Sad Christmas night loss

Reply.

Everyone did their bit to keep this a free country. Ernie did his bit, as did everyone else during the war. I thank you.

Rest in piece Ernie.

Regards,

Jamie.

Hi Jamie, thanks for your post, One thing that I have logged from all who have
posted a word on the subject, is that we are all on the same wave-length as
Ernie and the crews were, and those ground-crew and pilots are still at it now.
Did you see the Video-post on this thread by Seafuryfan ?

Many thanks, JJ.

Reply.

Rest in peace Ernie, without lads like him doing their bit back in the day the world would be a very different place.

Tom

Hi Tom,

Yeah that just about sums it up, and as I have said before, these same heros
men and women like Ernie who also did sterling work doing air drops to starving people in natural happenings,drought times during the war years.
The Dutch were pleased to see us and however bad the Germans had been
they never fired on those Allied aircrews during that time, maybe because the penny had dropped with them. I remember the Big wave that hit loads
of people, what was it two-three Christmas ago ? I did not hear a thank you
for help given by the west by the extremists or did they bother to help their
own. The reason for that is they knew we would be there for these people
like Ernie and his mates were.

Many thanks JJ.

Reply.

Gary, I have just cleaned the mirror in my bathroom, and in that mirror I saw the face of a happy, free, man ! were it not for the efforts of people like Ernest it would maybe not be that way ! To him thankyou ! RIP. Keith.

Hi Keithnewsome,

Thanks for that, and your right we are lucky, its just a pity that certain people want to dismantle what we have fought against over the years just
because they have taken a dislike to us all of a sudden. I guess going out
the door with a bomb strapped to you or self propelled rocket launcher, is
far more easier than going to work for a living and keeping busy so you don’t
get bored and go off and do these terrible things.
The trouble is not only do these people who are unhappy with the Western
people and there values, forget that they are very two-faced, as the west
brought them the same wealth, oh yes and freed-them from time to time and
the big one for me is that by having a go at us and all we have tried to do
over the years, fails to see that forever how long any war or conflict goes on for, like in the case of Ernie and the other men and women who did their duty,
was years out of their lives. I wonder sometimes and people tell me the same thing, so its not just me, did they really die for nothing ? These people
need to make up their own minds and not allow themselves to be brain-washed by people pulling the strings so the Ernies of this world could get on with their lives.

Thanks for your comments and sorry if I’ve bent your ears back.

Regards, JJ.
buy people pulling string

Everyone did their bit to keep this a free country. Ernie did his bit, as did everyone else during the war. I thank you.

Rest in piece Ernie.

Regards,

Jamie.

Rest in peace Ernie, without lads like him doing their bit back in the day the world would be a very different place.

Tom

Gary, I have just cleaned the mirror in my bathroom, and in that mirror I saw the face of a happy, free, man ! were it not for the efforts of people like Ernest it would maybe not be that way ! To him thankyou ! RIP. Keith.

Gary, thank you for posting. Ernest could be any of the men we mostly all know, the man down the road who went and did and saw and heard what to us is secondhand history. I know and have known a few men who were also there, in many places and in different ways and as Ernest has to you my life has been enriched by knowing them. I know an LAC and a Brigade-General and neither would deprecate the other I am sure and nor would I.

Ernest, thank you for your today and my tomorrow.

Mark.

Hi Snapper

Ernie was just an ordinary man who just got on with what he wanted to do, which until the last 5 years was mainly in his garden (it was lovelly). Recently Ernie went down hill, but more so over the last few days of his life and I am going to miss him, as I know my sisters will and his son and my BROV who has been such a brick.

I wish he could see what has been written today because I know he would be modest and say he was only doing his job, but I also know he would be proud to have been recognized for doing his job in those important years, along with all the others in the same boat.

Many thanks

Mrs J J (Jan, step daughter)

Reply

600+ of us keep the banter and the memories alive, whether we worked in the cookhouse, stores, SHQ, groundcrew or aircrew we were all part of that team.

We all relied on each other, one such item we were laughing about the other day was this one, you really had to have a service sense of humour to understand some of the jargon:

REF: 2 Squadron
They were at Wahn in ’53 when I was there on 68 Squadron. We knew them as the ‘Get knotted’ Sqdn.

I think it was one of their PR Meteors that went up in flames on the ground when an Armament Mech was doing his after flight on the aircraft standing behind it, pressed the tit and canon shells went into its ventral tank.

