Nice to hear about you Martin,

Its been a long time, not that we knew each other well, I was more friendly with Allan Pullen and Terry Waite. I was an armourer working on the Jags, it was my first time there, having arrived just before xmas. I was a bit young, had my 21st there in march, still have the photos of my cake in the shape of a bomb.  I had been to Tarqa the weekend before and a couple of times prior probably in the same bus ! (a toyota coaster as I remember).  my mate Martin Rush (Flash as everyone called him, he was ex navy and work on the Hunters) and I had more plans to go there but we were working that afternoon you caught the bus. We went to Salalah the next day, got in about 8.30 having set off from Thumrait in a blue land cruiser early planned to go to beer can bay, and then heard the news. I remember you coming back to Salalah, lots of cuts as I was told. Chris was not injured but  didn’t look well. I cant remember seeing you again.  He came back to Thumrait I seem to remember but only for a short time. We all had strange emotions at that time, some shock and grief and anger, even if I didn’t know some of the lads well it hit us all hard.

I went on the month long break at the end of June, as I remember it made the newspapers in UK for a day, but to put it in perspective even Microsoft hadn’t started then, no mobiles phones only strange things called letters !! It was different times. I came back did my year and never went back. None of us ever went back to Tarqa. I look at it occasionally on google maps, it looks so beautiful a place but with such bad memories. I went on to Saudi with Flash for a few more years (4) with BAC. He was at Khamis and then Riyahd, and I at Taif and Tabuk. I’ve never been back to Oman although think I should at some point. I live in Australia now, been here 32 years, never worked on an aeroplane since. Now flights back to UK go though Muscat regularly or they did before this bloody Covid thing, I think I should. Have been to Dubai and Abu Dhabi and Bahrain and Iran and even back to Saudi and Jordan and Iraq since, moved into telecoms very different mate from Aden guns and bombs on a Jag.

After all this time its a little sad to read your article, its been with me for such a long time, it could easily have been me. I seem to remember hearing about Chris passing away but cant remember when. I wish you well Martin and although sad times, I hope your life since has been a happy one and you’ve had time to consider how lucky you were to escape. I know I do.

Ken Carr

ken.m.carr@gmail.com