Former Sheffield Royal Air Force driver looks back on a long and interesting career

A former Sheffield Royal Air Force driver has looked back on a long and interesting career which included watching Concorde fly on a daily basis - and witnessing the effects of facism close up.
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Michael Brooks has recalled his time in the RAF and his unusual posting.

Michael, now 70 and from Charnock Sheffield, joined The Royal Air Force in October 1966 aged 17, after leaving Rowlinson School.

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He travelled by train, from Sheffield to Newark Station to be collected and taken to RAF Swinderby to start his career.

Micheal Brooks with first wife SusanMicheal Brooks with first wife Susan
Micheal Brooks with first wife Susan

He completed a one week induction at Swinderby before moving on to RAF Hemswell to complete five weeks basic training.

While completing his training the recruits were given a ‘flight experience' in a RAF Hastings Aircraft, a large four propeller Transport Aircraft. It was Michael’s first time flying.

“They threw it about a bit to try and make you sick," he said.

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His first permanent posting was as a Mechanical Transport Driver at RAF Finningley now Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

Concorde at RAF FairfordConcorde at RAF Fairford
Concorde at RAF Fairford

“At the time it was part of Bomber Command and it was a conversion base for pilots to train on the Vulcan Bomber. I loved it ,” he said

Shortly after arriving at Finningley Michael was detached to Paris for six weeks to work on The Paris Air show, an event Micheal thoroughly enjoyed.

Back on base at Finningley, at the end of a military exercise, The Vulcans carried out a simulated scramble.

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“There were four Vulcans. They all took off within 30 seconds. Each Bomber had four engines, all going off at full thrust can you imagine? From the first one setting off, to the last one leaving the ground,it took 30 seconds. You could imagine what the sound was like.”

Micheal Brooks at HemswellMicheal Brooks at Hemswell
Micheal Brooks at Hemswell

The last time Michael recalls seeing a Vulcan bomber fly was at Derwent Dam, for a Dam Busters Celebration in the 1980s.

He remembers the Lancaster Bomber flying over first, then a Hurricane and Spitfire Fighter, followed by a Tornado Jet. This was then followed by The Vulcan Bomber.

“As it passed over the Dam Wall it put on it’s after burners and went into a steep climb, the noise was tremendous. It set off the car alarms. It was funny, absolutely brilliant," he added.

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In 1968 Michael was posted to RAF Gibraltar at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, located at the tip of Southern Spain.

When Micheal first arrived he felt a bit homesick.

“I’d had my 18th birthday at Finningley and made friends there. I was on my own again, arriving and not knowing anyone and the furthest I’d ever been from home.” He was 19, his first time abroad, it was a big change.

However he was joined a few months later by his soon to be wife Susan. She came to Gibraltar, got herself a job at the Gibraltar Rock Hotel and rented a flat in Gibraltar town.

In December 1968 Micheal and Susan returned to Sheffield for Christmas and New Year were they married before returning to Gibraltar.

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Michael's main duty in Gibraltar was as an aircraft refueller and movement operator tasked with loading and unloading aircraft.

He was in Gibraltar when General Franco the Spanish Facsist Dictator closed the border between Spain and Gibraltar in June 1968,separating friends and families for years.

People who lived in Spain and worked in Gibraltar and vice versa lost their jobs overnight.

Michael remembers families going to the border fence to see loved ones and holding up babies and children to show separated family members.

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In 1970 Michael and Susan were posted back to England, to RAF Brize Norton, the largest base in the UK. It currently employs 7,000 service and civilian personnel.

Michael again worked on movements at RAF Brize Norton, before being permanently detached to RAF Fairford a USAF ‘United States Air Force’ wartime base.

Brize Norton was charged with looking after the then mothballed base.

Fairford was then leased by BAC (British Aircraft Corporation) for the air testing of the new Concorde aircraft. Micheal was attached as part of the ground support crew, as a crash cover Ambulance Driver.

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“We were watching it take off and land. It was an absolutely beautiful aircraft to see flying,

We loved our time at Fairford. If I could have stayed there permanently I would have never come out," he added.

Michael’s wife also got a job at the on base cafeteria.

Among some of her memorable guests were The Duke of Edinburgh, Graham Hill The racing driver and Sir Douglas Badder the WW2 fighter pilot. . Sadly Susan passed away in 2010 three weeks short of their 41st Wedding Anniversary.

Michael finished his RAF service in 1972 and returned to Sheffield.

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His first job as a civilian was as an insurance agent for the Prudential insurance company. He later became a driving instructor and also a bus driver. He finished his working career as an assistant manager of a tool hire company.

Michael has been enjoying retirement since 2015 with his second wife Pauline.

Reflecting on his service he said: “I had a lovely time, I'm not sorry I did any of it."

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