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Frank Authers 1920-2018 (RAF 1938-1968)

The hardest thing about summarising Frank's full life and times in the RAF, is what to leave out.

He joined the RAF in 1938 at West Drayton, completed 3 months Basic training at Cardington, his dislike of too much exercise was shown early, by hiding in long grass at Cardington with a friend before returning from a run exhausted.

Posted to Warmwell on general duties his butchery background caught up with him.

He volunteered for flying duties and enjoyed flights as a drogue operator but was found to be colour blind which ruled out flying and probably saved his life. He was sent to a Cooks course at Halton and posted to Benson as the first party of airmen when it opened in March 1939.

Sunday 3rd September 1939 he heard the Prime Minister broadcast that war was declared, Frank took his Norton motorbike for ''a nice long ride over the Berkshire Downs''.

A week later the unit moved to France, Frank and his 103 Squadron mates, ill equipped were living in barns east of Rheims enduring a very bitter winter. Following the German onslaught of May 10th 1940, they lost aircraft and suffered air raids, on 21st the Squadron moved west, building up to 31 aircraft. There remained only 16 and only 8 returned to England. The ground crews eventually hearing that the evacuation from Dunkirk had been completed on 4th June. At Nantes they were split into two groups, one going to the ill fated Lancastria at St Nazaire, sunk with the loss of several thousand lives. Frank's group came home to Plymouth 19th June from Brest on a Great Western ferry ship, his main concern that his Mother had no idea if he had survived. Following three days leave he was posted to St Eval.

Frank had almost total recall of life's events, but told me that much of his St Eval time was lost to him, he recalled important bits like his 1935 Ivory Calthorpe, as Cpl i/c night shift he had to collect dispersed people he remembered a WAAF asking him to kiss her awake and getting outside as soon as he could. There were many air raids, leaving for Newquay before one raid a driver told him to change vehicles, both vehicles were hit, Frank did not hear the explosion but his tin hat was blown off, his driver was the only other survivor but badly injured, Frank carried him to safety.

Posted overseas, Frank sailed on a former liner Franconia from Liverpool. The convoy took three months, via Sierra Leone, around the Cape to Durban where he enjoyed two weeks, sailed to Aden where they lay for two weeks, before travelling to Suez.

Frank joined 980 Squadron, a Barrage Balloon Unit, initially guarding the Suez Canal, the main threat was air dropped mines. After some high jinks in Cairo the desert campaign followed. In hospital in Alexandria for a minor ear operation Frank helped medical staff, the Medical officer tried to hang on to him with the excuse he was a bit jaundiced but Frank knew 908 were moving, persuaded him to sign and he was off.

Their small convoy followed the Eighth Army into Libya, (the Western Desert) past El Alamein to Tobruk where Frank's Detachment spent some time, he had to fetch provisions from the Army. From the many shipwrecks they found crates of Whisky and Gin. Frank got very drunk on Gin, was ill, apart from the occasional social drink he hardly touched a drop for the rest of his life. With some spare bottles of Whisky Frank acquired a German Army BMW motorbike and sidecar, using it to fetch rations until Headquarters took it from him, his book abounds with such stories. The Foreword notes - '''A small and begrudged mention to Adolf Hitler, without his intervention in my life you would be reading half a book.''

He was promoted to Sgt Christmas 1942. Frank and his driver Nobby Clarke painted their Chevrolet truck '' Old Kent Road'' with a towed water bowser moved up the desert to rejoin the Squadron in Benghazi and then on to Tripoli sleeping on their vehicle and fetching rations and supplies to keep their Unit moving to Tunis. Having no idea of the destination, their vehicle was the last loaded on a Landing Ship Tank (LST), they lay at anchor for two days, able to swim from the lowered ramp.

The invasion of Sicily was not best organised, Frank and party were unloaded in Palermo harbour, chased from pillar to post by various U S Officers until settling in a lemon grove, well fed from some purloined American rations, until the remainder of the Unit caught up. The Italians surrendered they were loaded on another LST and landed at Salerno, moving to Naples to protect the harbour.

