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To: Peter Pickering. "I'm
sure you won't remember me but I remember you - you had such a
distinctive name! I remember you as a tall, slim, dark haired boy with
a dark tan. You, me and one other boy (can't remember his name, but he
was short and had, I think, light coloured hair and freckles) got to
play board games in the back of the class because we did not have to
study for some exam as we had already achieved the standard or whatever,
don't remember what it was). Anyway we had a lot of fun and the
pressure was off! Do you remember this? Would love to know.
We were just classmates who were thrown
together due to exam results, but I do remember that you were a popular
young lad who was nice to everyone and therefore liked by most people. I
was at an age where I was more interested in playing with toy cars and
playing cowboys and Indians than anything else. I lived in Crater as you
know, and my two best friends were both guys, David Williams (army) and
a boy named Paul (air force). We would play together each afternoon
when everyone else was napping. We hunted baboons (yes!) in the barren
rocks although god knows what we would have done if we'd found one! We
also thought it great fun to let off our cap guns in the stairwells of
nearby flats as they echoed really well. I'm surprised no-one murdered
us!! Of course another great pastime was going to the Lido. What
bliss...swimming with mates, cold orange Stim, salty crisps, sunburn...
Oh the good old days.
Living in Crater was a great experience and
I was very upset after we returned to Britain and we saw it reduced to
rubble on the news. I felt very sorry for the local people who wanted
very much for the British to stay and would stop us in the street
sometimes and beg us to tell our "leader" this.
Sheena McGillvray
"I was in Aden from 1963 to 1965 my dad
was in the Air Force. I lived in Maalla with my mum and dad and
younger sister Christine, my 2 older brothers Mike and Terry came
out during holidays (they were at boarding school in England) I used
to go to the Tarshyne Club and was a regular at the GWI Club! My
closest friends were girls called Kim, Pat Deresley, Susan
Pritchard and Sandy. Boys I remember.. Gerry, Rich Walkley, brothers
David and
Jonathan. Sorry can't remember all the surnames.
Yes memories do fade, but sometimes all it
takes is for someone to remind you of little things that happened in
your life so many years ago and suddenly everything comes flooding back. It certainly was hot, and smelly. My bedroom backed onto the
fishing harbour and as I was only allowed the air conditioning on at
certain times. I had to choose between being uncomfortably hot or open
the windows and have to endure the awful smell of fish, not an easy
decision to make when you're only 13 and think it really unfair that
you can't have the air con. whenever you want. I also collected empty bottles (how sad is that?) Good job we were on different beaches... I
don't remember worrying about sharks and stingrays but I hated the
hundreds of jellyfish that covered the surface of the sea in the
mornings, I don't think they were harmful I just hated the feel of them.
It is strange to know of the dangers we
lived in and yet not be particularly afraid, but the presence of the
armed guards all around made me feel quite safe (what trust eh?). Funnily
enough the one place I did not like going to was Crater. I always felt
very vulnerable when I went there with my parents. A great place to
barter though, if I remember. Do you remember the cows and shoats that wandered
the streets eating everything in sight? A 'moonie' was that someone who
looked really white?" Jackie Sprat.
I was a student at Khormaksar School from 1963 to
1964 and I was 13 years old. My father was in the RAF. I was a
very bad student and got into a lot of trouble. I recall my best
friend's name was Paul Bellows (I think). There used to be some
portable classes off to the right of the school where I spent most
of my time. Miss Pemberton was one of my teachers. Many thanks for
your great web site it brings back lots of good memories. I reside
in Australia, and have been working in the Solomons. It would be
good to organise a reunion for all the students!! Paul Bailey.
Peter,
Many thanks for the quick response - I see you've updated the
website already. I found the website by doing a Google search
for "Khormaksar School" I've had a chance now to look at the
website a little more - it has certainly brought back some
memories. I found it fairly easy to navigate although the
"Forum" hypertext under the latest News section didn't work as
well as the menu option. I've contacted Geoff Burns who is over
in Oz at the moment. Hopefully he'll be able to assist you as
well.
