STATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST OTHER THAN OMAN
This website focuses on Oman but there were many other RAF stations around the Middle East region.
I would welcome any input, stories, memories, photographs, from other areas and will publish on this page.
I would welcome any input, stories, memories, photographs, from other areas and will publish on this page.
ADEN and CRATER
John West - Aden (Khomaksar) and Masirah 1946 - 1947
Served in the RAF from 1942 until 1956.
John also served in Egypt, Italy Ethiopia, visiting Somalia, Yemen, Salalah, Khartoum and Wadi Halfa (Sudan)
Regarding the picture of me with the Lancaster, it was very exciting to have a visitor to Masirah, from my old squadron 104, who I served with during the last two years of WW2, at Foggia in Italy, with Wellingtons, after which we had Liberators. We then moved to Egypt and converted to Lancasters, after which I was posted to a communications unit at Khormaksar in Aden.
Served in the RAF from 1942 until 1956.
John also served in Egypt, Italy Ethiopia, visiting Somalia, Yemen, Salalah, Khartoum and Wadi Halfa (Sudan)
Regarding the picture of me with the Lancaster, it was very exciting to have a visitor to Masirah, from my old squadron 104, who I served with during the last two years of WW2, at Foggia in Italy, with Wellingtons, after which we had Liberators. We then moved to Egypt and converted to Lancasters, after which I was posted to a communications unit at Khormaksar in Aden.
There we had Wellingtons and Fairey Albacores (Biplanes) and went all over the place to various outstations including Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and French, Italian and English Somalia in the Yemen, Salalah in the Oman, and Khartoum and Wadi Halfa in the Sudan (all the "Hellholes"of the world)
After this I was posted to Masirah, and from there home to serve at Tangmere for 5 years, before I came out of the service.
As a matter of interest my C/O at Tangmere was a Battle of Britain ace, Group Captain Johnny Kent a Canadian, and I was there in 1953 when Neville Duke broke the World Air Speed Record in the Hawker Hunter.
Masirah has changed since I was there in 1946. We lived in nissan huts of corregated metal and asbestos. No windows only mesh for the mossies. We had Arabs from Muscat as labour. I even remember my servants name. It was Abdul Mohammed Sherhati Jeharri (my spelling is probably phonetic) This nice Arab man brought me fresh eggs every morning from their encampment. I don't remember any Muslim Arab terrorists in those days. Only nice Arabs It's a crazy world. that we live in now.
After this I was posted to Masirah, and from there home to serve at Tangmere for 5 years, before I came out of the service.
As a matter of interest my C/O at Tangmere was a Battle of Britain ace, Group Captain Johnny Kent a Canadian, and I was there in 1953 when Neville Duke broke the World Air Speed Record in the Hawker Hunter.
Masirah has changed since I was there in 1946. We lived in nissan huts of corregated metal and asbestos. No windows only mesh for the mossies. We had Arabs from Muscat as labour. I even remember my servants name. It was Abdul Mohammed Sherhati Jeharri (my spelling is probably phonetic) This nice Arab man brought me fresh eggs every morning from their encampment. I don't remember any Muslim Arab terrorists in those days. Only nice Arabs It's a crazy world. that we live in now.
John West was also stationed at RAF Abu Sueir in Egypt. That was 1945.
He sent a few photographs of his time there, Captions are in the photographs if you click on them and scroll.
He sent a few photographs of his time there, Captions are in the photographs if you click on them and scroll.
Mike Gore - Royal Marines
Great photograph of a camo Beverley taken in Aden 1966 whilst I was serving with 45 commando RM. It was taken on Dhala airstrip which was up country on the Yemen border. the airstrip must have been quite daunting for the pilots coming in to land as the strip was on a slope & they had to land on the "up slope" which meant landing with the Jebel Jihaf right in front of them (no room for error) taking off was downhill The aircraft in the photo had just landed & turned around to pick us up & fly back down to RAF Khormaksar Hover over, or click on, the other photographs for comments. The photo of the airstrip with the camo Beaver aircraft is Habilayn, you can see the control tower (such as it is, Heathrow eat your heart out) This was the airstrip where the Hercules ran over a mine on the turning circle at the end of the runway when coming to take us back down country. The RAF sent up helicopters for us but mine had to auto-rotate down as it had a hydraulic line fracture (I was sat under it & got covered in the stuff) Thinking back I never once had an uneventful flight with the RAF! |
Not Middle East but very interesting photographs from Mike Gore.
Photos of the Shackletons that delivered our mail when we were on the Beira blockade in the Mozambique Channel 1970/71, don't know where they flew from, presume it was Middle East somewhere. You can see how close they got as all photos were taken from the deck of HMS Minerva (Leander class frigate)
We had to patrol up and down somewhere off Beira for a month at a time, total & utter boredom.
There were 2 frigates on station at any one time & to relieve the boredom one ship would challenge the other to anything (tug of war, draughts, chess, ludo, volleyball in fact anything that could viewed as a competition) the winner got to keep the "Beira bucket" (DJR N.B. see photograph) until the next challenge & it was passed from ship to ship & the ships name painted on it
I believe it still exists & is kept in the Royal Navy museum in Portsmouth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beira_Patrol
Photos of the Shackletons that delivered our mail when we were on the Beira blockade in the Mozambique Channel 1970/71, don't know where they flew from, presume it was Middle East somewhere. You can see how close they got as all photos were taken from the deck of HMS Minerva (Leander class frigate)
We had to patrol up and down somewhere off Beira for a month at a time, total & utter boredom.
There were 2 frigates on station at any one time & to relieve the boredom one ship would challenge the other to anything (tug of war, draughts, chess, ludo, volleyball in fact anything that could viewed as a competition) the winner got to keep the "Beira bucket" (DJR N.B. see photograph) until the next challenge & it was passed from ship to ship & the ships name painted on it
I believe it still exists & is kept in the Royal Navy museum in Portsmouth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beira_Patrol