Calling all ex-24 Squadron Ground Crew

Calling all ex-24 Squadron Ground Crew

Many of you will be aware that we are in the process of trying to both collect and document the history of the Buccaneer S MK50 in SAAF service on 24 Squadron. To date we have produced the following:

• A photo tribute book of each of the 16 Buccaneers with short stories by some of the air and ground crew. This book is titled: “Pirates of 24”
• The next book, “Buccaneers of 24 Squadron, Book 1 – The Beginning” covers the pre-Buccaneer years and negotiations, the building of the aircraft and the training of crews at Lossiemouth.

There will be a further 3 books still to come and will broadly be the following:

• Book 2 the first 10 years
• Book 3 will cover the operational and bush war era of the Buccaneer
• Book 4 will be the final years and retiring of the Buccaneers and closing of 24 Squadron

Currently Book 2 is in editing and formatting and will likely be released towards the end of the 1Q in 2018.  Book 3 is complete to a large extent in terms of content, but there are still gaps that need filling so to speak. Book 4 is still in content gathering and compiling. The latter two books are still way off.

We have had very little input from the ground crew of 24 Squadron into these books. The little we have is already in place, but we know that there are still so many untold and undocumented stories and anecdotes that are missing.  The problem is we are all moving on in age and many of our comrades have moved on to a higher calling.  Our memories are fading, and the time is now to jot down things as they come to mind and to share them with us to include where we can into the books.

No writing skills are required, and we are very happy to also receive articles in Afrikaans.  English is preferable, but not mandatory.  We will attend to all the grammar and styling etc. All we need are your real stories to commit to the annals of history.

We hear the stories at the gatherings and get togethers, so there are plenty of them, but without you putting pen to paper and doing a brain dump of things you remember whether of a technical nature, funny things that happened, anything in the life of the men and women of 24 Squadron is desperately needed.

Please do not let the memories fade and get lost, we really do need you and your stories to be recorded into the 24 Squadron and Buccaneer history.

Send your inputs, long and/or short to shawn@24sqnbuccaneers.org

Thank you so much in advance for helping us to record the complete history and especially from the ground crew who are insufficiently represented at the moment.