Bull, Bombs & Britannias

Richard Ling spent his formative years in Southend, Essex, during the 1950s. At the age of 15½, he joined the RAF as a Boy Entrant, training as an armament mechanic at RAF St Athan. He graduated in 1962, commencing his service as an armourer at RAF Coltishall and RAF Leuchars, where he was responsible for maintaining guns and ejection seats from various aircraft of that era.

Following this, a posting to Germany marked a significant change in his career as Richard retrained in the specialized field of Bomb Disposal. He faced many challenging situations in Cold War Europe, dealing with numerous explosive devices.

Richard's final career shift involved retraining as an air quartermaster, a role later known as loadmaster. In 1969, he joined 99 Squadron, where he managed the loading and unloading of an RAF Britannia. This position allowed him to travel worldwide, transporting personnel and equipment to the extensive network of overseas RAF bases at the time.

His regular routes included destinations across Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, and both the Near, Middle, and Far East. Additionally, he experienced off-route adventures. Some highlights of his journeys included a visit to the North Pole, spending New Year’s Eve in a bordello in Madagascar, transporting Gurkha members of the British Armed Forces to Kathmandu, and participating in Operation Lucan— a humanitarian mission aimed at redistributing refugees following the partition of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

All of these experiences are vividly recounted with a generous dose of humour in an engaging memoir that will captivate RAF veterans, armchair travellers, and historians intrigued by the Cold War era.

Publisher - Woodfield Publishing Ltd

Language - English

Perfect Bound

Contributors

By author

Richard Ling

Published Date - 2017-09-08

ISBN - 9781846831829

Dimensions - 23.4 x 15.6 x 1.5 cm

Page Count - 250