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BETTER ON A CAMEL
BOAC and BEA reminiscences, memorabilia and history |
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Dedication
About the charity 'Practical Action' |
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Foreword
Foreword by Sir Ross Stainton, former Chairman of BOAC |
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Introduction
Review of background to airline experiences and recollections |
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CHAPTER ONE - THE FAR EAST AND INDIAN OCEAN
airport and airline memoirs about the far east - from India and the Seychelles to Japan |
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Bangladesh - All Together Now! by John Anderson (1973)
john anderson |
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Bangladesh - Memories of Dhaka, by Simon Watts (1981-1985)
Life and Work in Bangladesh |
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Bangladesh - Days in the life of a new Station Manager, by Jim Mackison (1976 - 1980)
Turbulent times in a challenging environment |
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Burma - Lighting Up Time, by Gerry Catling (1954)
an airport story - cigars as insect repellent |
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Burma - The Day of the Dear Departed (1954), by Gerry Catling
memories of a delicate diplomatic exercise with BOAC in Burma |
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Burma, etc. - Britannias, by Alan Douglas
recollections of the Bristol Britannia in service with BOAC |
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Burma -The Sound Barrier, by Tony Russell (1972)
Dealings with the civil aviation authorities in Rangoon |
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Burma - The Fertiliser Factory, by David McCormack (1972)
memoirs of an airline manager - going the extra mile in customer service... |
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Burma - Cigars, Religion and Superstition, by Peter Jones (1975)
Meeting the Burmese People |
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Burma - Special Adviser to the Manager, by Peter Jones (1975)
attending a funeral in Rangoon |
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Burma - Burmese Days, by Peter Jones (1975)
a visit to Mandalay and the temples of Pagan |
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China - Learning Chinese by Ralph Glazer (1983)
Meeting CAAC |
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China - Scotland the Brave by Ralph Glazer (1985)
burns night |
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India - Holy Cow, by Ralph Glazer (1964)
Obstruction on the runway... |
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India - Delhi (Not) Singing in the Rain, by Ralph Glazer (1964)
Monsoon (and its Cargo) Close airport |
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India - The Morning Commuter, by Peter Fieldhouse (1970)
Getting to the office in Calcutta |
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Japan - The Mount Fuji Disaster, by James Wilson (1966)
a retrospective view of the management of the aftermath of a major air crash |
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Pakistan - Yaqoob and Musaleem, by Peter Liver (1987)
fond memories of two aged retainers |
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Philippines - Cutting it Fine, by David Hogg (1970)
memoir of the chaos to civil aviation caused by a typhoon in Manila |
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Philippines - Being British, by David Hogg (1969)
reactions to an earthquake |
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Sri Lanka (Ceylon) - The Day my Number (almost) Came up, by Gerry Catling (1960)
memories of a BOAC Comet 4 landing on a wet runway.. |
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Seychelles Days, by Mike McDonald (1974-1977)
An island idyll..civil aviation (and British Airways) arrive in the Seychelles |
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CHAPTER TWO - THE MIDDLE EAST
airport and airline reminiscences and memorabilia in the Middle East |
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Abu Dhabi - Ice Cold in Abu Dhabi, by Graham Moss (1970)
keeping VC-10 passengers cool on the ground |
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Abu Dhabi - Sand Trap, by David Hogg (1972)
hazards of driving in the desert |
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Dubai - a Training Posting, by Peter Liver (1970)
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Bahrain - The Traffic Manual Expert, by David Meyrick (1962)
an air cargo problem - loading a BOAC DC7F |
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Bahrain - The Thunderstorm, by Ron Colnbrook (1968)
a scary flying story |
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Iran - The Nosewheel Incident, by Alan Hillman (1965)
a problem on the runway in Tehran |
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Iran - Hold Five, by Brian Cannadine (1972)
Teheran Airport - animal alert! |
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Israel - Cultural Differences, Mike McDonald (1972)
airline tales from Tel Aviv |
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Kuwait in the Fifties by Jamil Wafa (1955)
Kuwait |
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Kuwait - a 'Fifth Pod' Operation, by Jack Wesson (1965)
a BOAC flight planner's nightmare |
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Kuwait - the Oil Drillers, by John Cogger (1970)
a BOAC Sales Manager at work - life in the fast lane |
