Cranwell
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89ers since 1966
Members Actions, Events
& Stories
The following section is a mix
of stories (Short & Long) of individual actions and experiences some
amusing, some very sad, some life changing but all historic. All the stories
demonstrate the professionalism, dedication, and flexibility united by
comradeship within 89 Entry, the RAF College and the Royal Air Force in the
latter part of the 20th century - "Superna Petimus"
It is in time line
order.....
1. Andy Griffin - First tour 56
Squadron - 1968
2. Pete Thompson - 74 Squadron -
1968
3. Dick Shuster AFC - 81 Squadron -
1969
4. Dick Northcote - Shortless in
Tengah - 1970
5. Frank Whitehouse - 74 Squadron -
1970
6.
Ian Robertson - Operation DeepFreeze - 1972
7. A weekend in Las Vegas - 1974
8. The Falklands War - 1982
9.
The Old Wing Co to The Old
Book Co - "JC" Newland - 1990 and on
1968
- First Tour - Lightnings in Cyprus - Andy Griffin
Andy
Griffin (89B) completed the Lightning OCU in June 1968 together with Ron Shimmons
(89B), Frank Whitehouse (89B). They were 3 of 4 pilots on the course. Andy
reports that unconventionally their instructor gathered them together and announced that there was one posting to Singapore (74 Sqn) one to Cyprus
(56 Sqn) and 2 to Wattisham. The 4 names were put in a hat. First out
was Frank to Singapore, second Andy to Cyprus and the other 2 to Wattisham. So
Andy went off to Akrotiri to join 56, his first operational squadron.
56 squadron
was very experienced and independent having more or less written its own rules and training
schedule. These were far more realistic than in the UK. Examples included combat training down to 7,000ft
( UK squadrons were restricted to 20,000ft) with a great emphasis on the daytime low-level fighter-bomber threat. Add to this the fact that the radar
providing control and surveillance was at the top of Mount Olympus and
could see a low level target at a range of 100nm, and they were ready for anything.
The main limitation was the limited range of the Lightning F3. |
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56 squadrons primary task was to protect the local airspace. 2 aircraft were
held on 10 minutes standby during daylight hours (and 90 minutes at night). These were used to scramble, intercept and identify any aircraft that might be seen to threaten the sovereign base areas of Cyprus.
Their main day-to-day trade came from Soviet-manned TU16 “Badger” bombers used for maritime reconnaissance
mainly watching US 6th Fleet. They operated out of Egypt and carried Egyptian markings
but with trim tabs painted red if they were soviet manned.
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Up until June 68 the squadron we
had not achieved an interception against a Badger, because as the
Lightnings got airborne the Badgers always turned away. Clearly they were
monitoring all RAF frequencies. Akrotiri was naïve enough to announce on
the R/T that the Battle Flight was “scrambling” - all very 1940 and
gung ho!
Eventually someone came up with the bright idea of a completely silent scramble. The pilot took off without any calls, accelerating to Mach 1.3 at 25,000 feet.
Then guided by ground radar, once in position the pilot turned his own radar on and completed the intercept. The target was visibly surprised the first time.
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It has been said in those days that you would meet the entire RAF if you stood in the Akrotiri mess bar for long enough
since they were visited by countless detachments from the UK as well as aircraft
en-route to the Far East.
56 squadron had a slightly unfair reputation for not being very hospitable, but
they were only 15 pilots set against hundreds of visiting aircraft. The record for a
"kebab" hosted by 56 in Limassol was 139 people.
To maintain air to
air refueling practice, Akrotiri was visited by a Victor K1 tanker every few months.
As a result someone decided that they could use the tanker to enable
them to intercept visitors rather further away than the usual 30nm or so. One
day Akrotiri was due to be visited by the very first Phantom detachment (from 54 Sqn).
It had been 56s habit to intercept all fast-jet visitors. After much bar planning, it was decided to mount one of the first ever tanker CAPs at about 60nm west of Akrotiri. OCA and
Andy were the first pair and duly sat with the tanker awaiting GCI information. They were duly
informed of a target and as planned set up in long line astern.
OCA, the leader was some 10-15 nm ahead of Andy going well when OCA saw the target visually and announced, in somewhat miffed tones, that it was a Vulcan and he was going back to the tanker.
At this stage
radar announced that they had a real target; 27 miles on the nose!
Andy....
None of this
"joining on the port and waving at the captain" stuff!
