Beef's 51 Field Squadron (A)

Just to wish anyone who visits the site a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

This site still seems to attract a few people so I hope you enjoy what you see. I am sorry but I do not keep it as updated as the other site but it is all a bit time consuming and the other site gets most of my attention.

I have been to Singapore with my Wife and my Son and we had quite a nice time. My Son only stayed for ten days but we had a total of 30 days.

The Camp Commandant for Seletar was Kind enough to pick my Son and myself up from our hotel and gave us a conducted tour of what is left of the camp. There are loads of pictures on the other site and I will also put a few pics on this site on a page of their own.

All the best

Beef

We there has not been any thing new on this site for quite some time. The main reason for this is that I concentrate more on the new site. I know people still visit this site and I am sorry that I have not made more of an effort, Some times the other two sites that I have, are nearly a full time job between them as I have to answer emails etc.

I am off to Singapore in a few days time and through a contct at Seletar Camp I hope to get a walk round the old D Block etc. I will update both 51 sites when I get back.

The next reunion is scheduled for 27 Feb 2010 at the King Charles Hotel again. Looks like there will be quite a few there this year as the contact list is growing quite quickly now.

One of our old mates Taff Fisher is in a Welsh Choir and they have a new CD out. For any one interested the details are as follows.

Rhymmney Silurian Mail Choir

The Silurian Sound.

I have played the CD a few times now and I love it.

Well not much of a blog but I hope to have more to report after my Singapore trip.

Beef

Hi every one.

The New website is starting to gather some momentum. I have been spending a lot of time on that site instead of keeping this site updated. One of the reasons for this has been on-going problems with freewebs, and, being able to access the area to make changes. This has been because freewebs has been doing a bit of reorganising its self.

I must confess that this site has a place in my heart because it is my first successful web site and as such I will always try to keep it going. The problem is that it doesn't have much in the way of capacity and my new site is unlimited.

Any way this update is to tell you of things 51.

A few new contacts including, John (Spud) Taylor. Allan (Sooty) Sutton, and Bill Ludbrooke. Many people have already booked for the 27th 28th of Feb and it looks like being an interesting get together.

I am looking for pictures from Kota Tingi and China Rock. I remember a few people taking pictures there so if any of you have got pics in the attic please dig them out.

Thats all for now folks. Dont forget to check the new site and if you have anything to adverise there is a Free page waiting for you.

Beef

Just a few words about the Site.

I seem to be having slight problems with getting new stuff on to this site so I have started a new site with almost the same content but it is a site that I can manage more easily. it is also a site with unlimited space so there is plenty of room for expansion.

The new site is at  http://www.beef-51.britishforces.com/

I will keep this site running as long as possible but it will depend on freewebs if I can keep it up dated.

Earlier this year I mentioned that my daughter had her car stolen and "Sheila's Wheels " were wriggling out of paying. The keys had been taken from a window sill and sheilas wheels insisted that she must have left the keys in the car.

Well eventually the car was found abandoned a few miles away minus battery, spare wheel and all the possessions that had been in the car. It was found by the local Council when it was reported as an abandoned vehicle.

After a great deal of hassle getting the car back on the road, taxed and insured (With a different Company) my daughter was just getting over the distaste she had felt at the thought of some idiot driving the car around she was feeling much better about the whole sorry episode.

Last Wednesday she had to go into Hospital for a minor operation and her husband picked her up using the her car. As he could not leave the Children behind he had to take them with him.

On their way back a young driver jumped a red light, hit them side on turning the car a complete circle tipping them on to two wheels. They were lucky not to be turned upside down. The car now looks to be a write off and all the side air bags had inflated causing slight injury to her husband who was driving.

The bright side of the story is that none of them were badly hurt and aside from slight bruising and being a bit shaken they all walked away from the crash. Had they been using either of the other two cars that were temporary stop gaps after the theft they might not have been so lucky as neither of them have side protection.

My Daughter is now convinced that the Nissan Note is a jinxed car. Myself I think it has been lucky on two counts. 1. Its rare for a car to be found after being stolen. 2 the side air bags probably saved their lives.

Back to all things 51 Sqn.

I have not managed to find any more of the lads but the search is on going. Still ploughing my way through the phone book and various site on the internet.

Looking forward to our next get together at Chatham and would remind you that if you intend staying at the Hotel you should book early as other Squadrons may have their reunions at the same venue.

That all for now.

Beef

Well time for another up date. I suppose I could do this more often but finding things to chat about can be difficult as the old grey cells don't seem to work so well any more.

My wife and I met up with Moe Kinsman's wife and Daughter and Mary came to stay with us for a few Days last week. As my wife and Mary both come from Singapore and they speak the same Dialect they both had a great time catching up on the last 40 years. The last time we saw Marina (Moe's Daughter) she was just a toddler and if you need reminding how old you are that does it every time.

I had a contact from a young lady called Dawn Foster. Her Father was Mick Foster and  I believe he was in 53 Sqn. she is looking for any of her Dads old mates and for any pics. So if any of you knew Mick and have pictures get in touch and I will pass anything on. Also with Dawns permission I can link you up.

I still get people putting a note on the "Say Hi" page and its great but it is much better if they click on the "send me an email" tag so that I can reply to them. So Jess James if you read this send me an email mate.

If anyone has been clicking on the 53 link you may have found that it was not working. Well I am pleased to say that it is back up and running in all its glory now.

In an earlier blogg I was mentioning nicknames. Does any one know how Moe Kinsman became MOE when his real name was Michael?.

Thats it for now sorry its not a more news packed blogg but maybe next time there will be more to write about.

Its nothing new I suppose the way civilians blame squaddies for everything.

