RAF Falcons – RAF El Adem, Libya

l joined the RAF in 1960 at RAF Cosford, after training as a Nursing Attendant l was posted to RAF Hospital Nocton Hall then RAF Tobruk/El Adem, Libya.

ln the winter months of 1965 to 67 the RAF Falcons http://www.raf.mod.uk/falcons/ the UK’s premier military parachute display team would come out to RAF El Adem, Libya for training. The sand-coloured Desert Rescue Land Rover Ambulance http://www.flickr.com/photos/teessideambulances/3073709639/ & two Medics had to be on the Landing Zone. On one of their jumps when they came out of freefall, Sgt Pie’s main chute didn’t open. He forgot to cut away his main chute & opened his reserve which wrapped around his main chute, he fell approx 500 ft and impacted the desert floor.

When the Medics got to him he had compound fractures of both legs & other injuries. They gave him a Morphine injection but it would still have been too painful to take him back to the Station Sick Quarters by ambulance, he needed a hospital. So the Royal Australian Air Force exchange pilot landed the RAF Argosy, nicknamed “The Whistling Tit” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_Whitworth_AW.660_Argosy on the desert floor and two Falcons and myself transferred Sgt Pie to the Benghazi British Army Hospital.

At RAF El Adem http://www.don-simmonds.co.uk/reminisce.htm l was the only Aero-Medical Evacuation trained Medic, two weeks later the Argosy, the Falcons and myself departed El Adem and at Benghazi transferred Sgt Pie from the hospital to the aircraft. En route to Abingdon we refuelled at RAF Luqa, Malta. ln France we were due to land at a French Air Force base, but for some reason the RAAF pilot landed at Nice Aeroport in the Cote D’Azur, our dirty sand blasted Argosy was parked alongside Prince Rainier & Princess Grace of Monaco’s gleaming private jet – rather embarrasing.

We landed at RAF Abingdon and Sgt Pie was handed over to the Medical staff, later to be transferred to RAF Hospital Wroughton.

l have been in contact through the RAF Falcons website to find out if Sgt Pie ever went back into parachuting, without any reply.