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"With the defence of the Near East resting on
my youthful shoulders this was no time for caution. The Phantoms were doing about 480kts and, as I failed to notice,
were descending from cruise altitude to low level. I pressed on regardless and eventually claimed my kill at about 3,000ft. What I signally failed to check was
my fuel state and the distance from base. Normally this would have been no real problem as most intercepts were very close in, but this was 110nm away.
There seemed to be a great deal more sea between me and the runway than there was fuel in
my tanks.
Fortunately there were more professional aviators around than I that day and the tanker captain, Jock Carrol (OC Standards at Marham
I believe) was doing his Mach 0.72 best to keep up. The threat of a few MAYDAY calls got a good heading to the tanker and while Jock swapped OCA from the good hose to the dodgy one, l completed the smoothest tanker join and contact in history; none of this
"joining on the port and waving at the captain" stuff! Actually, l think he backed it on. I didn't go below 20001b fuel for weeks after that."
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Andy reports that he was lucky to serve on a squadron under 2 flight commanders with considerable vision. The first was largely responsible for the different and very realistic way of training that 56 adopted. The second helped
him enormously and allowed a callow youth to avoid too many mistakes. Although
56 suffered from terrible serviceability and poor aircraft availability – to the extent that 11 Squadron had to be deployed to help
cover the Battle Flight commitment – the flying was excellent. 56 also enjoyed a first-class relationship with 280 Signals Unit,
their resident control and reporting radar unit. Some of the Squadron’s tactics led the way to improvements in the way the UK squadrons operated.
The squadron was lucky to have so many visitors so they could practise against a variety of threats from resident Canberras and later Vulcans, through visiting Buccaneers, Phantoms and Harriers.
Andy remains eternally grateful that he drew this wonderful tour out of a hat – not to mention
Andy's wife who served at 280 SU.
(This
is an expurgated version of Andy Griffin's story - Click here for the complete
version)
1968
- Tragedy in Singapore - Pete Thompson
On 12 September 1968
Pete Thompson (89C) was piloting the second aircraft of a pair of 74 Squadron
Lightnings recovering to Tengah. Whilst downwind, a reheat fire warning was illuminated
but Peter elected to attempt to land. Without warning his aircraft pitched up, dropped one wing and entered a flat spin. He ejected very close to the ground but the main parachute failed to deploy and he was killed on impact.
Subsequent investigations found that a wrongly-connected fuel line had allowed fuel to leak into the reheat bay and collect there, where it ignited. The resultant fire burnt through the magnesium alloy control rods, causing the nose to pitch up as elevator control was lost
leaving Peter with no control.
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1969
- Dodgy landing in Darwin - Dick Shuster
On 2nd August 1969
Dick Shuster (89C) was the
pilot of a Canberra aircraft of No 81 Squadron, engaged on a routine
training flight from Darwin Australia. He
started a descent from 29,000 feet approximately 400 miles south of Darwin and
almost immediately there was a loud bang and the cockpit filled with smoke.
Dick found that he had no elevator control and
correctly diagnosed that the explosive unit, which normally severs the elevator
control rod during an ejection sequence, had operated.
Dick
brought the aircraft under control using his
tailplane incidence trim switch. He
then flew the aircraft towards Darwin, which was the nearest suitable airfield. During
the descent into Darwin Dick checked aircraft handling at low speed with the undercarriage down.
He discovered that there was slow response to the trim control, but by judicious use
of engine power and trim he could hold reasonably accurate speeds.
Adjustments to the rate of descent could be achieved by airbrake
selections, but he decided against the use of flaps since he had insufficient
control to overcome the marked change of trim in the Canberra aircraft when the
flaps are lowered. A flapless
landing was therefore inevitable.
The weather at Darwin was good but the wind
was gusting to 20 knots on the runway in use, which was not equipped with a
barrier. Before
starting a long gradual descent into Darwin Dick ordered
the escape hatch to be jettisoned into the sea so that the navigator could eject
quickly if control of the aircraft were lost.
The speed and the correct rate of descent were maintained by holding the
power constant, making slight trim adjustments, and by constantly cycling the
airbrakes. The last part of
the descent had to be made at higher speed than normal because of the crudeness
of control; thus the final problem
was the possibility of the aircraft ballooning uncontrollably into the air after
touchdown. Dick was fully aware of this and as he trimmed to level out over the runway
he throttled back, selected full air brake and opened his flare doors to destroy
as much lift as possible, at the same time being ready to order his navigator to
eject. As the result of his skill, forethought and perfect judgment the landing
was made with no damage to the aircraft.