Naples was notorious for vice and criminal activity. With an Italian girl friend he found how the chaperone system worked and like many avoided an Italian bride. He spent some time with Military Police, ideal for his future RAF Trade.

The CO wanted a Jeep, which were in abundance around US units, Frank rather fancied one himself, but had to wait several years. He was sent to Anzio on a landing craft with Squadron supplies, ordered to go ashore find a Jeep and load it for the return voyage, this he did and found another for himself but the Greek Captain claimed as his own- the spoils of war.

Frank was then posted to 249 a Spitfire squadron at Brindisi living under canvas during a cold winter, the Squadron strafing Germans in Jugoslavia. A local village reared Turkeys, Frank organised a barter with 21 Turkeys, fattened them and at Christmas gave the Squadron a Traditional Dinner. With many areas cleared of German occupation the RAF gave several Tiger Moth trainers to the Jugoslavians, Frank enjoyed flying on some of these ferry flights. The squadron had moved to Jugoslavia by VE Day, after which Tito were ordered them out of the country, Frank never had any time for Tito. By September 1945 Frank had a flight home, the only seat on his Lancaster was the rear turret.

He got back in touch and married Sybil his pre war girl friend. While at Hullavington Frank remustered to the RAF Police, based at Filton and enjoying an interesting time seeking out the many Absentees and Deserters within the area. He would also escort Lancaster fuselages on Queen Mary trailers to a Suffolk base, having a bargy with a Colonel Blimp when the convoy disrupted the Racecourse traffic. Spent time on Imber ranges supervising and collecting missile parts, the while enjoying some good rabbiting.

In 1951 he was posted to Germany working on Traffic section, particularly enjoying the use of specially built Ford V8 cars, to escort diplomatic and Service Chiefs in their Rolls Royce cars. The lead Ford broke down one day, allowing the Duke of Edinburgh to put his foot down in a new Mercedes and Frank doing his best to catch him.

Briefly at West Prawl radar station, he was promoted to Flt Sgt and posted to Colerne near Bath for a year before posting to Luqa, Malta. managing a few flights with the Shackleton squadron .

In 1959 he was posted to Abingdon and bought a nearby bungalow., I always had the opinion that it was Frank's favourite station. On the troopship en route Aden he heard he was awarded BEM. Not long afterwards security became a problem on Bahrein. Frank was sent to set up a new security section where he had a married quarter and where the family could enjoy leaves in Mombasa.

He had a short spell at Melksham until it closed and was then posted to the sharp end, on a V Bomber Station Scampton. He considered this the only unhappy time of his whole service life, only enjoying the rare armed escort of a Blue Steel Missile back to the Manufacturers in Manchester.

In July 1966 Frank was posted unaccompanied to RAF Seletar on Singapore island, being on shift he had enough spare time to start playing Golf and regular swimming. Via a friend he had a trip in a Beverley to Hong KONG and Bangkok.

Offered a chance he completed his tour on the island Station Gan. The Pakistani labour force were rotated via Argosy flights to Karachi, Frank responsible for Customs would some time take this flight, often delayed in Karachi, by dint of a gift bottle of Whisky to the Chief Customs officer the RAF were given priority.

The RAF Navigation Staff world tour flew via Gan. Everything possible was done to disguise Gan as their next stop Cocos Islands 1800 miles away, equipment hidden Air Traffic emblazoned WELCOME TO COCOS ISLANDS, marshalling airmen blacked up and wearing grass skirts often easy to confuse a Navigator, but this was a laugh..

Frank finished his service at RAF Spitalgate, the WRAF training depot, serving on Special Investigation 3 RAF District. some very interesting work but he took his Golden Bowler in 1968.

In the words of the late Brian Ransley's Foreword ''Three decades of fun and frights came to an end''

A fine man who I feel privileged to have known. 

