Ex forces in France

Information

Group for all forces to contact each other,chat, and who knows maybe meet up once in a while :-D

Members: 13
Latest Activity: Mar 19

1 member likes this

This group does not have any discussions yet.

Add a Comment

Comment by Martin Allen on March 19, 2013 at 7:42: Shipmates, after 34 years, Man and Boy, I retired from the Senior Service with the intention of living in our house in the Aude. Regrettably an offer came along for some additional employment which delayed the move by 5 years. However, we are now well into our first year and wishing we had done it years ago. Served in
76. Joined
77. Hermes
78. Antrim
81. Sultan
82. Cardiff
84. RNFFS
86. Diomede
87. Exeter
89. RNFFS
91. Manchester
93. RNFFS
95. FOST
97. Sultan
99. Fosf
2001. Sultan
2008. Endex

Comment by DAVID HUNT on January 17, 2013 at 22:14: Love the group photo of SHAPE HQ in MONS. I think I spent more time in the Greasy spoon, than Live Oak. Oh happy days !!!!! 24hr week, no weekend duty's, and an LOA to die for !!!!

Comment by Jem Collins on July 17, 2012 at 21:00: It's so true, there's a definite camaraderie you just don't get in civvy street, especially if you've done an overseas tour (good groundwork for living in France, as it happened). Military service was a family thing, too - sad to say I'm the son of a bootneck! - but it seemed near the end of my time in the blue serge suit that the young 'uns coming in weren't there for the same reasons I was. Mind you, it's a totally different world now, innit? Proud to have done my stint, glad it finished when it did, but I do miss some aspects of the life, even 20 years down the track...

Comment by Joe Bergin on July 17, 2012 at 18:13: Hi Jem, I was a shiney in SCAF. I also enjoyed a good weekend in Cagliari (not the wall) and spent a week recovering. You spent more time in France than in the RAF but I bet you can share more stories from those 9 years. Often wish I had kept a diary and wrote about some of the characters I met. I know all ex-service people could do the same. Funny thing is that people who never served think it is exaggeration so I stopped telling of some of the adventures.

Comment by Jem Collins on July 17, 2012 at 12:33: Hi Joe, what TG were you? I was ATC, and have managed to keep going in aviation (sort of) ever since. My holiday in the sun at Deci was a shared ACMI with 4Sqn Harriers and 14Sqn Tonkas. Brill time, especially as I got invited to go scuba diving on our weekend off - it beat diving in a gravel pit outside Cologne.....

Comment by Joe Bergin on July 17, 2012 at 12:15: Hi Jem, Looks like you were in the same time as me. Prestwick couldn't have been a bad number. I finished up in Turnhouse after 15 which was very handy as my wife (of then) is from Edinburgh. I also did a spell in Deci with 3 Sqdn Harriers from Wildenrath.

Comment by Joanna Wallez on July 16, 2012 at 22:11: Just thought that I would say a quick hello. I am in the process of retiring from the Army after 22 yrs service. My husband (a retired french naval officer) and I have bought a house at Villemort, in Vienne about 45 mins to the east of Poitiers. Looking forward to spending my pension on good wines and lovely bread and cheese!!

Comment by Jem Collins on July 8, 2012 at 19:11: Afternoon all

new kid on the block (relatively speaking), ex-RAF 9 years' service, based in the UK, Germany (remember the good old days at the tail end of the Cold War?), FI and.... well that's it really. By the time I joined up, the majority of the interesting postings had disappeared, had to make do with Prestwick, Bruggen, Mount Pleasant, West Drayton, and two weeks in the sun at Decimomannu on detachment... been in France for near 18 years, but until recently I lived in the Paris area, footloose and fancy free. Then that naughty Cupid fellow did the biz, I got wed at the tender age of 46, and now am proudly married with an adopted family of 3 girls, 2 grandkids, a dog and 6 cats, and a house in the middle of the Orne countryside. Eh bah didon.....

Comment by fred chase on July 8, 2012 at 11:25: when i joined up in 62 we had to dig our own canoes and i was picked up at my first kitmuster for a rusty cutlass. many fond memories of the rum issue as it was part of my job to do it and also to account for it of course. loads of stories concerning activities after the consumption of same!