Hi I'm new

Hello Lizzie 23 nice to hear from you. Lock down here in Spain has been very strict with very little freedom but it seems it paid off as things have improved greatly.
I love all kinds of sport but as I stated in my intro I am a passionate walker and Menorca where I live has some fabulous routes. My dog is elderly now so cannot go on the long treks he once did but I am a volunteer walker with the local animal shelter and take dogs out there regularly.
Where in Scotland do you live? as my husband is originally from Fife. Look forward to hearing from you again.

Tracy

Hi Sxshaskl,

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Hi DianneHubbard,

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Hi Dianne, Welcome.

I'm Pat, born in the West Midlands UK but now living in Cyprus. Send a message anytime.

Pat 🙂

Hi I can’t find my post and notifications. How do I navigate my way around

Hi zenagriffithshotmailcom,

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Hi Pat nice to hear from you.

Good to hear from a fellow ex WRAF. I served for 23 years and travelled quite a lot, I did have a couple of detachments to Cyprus.
I have a 12 year old mastiff /lab cross who is still fairly fit but can't walk the miles he use to. Also have a young kitten who followed us home a few months ago half starved and has moved in.

Hope to chat more Tracy

Hello Tracy,

You did quite a bit longer than I did, five and a half years as a DSA. My husband served almost twenty five years, he was an electronics apprentice. I had a posting to Cyprus as did my husband, that's where we met and married.

Cyprus was the only overseas tour my husband had. We rattled around UK before we got our own house and anchored up for the sake of our children. I stayed in Nottinghamshire whilst David went to work.

When he left the RAF he went back 2 weeks later to the same computer working as a civvi for Hughes Aircraft. He retired aged 57, he has a bad back and wanted the warmth of the sun hence back to Cyprus.

Our dog is a Heinz - she's a blonde lab/pointer but she's not as big as either breed about two thirds of their size, so there's a smaller breed somewhere. She's nearly 5 years old. We used to have a large border collie in UK, by large I mean he was almost the size of a GSD, a real big boy.

We live not too far from RAF Akrotiri.

Do you have restrictions and how do you keep busy if you do?

Stay safe

Pat.

Gosh it's a small world Pat! Rob my husband served 22years initially as a Marine Engineer at RAF Mountbatten where I met him and then when the trade closed he retrained as a Aircraft Propulsion Engineer and worked on the AWACS and then the VC 10at Brize Norton. I was a Pers Admin and my last 2 tours were at Innsworth in Gloucester at the HQs. I was one of the first WRAFs to go on maternity leave when they allowed us to stay in as Mothers when my eldest daughter was born in 1992.
We moved her 17 years ago and both worked initially and our girls schooled here but they have both moved back to the UK to pursue their careers.
Currently lock down in Spain is very strict with little freedom I can walk my dog locally but apart from that we have painted our house inside and out and play tennis regularly at the side of our house!
How affected are you by this virus? And incidentally do you follow a particular football club? I love the Spanish scene but my heart is with Spurs who I try and watch as and when. I probably won't hear from you now best Tracy

Oh Tracy it's an even smaller world.

Been to Mount Batten a couple of times as I was on a 10 week detachment to RAF St Mawgan in the summer of 1967. 🙂 first time I worked as a DSA. The doc at Mount Batten was an anaesthetist waiting for a hospital posting so we went over to do extractions of St Mawgan personnel under anaesthetic. Saved the hike to RAF Wroughton Hospital.

RAF Innsworth changed my life and all I did there was 2 weeks. Note at this time the dental branch were the only ones to do their own postings, everyone else was RAPO at Innsworth, so all my movements were sorted between a couple of offices.

I hope you follow this.

My first permanent camp was RAF Benson and I was with a very talented dentist who was also a very nice man and he was sympathetic to those frightened of dentists, hence we were always busy. He was leaving the RAF in November 1968 and everyone wanted to come and have check ups and treatment before he went. I didn't have many lunch hours the last 4 months he was there. Unlike civvi DSAs we had to be part technician as well. We had to make the plaster models from the dental impressions and wax bites so the technicians at the labs had all the information sent to them to make crowns, bridges and dentures. Plus I also developed x-rays.

Now at this time MOD decided to combine all three services medical/dental stores, we all used the same equipment from the same catalogue, to give greater buying power and put it in one large stores also saving on personnel - that shocked you didn't it - then they handed it over to the army!!!!!!!!!!! It started in mid 1968 with the proviso that there may be teething problems so if we hadn't received our orders within 6 weeks we had to reorder as the first order would be destroyed as out of date. I received my first order from the army in DECEMBER and guess what - I received all 5 orders, the 1st and 4 repeats. A J2 full of stuff!!!.

