I arrived at Watton in October 1966 after being bounced early off my Gnat course and my Canberra course. I joined the nascent 360 (RN/RAF) Sqn, and was shortly and for a short time cross posted to 361. Turned out I was the only pilot officer pilot and the only white card instrument rated pilot in Signals Command.
Towards the end of my tour, and a Flt Lt and with a Green instrument rating, I was having ear problems and was medically grounded. Prior to my medical retirement I was lent to SHQ and got several one-off jobs, writing the Admin Instructions to move the squadrons to Cottesmore and be Camp Commandant for 6 weeks of Royal Observer Corps camps.
My OC Admin was Wg Cdr (later GP Capt) Peter Moon. Imagine my surprise on seeing him feature in March 2025 Aeroplane, as one of the ‘stars’ in the wartime film Coastal Command. Back in the 2000s when I was Secretary of Royal Lymington Yacht Club, having seen my name in the local paper he called in and invited me to lunch at a local golf club where he was Captain.
After I left the RAF in 1969 I was a VR(T) Officer with 1094 City of Ely Squadron, ATC. The CO, Flt Lt Bob Browne had been an Observer in Blenheim at Warren in 1940, and had survived.
I rejoined the RAF in 1980 in the Admin Branch and retired as a Wg Cdr in 1993.