Usual scenario, Local civvy Boys/ Morons take a dislike to squaddies because they don't like their looks, don't like them pinching their girls or some other reason. In the resulting fracas the police (acting on local council edicts) only take action against the soldier because its easier. Probably the fathers of these local cretins did just the same when they were young. None of these kind of people would ever dream of doing anything for their country, be it a Soldier, Sailor,Airman, Fire fighter, policeman or any other public service. The result of all this is that soldiers get banned from all kinds of places, get refused credit for cars, and get blamed for the local cat getting it's self pregnant.

So now we have got Hotel chains jumping on the band waggon. I notice that since the story broke the hotel is claiming that it was a mistake. Well from all the reports I have read its a mistake that has cost them a lot of business. (Serves em right too)

Any way thats got that off my chest.

On a more sober note I have made contact with Moe Kinsman's family and sadly they told me that Moe died in 1995. It was a shock to me as I had envisioned a meeting with him some time soon and going over old times just as I have recently with so many of our old mates.

My Wife, my Son and myself went down to Rochester to see Moe's wife Mary as did Len Milward and his wife. We had a good chat about old times and we will be meeting up again shortly.

Beef

Well the end of August got a bit hectic for me. I managed to locate more 51 sqn members but sadly I found that Moe Kinsman had died and I would dearly have liked to meet him one more time.

I got a comment on the last blog from Terry saying that Jock Brownley was nicknamed the General. He was right of course but we started calling him Lt Colonel  to start with and promoted him slowly over the next few years. Jock McGowan was known as the Major for a while as well as being called Tannoy. Jock McGowan was a nice bloke who could be a bit loud at times but in my experience he had a heart of Gold.

In my searches I came across someone named Norman Taylor. I buzzed him in the hope that it was "Fingers" Taylor but of course he wasn't. He told me that he was one of the sappers that built the camp in the Libyan  desert that they called Camp Chatham. I had to explain that we were the ones that destroyed the camp when Gaddaffi made his move. That's the beauty of the Army and in particular the Engineers we were all (and still are) locked in together some how.

Marina Kinsman (Moe's Daughter) suggested that I start a page on the site for the kids of Squadron members. Not a bad Idea because a lot of the kids would have known each other at various postings and schools. I will see what the response is like at the next Gathering.

As you can see from all the names we have now I keep plodding on trying to get more of the old Sqn accounted for. I think maybe now it has become something of an obsession with me. my wife seems to think so but hey you gotta do something in retirement.

All the best

Beef

Well the Daughter and Son- in- law plus the two oldest grand children are back from their holiday and the youngest who stayed behind with us has gone home with them. So I once again have a bit of time on my hands and can get back to bringing everything up to date.

I had a pleasant visit to Ron Snooks Industrial unit and we discussed a few things for the Gathering next Feb.

I also got a few pictures from John Clark that I haven't seen before and as they are of our time in Labuan I am specially pleased as I have very few pictures from our time there. Thanks John.

Well I promised to wax lyrical with small stories as I remember them but, its not as easy as I first thought. There are of course lots of stories but a lot of them are not for publication in a forum that may be read by the feint hearted as some of them are a bit rude to say the least.

So I got to thinking what else could I write about besides stories and came up with idea of discussing Nicknames of the people in the Sqn.

My own nickname "Beef" came about in Germany before I joined 51. My first exercise with 39 Squadron was in idyllic weather round the Mona Dam area. One of the Lads kept saying "Calling B for Baker" every time he saw me and the name got taken up by others and was abbreviated to Beefa then later to Beef. Of course other people from 39 got posted to 51 the same time as myself so there was no escaping it. The name was probably also apt in another way as I really did enjoy a good Squaddie moaning session (Beefing as it was known).

Some of the names were a lot less complimentary such as "Lurch " for the Troop Lt who was rather Tall and to be honest did look a bit like the bloke in the Horror comedy show on TV.

Chickox was also another less than kind nickname give to one unfortunate individual, being the combination of "the brain of a Chicken and the body of an Ox .

One of our General Engineer Captains was called Captain Kellogg because it was said he got all his ideas from corn flake packets. ( he certainly got his jokes from matchboxes.)

There was also Geordie Ashton (Big Ugg) and Frank Huges (little Ugg) but I am not quite sure where that came from although it seemed to happen suddenly after a good night out.

Then there was Jock "The Col" Brownley and Jock "Tannoy" McGowan.

I am sure there are many more I have forgotten but people will enlighten me no doubt.

Thats it for now

Beef

Is it really August already.? The time seems to go very fast now . I remember sitting at school through a very boring lesson one Friday afternoon and the lesson seemed to take for ever. Mind you I was 14 years old and on a promise for the weekend.

As it is the Summer Holidays I took my Grandson to Duxford to have look round. My Son came too,  as it had been a few years since I had taken him. Its quite interesting there now with a whole hanger dedicated to Army, with tanks, Army vehicles of all types. There are even some old weapons like Tommy guns on chains so that the kids can give them a try(including us bigger Kids) It was quite a pleasant day out and I got a cheap OAP ticket too.

Another sucess story. I finally managed to contact Geordie Taroni and had a nice long chat about old times. To date we have got 38 contacts and I hope we will get a lot more before the end of the year. Any information you can provide about the last known whereabouts of old Squadron members is always a great help so don't be shy, contact me. For the most part the old phone book has brought up the most results so far. I tend to concentrate on one or two names at a time and though it is sometimes labourious I do get to some sweet old ladies a very informative old men who are always up for a bit of a chat.

I finally got the pin badges I ordered and will hand a few round when we all meet up. Don't worry if you can't make the get together in February if you want a badge just drop me a line.

Thats about it for now

Beef