“It was 1973 when I first went there I
think,” he replies. “We were stationed
in Hong Kong and flying the Gurkhas
on a turnaround basis. We used to
do this every six months. We'd take a
battalion from Hong Kong where they
were based to Kathmandu and bring
another lot back.
“Kathmandu was a really backward
country then, in the Middle Ages
almost. Shops did just have wooden
shutters – no glass. To lock them there
were wooden locks and keys. It was all
very primitive, but very interesting.”
After leaving the air force Mel worked
as a sales manager for a company that
manufactured military equipment. The
job advertisement asked for somebody
with knowledge of NBC (nuclear,
biological, chemical) equipment. “In
the air force we had to do a secondary
duty, and while I was away once some
bright spark volunteered me to be the
squadron NBC officer. I learnt what
it was all about – quite nasty stuff.
So when I left the forces and this ad
came up I was just the man they were
looking for.”
Life after the air force would also see
him and his wife, Billie, move from
Carterton to Chichester – where she
“Mayflies” (trout fishing)
After art school “national service
reared its ugly head” and Mel
opted to join the RAF, meaning his
art took a back seat.
“Unfortunately I enjoyed the air
force,” he states. “I signed on for
a five year period and at the end
of that I was posted to nuclear
missiles. I went to America for
almost a year to study them.”
On return from the US Mel’s post
would see him spend five years
in Yorkshire.
“Then the political situation
changed,” he says. “The Russians
were threatening to put missiles in
Cuba to threaten America. They’d
take them away providing our
missiles in England threatening
Russia were taken away.
“So I was left without a purpose
in the air force. What I decided to
do was join the air crew as a flight
engineer – that's what I did for the
next 20 years.”
This is how he ended up at Brize. It
was a job that took him around the
world twice. I ask if there were any
locations he’ll always remember
for whatever reason. He doesn’t
hesitate in relaying his experience
of Kathmandu.
89
