# RAF Marine Craft Units



## John Tremelling (Aug 1, 2006)

Hi,

I don't know if there are any 'Blue Jobs' who visit this site, but I am looking for info on RAF Falmouth, MCU 1102. Photos and plans of the site, boats etc. I have taken the obvious first steps of contacting the RAF Museum and the Maritime Museum in Falmouth, suprisingly, very little is known at either of these locations.

With my earlier query re the AFD at Falmouth, it may be apparent that I am looking for any info on Falmouth on or about December 1964, with a view to modelling the docks and harbour as it was then. I lived in Falmouth for a couple of years, and Dry Docked there twice, 64 and 68, having recently starting to again collect 1200 ships (for my grandchildren you understand) I am building a 1/1200 scale Falmouth Harbour/Docks to display them.

Thanks,

John T


----------



## Endymion (Dec 31, 2010)

John Tremelling,
I was a member of 1102 MCU in 1952-54 as an 18 yr old National Serviceman wireless operator. I could send you some photos, but they would not be enough for you to build a model harbour. I imagine you might try an OS map and possibly back numbers of the local paper. Certainly it is unrecognisable now. I paid Falmouth a nostalgic visit last year. 
There were six 60 ft pinnaces, a seaplane tender and two rowing dinghys based there. There were full maintenance facilities, and we lived in a requisitioned hotel "Pendower", now an old peoples home. The unit mostly sailed to the Scilly Isles for aerial torpedo trials. The pinnaces recovered the torpedoes dropped from shackeltons and other aircraft based at St Mawgan or St Eval. The crews of six lived on board for two weeks at a time. 
Best wishes, John.


----------



## cornishman8345 (Jun 13, 2011)

Hello John
I was stationed at Falmouth in 1967 as unit driver, my job was to drive the crews down from RNAS Culdrose each day and RTU at the end of the day.Coming from Falmouth this was a home posting for me. My actual unit was MT section RAF St. Mawgan.
You can find many photos of the docks 1964 here.

http://www.imagedelivery.co.uk/inde...ur&pageId=101&id=2262&direction=next&start=36

and here.

http://www.francisfrith.com/falmouth,cornwall/photos/falmouth_F4220/

Kind Regards
Mike
You can also find me on Facebook. Michael Hambly


----------



## Manchego (Jul 14, 2011)

*Pendower*

Hello, you buggers from yesteryear.

Yes, I was there, attached to 1102 from the back-end of '54 intermittently to the beginning of '56, while the fad of photography raged among the sea-going of you - Great mental image of Sgt. Whosit's shot of a black-headed gull in winter plumage alighting its toes in its own sea-water dimple.

I vittled-in at Pendower - remember that stained-glass window there? - and arrived to 1102 in a blizzard-amid-thunderstorm as the lightning blazed all around in a white world.

I was the the sole erk attached to the Ultra boffins, who were developing the directional sonobuoy then, just to the left of the slipway, going down, in the round-roofed nissens, just having come (they) from developing 'sarah'.

Ah, the happy days of innocent youth.

I had a steak there in Falmouth once, in a 'café' along the street, which I could not even mark after an hour of ardent chewing. Surely they are still serving it up to unsuspecting tourists even to this day. 

I used to work with the R.N. at Portland, also with R.A.F. at Fowey, and 'tween times had the equipment at treblezue gate off ASWDU at St. Mawgan. 

Remember those 'battery-charging runs' over to St. Mawes, just for coffee?

A bit before your time? Probably, but it is all imprinted clear as day in my memory, including the docks and shipyards of Falmouth as 'twere then.

No, course, Manchego is not my real name, which is English through and through, as we all were back then, in better days.

Best wishes to you all.


----------



## Endymion (Dec 31, 2010)

Hello Manchego, I was demobbed from 1102 sometime in the summer of 1954, so did not have the pleasure of meeting you. However, you are the nearest to my time there I have heard from so far ('52-'54). I don't ever remember any users of the facility. I believe they were mostly from R.A.E. as it was in those days. They would not have lowered themselves to slum with the boat crews! I don't remember many names, but the C.O. was a Flt Lt Koster. Yes, in retrospect they were happy days. Best wishes, Endymion.


----------



## Manchego (Jul 14, 2011)

The C.O there while I was there was a Flt. Lt. Haaglund (sp.) - Norwegian, I think. There was also a Cpl. James (Doug?) that you might recall, a keen photographer, who retired to keep a photography shop at the south end of Sadler St. Wells, Somerset, as you will see on Google Earth, complete with ph. no. if you look. He died in about 1980, and the son had the shop when I bought a pair of binoculars there in about '85.

As you say, the boffins were from R.A.E, but specifically from Ultra Radio - I remember the faces perfectly, but the names only of Bernard, Carlo Trevelyan and such - that would be '55 by then. - Pssst!- want to buy any secrets of the directional sonobuoy? - Innocent days. And now? - Want any secrets of the total fraud of world finance?

Kind regards.

Manchego


----------



## Markham (Dec 8, 2013)

John Tremelling said:


> Hi,
> 
> I don't know if there are any 'Blue Jobs' who visit this site, but I am looking for info on RAF Falmouth, MCU 1102. Photos and plans of the site, boats etc. I have taken the obvious first steps of contacting the RAF Museum and the Maritime Museum in Falmouth, suprisingly, very little is known at either of these locations.
> 
> ...


I was stationed at 1102 MCU Falmouth twice june 1968--dec1969….and ….January 1971 ----December 1972


----------

