Topic: Falkland Islands- what a detachment! (Read 112793 times)

raflaunches · « **Reply #150 on:** September 28, 2012, 05:45:13 pm »

Good afternoon from the Falklands

The islands have returned to their natural weather conditions and we have an overcast miserable day with occasional rain.

But we have come to get to know that this is the way the islands work, we have a really nice day like yesterday when I could role up my shirts sleeves and enjoy the sunshine to back to wearing thermals and cold weather jackets today! We have just read in the local newspaper, The Penguin News, that HMS Edinburgh is on her way to our waters to replace the Dauntless so hopefully I can get a few pictures of her before I leave.

On Sunday we have booked ourselves back onto a trip to Bertha's Beach but will turn right this time and walk up the beach towards Mare Harbour, the reason, because we found out that there is a Magallenic Penguin colony half a mile up the beach instead of walking 2.5 miles in the other direction through the sand dunes!
I have had just had to buy a survival knife from the West store on camp for up coming event, I hope it doesn't mean what I think it means...!

Looking forward to the pictures that I will see on the forum for the up coming International Model Boat Show at Warwick as this is the only way I will see it this year so get snapping and don't make me an unhappy airman stuck in the South Atlantic 8000 miles away from home!

raflaunches · « **Reply #151 on:** September 29, 2012, 01:49:44 pm »

Hello again

Still enjoying myself, I think!, almost broke my toe this morning by dropping my iPad on it- you'll be relieved that the iPad is okay!

Once again the weather has changed and reversed from yesterday we now have bright blue skies and sunshine! The weather fore casters back in the UK would be panicking having to predict the weather in the Falklands.
However, Monday will be a sad day fro us on VASS 1312Flt at MPA as our good friends from Titan Airways are leaving for the last time

, they lost out on their contract with the MoD for the rights to provide the airbridge, we have enjoyed their company at work and in the NAAFI. Not too sure about the new contractor as we have had their aircraft land at MPA before but they operate very differently.
On a brighter note at least my ticket for home is confirmed so I definitely know I am returning home on November 16th (hopefully this year!) and will land back home on the Saturday, Dad not very happy as he will have to get up early to pick me up from Brize Norton because my flight lands at 7am! Only 6.75 weeks to go!!! How time flies.

raflaunches · « **Reply #152 on:** September 30, 2012, 01:54:05 pm »

Morning All

As usual the weather has returned back to its miserable grey overcast skies

however yesterday the sunshine was that bright I had to wear my sunglasses for the first time, I think I actually got a bit of a sun tan too!

As I was waiting for the LAN Chile jet to land I was talking to the aircraft servicing engineer from Port Stanley, the subject changed from aircraft to ships. He told me all about the fishery protection vessels based in the Falklands and what they had done in their careers. He told me of one ship called 'Persylla' or 'Presilla' (not too sure about the spelling) which sighted a fishing boat and ordered it to stop for inspection. It refused and sped away, the Persylla persued this boat all the way to South Africa ordering it to stop when they arrived. When the boat still refused to stop the captain of the Persylla swung the stern of his ship against the fishing boat which persuaded the fishing boat captain to stop! The captain of the fishing boat thought he had got away because he could cruise at 20-25 knots but he was unaware that the Persylla had corvette engines and could match her for speed and could catch her!
Hopefully I will go back to Bertha's Beach this afternoon but it all depends on the weather...

raflaunches · « **Reply #153 on:** October 01, 2012, 05:54:26 pm »

As some of may have suspected the weather put the trip back to Bertha's Beach on hold... again

However my corporal is trying his best to book a trip on a boat to one of the outer islands so all may not be lost! We have bright blue skies and its quite warm but the winds are getting up to speed again, when I first arrived the weather was quite stable- very cold and snowy- but as we move into spring the weather I am told is un-predictable and several seasons can happen in one day! Mind you the weather back home doesn't appear to be any better with all the flooding, at least that's one thing we don't get here.
The funny thing I forgot to mention a few posts back regarding our first visit to Bertha's was that our guide, who I should point out is a SAC(T) who works along side me in the VASS office, pointed out and said 'Look, there is a penguin!' in the dunes. We all looked and moved slowly towards the penguin (I got some very good pictures from a distance...) , however, my mate dave moved closer as I crawled up to the grassy dune in was sitting in, the 'penguin' suddenly (to our shock) took off!