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Kuwait - Out of the Fog, by Peter Richards (1991)
Return to Kuwait after the Gulf War |
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Yemen - Sana'a Memories, by David Hogg (1973)
a testimony of everyday life in the Yemen |
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Saudi Arabia - Abdul and the Bacon, by David Hogg (1973)
a treat goes missing |
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Dhahran, Saudi Arabia - Rats! An Unwelcome Customer, by John Anderson (1978)
An Unwelcome Passenger |
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CHAPTER THREE - AFRICA
recollections and tales of life with BOAC and British Airways in Africa |
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Ghana - the Watchman, by Anthony Farnfield (1966)
a letter in the files |
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Kano, Nigeria - Willie on the Rampage, by Pat Noujaim (1959)
The randiest dachshund in Northern Nigeria nearly causes a delay |
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Nigeria - Bush Telegraph, by David Hogg (1965)
bad news travels fast in West Africa |
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Nigeria - Things Other than the World Cup, by Don Ford (1966)
BOAC involved in events in Lagos before the Biafran War |
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Nigeria - Boom Times, by Peter Jones (1975-1979)
the oil boom in Nigeria in the seventies |
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Nigeria - an Attempted Coup, by Peter Jones (1976)
violent regime change in Nigeria |
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Nigeria - Living and Working in Lagos, by Peter Jones (1975-1979)
stories of expatriate life in Nigeria |
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Nigeria and Concorde, by Peter Jones (1976-1979)
How Nigerians took to Concorde |
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Nigeria - Never Knowingly Undersold, by Peter Jones (1979)
Travails with the Lagos Telephone Company |
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Nigeria - Student Travel, by Peter Jones (1981)
a student goes to the wrong destination |
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Nigeria - Lagos Airport Again! by Nick Robertson (1989-90)
Wild West (Africa) |
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Ethiopia - Petrol Rationing, by Doug Tester (1975)
Michael to the rescue |
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Uganda - The Road to Kampala, by Peter Liver (1972)
a moment in history - BOAC in Uganda in the days of Idi Amin |
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Uganda - Exodus of the Ugandan Asians, by Mike Wickings (1972)
Organising the departure of Asians from Uganda |
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Uganda - Kenneth's Mortars, by John Anderson (1972)
Diplomatic Incident in East Africa |
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Zambia - Jottings from the Copperbelt, by Peter Jones (1969-1972)
Ndola |
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Malawi - The President's Plane, by Peter Woodrow (1977)
VIP Travel to the Commonwealth Conference... |
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Kenya - Nairobi 1956 etc., By Maurice Flanagan
early memories of BOAC in Nairobi |
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Kenya - The Frustrations of the Comet 4, by Don Ford (circa 1962)
recollections of ingenious improvisation to make best use of space in the BOAC Comet 4 |
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Kenya - Customer Recovery, Kenya Style, By Simon Watts (1988)
Going the extra mile... |
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Kenya - Concorde and other big beasts, by Simon Watts (1986-90)
Concorde and other big beasts |
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Kenya - Nanyuki Wedding, by Steve Sturton-Davies (1992)
a wedding in the bush |
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Egypt - The Six Day War, By Ron Colnbrook (1967)
memories of a war zone |
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Libya, Sudan and Iraq - The Personal and Confidential File, by Roddy Wilson (1955-1960)
more camel stories... |
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Libya - Monkeys in a Hangar, by Ralph Glazer (1954)
Wildlife in Tripoli |
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Libya - The spirit of Christmas Past, by Gerry Catling (1958)
hijinks in the Tripoli transit lounge |
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Libya (and Ceylon) Unaccompanied Minors by Gerry Catling (1959)
The difficulties that younger passengers sometime cause... |
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CHAPTER FOUR - THE CARIBBEAN, AMERICAS AND ATLANTIC OCEAN
WESTERN HEMISPHERE |
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Jamaica - Dr No by Mike McDonald (1964/1974)
a James Bond memory |
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St. Lucia - Hurricane Allen, by Peter Jones (1980)
surviving a major hurricane |
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St.Lucia - The Wrong Taxiway, by Peter Jones (1983)
consequences of miscommunication |
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St. Lucia - The Red Lady, by Peter Jones (1983)
voodoo and the Boeing 747 - an unsolved mystery |
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St. Lucia - The Collector, by Peter Jones (1983)
An Illegal 'Collector' of Rare Species is seen off |
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St. Lucia - There's a Hole in the Runway, by Peter Jones (1984)
suspension of operations in St Lucia |