For
his actions Dick received the Air Force Cross and was the first member of 89
entry to do so. The AFC citation states - "The incident reflects credit on both crew members but particularly on the
pilot and captain, Flight Lieutenant Shuster.
He is relatively inexperienced, yet he made a very cool assessment of his
problem and took firm control of his disabled aircraft which was particularly
difficult to fly. He would have been completely justified in abandoning an aircraft in such a
dangerous state 400 miles from a suitable airfield...... Had the aircraft crashed or been abandoned it is doubtful whether the
fault could ever have been positively identified.
This young pilot, at considerable personal risk saved an expensive
aircraft and made a valuable contribution to flight safety.
He displayed gallantry, determination and coolness of the highest order
in the face of danger. He demonstrated high ability, and a marked sense of
responsibility in an extreme situation which reflects the greatest credit upon
himself and is in keeping with the highest traditions of the Royal Air Force."
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1970
- Trained to take orders? - Officer's mess Tengah
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Dick
Northcote (89D) relates this brief tale about meeting up with Frank Whitehouse
(89B) in Tengah around June 1970, just a few weeks before Frank's demise in 1970. Frank was on Lightnings on No 74 Tiger Sqn based in Tengah and I was visiting with no 54(F) Sqn flying Phantoms as part of a 5 week detachment on Ex Bersatu
Padu. |
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This exercise involved flying detachments from Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The obvious place for the first aircrew meeting was the downstairs scruff's bar in the Officers Mess at Tengah. Some 100 aircrew crowded into the bar and got stuck in. This was around 5pm. The bar itself was tailor-made for the occasion being about 50 yards long and manned by around 5 barmen.
Around 6pm I spotted Frank at the far end of the bar just as he spotted me. We had not met since 1966. We started to make our way towards each other through the by now rather merry crowd. Unfortunately one of the chaps decided to throw a rugby ball into the middle of the crowd and a huge scrum ensued. After a bit of a struggle and a few bad tackles, we finally shook hands, extracted ourselves and found a place at the bar to carry on with the beers.
It was at this point that the PMC appeared in the doorway and called for quiet. I should point out that virtually the whole crowd were in shorts as was allowed.... up to a point.
" Gentlemen you should be aware that mess rules do not allow shorts in the bar after
6pm". There was a short pause (no pun intended) and without a by-your-leave, the whole crowd removed their shorts and called for more beer.
Frank and I continued the detachment in a similar vein and I was probably the last person to fly with him when he took me up for a trip in the 2 seater Lightning.
As we all know, a few weeks later when we had all returned to our home bases, sadly Frank died demonstrating a vertical climb after takeoff from Tengah. A great guy of whom I'm sure we all have fond memories.
[Les
Quigley - We do -"Ill
never forget the College Hall Porter's eyes when Frank, stark naked, wet and
still dripping, led 2 of us (me fully dressed but completely soaked)
through the main entrance of the College and across the "sacred
carpet" at around 01:00 Hrs (The "Mekon" - {the Hall Porter's
nick name} - really did look his name!). Our conditions reflected the fact that
we had both lost in the game of Pirates on the lake of a local country club.
"Pirates" involved as many cadets as possible cramming into row boats
and kayaks all wielding drill swords with opposing squadrons attacking each
other. Frank fell out of his row boat whilst my kayak rolled over and turned
into a submarine. This left us both rather wet. Frank was driving us back to
College so he whipped off all his clothes to save wetting his car - I kept mine
on as there were ladies about!]
1970
- Another 74 Squadron Tragedy in Singapore - Frank Whitehouse
On 27
July 1970 Frank Whitehouse (89B) was piloting Lightning XS930 and was the second aircraft of a
pair. The pilots were briefed to carry out a rotation take-off. This required them to climb very steeply. XS930 stalled at approximately 600 feet and fell out of the sky.
Frank ejected but was too close to the ground, his parachute failed to open so
he was killed on impact. The aircraft hit a built up area killing two
civilians and destroying & damaging over one hundred private buildings.
Because the rotation take-off was not a common event it and the total tragedy
was being filmed.
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After
a full funeral service and cremation in Singapore, Frank's ashes were flown home
and interred in the Commonwealth War Graves section at Cranwell village church
cemetery.
The
subsequent investigation determined that following an accident to another
Lightning (XS928) earlier in the same year, a new approach to fuel management
had been adopted, following advice from BAC, the Lightning’s manufacturer. The change meant that the flight refuel fuel switch was selected until the aircraft was airborne. This meant that the ventral tank fuel pump was not selected and therefore not working whilst the aircraft was on the ground.
