Service Accommodation (1972 Style)
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Service Accommodation (1972 Style)
Following is a letter sent to the RAF Gan Island Post on 5 May 1972 in reply to a siggies complaint about his accommodation. Times don't seem to change.
Dear Editor,
I would like to answer 'Siggie' and a few others who have written to G.I.P. in the past few weeks about the state of the accommodation.
1. If DOE have made, as you say, little or no effort to improve things in the Barrack Blocks there must be a darn good reason for it.
I.e. works services cost money and only a certain amount of that is available in any one financial year for redecorations etc.
2. Gannites are always crying out for better off duty amenities and a good look round the Station will reveal a lot of DOE action in an endeavour to create and service these amenities, keeping then to a reasonable standard, e.g. 5 a side Football Court, Cpl's Club Squash Court; these all take up time and money.
3. Barrack blocks are also being improved and a major refitting has been, and is being carried out on a couple of Blocks - it could be your turn next.
4. On U.K. R.A.F. Stations it is common practice for people to apply through the correct channels (if you want improvement and DOE cannot help), for the equipment, i.e. Paint, Brushes and any other materials, and
do the job yourself on the self-help basis. It might be a good idea, Siggie, and your contempories to try and improve your accommodation yourself, as it might get you off your pit and stop you moaning for a while.
As for myself, I am happy in my (paid for) accommodation in block 48, for although it is slightly sub-standard in my opinion, my little corner is comfortable and clean by virtue of my own efforts.
"OGGIE" (MBE)
Dear Editor,
I would like to answer 'Siggie' and a few others who have written to G.I.P. in the past few weeks about the state of the accommodation.
1. If DOE have made, as you say, little or no effort to improve things in the Barrack Blocks there must be a darn good reason for it.
I.e. works services cost money and only a certain amount of that is available in any one financial year for redecorations etc.
2. Gannites are always crying out for better off duty amenities and a good look round the Station will reveal a lot of DOE action in an endeavour to create and service these amenities, keeping then to a reasonable standard, e.g. 5 a side Football Court, Cpl's Club Squash Court; these all take up time and money.
3. Barrack blocks are also being improved and a major refitting has been, and is being carried out on a couple of Blocks - it could be your turn next.
4. On U.K. R.A.F. Stations it is common practice for people to apply through the correct channels (if you want improvement and DOE cannot help), for the equipment, i.e. Paint, Brushes and any other materials, and
do the job yourself on the self-help basis. It might be a good idea, Siggie, and your contempories to try and improve your accommodation yourself, as it might get you off your pit and stop you moaning for a while.
As for myself, I am happy in my (paid for) accommodation in block 48, for although it is slightly sub-standard in my opinion, my little corner is comfortable and clean by virtue of my own efforts.
"OGGIE" (MBE)
Oggie should have been at Gan in the late 1950s as I was.
In those days we lived in brown tents that absorbed the heat - 30C + - of a tropical day (42-miles south of the equator) and they radiated it away throughout the night. We were never cool and didn't complain too loudly as everyone in the early days lived in tents, there was no alternative.
What we did complain about was the lack of R&R flights to Singapore as laid down in QR's or AMO's for personnel stuck at Gan. However we had the opportunity to rectify this when the C-in-C FEAF ACM The Earl of Bandon made his first visit to the island.
A good listener and never one for 'officialdom' he insisted on talking to us over a beer without other officers being present and asked what complaints we had. The main one raised was "why were Gan personnel were not being permitted to take advantage of the R & R indulgence flights to Singapore as laid down in Air Ministry Orders?"
He said he'd look into the matter on his return. He was PDQ because about two weeks later our complaints were answered and indulgence flights to Singapore were available and I was one of the many who took advantage of them.
With this sort of attitude he was regarded with a great deal of affection by his men. He was commonly known to those under his command as "The Abandoned Earl", or if you really knew him well as "Paddy".
Tony
Tropical Tents.
The C in C inspects the ground crew (under the command of Sgt Henry Moon) on his arrival.
The C in C meets his men. A good listener and never one for 'officialdom' he sorted out PDQ complaints that Gan personnel were not being permitted to take advantage of the R & R indulgence flights to Singapore as laid down in Air Ministry Orders.
In those days we lived in brown tents that absorbed the heat - 30C + - of a tropical day (42-miles south of the equator) and they radiated it away throughout the night. We were never cool and didn't complain too loudly as everyone in the early days lived in tents, there was no alternative.
What we did complain about was the lack of R&R flights to Singapore as laid down in QR's or AMO's for personnel stuck at Gan. However we had the opportunity to rectify this when the C-in-C FEAF ACM The Earl of Bandon made his first visit to the island.
A good listener and never one for 'officialdom' he insisted on talking to us over a beer without other officers being present and asked what complaints we had. The main one raised was "why were Gan personnel were not being permitted to take advantage of the R & R indulgence flights to Singapore as laid down in Air Ministry Orders?"
He said he'd look into the matter on his return. He was PDQ because about two weeks later our complaints were answered and indulgence flights to Singapore were available and I was one of the many who took advantage of them.
With this sort of attitude he was regarded with a great deal of affection by his men. He was commonly known to those under his command as "The Abandoned Earl", or if you really knew him well as "Paddy".
Tony
Tropical Tents.
The C in C inspects the ground crew (under the command of Sgt Henry Moon) on his arrival.
The C in C meets his men. A good listener and never one for 'officialdom' he sorted out PDQ complaints that Gan personnel were not being permitted to take advantage of the R & R indulgence flights to Singapore as laid down in Air Ministry Orders.
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A good listener and never one for 'officialdom' he insisted on talking to us over a beer without other officers being present and asked what complaints we had.
