1977 - 1978
Gutersloh, Home & Play
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1977
No 3(F) Squadron Golf Team - Cheerful Bunch eh!
Merv COOK, Stuart MORGAN, John TURNER, John RANSOM
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There were only about four Married Quarters on the base at Gutersloh, all for senior officers. We were allocated 76/2, Dresdnerstrasse, a ground floor flat at Blankenhagen. This was a three bedroomed apartment in need of redecoration. As it already had wallpaper, that had to be replaced. It was, but the people who did it did not have an eye for straight and level, about which Maria had a lot to say to the Families Office. I am not sure that it was ever perfect but it did suffice for the year that we were in it. It was about three miles from Gutersloh and for a lot of that time I used to cycle to and from work. The two younger children went to school locally but Andrew had to go to Haig, which was the secondary school and a bus ride away.
I had one problem with school and that was at a parents’ evening when I was shown an English Essay by Nick that had been marked as very good, in fact 8 or 9 out of 10 as I remember. The problem was that there were numerous spelling mistakes that had not been corrected. When I queried this, I was told, quite seriously, by his teacher, that it did not matter as he would learn to spell in due course. I was furious. I could have accepted incorrect spelling in any work other than English.
Maria found herself a part time job NAAFI so that she could earn a little money that would be put towards the cost of transferring all of out goods back to England. As the NAAFI was driving distance away, it made cycling to work for me even more important, although she did occasionally get a lift from a friend.
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1977 - Susten Pass
Nick, Maria, Annette
& Andrew TURNER |
In the June after we moved to Gutersloh, we returned to Switzerland, this time hiring a caravan on site at Interlaken and once again with our little trailer drove the 500+ miles and had a really wonderful time. It was around June that we went and the snow was still on the mountains and when we went up the Susten Pass it was impassable. On this holiday we met a really lovely family from Solihull; Gerald and Joan MILES and their two children were staying in the caravan next to us and we did some exploring together. We still exchange Christmas Cards with Joan although Gerald died a good number of years ago. Whilst our children were exploring the campsite, Andrew, who was ten, managed to fall into the lake, which was extremely cold; fortunately he managed to get himself out again with no ill effects; it gave us a shock though and perhaps we kept a closer eye on them after that.
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1977 - Lake Mondsee
Nick & Andrew TURNER, Edna KENNEDY,
Annette TURNER |
Maria’s Mum came out to stay for about six weeks around the time that I was on the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations and, after I returned from England, we took her to Austria for a week. Although this was another very good trip, Austria in August was not as spectacular as it had been the previous year in June, because there was no real snow on the Alps.
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1977 - R.A.F. Gutersloh - Battle of Britain Ball
Pat & Bernadette DALY; Ken & Tina PIMLOTT
John & Maria TURNER
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Our social life still revolved around the Sergeant’s Mess but because of having to drive we didn’t use it much except for the major events of the year. Because the accommodation was spread far and wide, a lot of local parties were held, some in the cellars which were a feature of the German flats. These had the benefit of restricting the noise to other users.
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| 1977 - Möhne Dam |
This was a year when Maria and I had a long chat about children and birth control resulting in a decision that I should have a vasectomy. When I went to the Medical Officer to ask about it he was not that enthusiastic as he thought that, with me aged 36 and Maria 31, we were a little young to make that decision. In the end however he told me that, if I paid, I could get it done in Holland. Whilst we were considering that, I got a call to say that I could have the operation done at the RAF Hospital at Wegberg. The timing wasn’t great as the date given was 21st December 1977. We decided to go for it and I drove myself to Wegberg for the operation and an overnight stay. I guess that I was lucky because I was able to drive myself the 120 or so miles back to Gutersoh. I had a couple of friends who suffered very badly after vasectomies and couldn’t have driven at all. Having driven home I then went to a cellar party in our block of flats and apart from being somewhat uncomfortable when someone sat on my knee, I was fine. As for me, as I said, I was lucky and I think that a check for fully functioning equipment was carried out before Christmas Day!!
Gutersloh Golf Club ran an annual knock-out match play competition on which betting was allowed. Entrance to this competition was required before 3 Squadron actually moved from Wildenrath but we had one section that moved to Gutersloh early and in that section were a couple of golfers who entered us in the competition. One of them ‘bought’ me, which meant that if I won the competition, then he would win quite a lot of money. As part of the deal, I was then allowed to ‘buy’ part of myself so that I could win some cash as well. I am sure that the Royal & Ancient would frown most severely on this arrangement. Nevertheless, the competition went ahead and I managed to get to the final, which was played over 36 holes. With most of the Golf Club members, wives and children watching I teed off against the local hero who played off a handicap of 4, whilst I was playing off 8. For the only time in my life, I had a proper caddy in Merv COOK who volunteered to do the honours for me. I hit my first tee shot and thinned it so that it didn’t get more than four inches off the ground. Unfortunately, the Ladies First Tee Marker in front of us was six inches high and my ball struck it, flew high in the air and landed 30 yards behind me! I don’t think that I have ever been quite so embarrassed, apart perhaps from kicking the bells down the steps at school. Having lost that hole and put my tee shot at the second hole out of bounds I thought this might be quite a short game. Fortunately my opponent had also put his tee shot out of bounds and, as he was giving me a shot on that hole, I ended up levelling the match. After that it became a bit of a procession and I won the match 8 & 7, thus upholding the standing of those of us from Wildenrath who were rather looked down on by the local players. It also happened that 3 Squadron won the Station Commander’s Cup Competition, which made us even more popular!!!
I played a lot of golf at Gutersloh because the course was effectively at work, with me having only to walk about 50 yards to the first tee, meaning that I could get three or four holes of practice at lunchtime.
During my year at Gutersloh, I continued to play hockey. At Gutersloh we were lucky enough to have a grass pitch but many of the Army units we played used the parade square; tarmac made for a very different game. I actually captained RAF Germany against the Army in one of my last matches in Germany. We won 3 - 1 with me scoring two penalty goals; thus I went out on a high.
Neither Maria nor I can remember exactly how we sorted out the travel arrangements to get home. What we believe is that I drove, towing our little trailer; both car and trailer were full to bursting. Meanwhile, Maria and the children flew home after staying a short time with some friends of ours so that the Hiring could be handed over. How we organised the move into the house at Stilton is also a mystery so we are both currently awaiting some flash of inspiration that will allow us to finish the story properly.
Anyway, on to Scampton and Stilton for the next chapters.
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