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

Bangladesh - Memories of Dhaka, by Simon Watts (1981-1985)

Siblings in Dhaka. My ramp car guards

PICTURE - MY 'RAMP CAR GUARD' AND HER SMALL BROTHER




In the eighties, Dhaka (Dacca) was considered one of the toughest postings with British Airways and prior to my arrival most Station Officers had a short term 'development' posting there, the logic being that  if you survived Dhaka you could survive anywhere..... 

 

Tejgaon airport in the city was initially served by VC10 aircraft and was an antiquated facility, with a very uneven runway due to bomb damage sustained during the war of 1972.

 

My arrival in 1981 was soon after Zia International Airport opened and VC10s were replaced by Tri-star L1011 aircraft. BA decided that a more permanent airport presence was required, so my 6 month temporary posting became a 4 year contract. I was delighted. Bangladesh is a fascinating country and I am privileged to have lived there.  I learned a lot and will never forget the experience. 

 

Bangladesh, previously East Bengal in British India and then East Pakistan after partition, with a small provincial capital, Dacca, had no infrastructure nor exports, apart from jute, to sustain an independent economy when it gained independence in 1972. As a result, in the eighties the country survived on foreign aid with large numbers of expatriate 'experts' assisting in developing the economy. A notable example was a team from Lancashire setting up a garment industry, which is now a huge export business and (controversial) employer. There was also a very large British High Commission overseas aid section and immigration section, staffed by expatriates, due to the large numbers of potential Bangladeshi migrants to the UK. Various UN agencies were also represented. BA was therefore very busy servicing the UK and European expatriate community, the migrants and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) traffic to the UK, mainly from Sylhet district as well as Bangladeshi expatriate workers to and from the Persian Gulf via Doha in Qatar. 

 

There were no tourists, apart from the odd lost backpacker. A wonderfully misspelt tourist poster said it all:  'Visit Bangladesh before the tourist comes', note 'tourist' in the singular. Foreigners were a novelty and attracted large crowds - I remember getting a flat tyre on the way to work and a kindly passer-by offered to change my wheel (I was after all wearing my smart and clean BA uniform). A crowd quickly gathered watching me, but I then noticed a man in the crowd with a deformed hand, his index finger at least two feet long... And they kept staring at me!  Heartbreaking sights every day with abject poverty and beggars at every turn. 

 

There were two Tri-star turnaround services per week via Doha and Calcutta to London. There was no catering or water uplift in Dhaka and engineering was provided from Calcutta. No airport computer systems, no international telephones and no CNN, so you were very much on your own. I remember following the Falklands war over the BBC World Service on my SSB radio.

 

The BA crew stayed in Dhaka between flights and rarely left the hotel. There was one notable exception: stewardess Pat Kerr, OBE, became famous for setting up Sreepur village for orphans (she is still there).

Dhaka then had a population of less than 3 million (today 12 million and counting) mostly concentrated in Old Dhaka on the banks of a Meghna river tributary, a truly medieval place, I remember the Armenian church amongst it all. The new airport was surrounded by farmland and rice paddies, with suburbs slowly growing outwards from the city. Most expatriates lived in Gulshan or Banani near to the airport, where all the embassies were. There were a lot of lakes and paddy fields.

 

The weather was extreme, with a very intense monsoon season when half the country floods and devastating cyclones occur. The airport was regularly flooded, causing reduced runway length availability. For a few months over winter, the climate was dry and cool but the humidity in the summer was intense.

 

Expatriate life revolved around the various diplomatic clubs; the Brits, as only the Brits would, had two - The BHC club and the British Aid Guest House Association or BAGHA club, the more 'earthy' of the two. BA expat staff, the country manager and I were honorary members of both and I served as the 'bar' member at the BAGHA for a time.  My main role was the acquisition of alcohol from the various members’ duty free allowances!   Life was very much work, sleep and club (drinking and/or sport) with a very active Hash House Harriers. During the curfew that followed the coup in 1982, those in the BAGHA club remained for three days and emptied the bar..