It was interesting reading your personal history. We must
have flown out from Stansted about the same time. I, along with
my Mother and sister, Lynne, left the UK in November 1963. I
can remember getting off the aircraft and hitting a wall of
heat! My father had arrived some 6 months earlier. He spent most
of that period up at Masirah. He was in the RAF and worked in
Air Traffic, so probably knew Aden Airways quite well. We lived
in one of the houses in RAF Khormaksar, not too far from the
airfield.
Like you I spent a lot of time fishing, swimming and taking
photographs. I especially enjoyed the fishing. One of my regular
haunts was a small promontory of rocks on the Crater coast road.
I also like fishing off the nearby beach where we had to shuffle
along in the water in order to disturb the sting rays in the
sand. Even managed fishing on a school boat trip; were you on
it?
It's strange to see that you have an interest in flying. Both
Geoff Burns and myself went on to join the RAF. We both became
Navigators. Geoff flew Canberras. I flew a variety including
Vulcans and Tornados (primarily the former). Geoff left after
some 10 years. I stayed in for nearly 20 years. I am now working
as a safety professional in the Construction industry. I live
near Oxford with my wife and my son, my daughter living near to
Uni. It is strange to look at that class photo and realise that
it is 40 years ago - where does the time go? I have quite a few
photos of Aden which you may be interested in, however they are
not in digital format. I'll see what I can do. Oh yes another
addition to the class photo: Back row, 3rd from right, Norman Kileen. Finally is that you in the back row, 3rd from the left ?
Yours sincerely, Barry Mullen
Hi Peter, I was at Khormaksar secondary
school 1963-64 and Barry Mullen told me about your site
whilst I was doing some bush flying in Oz recently. I'm back in
the UK now so I thought I'd make contact. I enjoyed Aden and
made many friends out there. I kept in touch with a few of them
after returning to the UK but my Dad's subsequent RAF postings
meant that those links were eventually severed. I've been to
each of the Aden school re-unions that Eric Mears has organised
for the Friends Re-united site and, although I've made several
new friends at them, nobody from my time at the school has
appeared yet.
I'm in contact with Barry Mullen
again now and made brief contact with Norman Killeen a
couple of years ago. Names such as Charlie Sims, Angela
Sturman, Jim Kimber, Billy Holloway, Rosemary Jamie, Bob Bolton,
Pat Zaccheo and quite a few more would be nice to find but
the trails are 35-40 years old so it will be quite a task.
I've got several photos from Aden and
quite a few of them are to do with the Khormaksar Air Scout
group that I was a member of. I've also got scans of some 35mm
slides that my father owned but the ravages of time had
deteriorated them somewhat by the time I scanned them in. Glad
to be a member of your site and looking forward to hearing from
anyone who might remember me. Kind regards, Geoff Burns.
Hi Peter,Have just found your site on the web. Had
previously found Eric Mears site. Isn't it amazing that
after 40 years so many of us still remember Aden so well?
My name is Cathie Brannigan nee McDougall and I
was in Aden from July 1964 to July 1966 and I was 15 when I
arrived. I don't, I'm afraid, remember you but I do
remember Barry Mullins and Charlie Sims is
also on one of your photos. Didn't he have a twin brother
but they looked absolutely nothing alike?
Some of the girls I remember are Pauline Webb, Valerie
Cuell, Mary White. We all sat our O-levels out there.
I was a bit of a groupie in those days and one of the groups
I remember was the Ali Kats who were mostly Royal Signal
boys.
I intend to have a rummage in the photo box soon but as I
married into the forces and moved about another 50 times
after Aden, I am not holding out much hope.
Another name just came to me, Jane Tunnicliffe.
Her father was a civilian worker (MPBW I think) and she came
home in summer 1965 on the Canberra. I think I remember
Barry Mullins and the Sims boys being on the boat to see her
off when we were there.
Keep up the good work. I hope more of us can keep in touch.
Cathie
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