A History of RAF Saxa Vord

Sunday, 5 January 2014

ADGEEB (Control & Reporting Evaluation Team) – Saxa Visit 1974

When I joined the Air Defence world in 1967 there was an already long established organisation called the Control & Reporting Evaluation Team (known by most as “The Trappers”).It wasn't a large team, usually a Wg Cdr Boss, a Sqn Ldr, 3 Flt Lts and clerical support. The Officers would all be Fighter Controllers

The team had a number of responsibilities, one to which was the production of the quarterly C&R Bulletin. This contained news and stories about air defence activities and was usually a good read. Its main problem was that it was that it had to be classified secret and sometimes the distribution was complicated. Another of the Teams responsibilities was to visit air defence units and assess the competence of controllers and operators – both theoretically and practically – hence the nickname “The Trappers”.

Early in the 70’s the name of the team changed to the Air Defence Environment Examining Board, a bit of a mouthful so they were simply known to most by the acronym – ADGEEB. It was about this time that the Team assumed another major responsibility, that of assessing the capability of the students completing their courses at the School of Fighter Control (both controllers and operators).
Personnel at those at units expecting visits from the team spent many days studying and preparing for their assessment. Poor results could lead to remedial training or, in serious cases, posting. I can’t remember the frequency of visits but I think it was every couple of years. The Team would have visited Saxa Vord on a number of occasions and the first visit I have a record of was in Nov 59, just 2 years after the unit (91 SU as it then was) became operational. The members of the team then were, Sqn Ldr Akehurst, Flt Lts Holburn, Floyd, Salt and Duke. I’m afraid the names make me feel old – Les Akehurst was OC School of Fighter Control when I passed though it and I met Joe Salt (Maltese I seem to remember), but I can’t recollect where – both nice people.
The only visit to Saxa Vord by the “Trappers” I have enough data to produce a section on took place in 1974.The members of ADGEEB who arrived at the Unit on 3 May 74 were Wg Cdr Dave Owen, Flt Lt Taff Gwynne, Flt Lt Kelvin Holmes and Flt Lt Pat Gallanders. They can all be seen in this photo which was taken at RAF Bentley Priory.

As so often happens on remote stations, the “outsiders” seemed to be blessed by some good weather.

I expect much to the relief of the Senior Ops Officer and to the CO (Sqn Ldr Mike Boddy), unit personnel did well in their assessments. I notice that the Officers kindly allowed the SNCOs & Airmen to outperform them! The last picture in this section shows the relevant entry in the Saxa Operations Record Book (Form 540):

I’m grateful to Kelvin Holmes for allowing me to use his photos.

CONTENTS LIST

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

Sunday, 1 December 2013

Ray “Dickie” Dawson – 91 SU (Saxa Vord) 1957 to 59

A few RAF personnel, under the command of Flt Lt CA Davison DFM, had been on site in 1955 & 56 during the construction phase of Saxa Vord. However, the first large contingent of 66 airmen, who were to become part of the strength of 91SU, arrived on 20 Sep 57. A few days later a second party of 50 airmen arrived at Baltasound. This group included an MT Driver named Ray “Dickie” Dawson. It had not been a good trip from Lerwick and most of the lads had been very seasick. Unst must have seemed to be the end of the world. Ray stayed at 91 SU until late 1959, subsequently marrying an Unst girl. Fortunately he took a number of photos during his tour and has kindly allowed me to reproduce them.

The first Christmas must have been a bit of a make do affair – NAAFI didn’t arrive on Unst until 25 Jan 58. It is interesting to note that, even this early in the Units history, a party was laid on for local children. On 20 Dec 57 52 children were treated to a film show, games, food and a visit from Santa (complete with presents). With few cars and no public transport on Unst MT would have had to provide a taxi service.

The lads themselves entered into the festive spirit as can be seen in some of the photos taken inside one of the billet blocks over that first Christmas. (Left click on pictures to enlarge).

Ray worked in the MT Section and many of his photos reflect this. The next 2 pictures celebrate an important trophy. In 1957 a weekly magazine called Reveille released a picture of Bridget Bardot on its centre pages. The lady was issued in 3 sections so it was necessary to buy 3 consecutive magazines to make up the complete picture.

For a while a copy of the picture was on the wall in the MT Section but one night, when none of the MT staff were about, it was purloined and later found to be hanging at the Radar Heads. After a short while the MT Section made a foray into the secret and supposedly secure top site and recovered the picture. Ray tells me that the picture was misappropriated more than once but was always recovered. The plaque at the bottom of the next photo records the travels made by the mademoiselle:

A few more pictures featuring MT & personnel:

Those of you who have been to Saxa will know that the driving conditions are not always perfect! It should also be remembered that in the 50's roads were narrower and less well maintained.

Some of the incidents were more difficult to recover from than others, this Bedford water bowser being a case in point:

There again, back in those days they had an interesting tradition which has been discontinued – to the disappointment of many :-

And finally, there was always the odd beer or two in the evenings after a hard day at work:-

All of the photos above, apart from the Reveille thumbnail, belong to Ray Dawson. If anyone can add details (names etc) to any of them, it would be much appreciated.

CONTENTS LIST

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

Sunday, 3 November 2013

Midsummer Madness

The high latitude of Unst leads to long hours of daylight in the summer months – a period known locally as the “simmer dim”. Traditionally this period led to a certain amount of celebration and fun for those at Saxa Vord – every year there would be some form of midsummer activity, usually remembered by those who took part, long after they've left the islands. During my tour the activities included golf matches, sailing races and a Gala Day. Tales of Barbecues, Raft Races, Chariot Races and Sports Days abound and I would appreciate it if anyone has pictures of similar events they would be prepared to share – gordon.carleATgmail.com (replacing the AT with the usual symbol).
I have attached a few pictures from the late 70’s/early 80’s below and, at the end of this section put three links to other midsummer festivities covered previously in the blog.

Midsummer 1978
The 3 pictures here feature a Chariot Race and have come from Caroline & Maddy Madison. (Left click on pictures to enlarge):

Midsummer 1980

The next sequence of pictures is from George Keith and features another Chariot Race. There is also a shot of a rather dangerous looking egg-throwing competition at Burrafirth and an Officers’ Mess Barbecue on Balta.