The reason for this was that XS928 had suffered fire damage due to fuel venting onto its wings whilst on the ground at
Tengah.
The investigation determined that this new approach was flawed as it was not realised that using the fuel from the wing tanks instead of the ventral tank would move the centre of gravity
towards the tail. On the mission that saw the loss of Frank in XS930, the aircraft had to wait on the ground and taxi further to reach the runway, meaning a higher consumption of the fuel in the wing tanks. It was established by the Board of Inquiry that the CoG was moved outside of safe limits. This meant that when the pilot pulled hard on the control column to initiate a steep take-off, the aircraft over-rotated, climbing nearly vertically and reaching approximately 500 feet purely due to the reheated thrust of the engines before stalling.
1972 -
Operation DEEP FREEZE - Ian Robertson
Towards the end of 1972 Ian Robertson (89C) was a Hercules
pilot on 36 squadron based at RAF Lyneham and coming to the end of his
first tour as an aircraft captain. Ian was selected to captain the 36
Squadron crew chosen to participate in Operation Deep Freeze flying from
Christchurch in New Zealand to Williams Field, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.
Other crews were selected from each of the UK based Hercules squadrons,
24, 30, 47 and the OCU.
Earlier in 1972 the US Navy had crashed two ski-equipped C-130s on the
icy continent. At the same time the polar expedition site at the South
Pole was needing rebuilt because the existing structure was being crushed
by the weight of many years of snow building up on it. As a result the USA
put out a request to other nations to help with the airlift of timber to
Antarctica. Needless to say the RAF volunteered to provide a small
detachment of 2 aircraft, 5 crews and servicing personnel to operate
between New Zealand and the sea-ice runway at Williams Field. |
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The sea-ice runway was created every year on the freshly frozen sea within
McMurdo Sound by melting the top surface of the ice to make it smooth and
suitable for aircraft with wheels rather than skis. This runway only lasted for
a few months. There was another runway at McMurdo on the shore but it was rough
and only suitable for ski-equipped aircraft. The sea runway was called Williams
Field after a US serviceman named Williams whose tractor fell through a crack in
the runway and took him to the seabed at the start of a previous Antarctic
summer.
RAF
C130 in Christchurch |
The RAF detachment deployed to Christchurch in mid-November
and were based in US Navy accommodation at Christchurch airfield. Not only
were they living in ‘US’ accommodation but all the on-base food was
flown in from the USA by a weekly resupply flight! Because of this
arrangement their allowances amounted to 2$ US per day which made getting
out to see the sights of NZ somewhat difficult. This was around the time
of the UK’s entry in to the ‘Common Market’ and Ian remembers being
asked by a large Kiwi farmer over a couple of beers in a local pub if he
could manage to take his flock of sheep back to the UK for him! (He
never divulged his answer but he does enjoy a regular meal of New Zealand
lamb!)
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The flights were fairly regular but with few if any suitable diversions
beyond the south of South Island and with Antarctic weather being
difficult to forecast the navigators were working hard calculating ‘critical
points and points of no return’ as well as employing grid/gyro
navigation. The young C130s which entered RAF service in 1966/7 still
relied upon magnetic compasses etc which were of little use in arctic
regions. Navigation here was a dark art in which a grid/gyro system was
employed which had us heading ‘north’ from NZ to go to the South Pole!
Each crew did at least three shuttles from Christchurch to
the ice with the round trip taking about 14 hours in the air plus however
long it took to unload and refuel at Williams Field so each trip was at
least an 18 hour crew duty day. Refueling was done on the sea-ice runway
from rubber bladder tanks each of which held 100,000 US gallons when full.