I later identified it as a member of the caracara family but not a Johnny Rook as I first thought!

Norseman · « **Reply #154 on:** October 01, 2012, 09:27:43 pm »

I looked up Bertha's Beach (see Nick - what you write is interesting) and I found this about Bertha a shipwrecked Norwegian Barque of 500 tons
http://www.falklandislands.com/assets/documents/berthasbeach.pdf This mentions some of the Cedar cargo still remains there - Elsewhere I found out it also has a moss growing on it that is previously unknown to the scientists. I wonder if you will find any of that timber on the beach? You might even find some iron nails as in one of the two photos here http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?116465 I just got curious what Bertha actualy looked like ........ isn't the www. a wonderful thing.
Enjoy the time you have left down there Nick

Dave

raflaunches · « **Reply #155 on:** October 03, 2012, 02:05:53 pm »

Hi Dave
We did find some large bits of timber on the beach but didn't know that they were from the the ship that run aground/sunk here all those years ago. Its a beautiful landscape that seems to go on for ever, I never tire of looking at the mountains from the VASS office window at MPA.
Yesterday I was on another mini exercise (something the Military never tire of!) and whilst patrolling the North end of MPA through the dense undergrowth of grass, scrubs and mosses (I must add 'struggling' rather than patrolling- the undergrowth goes up to my knees!) I spotted the prettiest little birds I have seen so far. I have recently read a book about the wild life of the Falklands and quickly identified them as Cobb Wrens. They look like a larger version of the UK wrens with the sticking up tail, we followed them for a good 2km before they finally got fed up of us! (and before anyone says it they weren't WRNS from the Navy either

- even though we have a car park down year named after the WRVR affectionately nicknamed 'Weavers' there has not been any member of this service down here for over 50 years!
We patrolled for over 2 hours and we worked out we had struggled through this difficult ground for 10km- needless to say we were pretty shattered from this exhausting exercise- I have not felt this tired for ages especially considering that we were carrying a pack, helmet, webbing and gun for all that time!
At least I have today off in compensation even though I am still very tired.

w3bby · « **Reply #156 on:** October 03, 2012, 02:22:48 pm »

Quote from: raflaunches on October 03, 2012, 02:05:53 pm

We patrolled for over 2 hours and we worked out we had struggled through this difficult ground for 10km- needless to say we were pretty shattered from this exhausting exercise- I have not felt this tired for ages especially considering that we were carrying a pack, helmet, webbing and gun for all that time!
At least I have today off in compensation even though I am still very tired.

You now have a better appreciation of yomping fully loaded all the way and fighting in that terrain.... Good to hear that you are still enjoying your tour and the countryside.

During my second tour (many years ago) the lads used the term of endearment "Bennys" for the locals (from Crossroads if you are old enough to remember) and got picked up on it. After that the new term of endearment was "Stills".

sailorboy61 · « **Reply #157 on:** October 03, 2012, 02:46:28 pm »

Quote from: w3bby on October 03, 2012, 02:22:48 pm

You now have a better appreciation of yomping fully loaded all the way and fighting in that terrain.... Good to hear that you are still enjoying your tour and the countryside.

During my second tour (many years ago) the lads used the term of endearment "Bennys" for the locals (from Crossroads if you are old enough to remember) and got picked up on it. After that the new term of endearment was "Stills".

yep, still bennys.........................

Bryan Young · « **Reply #158 on:** October 03, 2012, 03:10:20 pm »

Only one thing more dangerous than a Fishead with a rifle and that's a Crab.
Re the "Bennies"..(Coronation St.reference?), I seem to recall the term "One Bagger" or "Two Bagger". I was assured by members of our esteemed Pongo class that these were terms of endearment. A bit like the sailors getting the "Last night you called me "dusky Maiden" ...today you call me "..... .......", Why? BY.

w3bby · « **Reply #159 on:** October 04, 2012, 08:35:55 am »

Best not to get into one or two baggers Brian, could lead to "dog shows" and other things not really suitable for a family forum....

raflaunches · « **Reply #160 on:** October 04, 2012, 01:44:33 pm »

Hi everyone

The locals are still referred to as 'Benny's' or 'Stills' (for the members who wonder why they are called 'Stills'- still called Benny!)- I have even seen a book in our library called 'Don't call them Benny's!
I am very dangerous with a rifle- I can actually hit the target compared to most, my best average was 5 rounds in a 17mm diameter to which I was awarded the best shot on flight.