John's tribute at the funeral:

My name is John Walton and I was in the RAF Police from 1959 and so I served at the same time as Frank for some nine years, as he retired in 1968.  During those 9 years I never met Frank, although I did hear hear of him during his last years as an RAF Police Senior NCO, and what stories I heard!!!.

I started to organise the South West Area Branch of the RAF Police Association in 1998, so it was 30 years after Frank left the service that I first met him.  The inaugural meeting of the Branch took place upstairs in the RAF Association Club in Plymouth, on Mutley Plain in March 1999, so Frank would be approaching 80.   It was for his 80^th birthday that his children Jill, John and Mike bough him a computer and he wrote his RAF Autobiography which he entitled “A Bird’s Eye  View from the Ground”. 

Frank and a few other old servicemen immediately settled into the Branch routine.  Our meetings in Plymouth were full of gentle sarcasm, double meanings and tales of who knew who when and where.  There was possibly a little exaggeration, but we understood what was meant.  Sadly, a couple of  years after we started the Branch, the oldest member,  90 years old, Dick Mitchell died and so Frank in his early 80s became the oldest (or senior) member.

The Branch organised the Association annual reunion in 2002, at the Victoria Hotel in Torquay.  Frank was in his element meeting old colleagues he had not seen for many years.  I made the announcement at the Gala Dinner that Frank had recently declared that whatever it was they had put in our tea during the war, was just beginning to work!!!

Frank twice arranged for the Branch to visit the Commando training camp opposite his house.  After an impressive parade, Frank invited us over the road for a BBQ and a swim in his pool.  We were without exception fascinated with all the various vehicles that Frank had made.  From AA motor cycles and sidecars to full and small sized RAF Police Land Rovers.  Everything was made to perfection and with great attention to detail.

Frank made a life sized figure dressed as an RAF Police Flight Sergeant in full uniform.  He used to put it near the main road indicating where to turn into his estate.  At the end of one of the visits, I went out and put the figure over my shoulder and carried it back into Frank’s garage.  Frank took one look at me and called “well theres’ a first!  For those not aware there is a so-called understanding that Senior NCOs like Frank always carried the officers throughout their service.  Here was I retired officer carrying the Flight Sergeant.  Of course Frank’s comment went down very well with the crowd still around the BBQ. 

A third event showing Frank’s quick wit, happened when Frank made me and another visiter, bacon sarnies in his kitchen.  I asked for tomato sauce and when Frank handed me the bottle, I shook it violently, but forgot to hold on to the top.  It flew off and the contents went all over the kitchen and all over my sweater!!!  Frank immediately said “I don’t suppose you had bottles in the Officers Mess!!”

On a more serious note, when the RAF Police Memorial was dedicated in the National Memorial Arboretum, in Staffordshire, Frank was in the front row marching with other World War 2 veterans.

Even more impressive was Frank taking a full part in the annual parade at the Cenotaph.  Frank was well into his 80s, when along with the other 10,000 ex-servicemen, he waited on Horse Guards Parade and Whitehall for over 2 hours.  Then he marched past the Cenotaph, along Whitehall, Parliament Street, George Street, Horse Guards Road, past the senior Royal Person then back onto Horse Guards Parade.  There once more he had to wait until the National Anthem was played, before being “dismissed”.  Sadly, the second time Frank was due to march, he felt very unwell on Horse Guards Parade before we set off, and he spent the morning with the St John’s Ambulance people.

Frank spent 30 years in the RAF and some 50 years in retirement so in his words, he beat the system.  In retirement he was probably more active than during the peacetime RAF Police.  He was an entrepenure involving himself and son John in many enterprises, most of which were highly successful.  One of these was at Sandy Bay and is still called the World of Country Life.  Twice he arranged for our Branch members to visit the site where afterwards we enjoyed lunch.

I doubt if any of us know  anyone else who lived such a long, full and varied life as Frank. 

One of his many admirers is Group Captain  Kevin Bailey, Provost Marshal Emeritus.  This is praise indeed as our RAF Provost marshals are not known for their generous praise!!