| As can be seen from the pristine
condition of my aide memoire I didn’t have to fiddle
around trying to find it to consult very often!!!! The
only time I ever almost shot ‘someone’ on the base was
one night when on patrol alone after I had stupidly seen
the Exorcist in the open air cinema before going on
duty. I sh*t myself at the sound of a noise, cocked my
SMG & was about to let rip on full auto when one of the
wild cats legged it out of a bin. The thought of
shouting KIFF & firing single shots never entered my
head! |
| Do you remember the RAF guys who
used to trap & drown the wild cats? Their trade
description was GD or General Duties. That meant they
didn’t have a real role! They caught them in wire cages
& drowned them in the static water tanks. Some of the
un-neutered tom cats were HUGE! We caught a couple of
cats ourselves one night & chucked them into their room
after they’d gone to bed pissed. I always enjoyed
working nights. There was always something interesting
happening. I remember the sun would come up like someone
flicking a light switch. I seem to remember that the BBC
World Service was always played over the Tannoy system
in the mornings & the tune of Lili Bolero ringing out. I
did get involved in some serious drinking out there. On
my days off I worked behind the bar in the Kennel Club
which didn’t help! When were you out there? I was there
in 76-77 |
| I remember listening to the football
scores in the NAAFI whilst I had a Chocolate Milk to
line my gut before hitting the whisky. The radio would
fade in & out so we never really got the entire results! |
| Was it really 32 years ago? |
| We were located just across the way
from the FST. If any wounded Adoo were helicoptered in
we would recover any weapons & ammo they had & keep them
in our armoury. Every now & then the BATT guys would
call & collect them & sometimes we would be invited to
go to their range to fire some stuff off & lob a few
grenades. I detained a local Arab one night who had
tried to steal booze from the Sgts Mess. He was high on
khat. I handed him over to the Salalah town Police at
our main gate. They threw him into the back of their
Toyota truck & beat the cr*p out of him with rifle butts
as they drove off. |
| During my time there I recall a
senior officer at the FST being from the Royal Navy. |
I should try to put everything down
in writing as there were some very funny incidents. We
used to put our name down on a waiting list to see
operations in the FST (I’m sure I haven’t imagined
this). I bottled out when it was my turn! I remember
giving blood out there.
Steve "Taff" Culliford
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