in fact the regiment offered me a trade change but I turned it down!
I certainly have a new appreciation for the regiment for yomping- my legs have only just stopped hurting, at least I won't be on that sector again (so I have been told) so I won't be suffering so much, I hope!
We went to the cinema last night to see the latest version of Dredd (the one with out Stallone), we all agreed that it could have been better and that we preferred the Alien prequel 'Prometheus' and laughed more at The Expendables 2.
We had a lovely warm 15 deg C day yesterday but as usual the weather has changed again to over cast and windy!

but I have only 6 weeks to go now- I still don't know where the time has gone, considering the weeks and weekends merge into one, I woke up the other week and thought it was a Saturday when it was a Wednesday! Very disappointing...

roycv · « **Reply #161 on:** October 04, 2012, 02:59:08 pm »

Hi, I remember going to the cinema a lot when I was in't RAF. I used to put up the cinema posters and had a reserved free seat in the cinema. The audience invariably took part and had a good laugh.
In one dreadful SF film the Canberras went in to bomb the beast and came out as Meteors, well as these were the main a/c on camp even the cooks knew the difference.

Keep the daily diary going, we are all enjoying it.
regards Roy

Bryan Young · « **Reply #162 on:** October 04, 2012, 04:11:38 pm »

Quote from: raflaunches on October 04, 2012, 01:44:33 pm

Hi everyone

The locals are still referred to as 'Benny's' or 'Stills' (for the members who wonder why they are called 'Stills'- still called Benny!)- I have even seen a book in our library called 'Don't call them Benny's!
I am very dangerous with a rifle- I can actually hit the target compared to most, my best average was 5 rounds in a 17mm diameter to which I was awarded the best shot on flight. in fact the regiment offered me a trade change but I turned it down!
I certainly have a new appreciation for the regiment for yomping- my legs have only just stopped hurting, at least I won't be on that sector again (so I have been told) so I won't be suffering so much, I hope!
We went to the cinema last night to see the latest version of Dredd (the one with out Stallone), we all agreed that it could have been better and that we preferred the Alien prequel 'Prometheus' and laughed more at The Expendables 2.
We had a lovely warm 15 deg C day yesterday but as usual the weather has changed again to over cast and windy! but I have only 6 weeks to go now- I still don't know where the time has gone, considering the weeks and weekends merge into one, I woke up the other week and thought it was a Saturday when it was a Wednesday! Very disappointing...

At least you'll be accimatised to the cold. wind and wet when you come home!
I had 5 winters on the trot due to my comings and goings! BY.

raflaunches · « **Reply #163 on:** October 06, 2012, 01:55:43 pm »

It will certainly feel like a 18 month Winter for us all I think, the Summer was barely warm when I left and it seems just as I will be leaving in less than 6 weeks time I will miss the best of the Falkland Summer!

Like you say at least I will be used to the cold weather the UK winter will have in store for us, I'll probably be wearing shorts and t-shirts on X-mas day whilst everybody else will be wrapped up.
I was not able to write anything yesterday due to a diary filled day with aircraft departing at mid morning but requiring fuel at 7am, shooting my rifle at 1pm and then back to work for 3pm to see off another jet. At least I proved my worth to the local RAF Regiment by scoring very well- my worst score being 5 rounds in 30mm, my personal best 5 rounds in 15mm!

very happy with that score.
We have beautiful blue skies today with winds so we are expecting a colder day than before- back into the single figures again

Watching the TV this morning and an interesting documentary was on about the Harland and Wolff ship building company in Belfast, giving an 1 hour's short history on the subject. It finished with the famous disaster of the Titanic but not before it showed the warships built for the Royal Navy, the first warship to be built by Harland and Wolff being the HMS Glorious (the Light Battlecruiser which was converted in to an aircraft carrier). It turns out the the BFBS have a lot of Republic of Ireland programmes as we see a lot of ROI adverts on BFBS2!
Back to work this afternoon but at least I am not on barb wire fence duties like some of my fellow 1312Flt colleagues!

Martin (Admin) · « **Reply #164 on:** October 06, 2012, 02:32:04 pm »

Sorry to rub it in but a very nice day here in Peterborough today!