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Trinidad - Management Skills, by Bill Smith (1965)
learning the ropes, the hard way |
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Bahamas - Cabin bags and Elephants, by Tony Russell (1966)
squashed baggage |
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Canada - Gander, Crossroads of the World, by Gerry Catling (1956)
Transatlantic travel as it used to be |
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Mexico - A Day in Mexico City, by Ralph Glazer (1975)
Concorde, a Road Accident and the Mexican Police |
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Panama - Don't Stop! by David Hogg (1975-1980)
what about the snakes? |
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Panama - Flying Positive, by David Hogg (1975-1980)
BAC-111 pilots in Central America |
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Chile - Chile-Chile-Bang-Bang, by Howell Green (1994)
Frustrations in the queue for take-off |
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Uruguay - Jet Flight Arrives in South America, by Alan Douglas (1959)
introducing the Comet 4 in South America |
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USA - I Was There That Day, by Jonathan Martin (1963)
Dallas 1963, the day of President Kennedy's assassination |
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USA - The Cricket Team, by Peter Jones (1964)
cricket in New York with BOAC? |
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USA - The New World, by Don Ford (1967-1969)
An expatriate airport manager comes to Chicago |
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Ascension and Falkland Islands - Encounters of the Third Kind, by Bruce Fry (1985-1987)
a BOAC station engineer goes on secondment to the RAF in the Falklands |
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CHAPTER FIVE - EUROPE
EUROPE |
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UK - A Shetland Story, by Anthony McLauchlan (1972)
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Bulgaria - Fog in London, by Mike Lewin (1976)
BEA schedules affected by fog in London |
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Cyprus - Suez and the Rocky path of True Love, by Gerry Catling (1956-57)
effect of Suez on BA schedules and social life.. |
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Cyprus - the Hijack, by Bruce Fry (1970)
when a hijacked BOAC VC-10 diverted all flights to Nicosia |
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Cyprus - The Turkish Invasion, by Taff Lark (1974)
Evacuation of tourists when Cyprus invaded by Turkish forces |
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Germany - from BSAA to the Berlin Airlift, by C. I. (Charlie Item) Smith (1948-49)
Following the BSAA disasters, the Avro Tudor fleet is assigned to the Berlin Airlift as fuel tankers |
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Germany - Learning German, by Larry Gorton (1966)
recollections of a BEA manager having problems learning German |
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Italy - The Secret of Fiumicino, by Bill Smith (1967)
airport customer service staff get a morale boost and valuable lessons for motivation are learned |
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Romania - Heidi's Haggis, by Mike Lewin (1971)
a bit of BEA memorabilia - ingenuity in the kitchen saves Burns Night in Bucharest |
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Poland - The Stand-off, by Roy Burnham (1978)
an encounter with American presidential security guards |
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Russia (USSR) Trans Siberian Start-up, by Brian Burgess (1969-1972)
planning for an historic moment - BOAC's trans Siberian route to Japan |
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Russia(USSR) - The Omelette Factory, by Peter Richards (1970s)
Navigating over Siberia |
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Russia (USSR) - Red Faces in Red Square, By Bernard Garvie (1970)
Diplomatic Incident with Chandelier |
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Russia (USSR) The Security Guard, by Peter Richards (1976)
How to scare a Russian Security Officer |
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Russia (USSR) -The Stewardess, by Taff Lark (1980)
shades of 007 |
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Russia (USSR) - the Golf Lesson, by Peter Richards (1976)
In a Moscow Hotel Room.. |
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Russia (USSR) - Domodedovo Airport, 'the House of my Grandfather' by Mike McDonald (1989)
a memoir of early days at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport |
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Russia (USSR) - Moscow Anecdotes, by Jim Mackison (1970)
various memories of working and living in Moscow |
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Spain - Dictatorship and Honour, by Gerry Catling (1960)
a recollection of Franco's Spain - negotiating the 'personal honour' code at Madrid Airport |
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Spain - A Soft Touch, by Ralph Glazer (1971)
A Meeting with Franco |
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Switzerland - The Precision of the Swiss, by Gerry Catling (1968)
recollections of how we proved to the airport authority that the Super VC-10 was not a noisy aircraft |
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Further reading and watching for addicts.... |
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PICTORIAL APPENDIX
Some miscellaneous photos that don't have a story to go with them |
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