fascinating reply, for which my thanks. It's good to get the information as correct as possible and I always appreciate help to ensure that is so.

The caption under the C2 has duly been corrected and the beach road at Little Aden has miraculously become Marine Drive - :)

My wife and I were in the crowd of spectators when that Hunter went down but all we saw was a puff of smoke and a bang. Tragic.

Was it a Beverley or an Argosy that didn't quite make it and ended up in the water between the causeway and the runway? I recall seeing it in the water with little more than wet feet before it was retrieved. Not sure which year that was but probably between '62 and '64.

I also signed the Official Secrets Act when I became a Radio Officer in the MN as I might be expected to send/receive or intercept communications that might be regarded as "Secret". I have to say that I had no approaches to sell such secrets for which I would be paid enormous amounts of loot!

Go well,

David

Email: mail@onstuis.co.uk

Re: www.onstuis.co.uk

Hi David
The aircraft getting its feet wet was an Argosy from 105 Sqn based at Khormaksar. Flying a training sortie on 23/3/64, XP413, was unceremoniously dumped in the oggin by a rookie pilot!! As the aircraft was only 18 months old it was stripped down and shipped back to the UK where it was repaired and put back into RAF service.

Having given the tragic loss of the Hunter some more thought, I have delved deeper into the incident and can confirm that the aircraft, XE607, was from 8 Sqn of the Khormaksar Hunter Wing, the date of the crash was 30 Mar 1962.

Didn't realise you were Merchant Navy (the real navy that is) my late dad was the master of the deep sea fire salvage Tug, BP Guard, operating out of the oil harbour in Little Aden from 1958 to 1967.

Time for a 'wet' methinks

Cheers
Roddy

Email: wade@sky.com

Re: www.onstuis.co.uk

Thanks for that info Roddy.

As a consequence of this new information and some more 'hunting' by yours truly I have now revised the intro on my Khormaksar page.

Who knows, I may well have seen your Father's vessel whilst workig on tankers at LA.

More on my MN association is on my web site www.oldmarconiman.co.uk.

Regards,

David

Email: mail@onstuis.co.uk

Re: www.onstuis.co.uk

p.s. workig is clearly the new slang for working!
Put it down to one of those "Senior Moments". I seem to be having a few lately.

I have suggested to my wife that her little Suzuki would look great with an orange front end and an orange band around the back. Fortunately she hadn't a clue of what I was on about.

Email: mail@onstuis.co.uk