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Welcome
to our Buccaneer
CREW ROOM
A place for stories and memories of 'Buccaneering!'
The
Buccanner was an awesome aircraft, an aircraft that proved
herself in environments she was never designed to go
into! Service with the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force and of
course, active service with the South African Air Force with
24 Sqn! In every unit however, she was much loved by her crews
and those who kept her in the air! |
If you have a story you would like to tell, please contact us, we
would be honoured to share it!
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This website
is dedicated to the one and only, Buccaneer! It
holds amongst its pages many photographs of the 'Bucc'.
But what of the crews, the fortunate 'few''?
The men who have flown the beast since Roy
Boot put pencil to paper in 1954?
"She's
like my Grand Mother, old, but formidable!"
Grp Capt Bill Cope 1991
"A ball bearing on glass over water!"
Sqn Ldr Rick Phillips 1994
"The only replacement for a Buccaneer is
a Buccaneer"
Heard
too many times to mention!
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Fatboy
'n' Skids relaxing at Lossie.
(Note the 208 Sqn toilet in the bottom left corner ...
For mixing cocktails only...)
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The
contents of this page are in no way politically motivated
or in no way should be deemed so!
They are just stories of men and aircraft!
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I
am proud to have the following story as the first
one to grace this page!
Introducing... 'Buccaneer to the Rescue'
by Andries Marais.
It tells of the exploits of Andries and Ernie
Harvey, Pilot and Navigator with 24 Sqn SAAF on
one particular day in May 1978 during the 'Border
war' into Angola
This one's for you Louwrens! |
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24
Sqn SAAF
Per
Noctem Per Diem
Through night, Through Day |
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The
following is a piece written by Simon van Garderen.
He Instructed on Harvards and also flew Buccaneers
with 24 Sqn SAAF based at AFB Waterkloof near Pretoria.
It has been translated from Afrikaans, so Simon,
I trust I have done a lekker job?
In my opinion, this is a wonderful piece of work,
it describes a Pilots' first solo in the awesome
Buccaneer... Read this and ENJOY... |
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The
next 2 stories come from Group Captain Tom Eeles.
They are excellent reads and typical of the type
of fable that is heard so many time over a few
beers in the mess. Thanks Tom for the effort.
Tom
Eeles served on exchange with the RN between 1966
- 1971
serving with 801 and 736 Sqns on HMS Victorious
and RNAS Lossiemouth.
He ejected from a 'Fam 1' (familiarisation flight
number 1) being in the back seat as a QFI with
no controls.
He was the founder member of 237 OCU in 1971 -
1972, then 12 Sqn 1972 - 1975. and has been awarded
the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Services
in the Air.
237 OCU 1977 - 1980 (Flight Commander)
237 OCU 1984 - 1987 (Sqn Commander).
And to finish off with, his total hours on the
Buccaneer are 2180.
Impressive eh!
There will be more stories from Gp Cpt Eeles very
soon especially the 'Fam 1' ejection.
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