Netleyned · « **Reply #165 on:** October 06, 2012, 05:00:25 pm »

The RRS John Biscoe used to spend the Summer in Grimsby to acclimatise the crew before she sailed South.

Ned

raflaunches · « **Reply #166 on:** October 07, 2012, 02:14:58 pm »

Quote from: Martin - Admin on October 06, 2012, 02:32:04 pm

Sorry to rub it in but a very nice day here in Peterborough today!

I think the curse of Martin's shirts has been passed on to me then, we have just had a bad weather report indicating snow showers over the islands and a top temperature of 6 deg C (minus the wind chill of course) so I am not expecting the temperature to rise above 0 tomorrow!

Its very ironic because of al the nice weather we have had all week (nice for the falklands) as soon as I am back on patrol duties for the camp the weather turns very nasty.
Today is my last day off for a week so unfortunately I won't be posting anything after today until Friday or Saturday, as they say in the mob 'that's life in a blue suit!' and 'you should not have joined if couldn't take a joke!'. Hopefully the bosses will be kind and allow us to finish early this week so I can give a account of the week.
Looking forward to two weeks time as we have a top table dinner for our W.O. who is leaving us for the 'warmer' climates of the UK. Should be a good laugh with all the improvised shirts and ties made from cardboard!

Less than 6 weeks to go now then I am on 6 weeks of well deserved leave, don't have to be back at work until the New Year! My Flight Sergeant told me he didn't want to see me until then so I am very happy- at least I can catch up with all my projects I have not finished yet.

Circlip · « **Reply #167 on:** October 09, 2012, 11:13:43 am »

Give the dog a biscuit and a cuddle Nick! :-

http://news.uk.msn.com/world/on-patrol-on-the-falkland-islands

Regards Ian.

raflaunches · « **Reply #168 on:** October 09, 2012, 02:52:17 pm »

Well I am still waiting to be called in to patrol the airfield but nothing so far-still I am not complaining the weather is particularly nasty at the moment with snow showers, sleet, rain and hail with gale force winds thrown in (the temperature is pretty cold too!- 5 deg C). I am organising a trip to Stanley next weekend to visit the wreck of the SS Lady Elizabeth which was beached in Port Stanley in the 1900's. Then we will walk up to Gypsy Cove to see some more penguins before moving on to the airfield to see the coastal guns situated on the hill.

Quote from: Circlip on October 09, 2012, 11:13:43 am

Give the dog a biscuit and a cuddle Nick! :-

http://news.uk.msn.com/world/on-patrol-on-the-falkland-islands

Regards Ian.

I will give the dog a biscuit, not sure about the cuddle as I know the dog (I think) as I saw him last week when I was on patrol!
We have a new member of team VASS who turned up on Friday, she has been here before but it was 10 years ago with Canberras of 39Sqn. She has unfortunately picked the short straw as she is stuck here over X-mas and the New Year. Could be worse- it could be me!!!
Spending a lot of our time in the Oasis cafe next to the church simply because it is the place to get the best coffee and cakes on MPA, meeting a lot of mates from Marham who have just arrived- feels like a small world when you meet old mates from your old camp in one of the smallest detachments in the RAF!

raflaunches · « **Reply #169 on:** October 17, 2012, 02:11:07 pm »

It appears that the gremlins are hard at it again with the forum since I have lost the last three or four posts on here.
If I remember correctly we were talking about the things I have missed whilst I have been in the Falklands- one of them being real proper bacon. Well last night I feel like calling in the complaints officer in the mess regarding blatant mis-advertising, one of the meal options was 'chicken wrapped with bacon' what we actually got was a piece of chicken with a 1cm x 2cm piece of bacon- not what I would consider 'wrapped' around the chicken!

Been up since 5am (Falkland Time) waiting for a jet that was supposed to land at 6am but didn't bother turning up until almost 8am, don't know how they could possibly be that late? We had a flight photograph for the entire 1312Flt detachment just to prove that we had been to the Falklands!
For certain we can visit Stanley and Fitzroy on Sunday (unless the weather changes again!) which is something we are all looking forward to, hopefully I can get some good pictures of the wreck of the Lady Elizabeth and see the port and landing ground where the Sir Tristam and Sir Galahad were hit.
Weather keeps changing from good to worse but at least today we can see Mt Pleasant peak which is usually covered in snow and cloud!

