2006 Closure Presentations and Shetland Times Articles

Just before the station finally closed the CO, Sqn Ldr Phil Carpenter, made a number of presentations to MOD Civilian Employees who had worked for a long time on the base. An article from the Shetland Times is printed below and is followed by three photos of the occasion. The names of the people in the first 2 photos are in the same order as in the Shetland Times article. (Left click on pictures to enlarge).

The RAF Ensign was passed to the Lerwick Branch of RAFA for safekeeping in case the unit should ever be reopened. The Ensign was accepted by Ken Shaw and Kenny Duncan, two Shetland RAFA members. The next 2 photos show the Ensign, the 2 RAFA representatives, the CO, Pam Mouat (last Civilian Admin Officer), Leslie Spence (the Guizar Jarl from the Norwick Up Uphelly Aa), plus one other yet to be identified.

Below is an article from the Shetland Times about Ken Shaw, one of the RAFA representatives:-

The last 2 pictures are of a Shetland Times Article which contains interviews with the last Station Commander and with the last RAF Officer to Leave Saxa on its closure.

CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html

Saxa Regains Independent Status - 1 April 2004

With the planned closure of RAF Buchan it was decided to grant Saxa Vord the status of an independent station again after 3 years as RRH Saxa Vord – Remote Radar Head – in effect a detachment parented by RAF Buchan. The changeover was to be recognised by a ceremony to be attended by the Air Officer Scotland and Northern Island (AOSNI) and a flypast by a Nimrod. The formal proceedings were to be followed by suitable festivities. The planned activities for the day are laid out in the 2 page letter below. (Left click on pictures to enlarge)

The significance of the event was recognised in advance in the local press. The articles below are from the Shetland Times and the Shetland News.

The next 2 articles, from the Shetland News and the RAF News, report on the events of 1 April.

The final picture is of a page from the Unit F540 (The official Station History), which has since been declassified. As is not unusual bad weather and unserviceability caused one or two changes to the programme but I’m sure that they had little effect on the festivities.

CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html

AOCs Inspection 1988 AVM RH Palin (updated 20 Jul 17)

The AOC’s Inspection in 1988 took place on 18 May and was carried out by Air Vice Marshal RH Palin OBE MA psc. The Station Commander was Sqn Ldr Peter Hunter. I have no other information about this event and only the 3 photos below. (Left click on pictures to enlarge).

 

Added 20 July 2017

Andrew Thorpe was the Station Photographer during his tour at Saxa Vord. He took many interesting pictures during his time on Unst and I hope to publish more in the future. He was the official photographer during the 1988 AOC's Inspection and probably took the three photos already used in this section, attributed to MOD. Fortunately, Andrew has more pictures of the  event and has allowed me to add them to the blog. All of the pictures below have come from Andrew:

 

 

 

 

My thanks to Andrew for allowing me to post these pictures on the blog.



CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html

Visit of AOC in C Strike Command Sir Michael Graydon and trip to Muckle Flugga

In 1992 the Unit was visited by Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon, who was accompanied by his wife Margaret. Sir Michael visited a number of sections on both the Domestic & Top Sites. His wife visited some parts of the lower site, including the Station Library and the Station Medical Centre. The Station Commander at the time of the visit was Sqn Ldr Nick (Flash) Gordon.
The AOC in C , his wife and the CO were lucky enough to have good weather and were able to make a visit to the Lighthouse on Muckle Flugga. By this time the lighthouse had 6 keepers, 3 on duty at any one time, working a month on and a month off. Watch changeover and resupply was normally done by helicopter.

CONTENTS LIST

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S259 Radar at Saxa

I have been finding it difficult to assemble a complete picture of the S259 at Saxa, possibly because it was always envisaged as a standby for the main search radar and therefore was not in use for long periods. I would be very happy if anyone can add to the information below or can correct any mistakes I may have made – gordon.carle@gmail.com
It appears that the Type 80 was the only search radar on site from the removal of the Type 14 in Sep 1964 until what I think was the first 1ACC deployment in 1971. During Type 80 down times in this period I assume that the airspace which Saxa was normally responsible for was taken over by the High Powered Reporting Post in the Faeroes and by the Master Radar Station at Buchan. This must have been a strain to the system during long off the air periods such as AMTG & APOs (Annual Maintenance – Turning Gear & Air Plant Overhaul if my memory still works).

In 1971 an S259 with personnel from 1ACC was deployed to Saxa to cover the Type 80 AMTG from 11 to 24 Sep. The radar was finally despatched from Unst by sea afterwards in Jan 72.

In the summer of 1972 an S259 was deployed by 1ACC from Wattisham, together with a Chief Technician and 7 airmen, to cover for the AMTG in August. The S259 was sited beside the T80 Radome. This time the equipment was shipped out in Oct by Puma and Hercules (photos earlier in the Blog - http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.com/2010/05/special-deliveries.html

Although a UPS1 was delivered to the unit in June 1973 an S259 was again deployed in that year by 1ACC to cover the Type 80s AMTG & APO from the 29 Jul to 12 Aug. On this occasion the radar was not sent straight back to Wattisham. Higher authority had decided that it should be temporarily installed within the Type 80 radome. This was done and flight trials were held to judge performance in Feb 74 – these trials were not particularly successful. I am grateful to Bob Jenner for supplying the photo of the S259 in the Type 80 radome shown below: (Left click on pictures to enlarge).

However, because of continuing problems with the UPS1, the S259 stood in whilst the Type 80 was off for maintenance for 5 days in March. It was to continue as the standby radar for the rest of 1974.

In Jan 1975 some of the 1ACC staff were changed over but the radar was retained at Saxa in the standby role. Because of major problems with the UPS1 the S259 was transferred to Saxa on a formal basis in Feb (UPS1 shipped out for good in Jul 75). In Sep 75 the S259 was taken out of the radome and used to cover for the Type 80 AMTG and the APO in Oct before being returned to the radome in November.

The S259 continued as the standby search radar for some years and was used extensively during the reconstruction of the Top Site (1976 – 79). I’m not sure of its role after the removal of the Type 80 and the commissioning of the back to back S649 but presumably it was still needed to cover periods of turning gear maintenance. The S259 was given its own radome on the pedestal of the old Type 80 dome and the comparative sizes of the equipment are easy to judge in some of the photos below.

The last picture shows the half dismantled radome to the right of the image and is dated 1984 so I presume it went out of service before that time. Quite possibly it was one of the S259s which were shipped to the South Atlantic during the Falklands Conflict in 1982 and didn’t return to Saxa.

CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html