RAF YATESBURY ASSOCIATION

Up on the downs, near the monument is the Caln White Horse. Not long before my time a Yatesbury (pre '59), I was told, a group of boy entrants, for a jape, painted one evening, the white horse in red and blue, so that it had red, white and blue panels. This caused an almighty row between the local community and the RAF at Yatesbury. A magor clean-up operation was launched to clean up the horse and apease the local community, but some colour stains persisted until it weathered some, it was still evident in `59. There was still some hostility while I served there. Does anyone else remember about this incident?

I was there in 53 and the horse had bands round its middle.

Bill

Hi Bill,

That locates it to before '53, but you hadn't heard of any other details then Bill? Like was it the boys? Or did they just get the blame for it? What form did `The almighty row' take? Was there ever any didiplinary measures taken?

i was there oct54 thru jun55 the boy entrants at a station parade were made an example of!! but i think it wasnt just one time, vaguely i recall this was the worst case        John

Boys will be boys, eh? I'd noticed at all the postings I'd been at, that where there were `boys' there were asociated,  er, incidents? But the white horse paint job was one* of  the most serious. But to be fair, most of the blame was on poor inexperienced supervision. Some jape, eh? if it is still remembered over half a century later.

*  The worst recorded was the unfortunate `death by locker' when a youngster was bundled into a bedside locker and put out of an upper story window, killing the youngster. This I think was at RAF Halton, but I am not sure of the location.

at 03:52AM on Nov 10, 2009

Boys will be boys, eh? I'd noticed at all the postings I'd been at, that where there were `boys' there were asociated,  er, incidents? But the white horse paint job was one* of  the most serious. But to be fair, most of the blame was on poor inexperienced supervision. Some jape, eh? if it is still remembered over half a century later.

 

*  The worst recorded was the unfortunate `death by locker' when a youngster was bundled into a bedside locker and put out of an upper story window, killing the youngster. This I think was at RAF Halton, but I am not sure of the location.

I seem to remember the camp cinemas roof having BALDYS BUGHOUSE painted on it by boy entrants when I was there in1956.    also one of the wooden billets was cut in half!, again by boy entrants

So their reputation seems well deserved then? Wasn't that cinima within eyball of the guardroom! just along off to the right?

Before the last entry of Boys left for Cosford, they painted 'Baldys Bughouse' on the Astra roof. It remained there at least until '59.

They were a right shower, and some of my best mates. The four people in the photo were ex-boys.

Amongst my ex-Brat aquaintances, one became Reuters rep in Hong Kong,another was Motorola European Marketing manager.

Hi Bill

I was at Compton Bassett in 1953 and 54. The story then ws that the lads had painted blue and red harness on the white horse. Must say that the red, white and blue stripes sounds more likely. From the A4 it looked as though someone had taken tins of blue and red paint up there and just poured them from the top. I always intended to take a walk up there and see it from close up but never got round too it. Too interested in girls at the time I expect!!

Regards

WAH 4138706

Hi Bill,

Re the White Horse story, I was at Compton Bassett Feb till August 1952. During this period the horse was decorated and the decorators were reputed to be from Compton Boy Entrants.

This may not have bee the first time but it was in the news then.

Brian Wyatt Grainge

Member 772 (G3JPM)

Walter, it would've been a nice walk up there, with the right girl of course! Last time we went up there, back in the nineties, the red and blue paint had long faded away, in fact the horse seemed a little neglected. But it is still a fine walk with an excellent view across the old camp. The petrol station had closed down and the once busy A4, quiet nowadays. The M4 to the north carries the traffic past, leaving Yatesbury at peace. 

CONFESSION - My brother-in-law Victor Longstaff and I assaulted the white horse one night in 1961, augmenting its image with a 15 foot penis. We didn't need paint as all we had to do was scrape away the very thin layer of grass to expose the chalk underneath. The only thing we failed to do was to get a picture of the result - but plenty others did that! The Yatesbury fans were spinning horse poo for a week! The powers-that-be tried that old trick "If the culprits don't own up, there will be no christmas leave". My brother in law was stationed at Compton Bassett on a teleg course and I was doing Air Radar at Yatesbury so we developed our own mutual admiration society and told no one else! Imagine the the parade the following day when we were all wheeled onto the parade ground for the miscreats to confess their sin. Nothing happened! As a result of there being no rumours, it was decided that Yatesbury was as clean as the driven snow - which coincidentally, that night covered our creation for the next 3 months. Problem solved!

Why did we do it? Because it was there and no one else had done it. We did deserve serious credit because it was a large (he he) job and very dangerous. The hillside was steep - around 60 degrees - we were both p****d and the base of the horse was around 300 feet up the hill. I slipped and fell once from a height of about 50 feet and ended up at the bottom feeling like I'd just been through a concrete mixer. We both realised how difficult (terrifying) a climb it would be especially in the dark on a wet and blustery night. On the way down, Vic started laughing and didn't stop until he slipped and fell all the way to the bottom. We didn't break anything probably because of our blood alcohol content was so high.

Today I cannot believe we were so stupid - but that's youth in the RAF.