 

Also popular were the U.S. Marine house on Fridays and the Australian High Commission club for barbecues. There were only two international standard hotels and very few restaurants. Very little crime against foreigners so no safety concerns, apart from health and accidents on the roads, which were very common (killer buses the press called them - imported chassis with locally made timber bodies).  If you got sick you left, normally on Thai International to Bangkok. Too many stories of ants in intravenous drips in Dhaka hospitals and demands for prepayment before any treatment. Some practising doctors displayed brass plaques stating that they had studied medicine abroad but failed (better than nothing so OK to practise!)

 

During HM the Queen’s visit in 1983 a garden party was held at the High Commissioner’s residence and all British nationals were invited and asked to wear formal attire or national dress. Some of the VSOs (volunteers) had suits made by local tailors and I remember one, bright pillar box red with a huge bright green kipper tie. All the High Commission staff were trying to shield the Queen from him!

 

Social life could be interesting; I once imported a 44 pint keg of real ale as baggage after a trip to the UK and convinced customs in Dhaka that it was a special type of engine oil, thoroughly enjoyed at the BAGHA club that evening!

 

Cycle rickshaws were the mode of transport for the masses and a group was always on hand outside the clubs to take people home; often the rickshaw wallah would end up on the seat with the drunken expats holding impromptu cycle races through the streets at dead of night. My farewell gift from BA was a tapestry of a rickshaw with a sari clad lady as passenger, as a reminder of the number I had gently knocked over during my mad drives through the centre of Dhaka. A BA Captain purchased a rickshaw and rode it on to the tarmac in full uniform at the airport to be loaded on to the aircraft; it's now somewhere in Berkshire!

 

Travel within the country was often interesting; I was on the night mail to Sylhet when a band of 'dacoits' took over the train and rode all the way on the roof. I also visited a friend who worked on an ODA fisheries project in the west of the country and a ferry ride across the Padma River was required, as wide as an inland sea. The ferry started to list half way across so two fully loaded trucks were pushed overboard!

 

The BA City office was in Motijheel commercial area in Dhaka and we regularly got calls from the public asking when the Saatchi and Saatchi Manhattan TV advertisement was on, as it was the best thing on Bangladesh TV. There was a wonderful headline in the local paper 'Biman crashes again' referring to the local airline’s soccer team, not the airline itself.

 

Once when I was acting country manager I was approached by a recruiter from one of the Gulf States enquiring about airfares for workers. When I gave him the price he asked how many could be accommodated in a cargo container. He was not joking.

 

Zia international Airport was new but rundown, prone to flooding and with regular power cuts. No aero bridges, so passengers walked to the aircraft or took very ancient buses in bad weather. Terrible toilets, I never used one in over four years, preferring the quick drive home, or using the aircraft facilities in emergencies, sometimes to the surprise of arriving passengers.

 

The UN provided two brand new airport fire fighting vehicles, one of which was written off within a week when it rolled, cornering too fast on the taxiway.

 

The airport was closed without notice whenever a VIP travelled and once a dais was constructed on the tarmac to welcome the president home from an overseas visit only to be blown away by an overzealous BA Tri-star Captain during taxying. Meanwhile an engineer and I were both marshalling the BA aircraft to two different stands, wondering why the aircraft was parked at the entrance to the ramp flashing its landing lights.

 

One Christmas, the Tri-star Captain operated the last sector Calcutta to Dhaka dressed as Santa Claus and arrived in the terminal via a baggage cart and baggage carousel, wondering why no one understood, Bangladesh being a predominantly Muslim country that doesn't celebrate Christmas. A coffin was delivered on the baggage carousel on the same flight, much to the horror of passengers.

