29 Transport and Movements Regiment RCT is at the Duke of Gloucester Barracks, South Cerney in Gloucestershire.

At the time it comprised of 50,55 & 59 (Movement Control) Squadrons based at South Cerney and 47 (Air Despatch) Squadron based at RAF Lyneham.

I was to join 59 (Movement Control) Sqn RCT as a Potential Movement Controller (PotMov).  When I arrived the whole squadron was away on Exercise Bold Guard in Germany!

I was looked after by 55 (Movement Control) Squadron for a few weeks in the Air Mounting Centre.  Whilst waiting to join the Sqn, I remember the Squadron Sergeant Major (SSM)  (Tony Cox) flew back from Germany for something and then had to return, I was tasked with taking him  back to RAF Brize Norton to get his flight.  I hadn't driven much since passing my test! and the trip to Brize Norton was a bit traumatic for my new SSM! When he got out of the vehicle at the airport, he leaned in and suggested I did a bit of practice on the airfield at South Cerney when I got back.

Eventually I got instructions to join Sqn in Germany and I was going to the Port Detachment at Brunsbuttel (Near Hamburg) to work in the Staging Area ( I had no Idea where this was or what I was going to be doing).

I don,t remember much of the trip (it was the first time I’d ever flown  in my life!) but I arrived at night and was given a bed space in a tent in a field..

It was a UKMF (United Kingdom Mobile Force)  exercise the deployment had finished and the units were doing their exercise phase and 59 Sqn were getting things ready  for  the recovery which consisted of the deployed units moving back in convoy to the Staging area and being sorted into ships loads to be loaded to chartered DFDS Ferries back to UK (Harwich).

During this time I remember playing football  against a German Naval team, and when they were eating oranges at half time we were drinking beer!

I also remember going to visit the famous Reeperbahn in Hamburg quite exciting for an 18 year old from Keswick!

I distinctly  remember  putting my Deutschmark coin in the peepshow slot and when the flap went up all I saw was Eric Johnsons face on the other side grinning back at me!!

I also remember being on duty one night, when Skin Good was brought back by some heavies in a Mercedes  from Hamburg because they were trying to rip him off and he had told them he had money back at camp !  Once they saw our SMG’s then soon vanished.

It was my first Movements Jobs and I was a “Tally Man” (not for the last time) which entailed meeting vehicles and putting a coloured  sticker on them and sorting them into taped off lanes by  vehicle type.

They were then called forward for loading to the correct ship.

Once all the ships were loaded we then packed up and went up to Esbjerg in Denmark to return on a scheduled