I know that it wasn’t a 68 squadron kite because two of our mechs were strolling back to the hangar while it was burning away behind them and, as one of our Armament Cpls raced past them with a hand extinguisher in his hands said “It’s OK Matt. It’s not one of ours.”

One day we will join our colleagues on that big dispersal area in the sky!

Hi John

Thank you for your kind words. Ernie was my step father and me and my sisters loved him like he was our own Dad.

Ernie was a happy man and had a great sense of humour and would have loved to have seen what you wrote about the burning meteor and would have understood the lingo and would no doubt have had another story to tell. We are all going to miss him terribly but I will tell the family what you and others have said and I know like me they will find comfort from your words. THANK YOU

Mrs J J (Jan )

Gary, thank you for posting. Ernest could be any of the men we mostly all know, the man down the road who went and did and saw and heard what to us is secondhand history. I know and have known a few men who were also there, in many places and in different ways and as Ernest has to you my life has been enriched by knowing them. I know an LAC and a Brigade-General and neither would deprecate the other I am sure and nor would I.

Ernest, thank you for your today and my tomorrow.

Mark.

600+ of us keep the banter and the memories alive, whether we worked in the cookhouse, stores, SHQ, groundcrew or aircrew we were all part of that team.

We all relied on each other, one such item we were laughing about the other day was this one, you really had to have a service sense of humour to understand some of the jargon:

REF: 2 Squadron
They were at Wahn in ’53 when I was there on 68 Squadron. We knew them as the ‘Get knotted’ Sqdn.

I think it was one of their PR Meteors that went up in flames on the ground when an Armament Mech was doing his after flight on the aircraft standing behind it, pressed the tit and canon shells went into its ventral tank.

I know that it wasn’t a 68 squadron kite because two of our mechs were strolling back to the hangar while it was burning away behind them and, as one of our Armament Cpls raced past them with a hand extinguisher in his hands said “It’s OK Matt. It’s not one of ours.”

One day we will join our colleagues on that big dispersal area in the sky!

Reply to Seafuryfan.

I’m very sad to hear about your loss, Gary. They all did their bit’, didn’t they, whether in the air or on the ground. It’s good that you were able to talk to Ernie about his experiences, I’ve always thought the groundcrew have equally as interesting memories, and they’ve got a cracking sense of humour.

I hope Ernie would have liked to be remembered with a smile, so, to illustrate that the lads are still keeping a sense of fun going while doing their job, I offer this link from YouTube (It was in aid of charity).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3f0YbQDxp0

RIP Ernie

Hi there Seafuryfan,

Thanks for that, and yes the groundcrew are breed all on there own, and now
days girls as well. People forget, or sometimes don’t think who also makes things happen at airfields all over the world and often not aways on nice warm sunny days. I can tell you Ernie was always seeing the funny-side of
life, so all those hot days abroad must have turned him to the kind of guy he was. I’ll make sure is Son will see the video, which I hope made a bob or two
for a very good cause. And as for our guy, if they hold National Marshelling
Championships, he’s our man and a winner. Maybe the Forum would sponser
him. They were all good and made the air-guitar boys look like damp-batteries.

Thanks again, JJ.
sunny day

I’m very sad to hear about your loss, Gary. They all did their bit’, didn’t they, whether in the air or on the ground. It’s good that you were able to talk to Ernie about his experiences, I’ve always thought the groundcrew have equally as interesting memories, and they’ve got a cracking sense of humour.

I hope Ernie would have liked to be remembered with a smile, so, to illustrate that the lads are still keeping a sense of fun going while doing their job, I offer this link from YouTube (It was in aid of charity).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3f0YbQDxp0

RIP Ernie

Reply.

Maybe not a ‘big name’ – but a big man I’m sure.

Thanks Aircraftsman – job and duty done.

Moggy

Hi there Moggy C,

Thanks for that, he sure was a big man in his own right, as all of them were
and some still are.

Regards, JJ.

Without causing offence to anyone by saying that he was not a big name
in the war, the fact is he was out in the heat of North Africa serving
with 250 Squadron with their Kittyhawks, looking after their engines and
rubbing-shoulders with others who signed-up to do the right thing and stop
a pair of idiots dream of World domination and all that they could throw at us.

Maybe not a ‘big name’ – but a big man I’m sure.

Thanks Aircraftsman – job and duty done.

Moggy