Stavros · « **Reply #170 on:** October 17, 2012, 09:48:58 pm »

Well it is so so simple really why they were late....................................they went for a Mc Donalds

Dave

raflaunches · « **Reply #171 on:** October 18, 2012, 01:56:27 pm »

Quote from: Stavros on October 17, 2012, 09:48:58 pm

Well it is so so simple really why they were late....................................they went for a Mc Donalds

Dave

Some how I don't think so, when they landed the airline company were French along with some very French aircrew! Strange only the week before we had the Italians down here too, next time I am expecting the Spanish or the Germans to turn up to enjoy the Falkland weather! The French crew didn't seem to be very happy to be landing in such a cold place!
Time is flying very quick down here because tomorrow I have to book my return ticket back to the UK then I have to ring up my boss back in the UK to ask him to make sure the leave plot is up to date so I won't be called in when I get back- can't wait to have almost six weeks of leave, he did say he didn't want to see me until the New Year!
I have thought of another thing I won't miss about MPA, the cold corridors whilst transiting around the base, the entire complex has a nick-name due to its size and internal complexities- The Death Star, whilst the accommodation area is now affectionately called the rabbit warren! The problem at the moment is that the weather has decided to be nasty again and has plunged well below double figures again

Spring has no meaning down here- just more variations of weather!
Looking forward to seeing every one back home- only 4 weeks to go before my replacement turns up, hope he has a good sense of humour for working down here!

irishcarguy · « **Reply #172 on:** October 18, 2012, 04:00:53 pm »

Hi Dave despite the fact your thread says little about boats I have read & enjoyed your daily reports, it has been a geography & history lesson all in one with a little bit of biology thrown in, thank you for that. However you never did answer my quesion on what Karts & motors you used down there, there is still time though LOL. Mick B.

raflaunches · « **Reply #173 on:** October 19, 2012, 05:59:08 pm »

Hi Mick

Sorry I thought I had, the go-karts are powered by Honda engines and thats about as much as I know about them, I know that they could turn very tight around the corners, that they were rear wheel drive and I spun my kart several times because I was not used to drive a rear wheel vehicle! Hopefully there will be some more boat stuff coming soon when I come back from Stanley and Fitzroy, Fitzroy being the location of the landing ships Sir's Tristram and Galahad were hit by Argentinian aircraft 30 years ago. I will be getting some pictures of the SS Lady Elizabeth, Jheulm, and some of the other wrecks around the Port.
Last night we was asked by my boss if we could escort the pilot of the airbridge jet down to Bertha's Beach so he could see some penguins, looking at the weather it was likely to rain but we said okay. As we arrived we were told by some paras that there was no point as they had just walked up the beach and there were no penguins. We knew other wise and started to walk. About half way up the beach we spotted some unusual shapes on the shore line so we went in to get a better view, we realised that the objects were two seal lions which we managed to get some good pictures of before they went back into the icy sea. Thrilled at this we continued up the beach where to our surprise we were treated to a fantastic display of surfing and jumping out of the water by a pod of Comstoners Dolphins about 20ft off shore!

Unfortunately for me they were too fast for my camera and all I got were dorsal fins but you could see the white spots on their bodies as they surfed through the waves! As we continued we eventually met the Gentoo Penguins this time in greater numbers, we evntually returned the pilot to his room about 4.5 hours of wallkiing up the beach!
The beach is named after the 500ton barque SS Bertha which was mentioned in an earlier post but the information board on the car park area gave alittle more info on the ship and what happened- She was lost and the compass was not working due to a magnetic anomoly in the area and she turned down the wrong side of the island now named 'Direction Island' and was wrecked in 1952.

Nick B

Bryan Young · « **Reply #174 on:** October 19, 2012, 06:21:19 pm »

Nick.
Talking about "Tristram"....I was her Nav. Officer for about 8 months.
All the LSL bars had a different decor. Tristrams was Olde Worlde country pub. Mock beams and Hunting scenes. There was also a (cased) stuffed Fox with a ciggie in its mouth ..and its head used to vibrate with the ships vibrations.
It was on this ship that we got machine gunned in Famagusta when the Turks invaded Cyprus in 1974. Then we scooted around to the old jetty in Dekhelia to load up with wives and kids of the local garrison. Happy days. All on my earlier blog.
Cheers. Bryan.

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Author Topic: Falkland Islands- what a detachment! (Read 112793 times)

Stavros