As there were no ground power units on the sea-ice area refueling and
unloading was done using the aircraft APU. IanI remembers a moment of
panic when, as a triple pallet of timber was being pulled from my
aircraft, the aircraft nose wheel lifted from the surface. The aircraft
was effectively sitting on its rear wheels with its APU running connected
to a large rubber fuel tank full of aviation fuel on top of a layer of ice
above the ocean. Ian was back in the cockpit in seconds with his feet on
the brakes while the loadmaster reversed the offload and restored balance. |
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As an arranged PR effort, on their last flight having
offloaded at Williams they flew over the route followed by Scott on his
epic trek to the South Pole. This involved flying up the glacier and over
the mountain range that Scott and team manhandled their sleds up before
descending on to the plateau at about 10,000ft AMSL upon which the South
Pole station is located. Ian could not land at the Pole as the only runway
is again only for ski equipped aircraft but he did fly over the site of
the Pole which is ringed by the flags of the various nations and had
photographs taken of an RAF Herc over the spot. The ski equipped aircraft
do not stop for any length of time after landing here as the surface
temperatures can get so low that the aircraft can freeze to the ice so
they developed a technique of offloading either while taxiing slowly or
backing the aircraft up to barrels and pushing pallets of the aircraft on
to these barrels. A very harsh operating environment. |
For any plane spotters the RAF airframe used for the South Pole flight was
XV193. The other aircraft deployed and the one Ian and hiscrew flew back to the
UK via Samoa, Hawaii and mainland USA was XV306. They arrived back at Lyneham on
the evening of 19 December just in time for Christmas!!
1974
- Pilots from 89 A, B & D Squadrons meet up in Las Vegas
In 1974, some 8 years after graduating, Black Robertson, Dick Northcote and Ron Shimmons found themselves on exchange tours in the States
- Black was at Luke AFB, Arizona, as an Instructor Pilot on Phantoms; Dick was there too doing the
Instructor Pilot course prior to his tour at MacDill AFB in Florida whilst Ron was flying U2s from Edwards AFB,
California.
Black
Robertson |
Ron
Shimmons (Right)
with
(left) Ian McBride, another RAF exchange officer |
Dick
Northcote |
It seemed churlish not to meet at a central point for a weekend together and Las Vegas was only a short 5-hour drive away for everyone.
So it was that in May 1974 the 3 of them, with wives, found themselves at a table for 6 in Caesars Palace watching a magnificent performance by Diana Ross. Not exactly something they expected to be doing when they last met together at
Cranwell. The weekend was a great success, the casinos helped themselves to their dollars and they all then went their separate ways to continue their tours. |
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1982
- Falklands
War Veterans
1982
- Leading 1 Squadron - Pete Squire
Pete
Squire |
In 1982
Peter Squire (89A) commanded 1 squadron in the Falklands War. Jerry Pook
also of 89A was one of his Flight Commanders.
They flew with the squadron to CFB Goose Bay in Canada on 13 April 1982, on a six-hour flight using air-to-air refuelling for an
exercise. The squadron departed for the Falklands on 3 May 1982 from RAF St
Mawgan, flying to RAF Ascension Island, where a few days later it boarded the merchant transport ship SS Atlantic
Conveyor. Arriving in the South Atlantic Ocean, the squadron transferred from the Atlantic Conveyor to HMS Hermes, a few days before the Atlantic Conveyor was attacked by the Argentine Navy sunk by two Exocet
missiles.
No.1 (F) Squadron was the first
R.A.F. unit to operate in a combat role from a British aircraft carrier since the World War
II. With No.1 (F) Squadron R.A.F. assigned to a ground-attack role in the conflict,
Peter personally flew twenty four sorties against Argentine positions in support of British Army and Royal Marines operations on West Falkland and East Falkland. During one attack a 7.62mm bullet fired from the ground penetrated his harrier's cockpit.
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On 8 June 1982
Peter suffered an engine failure whilst landing at a forward operating base behind British lines at San Carlos and crashed the
aircraft, walking away uninjured. On 13 June 1982 he was the first R.A.F. pilot to drop a laser-guided bomb in action during fighting at Mount
Longdon, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
Four Harriers from No.1 (F) Squadron of its ten combat strength were lost during the war, three to enemy ground fire, and one (piloted by
Peter) through engine failure whilst in
flight. After the war, whilst still in the Falklands, on 6 November 1982 Squire again suffered engine failure whilst out on a routine patrol, and was forced to eject from the aircraft at low altitude near Cape Pembroke, being rescued from the sea uninjured by a Royal Navy
helicopter |
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1982
- Jerry Pook earns his DFC
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Jerry Pook (89A)
was flight commander in 1(F) Squadron. He had been nominated mission leader throughout the invasion phase, conducting 23 attack
sorties from the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes. Jerry led missions on 21 and 27 May 1982 which destroyed probably four Argentinian helicopters,
with him personally destroying two Pumas on the ground despite SA and SAM
defences. He also led two successful attacks on Goose Green in the face of very heavy anti-aircraft fire, the second against a large calibre gun which was destroyed causing heavy casualties; this helped 2 Para Regt obtain the surrender of the troops in that area. On 30 May 1982
Jerry's Harrier was hit while attacking a gun position on Mount Harriet. He nevertheless pressed home his attack but, as a result of system damage to his aircraft, he had to eject over the sea 30 NM from HMS HERMES.
