No. 1 RADIO SCHOOL 60th ANNIVERSARY & Re-FORMATION
PARADE 2003
by
Roy Handley
Having learnt of the re-formation of No 1
RS at RAF Cosford from the CAA Newsletter, I suggested to Cliff
that we should make the effort to attend and represent the Entry
at the ceremony. Born in 1943, No 1 Radio School was
moved from Cranwell to RAF Locking in 1950 and was absorbed there
into No 1 S of TT RAF Cosford in 1999. The intention
was to revive the school in its own right on 2nd April 2003.
For me it was a case of "triple" nostalgia.
Apart from 3 years at the school at Cranwell, I had
completed a tour when its home was RAF Locking and had retired from
RAF Cosford in 1974, having been responsible for Foreign & Commonwealth
Officer training in what was then No 2 S of TT.
Cliff was deposited at our local station by British
Rail on the evening prior to the event and we enjoyed a convivial
meal together on 1st April. Which by coincidence happened
to be the 85th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force
in 1918.
The 2nd April dawned wet, windy and thoroughly miserable.
It did not auger well for our trip to Cosford. However,
armed with a large car sticker and visitor's passes we presented
ourselves at the gates of No1 S of TT. Number Rank,
Name(s) produced a crisp salute from a very young airman and we
given permission to enter. We made a beeline for Flowerdown
Hall (more of that later) and pre-parade coffee. Our
number swelled to three as we met Dave Harries who had made the
long trip from South Wales. I also met Ray Beswick (9M5)
over coffee. During my pre-retirement tour at Cosford
he and I had performed as Parade Warrant Officer and Parade Adjutant
respectively on many occasions on the square we were now about to
sit alongside.
With the ceremony scheduled for 1100 we made our
way from Flowerdown Hall to the parade ground. Years
of conditioning took over as Dave and I stepped from the road onto
the hallowed ground. Without a word we both paused and
looked at each other. A voice from the past screamed
"Get off the square you 'orrible man" and transported
us back about 55 years! In deference to Wing Warrant
Officers of the past, we changed direction and walked around the
perimeter.
We were ushered to our seats in the viewing stand
and offered "Blankets, Brown OA." Necessary
equipment for the aged about to sit in the teeth of a keen north-east
wind. Fortunately the rain had stopped but conditions
were decidedly chilly for all involved.
We were "briefed" by the current Station
Warrant Officer - when to sit and when to stand etc. in the inimitable
manner of this breed of gentlemen. Nothing has changed!
The parade itself was excellent and performed in immaculate
fashion (something akin to the standards set by the 55th Entry).
With perfect timing a Tornado of 13 Squadron flew over
the parade ground as the reviewing officer - Air Commodore P. J.
Dye - arrived.
But those CLOTH cap badges and WHITE PLASTIC WEBBING!!
The manufacturers of blanco and button sticks must have
suffered fatal economic decline. How would the WWO at
Cranwell have coped with a situation when his pace stick fails to
produce a cloud of blanco when he strikes the webbing and he suggests
the blanco is perhaps not quite perfect. Rifles were
not the treasured Lee Enfields of old and mini bayonets probably
did not require the caress of a burnishing pad! I can
imagine numerous Warrant Officers and NCO's rotating in their graves
at all this sacrilege.
RAF Cosford's Queen's Colour was also on parade,
which brought back memories of my own participation in the parade
in the early 70's when Cosford was first honoured with the freedom
of the City of Wolverhampton. The parade through the
city was led by two large mounted policemen riding equally large
horses. The latter animals were not fully house trained
and proceeded to deposit large amounts of manure in the path of
the parade commander and myself. Sufficient to say that
two pairs of shoes and best blue trousers were in the line of fire.
At least the Cosford mascot - a grey pony
called "Grace" - behaved with more restraint and although
somewhat vociferous did not misbehave on parade. She
was accompanied by a pony handler, a young airmen carrying a shovel
and a young airwoman with highly polished bucket.
The parade ended with the presentation of a shield
of No 1 RS and a march past which included some of the fitter [RAFCAA]
ex-graduates who had volunteered to risk arthritic limbs in the
process. Our only disappointment was the failure of
the RAF Central Band to play "Sussex by the Sea".
The ceremony completed, a buffet lunch awaited us
in Flowerdown Hall. The Hall is a three-storey, futuristic
looking building - all glass and metal. A far cry from
the old white "Radio Block" at Cranwell. Aptly
described as "Locking in a Box" by a member of staff,
the building houses all training for Trade Group 3 (Ground
Electronics Technicians), TG 5 (Aerial Erectors) and TG 11 (Telecommunications
Operator/Controller). In fact, No 1 RS will, in future,
only train those trades.
Replete with sandwiches, sausage rolls et al, we
were handed plans of the complex and after the unveiling of a plaque
invited to wander. Cliff's navigation was only marginally
superior to mine and we were lost several times in the labyrinth
of laboratories.
We noted trendy coffee bars on two of the floors
that are obviously the modern day equivalent of the old NAAFI van.
(Memories of the current "blockblaster" buns
at 2.5d (old pence). Our overall impression was of a
heavy emphasis on computer principles and practice in the training
of modern RAF technicians. Given the role of Flowerdown
Hall, we were disappointed not to see airborne equipments and endured
some banter from staff when we admitted to being ex-Air Radio Fitters,
who suggested that we had been trained as "black box changers".
My response was that with IQ's in single figure, they
could probably only cope with ground equipments. (That
should provoke "Letters to the Editor!".
One blast from the past was the small "Hand
Skills Laboratory", which was the only remnant from "Workshops".
No longer do they have to endure hours of misery filing
mild steel and brass and are limited to some soldering and drilling
holes in plastic. My "U" and "T"
piece never did fit correctly.
Our day ended after the tour of the facilities and
we embarked on the return journey to Ludlow armed with some memorabilia
of the occasion. Credit to Cliff's navigation skills
- we only got lost once! All in all we felt that
we had helped celebrate the 60th Anniversary and witnessed a small
piece of No 1 RS history. The old school was alive and
well at Cosford.
For how long, is a matter of some conjecture as
current policy studies envisage a new joint services "Defence
Communications & Information Systems School" at the Army's
Blandford Garrison.
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