Because of our RAF Recognition, we had a lot of support from the RAF - including when we went to camp we were always able to visit the local RAF Station. Not only that but, courtesy of the London Assistant Commissioner for Air Scouts, as much flying as we could manage.
Scouts was on a Friday night and involved a bus from the top of my road up to Streatham and then mile long walk down to the end of Sunnyhill Road. In all the time that I was involved in the troop, we used Sunnyhill School. They managed to obtain not only a large wooden building but also land to put it on just around the corner from the school in Harborough Road. I have gone looking on Street View but there appears to be a new block of houses on the site so I have no idea where they have gone. They are still in existence but I can't track down where their HQ is - sad.
OK - so - the best memories.
Summer Camp at Andover.
I must have been at work by now as we went as the Senior Scout patrol - The Guy Gibsons. We made a decision that we would not be involved in the camping competition which always ran during the camp with a patrol getting the award for the best run unit for camping standards, best food, etc. This decision was made because we felt that it was a bit beneath us to get involved with 'the kids'. However, by the Wednesday, we were so irritated by not being involved that we opted in. Needless to say, having given 'the kids' a 4 day head start - we won the competition! That's how to treat them - shamed grin!!
There were two visits arranged during the week. One was to the Army Air Corps Headquarters at Middle Wallop. They had a brilliant museum of Army Air Corp aircraft and I was so besotted that I decided there and then that I would apply to join up to fly helicopters. I subsequently found out that you had to join the Army and once in there for two years. you could take the induction test for a pilot. If you failed, then it was back to your unit! This did not appeal so I decided that the Fleet Air Arm as a 'copter pilot was for me. It had to be like this as, by now, I was wearing glasses for some activities, which was OK for a helicopter pilot but would fail you for other flying.
The second trip was to RAF Andover for a tour. Us older scouts got offered a trip to Oxford in an old Avro Anson communications aircraft. We naturally jumped at the chance. What they didn't explain was that they weren't coming back! Once at Oxford, they had to work out what to do with us. They had another Anson going to Bristol so off we went there! Again, no idea how were were to get back to Andover. Amazingly, when we got to Bristol, we were told that there was an Anson going to Andover but in 2 hours so we sat around - oh dear, what a trial - sitting on an airfield for 2 hours! So we eventually got back. What a great time we had.
This was the camp that I took my banjo to play at the camp fires. I gave no thought to damp nights and skin vellum on the banjo as a sounding board. The damp made it very loose so I had great fun playing whilst trying to ensure that the bridge didn't fall out!
Summer Camp at Broadstone Warren
Broadstone Warren is in Sussex near to Forest Row. I don't remember too much about the camp - but two things stick in my mind:
1. We were going out for the day and we ordered in some pies for the lunch pack. When they arrived they were off so we had to do something else. Being by now a bit short of food for the day, we made a great pile of tomato sauce sandwiches. Ian Cacutt ate some of the pies, insisting that they were fine. Guess how he spent the next 24 hours! Not much sleep going on there - grin.
The trip was to where I don't know but think it was to The Bluebell Railway at Uckfield. I know that we (the senior scouts) ended up standing around in Forest Row for some reason. This was the time when a hit tune from 'Most Happy Fella' was on every body's lips. Finding us 'standing on the corner', we knew exactly the song we should sing. Not a good advert for Scouting but great fun for middle-teenagers.
Flying
Mr. Scott-Chard was an ex-RAF bomber pilot and currently was a pilot for BOAC and also happened to be the Assistant Commissioner for London Air Scouts. He arranged to meet us at Biggin Hill airfield (of Battle of Britain fame) on one Sunday morning for what became a regular trip. The RAF gave us use of some woodland on the airfield so that we could camp.
So this is how it went: Bus to Streatham; walk down to Streatham Station to meet Roger and the rest; get on a 130 bus to New Addington; get off at the end of the line; hike the few miles across the valley from New Addington to Biggin Hill - with rucksacks on our back carrying everything for the weekend - tents, cooking utensils, sleeping bags, food, etc. Set up camp and have all day Saturday to watch the flying or to do stupid things like experimenting with cooking nettles! Scott-Chard would arrive on Sunday morning and that's when we got the big hit. Three of us would get in a Percival proctor or Prentice - if you were lucky you got in the front seat.
A Percival Prentice
Once there we would fly all over south London or as close as the ATC would allow us. I remember once being bawled out by Heathrow control when I was flying and drifted to far north into the London ATC area. NO wonder school work didn't seem important when we had this to do. Comes the late afternoon, we reversed the trip and hiked back.We were such regulars that when they opened a new control tower at Biggin Hill, we were chosen to be the Guard of Honour! The other benifet was that, when we came to take our Air Navigator badge, which required plotting a route for an aircraft, we were able to do it and then fly the aircraft along our plot - fantastic. Steve Brown and I were the lucky ones for this trip. On the Friday afternoon, we were cycling through Tooting - I have no idea why we were off school and what we were both doing in Tooting - I had a great funny idea - why don't I slam my brakes on and give Steve a fright. He didn't see the funny side as the broke his arm - and with a flying trip for his Air Navigator badge that weekend. None the less he made it and we both passed.