The new dentist arrived late November and a stock take done for handover. The new dentist soon got the title Butcher of Benson - I was embarrassed to work with him, he managed to slow down the number of people wanting treatment very quickly but because we had been doing so much work during the previous 6 months a new DSA, Maggie, arrived in January 1969 to help. At this time the army asked for a stock check of all three services medical and dental equipment by a certain date in February and all inventories checked by their commanding officers - in the RAF the Principal Dental Officer of a command - mine being Air Support Command.

We received a letter from our PDOs dept. and as we'd just done a stoke check all I had to do was type a copy of our inventory, keeping a carbon copy, and sending it off when signed to the PDOs dept. with our inventory. A few days later I got a phone call asking who had done the work and I told them I had - wondering what I'd done wrong. Apparently of all those sent in at that time I was the only one who'd got it right. I was then told I was to go to Innsworth for 2 weeks and get that surgery sorted and do a stock check etc. as the dental officer was on her own - DSA on embarkation leave. Off I went early next Monday morning, sorted out the surgery and worked as normal Monday afternoon - Friday. Went in Saturday with dentist and we did the stock check. I started typing it up mid afternoon and went in to finish off typing on the Sunday morning. It was signed and in the post Monday. Worked until Friday lunchtime then back to Benson. Dentist sent a very nice letter to PDOs dept. about me so next thing I knew was I'm was detached in there for 7 weeks to help with all the stores forms coming in now the army had it's act together. Back to Benson for a few days. Another detachment in May to help again but early one morning just before I was due to go the Sgt at PDOs phoned on the qt - I was going to be posted in - the Gp Capt. had argued it out with manning that although it was a Cpl's post as they couldn't send one until after the next board and I'd proved I could do the job he wanted me posted in, off to HQ ASC based at RAF Upavon I went.

Go forward to early July 1970 and I was talking on the phone to a Flt Sgt based at RAF Lyneham dental centre, he was giving me his order and I told him next time he phoned it would be someone else as I was posted - so was he to Cyprus, we were on the same plane. He suggested we met up, He'd be with his wife and it would be company for me while we waited. I'm easy to spot, how many 4 ft 11 in or 150 cm women do you know Tracy? :).

I was posted to Akrotiri, I was there 2 weeks when I had a visitor. Unknown to me the ex Lyneham Flt Sgt had been invited to a meal by an old friend, the WO in charge of the PDOs dept. at RAF Episkopi. The WO told the Flt Sgt that DTE manning wanted educating as a new WRAF DSA had arrived and the posting said HQASC to Akrotiri instead of from RAF Upavon - the Flt Sgt then told him what I'd been doing and had worked at the PDOs dept. HQASC. The visitor was from the PDOs dept. and he told me I was posted to RAF Episkopi as of the next week. I was to be the Gp Capt's DSA and also cover the PDOs dept as the Gp Capt only worked part time in the surgery.

Nearly finished - takes a big breath and - when I got to Episkopi there was Maggie the DSA ex Benson, she showed me round like I'd done for her at Benson. One of the things she did was DJing on the internal radio for the blocks and she took me up there. I was offered a programme as they were short of DJs. I was taught to be a DJ by the person I would hand over to at the end of my programme DAVID 🙂

I supported Spurs in the 60s, Jimmy Greaves was my hero and I saw him play against Villa. Prince William and myself are the Villa fans :). I'm from Walsall. Prefer Barca to Real but haven't Spain played well in recent years. Love Messi's play. Low centre of gravity like George Best.

We are very restricted. 8 categories for reasons to go out and have to send SMS message with which one you want, answered immediately (no cost) allowed out 3 hours. Medical excluded from time. Allowed out only once a day and must have ID card or passport with you plus phone so the time can be checked, fine 300 euros if there's an infringement. Dog walking - you don't need permission to go out as the dog makes it obvious what you are doing, must have ID and can go out more than once but must be no more than 950 metres from home.

Hope you got through the tome.