 

A swarm of bees once carpeted the passenger steps just as it was about to be positioned onto the arrival aircraft, delaying the passengers. The steps driver fearlessly positioned the steps anyway. 

 

A number of cargo containers went missing and later turned up at a local village as houses; pre arrival checks included ensuring that no villagers were crossing the runway as a short cut home, often on bicycles. The runway bisected a historic access road which they tried to continue using after the airport was built.

 

One of my fondest memories was a young girl with her baby brother permanently on her hip who guarded my ramp car religiously for over four years when parked at the airport. I paid for her education, provided stationery and clothes for her family and we became great friends. She turned up in her best sari with her whole village to see me off when I left the country at the end of my posting; a very emotional day indeed.

 

Some wonderful moments at the airport included a well-known British politician panicking in the lounge and breaking the door down thinking he had been forgotten and was going to miss his flight. During Hajj there was a 'lathi' charge by police in the terminal to control check-in queues catching charters to Jeddah. One Hajj passenger boarded a parked Bangladesh Biman B707 in error and spent the night asleep in the cockpit.

 

On one occasion an English girl who married a Bangladeshi was abandoned in his home village and after being rescued by the High Commission was flown back to the UK weighing less than 100lbs. I remember her being carried like a baby by a porter. An arriving passenger from the UK with 'newsagent' as occupation in his passport was denied entry to Bangladesh as a journalist. Some passengers had never seen a western toilet and needed training before boarding aircraft. We even produced leaflets and an inflight instructional video!  Babies were sometimes held over the aircraft aisle to pee - as was the norm on local buses.

 

Technical delays were thankfully rare but on one occasion during an extended delay, passengers who had never been to a big city spent the whole night in the western style Sonargaon hotel travelling up and down in the hotel elevator, as they had never seen one before. They preferred to camp out in the lobby.

 

The local staff were amazing, Zakiullah, whose sole job was to load crew bags and beat off the crowds that would surround the crew bus, was so loyal that he came to work the day his child had died and never told anyone until the flight departed. Broke my heart.

 

I used to go to Calcutta for the weekend for some R+R which says it all really! 

 

Dhaka was the most extraordinary four years of my life, I later was posted to Africa which had different challenges but nothing quite like Bangladesh! 




UPPER PICTURES -

BA ADVERTISING ON BACK OF MOTOR RICKSHAW IN FULL VIEW OF VEHICLE AND AS ENLARGED ADVERT
 

RICKSHAW DHAKA, 1983

LOWER PICTURES - FERRIES AND RIVER TAXI ON THE PADMA RIVER
                                   
THE PEOPLE OF BANGLADESH

HRH PRINCESS ANNE IN DHAKA

MY BANGLADESH FAREWELL

Rickshaw DAC 1983

1984 British Airways advertisement, Dhaka

Rickshaw in Dhaka

WATER EVERYWHERE...Crossing the Padma

Crossing the Padma

....and Ferry on the Padma

Ferry on the Padma

Ferry to Comilla

Ferry to Comilla

River taxi, Old Dhaka


River Commerce...

River commerce

Young Boy on the River, Gulshan

River scene

Paddy Fields

Gulshan paddy fields

The people of Bangladesh were willing and photogenic subjects.. this is a selection of my favourite shots...

...Boy on the Ferry to Chittagong

Boy on the ferry to Chittagong

Children in Bangladesh

Children in Bangladesh

Bazaar in Dhaka

Bazaar in Dhaka

Bangladesh Family

Family in Bangladesh

Girl in Tongi

Girl in Tongi, Bangladesh

Heavy Load on the Ferry to Comilla

Heavy load on the ferry to Comilla

Old Man in Damrai

Old Man in Damrai

Dhaka Family

Dhaka family

Night Mail Train to Sylhet

Night mail train to Sylhet

Visit of HRH Princess Anne to Dhaka

HRH Princess Anne in Dhaka

My Fond Bangladesh Farewell

My Bangladesh farewell

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