John Sillett
John was an icon to me and I still talk about him. He came along to the Scouts one Friday evening in his 'funny' ordinary Scout uniform - khaki shirt and a funny khaki scout scarf tied up in a knot - never seen that done before but that is how the 3rd Streatham Hill did things. He had come along to help out running the show. He proved to be a very knowledgeable guy - only a couple of years older than me but at time, this seemed like an age. He was a great lad and knew scouting inside out. Didn't know a lot about aircraft but you couldn't have everything. He left school and joined Lloyds Bank and I followed into banking later as you now know. He surprised us one day by telling us that he was leaving the bank as he had been accepted by The Royal Navy for pilot training. At the time he was riding a Vincent motorbike - Vincents were old 1,000cc hand built bikes and we could only look in awe.
So, off he went and we didn't expect to see him back. Now it is funny how you can suddenly go off people - he turned up one Friday night and we asked him how he had got here as wasn't he at some far off RAF station under training. Oh yes, he said, I am stationed near Swansea in Wales but I have my own personal Hawker Hunter T7 which I have flown down to Manston in Kent, where I keep my motor bike and I have ridden up from there - funny how liking can turn to hatred in an instant! - Grin.
A Navy Hunter T7
The last visit I remember changed my life because I had, at that time still an ambition to be a jet pilot and was determined to try for the Fleet Air Arm myself - looking back I would have been astounded if I had been accepted but there we go. I was talking to him about this and he gave me some advice. He was a pilot of a Fairey Gannet AEW3 search aircraft
He told me that there were eight in his training group at Dartmouth and he though that four would be lucky to survive the seven year stint because of the hugely fragile nature of Fleet Air Arm aircraft at that time and that I should reconsider my plans. He recounted an event that happened to him. I will first recount how I remember it and then add what I found out recently.
John's Crash
Gannets are/were strange aircraft in that they look like a single engined aircraft but actually have two Mamba engine side by side driving two propellers through a double shaft. John was one of the few to have a complete engine failure on landing. I originally understood that his aircraft had crashed just short of HMS Eagle, his carrier, and had flipped upside down due to the presence of a huge radome under the body of the aircraft. My memory sais that he was the first to get out of such a circumstance. However, now with the Internet as a tool, I have found out that he did crash off Singapore but climbed out onto one wing with his crewman on the other and both were OK. So I now know the truth.
Last Memories
As usual, I was the oldest in the troop so when 18 came along I left the Senior Scouts and moved back to helping with the troop. Once again, I had to wait for the others to catch up. Once we had a few 18 year olds we started a Rover Crew - again with me as the Rover Mate. I can't remember much of this time except for one occasion when we did an all night stint over one weekend supporting the troop on a night hike. They were off for the night and we were to provide soup half way through. This entailed us sitting around until about 1am - cooking soup - and then transporting it out to the woods - these were some way down in Surrey but I can't remember which woods they used. Having delivered the soup, we were at a loose end so someone suggested that we go to Brighton - the nearest seaside town to where we were. This trip resulted in two encounters with the Surrey police!
Once we arrived in Brighton we thought we would have a walk around - 2.30am - good idea? Maybe not. We walked along the sea front and then headed inland to walk through the shopping area. We did notice that a police car cruised past us on a few occasions but being Air Scouts in lawful pursuit of their business, we never assumed that it was us that they were watching. We weren't wearing our berets at this time so we missed the fact that there were no visible signs of our status. Eventually, they stopped us and on seeing that we all had sheath knives, were a bit taken aback - we then disclosed that we were Scouts on a night event and everyone calmed down.
Once our trip around Brighton became tedious, we all got back in the car and started out for home. We had got to Gatwick Airport when we were flagged down by a police car - this was becoming a habit. They were merely checking on what a car full of four lads was doing out at this time of night and approached very warily. Once again, on finding out that we were Scouts, they were relaxed and off we went again, finally to get home and bed after a great time out.
Final Days in the Scouts - For Now
Once again my age threw me out of the group - once I was 21 I could no longer be a Rover - so I took up as an Assistant Scout Master - they call them Scout Leaders nowadays. I took out a warrant and spent last year or so of my time as a single lad in Streatham working with the troop as a warranted leader. In the April of the next year, I got married and moved away so my connection with the Scouts was broken for some 13 years
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