Stay safe

Pat

Hi Pat sounds like you had a memorable time in the WRAF. I joined at 17 in 1978 and left in 2001 and did manage to attain the rank of Warrant Officer. I travelled far and wide both with work and sport as I played station netball and athletics and WRAF volleyball. I suppose 2 of my most memorable times were a 5 month exchange programme to Australia where I worked on a operational unit but was able to travel and see a lot of the country and Rob was able to come over on leave for a month. I also did a detachment to Bahrain where I was the admin officer on a VC 10 detachment what a fab place that was.
Rob is a motorcycle fanatic so we have a large touring Italian bike which we take to Majorca often and the mainland when we can.
Your lock down sounds as strict as ours heavy fines starting at 300euros up to thousands depending on incident.
Let's hope it isn't too long before some kind of normality returns! Cyprus like Spain will be hit hard with lack of tourism this year. I should think your temperature is getting nice and warm I remember being at Akrotiri in early April and it was lovely. It's nice here 20 degrees plus my favourite time of year!
Take care be safe
Tracy

Afternoon Tracy,

Well I've been reading to send off a summary to book club for this month's book. Also been catching up on write ups for the committee meeting today via the internet. Late yesterday got an email from the chairperson - forgot to read documents am cancelling tomorrow's meeting and today the secretary sent emails out - I forgot there was a meeting, agenda not ready. No comment. 🙁

You had a great time in the WRAF. I enjoyed my time as well even though short on comfort in winter due to single glazing and inefficient heating. When ill in winter I was once sent home as the WRAF block was too cold for me to stay in according to the doctor. Most of us didn't have heating in our upstairs at home :). We had only had central heating at home for 18 months before I joined up. We were a hardy bunch on the whole. Out in Cyprus I had a bunk with no heating, only heating was paraffin heaters but they were too large for the bunk and only in the 4 person rooms.

Temperature here 22 C today, we've had a few days of showers and dull dark days, no good for heating the water on a couple of them. For all the warm/hot days you have to put up with some cold wet ones :). The rain doesn't usual come back until about October from May so nearly summer. We've had 2 very wet winters after almost running out of water, the dams are overflowing now.

The president has mentioned July as a possible time for flights back again and an influx of tourists but has also said it could be changed if things alter. At the moment. We've had 20 deaths, 882 reported with the virus (10 on UK bases) and now daily reports of new cases in single figures for nearly a week.

David did lots of things in his service - world wide servicing once qualified, then trained for radar for bloodhound missiles which sent him here working with the radar/missiles based here at the time. Back to UK trained to teach radar for missiles in Nottinghamshire. When there was a break between classes he spent 6 months at the Science Museum helping create their first computer corridor. Then trained for careers office - went to Chatham, after that trained for an ageing mainframe computer at a station in Outer London and then to MOD whilst he went to several civvy places to be taught their section of the new mainframe computer to be built for the RAF (to replace ageing one) at another Outer London station. He learnt the hardware and software and then lead the RAF team helping to put it together and get it working. He became very upset when realising how much more the civvies helping were earning and they weren't putting their lives on the line. After being forced to work a year's notice he was employed by Hughes Aircraft to work on the same computer as a civvy at twice the salary of his RAF one - new money was equivalent to a Gp Capt's pay. He then spent the rest of his working life putting in and maintaining the computer and it's peripherals until a new computer was required. He was 57 and had a bad back, we did a little reorganising of finances and we arrived here to retire. He couldn't even get unemployment benefit in UK (RAF pension) and our council wanted nearly £2000 off us every year - it was a no brainer, council tax here just over 100 euro per annum :).

I usually go back to UK every year - booked on a flight for tomorrow so no go this year. I find people back in UK are a sad lot, very rarely see a smile. Seems drab shopping there. I don't know whether you notice a difference from Spain to UK when it comes to the old smile meter. Sunshine makes you feel better. 🙂

Do you get visitors? - Surprising how many friends and relatives want to visit us 🙂

Enjoy the sun

Pat

Thank you for the welcome Melina.
We have been on lock down here in Spain for nearly 6 weeks. The country has been hit hard with COVID-19 and the sanctions and restrictions are strict even on the Balearics Islands where we have had much fewer cases. Unlike the UK outside exercise is not permitted and only short local walks are allowed for dog owners. Only journeys to local supermarkets, pharmacy, pet shops etc for essentials and only one occupant in a vehicle unless you have special permission to carry a passenger. The fines are steep and can range from a few hundred to a few thousand Euros for not adhering to the restrictions. We have painted and cleaned inside and outside our house and kept ourselves busy. Hopefully the worst has passed and there will be some relaxing of the state of alertbin the coming weeks. We can but hope.

Tracy

Hi Dyana,

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