Gate Guards

As far as I'm aware I've never been to Neatishead, If I took those photographs while on my rounds then there will be no date. I just took them and went, but if it was a weekend jobby then my mate will have written it down. I'll make some enquires. Neat is shed, Mine certainly isn't !!

REF wrote:

Do we have a registration for this one??

The Waterbeach Hunter should be WN904,
Seeing the serial dosen't always help and many GGs are marked up as something else, example Saints phantom appeared as XT500, which it wasn't in reality - now you can see how difficult a subject this can be!

Could the Phantom be at Boulmer, XV415 is on the gate there and is marked up in the same 56sqn marks?

Hendon also has a 56sqn marked Phantom, not sure where it came from originally.

I am also wondering if Wattisham may have had a Phantom on the gate very breifly?
It had a Lightning in to the early '90s, and a Scout now.

Ah, the Phantom could be Wattisham, XV420 was put on display there around '92, another split personality it wore 56 sqn marks one side and 74 sqn the other.
This Phantom is the same one that was later displayed at Neatishead, but was scrapped in 05.

Mr Mawganmad is correct when he said that the Hunter serial should be WN904. And it is the same aircraft with two different paint jobs. We took these photographs on 6-5-1990. Sadly no information about the Phantom, but I'm sure it was Wattisham about 1991-3.

The phantom is at Wattisham, but wasn't actually on the gate. Looks like it was taken quite soon after being placed there.

Another shot of the hunter, it wears different marking either side.

www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk ... .php?id=64

The Phantom wasn't a gateguard, it belonged to a small station museum.

A friend of mine who was stationed at Coltishall told me the other day that they got around having the Hurricane AND Jaguar by claiming that the Jaguar was actually a memorial to a pilot who died whilst flying one, this got around only being allowed one Gate Guard.

I took this photograph about ten years ago, as I was doing so the MPs arrived and asked the basic silly question, '' What are you doing '' With a vast amount of answers springing to mind I chose not to be tempted. Just taking a photograph of this Hunter for a friend in Sweden. That being the truth. I had already sent him the Waterbeach Hunter photograph so thought I'd send this as well. As this is along a public road I was surprised they questioned me,..... just bored no-doubt !! Five years later my girlfriend and I called at the Guard-Room to ask if we could photograph the plaque they had, as seen on the local news the week before. No !! Came the expected reply. you'll need prior permission he said giving us a form. Six weeks and still no reply, mid afternoon one saturday parked just down from the Guard-Room we noticed a lot of service people going in and out of a small gate. This being a push-button security gate, but no-one was locking either-way. So armed with our camera we just walked through the gate on-to the camp. Asking directions we were pointed the right way, watched a bit of Square Bashing along the way, and was invited into their bar-club for a drink. Got the photograph and left. There's Security for you.!!!!

Not so-much a Gate Guard, More of a Gate crasher. This Meteor Force landed at Haddenham airfield due, I think to fuel shortage. I used to work in the hangar behind during the mid 70s. The hangar behind the tail later became Airvert, they made wheel-weights for cars.