RAOC Gazette - page 210
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1983 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | Yes |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1983 |
| Late date | 1983 |
| Transcription |
FLOATER 83 BY W 2 (SQMS) P . WHARTON LATE last year I was attached to the Defence Sales Organisation which is situated in Stuart House, Soho Square, London. My attachment was to be for four months as ' the ammunition m a n ' as I rapidly became known to the Project Officer, Commander Palastre RN, and the other team members. Project 'Floater 83' was a floating exhibition which sailed to eight Middle Eastern countries, six of them in the Arabian Gulf, advertising British Defence Industries. There were upwards of three hundred people on board the ship which included the Townsend Thoresen crew from whom the ship was chartered, approximately one hundred and fifty Company representatives and eighty soldiers taken from Sales teams of different arms; RA, RAC, Infantry, RE and RM. Also taken were approximately thirty vehicles which included two Main Battle Tanks, the ROF Challenger and the Vickers Valiant, countless spares and stores and last but not least, thirty tons of ammunition and explosives. Obtaining an Exemption Certificate from the Department to allow the stowage of such a quantity on a ship, classed as a passenger vessel, kept me occupied for the best part of six months prior to the tour. There were constant changes to the itinerary which therefore meant changes to the ammunition requirement and so it also kept quite a few people occupied at DLSA as well. Locking the door, closing the curtains and lying on the floor whenever they saw me coming probably crossed a few minds. When at last the day came to sail from Southampton on ' The voyage of mystery' as the ships master called it (he was a man of foresight), many people had already worked many hours to put the project together and there had already been much wailing and rending of clothes. Not taking into account the British docker and his sense of humour, led to the loading of the ship being switched to the Military port at Marchwood in the middle of the last night! It must have been quite a shock to the system for the poor RCT but if they were ' put out' they didn't show it. At 1600 hours the ship sailed and at 0400 hours the follow- ing morning the ship entered the Bay of Biscay. Now MV Viking Venturer be a big ship (sixty three hundred tonnes) but some of those waves be bigger and many a lad spent the next two days below strapped to his bunk! We put into Gibraltar with lock the piper in full regalia giving his all from the foc'sle (front bit). This was to be a regular feature. Unfortunately, we docked at the oil bunkering terminal and the whole grand occasion was wasted on a few bemused dockers! Not to worry though things could only improve, we thought. From Gib into the Med and through the Suez Canal; which took us eighteen hours longer than it should have. We put it down to either the ineptitude of the locals—or perhaps insufficient backsheesh. On through the Red Sea and then left into the Arabian Sea. By now the situation on board ship for the soldiers was intolerable. Stripped almost naked, covered in oil and stretched out beneath the baking sun for hours, on end, day in, day out 'twas an evil time and our only refreshment was beer etc. I personally had visions of the cold, cloudy grey skies of home, the water shortage and the rail strike, breakfast television and ' Dallas.' To be separated from all that, was almost more than body and soul could bear. We had to persevere though, for occasionally one has to make these sacrifices to earn the X Factor! At last we sailed into Qatar and down to some work. Qatar has a multi-million pound hotel and cheap petrol—-a tremendously exciting place. Dannan in Saudi Arabia was even more exciting—it rained! Next was Bahrain. Here was to be our first expedition into the desert to rehearse and then carry out a Firepower and MV Viking Venturer. Mobility display. The convoy moved off, closely escorted by the Military Police towards the range area some twenty miles away. They had an exciting method of dealing with any car which dared to use the same road. They drove at them and forced them off the road. Amazing, suicidal, but effective all the same. Whilst in Bahrain I was extremely fortunate to meet up again with John and Jackie Woodward. John an ex-Conductor in the Corps is now a Captain in the Bahrain Police Force. Blue skies, blue seas, sun and sand not to mention a nice bungalow and high standards of living are not doing either of them any harm at all. While the firings were taking place ' up country,' back at the ship many hundreds of visitors were shown around the exhibition where all the Company reps waited to pounce on any Arab gentleman who came close. After Bahrain came Kuwait Whilst greeting guests coming on board to all of the many receptions a lady asked the Com- mander if he was with Townsend Thoresen. Poised in salute at the top of the gangway his smile never wavered. The ranges were a three hours drive from the ship. Fortunately we turned left fifty miles short of Iraq and Iran where shell fire can be picked up by the local radar station. On arriving there we found a Brigade deployed across the impact area and they wouldn't budge. Allah then stepped in with a force seven gale reducing visibility to ten metres and curtailing any thought of firing. Conditions were abysmal but the stands had to be erected, targets built and ammunition un- loaded. Being unprotected in a sandstorm cannot really be described, one needs to experience it first hand. Next day most firing time was spent trying to miss Arab trucks driving across the arcs of fire, occasionally with police cars screaming after them, but it was all good fun and not a bit like SPTA! The schedule was very tight in Kuwait and spare time didn't feature but I met Staff Sergeant Alan Saddington who is alive and as well as can be expected, now that even the Embassies are ' dry.' Having completed Kuwait we sailed into Abu Dhabi. My last- ing memories there are of high rise flats staring at each other, without roads around them, just desert. Next came Dubai—here as in all the countries where we didn't carry out a Firepower display we carried out a Mobility display on the quayside with all the dignitaries, guests and ' hangers on ' watching from the ship. In assisting the RE sales team to put together a medium girder bridge in as short a time — 173 — |
| Book number | R0406 |