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Mémoire – Brian BARBER (AAS Arborfield 49B) Brian passed away on the 20th of March
2009. IN
MEMORIAM AAS Arborfield
1949 - 1952 While in the hospital for some minor ailment, one of the
orderlies came into the ward and asked if anyone there knew anything about
electrical equipment. As I was enrolled in the Telemech course I asked if I
could be of help. He replied: "Yes, go to the kitchen, there's an
electric potato peeling machine, peel potatoes". Never volunteer! Some people never learn, for a brief time I volunteered to be
assistant projectionist at the camp cinema. All was OK for a while, and I
soon got the hang of it. On one occasion the Chief Projectionist asked me if
I could run a show on my own. I said: “Sure, no problem”. When the big night
came, I got the film reels OK, laced the film into the two projectors, and at
zero hour set the first projector rolling. There was a loud booing from down
below. The chief had always been the one who opened the curtains across the
screen. Oops, I opened the film on closed curtains. Even volunteers can get
the sack. Regular Army
1952: Old Dalby I was at 5 Central Workshops, Old Dalby, for approximately one
year. The work as far as I recall was soldering new capacitors and resistors
into racks from radar equipment, plus something to do with coastal approach
radar; not much to do with the
training at AAS. Social highlights of that posting were the "genuine pork
pies" in Melton Mowbray, and two quite memorable pubs in Nottingham
"The Eight Bells", and the "Trip to 1953: Dollis Hill, About September 1953 I was posted to the "Trials
Establishment, Royal Artillery" (T.E.R.A.) at Ty-Croes on the Isle of
Anglesey. But before departing for Ty-Croes I was told to report to the GPO
Research Station at Dollis Hill, Ty-Croes On arriving at T.E.R.A. Gerry Dowden and I were introduced to the
"Automatic Data Recorder", our new job. The equipment comprised two
large trailers, one housing the electronic components (2008 valves), and the
other housing the electro-mechanical components (much like a glorified
teleprinter). In short the A.D.R. was supposed to take the data from radar
that was tracking a missile, and transform that data into a printout giving
details of the range, bearing and elevation of the missile. It was all ours,
apart from 2nd/Lt Ripper RA, a young National Service officer. Talk about the
‘Brains Trust’ - more like the blind leading the blind. Once again you will
note after three years Telemech training, no Telemeching in sight. It was fun
watching the test-firing of the Guided Weapons, they went up a couple of
hundred feet, and then flopped down into the Although the nearest town was Holyhead, we usually got a ride to 1954: Around the middle of October 1954 I left Southampton on board the
troopship Empire Orwell bound for
the The first port where we got ashore was Singapore & Hong Kong Next was Hong Kong to The trip took about 28 days, and we were taken from the docks at 16 Infantry Workshops At 16 Infantry Workshops I actually worked on telemech stuff. The
senior man was S/Sgt Bill Moore, a really good guy. For a while we had two
Canadian REME blokes, one a WO2 - they were both jerks – and having met those
two I vowed that I would not immigrate to One little adventure at 16 Infantry Workshops: one Sunday morning
I decided to have a drive round the camp in the ‘Z’ lorry (a mobile telecom
workshop on a 3-tonner chassis), anyway I got a bit close to the soft
shoulder, and very slowly the lorry slid over onto it's side in the ditch,
good thing we had recovery people. Speaking of recovery guys, this lot had a sense of humour.
