Sorry to here the passing of big George. My favourite story of him is when we where on 43 we had our first major detachment "Operation Limejug" which started of in Malta and finished in Cyprus. We where working a very good shift system of 12 on 24 off. Having lots of free time the "lineys" adopted a bar as their local in the Gut just down from the Gypo Queen. The place a good haven as a meeting place and there where lots of females hanging around. George being built like a bear stood out in the place and the girls thought he was wonderful. On evening one of the girls dressed in a tight top, mini skirt and thigh length boots told George that he could come upstairs for a freebie and George voiced these immortal words " OK as long as you keep the boots on!" Marvellous
Had the pleasure of knowing and working with George at Bruggen, when the fags, booze and cars were cheap. He was always there to help out or bail you out when you stuffed up. In the plumber circle he was respected and always sought out to resolve the age old problem of how many times could you be sucked back in a tea room game of uckers?????RIP mate, the Vicar.
I went to George's funeral and related the story of when we all went to Cupar for one the first of 43 Sqdn booze ups. We were eventually evicted from the pub and given a police escort to the railway station.
We did all catch the train but George declared that he would be carrying on through to Dundee to see his girlfriend. We decided that he was coming back to the block with us to finish off Ian Black's latest batch of illict home brew and decide that the only way to ensure that George didn't carry on to Dundee was to deprive him of his trousers. George was eventually relived of his leg garments and I was told to hide them.
When we arrived at Leuchars George refused to get off the train and relocated himself to the drivers cab. The driver was not happy having to share his cab with our large inebriated plumber and resulted in the police being once again called to attend our antics.
Eventually I was ordered to give George back his trousers but I had forgotten where I had hidden them. It wasn't until I started running down the platform that their location was revealed. I was wearing them; and as George was 6' 3" and I was only 5'7" I had tripped up over extra leg length. George then retrievd his trousers and happily continued to Dundee.
We never did get to Ian Black's home brew as Ian took a short cut a cross the sports field but got trapped in the cricket nets and spent the night there.
Happy days
Kipper
Hi all, Don't remember George bus sorry to hear of the passing of anyone from those days. Stand down liney, get a crate in, we'll be with you in a bit.
LOL, at the last post, love the bit about being trapped in nets, I sometimes tell similar stories and always get 'that look',
So sad to hear about George. He was a great companion for the singlies. Limejug was epic. Being on the same shift as George was an education for a youngster especially being introduced to the Gut. This site is bringing back what were long forgotten memories and what a great time it was on 43 starting from scratch. Trying to re boot to remember all the characters, but probably too many. Of course no one can forget 'Kipper'.
Sad to inform you of another departure to Little Snoring. Mike(Mick) Breckenridge 43 Sqn died last year. Survived by Sheila and his two daughters.