As he descended in his parachute he recalls the relief of hearing the
navy's helicopters coming to his aid. This relief was soon tempered when
he hit the ice cold South Atlantic water and had difficulty with his life
raft. Luckily the Navy arrived in the nick of time to pluck him out of the
water. |
Despite
his ordeal Jerry was back on operations within 48 hours.
His DFC citation states ... "His determination was undiminished by the experience and he has continued to display considerable courage and great professionalism."
1990
and on - The Old Wing Co to The Old Book Co - "JC" Newland
John
Newland or "JC", as he introduced himself when we first
met, joined C Squadron back in September 1963. His target was the
Secretarial branch, although he admits to being a little uncertain as to
whether he would stay at Cranwell as he also had a place at University
which started a month later. So he did not bother unpacking for several
weeks! However, once he got his kit, a nice new hairy uniform,
shreddies and all, and found that he was given a free bed in a freezing
cold hut with 3 friendly mates he decided to stay to help stoke the fire.
Some 24 years later after serving in many RAF stations around the world,
including such exotic postings as RAF Majunga (bloody hot) and RAF Stanley
(bloody cold) he decided it was time to move on .....
"I
decided to retire at 44. Why? Well, the pension seemed outrageously generous, and I really wanted to have a go at running my own business. But what to
do?
Whilst in the RAF I'd collected PG Wodehouse 1st editions and, from that, drifted into selling a few collectable books at Book Fairs to fund my collection. It had worked out quite well, so I thought I would become a second hand book dealer. Within a couple of weeks of leaving the RAF, I realized I was a rank amateur among some very knowledgeable, clever and skilled professionals. My knowledge was woefully thin. I had to educate myself and quickly. |
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A few days later, standing in a bookshop in Cheltenham, I heard the owner chatting to a customer. He had to go away and needed someone to run the shop. ' I might be able to help' I said and was immediately hired. I found out later that the reason he wanted to go away was that there was a VAT inspection due the next week. The next day I found myself running a very scruffy, part derelict bookshop in the centre of Cheltenham. It was dark, dingy, in a parlous financial state, full of largely unsaleable books, but with a sprinkling of interesting and sought after books at the bottom of piles or in the rat infested basement. However I was now able to educate myself by talking to the stream of dealers, collectors, bibliofiles who passed through the shop.
But not everyone fell into those categories. Early on a 'county' lady appeared, a resurrection of Lady
Bracknell. 'Do you sell poetry books?' Her voice boomed out, cutting through the silence of the shop. It had clearly been honed to be heard across the hunting field. She looked me up and with some distaste. I was 'trade' and not someone she would normally meet, let alone have to speak to. 'Yes' I said 'We have a poetry section'. 'Well I've had a letter from a friend in India She wants some poem by Wordsworth' . She rummaged through her handbag and found a letter. 'I don't suppose you've heard of it, but it begins - what was it- ah yes 'Oh to be in England now that April's there.' 'I can help you there' I said, pleased that for once my knowledge of English literature was up to the challenge. 'That's the opening line of 'Home thoughts from abroad', but I think you'll find it's by Browning rather than Wordsworth.' She looked at me with disdain. 'No it isn't ' The words 'you silly little man' -though unspoken- hung in the air. 'It's by Wordsworth. Look Wordsworth.' She thrust her friend's letter in my face. 'I'll go and find it myself. Where's the poetry section?'. I pointed to the poetry shelf. She went over, and started rummaging in the 'Ws'. I followed and took out a copy of the complete works of Robert Browning. You'll find that every bookshop has a number of unsold copies. I looked up 'Home thoughts from abroad' 'Here it is' I said 'Oh to be in England now that April's there'. 'Well' she conceded 'It's the right words, but, I've told you twice, I want the Wordsworth version.'
With that, she swept out of the shop without making a purchase. Well, the customer's always right.
Oh and by the way, my wife and I are still full time booksellers some 32 years later. "
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I can personally recommend JC's book business - I
needed a copy of Wing Commander Derek Naborro's book "Wait for the
dawn" (which was well out of print), as I was planning to do something we
had planned to do as Cadets at Cranwell back in 1965. That was to follow his
escape route from a German POW camp to Gibraltar. He did it when he was just 19.
(We never did it at Cranwell because of cost - now it's a relatively cheap
holiday route!) Needless to say JC produced the book immediately!
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