Whenever they returned from a job at night, as they neared the camp they
sounded their sirens: anyone watching would see a bunch of figures scuttling
out of ‘The Three Chimneys’ - a brothel about a hundred yards from the camp
main gate - thinking it was a raid by the MPs. Britcom Base Workshops, After several months at 16 Infantry Workshops I was posted to
Britcom Base Workshops in 10 Infantry Workshops, Then back to After a total of thirteen months in that theatre of operations,
back on board the Empire Orwell,
heading for the Port Fouad to The journey from Port Fouad to The canteen manager, who was from When I arrived at 1956 - I arrived at Cyprus District Workshops - think that was the name
- around November 1956, at Dhekelia, a vague recollection of bumping into Roy
SLADE (AAS Drum Major, 49B). There was nothing memorable about the unit, or the
work. It was nice being able to swim in the sea in November. The nearest town
was Larnaca, where we used to go during time off. There was a street vendor
selling real roast pork, sliced on a crusty roll, with lashings of HP sauce;
very tasty. For alcoholic refreshment the favourite was local brandy with
bitter lemon. During the first half of my year in There were two diversions during the year, the first being a trip
to Upon completion of three years overseas service, in November 1958
I returned to 1958 – Middle Wallop Following my three years overseas tour, I had 30 days leave, the
only event of note in this period was that I bought my very first car: a 1938
Morris 8, Series II. I had decided to
arrive at Middle Wallop in style - so I thought at the time. This was not to
be; just south of At the Army Air Corps Centre, Middle Wallop, I went through the
course for, as I remember it, Aircraft Electrical, Instruments, and Radio. As
part of the orientation I had a flight in a Chipmunk aircraft, a funny
sensation being in the air, and yet relatively so close to the ground. I recall that once a month there was a motor coach going to
Yorkshire, but this got a to be a bit of a drag, so I decided to be
independent and buy a motor bike. The second-hand bike I picked was a 350cc
BSA, and arrangements were made for me to pick it up from the dealer in By now the course was almost if not quite complete, and I believe
I was being posted to an Army Air Corps unit. Again this was not to be, one
of the guys offered to give me a lift to pick up my bike, he had a 750cc
Vincent, so with me riding pillion we set off. We both woke up the following
morning in I was eventually transferred to the Arborfield With only a couple of months to go on my army service I was
posted to the REME Depot, Arborfield. The MO asked me about my injuries, and
much to my amusement I ended up with a sick chit excusing me sitting down or
standing up for long periods, as well as the usual boots, marching, PT etc. In September 1959, having completed my eight years service with
the Colours, I was discharged. Fortunately the following four years in the
Reserves was totally uneventful. So now I had my "freedom", but what was I going to do
with it? Civilian Employment
November 1959 From November 1959 until I immigrated to 1966 By the time I flew to In the first year I sold furniture in a department store, light
fixtures for a wholesaler and preventative maintenance contracts for an
electrical contractor. In 1967 Anyway 1994 I was with the Prudential until the end of 1994 when they ceased
to operate in 1999 In April 1999 I finally
retired, having undergone radiation, chemotherapy and surgery to get rid of
colon cancer which was diagnosed in August 1998. I'm happy to say that as of
September 2003, I was given a clean bill of health. During my career in insurance I had an opportunity to see a
number of interesting places, namely Quebec City, where we were lodged in the
Chateau Frontenac Hotel (the site of the WWII meeting of Churchill, Roosevelt
and Stalin); also Vancouver, San Francisco, Bermuda, New York, and Atlanta.
All this on company conventions. Now you know what your insurance premium
pays for. The most amusing incident I recall from my time with the
Prudential was when I had to ask one English guy about his family health
history, when he said his father was deceased. Upon asking him the cause of
death he paused, scratched his head, thought for a minute or two, then said:
"I don't really know, but it was nothing serious". Right! Marriage The most significant occurrence during
this period of my life is that I met Katherine, a client of one of my
colleagues. She is the love of my life, and on 6th December 1991 we were married in a civil ceremony
in Professional
Qualifications Over a period of several years I gained the following professional
qualifications:
Retirement Perhaps AAS Arborfield left a bigger impression on me than I realised,
because today Katherine and I are living in a place which shares a number of
similarities. It is in the country, all the dwellings are single storey, in
place of a guardroom there is a sales office and model homes, and instead of
an RP at the gate we have a barrier which is operated by a transponder on the
windshield of our car. Our community is known as Wilmot Creek, and currently comprises
about 900 bungalows with a population of about 1,200. The location is very
convenient, only minutes away from the main east-west highway which runs
through Because I have the same attitude towards strenuous exercise as I
had at AAS (built for comfort, not for speed), our daily exercise comprises a
walk to the recreation centre (about ten minutes each way), and a fifteen
minutes soak in the Jacuzzi hot tub when we get there. In summer we enjoy camping, though not in the style of George
Millie and Polly Perrott back in
the summer of 1952. We started many years ago with a basic camper trailer;
more recently we purchased a Volkswagen ‘Westfalia’ with the pop-up roof;
then a 1997 ‘Eurovan’ - the same style but with the interior done by
Winnebago in the With the advancing years having to lift the roof and unfold the
bed when we reached our destination became a bit tiresome, so our most recent
recreational vehicle purchase is a ‘Roadtrek’. The van is made by Dodge
Chrysler in the Katherine is an enthusiastic gardener with a particular liking
for orchids. I enjoy reading thrillers, solving cryptic crossword puzzles,
and surfing the internet.
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