| January | Relief Supplies |
Khartoum, Sudan |
Flt Lt Gus Hatter, Sgt Ross McKerron, FS Roy Armstrong, JT Gordon Gourdie and SAC Bob Tring. Delivery of food aid to to Juba in support of famine relief. |
| January | Operation Deep Freeze | Christchurch, New Zealand to McMurdo Sound, Antarctica and return |
Fg Off Steve Richmond, FS Al Storey, Sgt Ben Johnston, Cpl Gerry Phelan, SAC Ian Bell plus 1. Movement of freight and pax of World Science Foundation programme between New Zealand and Antarctica |
| January | Exercise Aroma One | Midway, Oman to Wyton, UK | Flt Lt Gerry Keyworth, Cpl Jimmy Jones and SAC Ian Place. Recovery of 543 Squadron (Victor SR2) from Oman to Wyton |
| January | Exercise Tigercat | Leeming, UK | Fg Off Tony Willis, FS Tony Barrell, Sgt Bob Turner, Cpl Norman Poole, SACs Boot Pratt & Jim Marchant. Deployment of 48 Squadron RAF Regt (Tigercat Missiles) from RAF Catterick to Cyprus |
| January | Special | Fairford, UK | Fg Off Brian Clucas, FS Taff Thomas, Sgt Ivan Gervais, Cpl Tommy Blues, SAC Bob Ford. Deployment of ACHE from Abingdon to Fairford and then loading Britannia and Belfast aircraft in support of Concorde 002 Trials |
| 29 January - 6 February | Operation Sahel Cascade | Khartoum, Sudan | Flt Lt Gordon Townsend, FS Pete Underwood, Sgt Ross McKerron, Cpl Geordie Sanderson, SAC's Dave Moss and Hoppy Porter plus 4. Flt Lt Gus Hatter, Sgt Ross McKerron, FS Roy Armstrong, JT Gordon Gourdie and SAC Bob Tring. Transport relief supplies for the World Health Organisation and other urgent Sudanese Government equipment |
| February | Brigloc | Kai Tak, Hong Kong and Kathmandu, Nepal | Sgt Ross McKerron, Cpl Ian Berry, JT Gordon Gourdie & SAC Bob Tring/Flt Lt Gus Hatter & FS Ken Browne. (Echo Team) Reforce of Air Movs Squadron Hong Kong and Movs Support in Nepal for rotation of Ghurkas and families using 99 Squadron Britannias |
| February | Special | Johannesburg, South Africa and Luanda, Angola |
Fg Off Brian Clucas plus 1. Freight handling in support of Concorde trials |
| 24 February - 11 April | Operation Khana Cascade |
Kathmandu, Nepal | Flt Lt Gerry Keyworth, FSgt Tony Barrell, Sgt Bob Turner, Cpl Colin Hughes, SAC Jim Marchant, SAC Alan (Boot) Pratt. 1 team to Nepal to set up airhead for preparation and airdrop of 2,000 tons of grain to the Nepalese. Team assisted with the air despatch |
| February | Red Cross Task | Khartoum to Juba, Sudan | Flt Lts Gordon Townsend & Gerry Keyworth. FS Bob Hope, Sgts Dave Wright and DK Henderson, Cpls Geordie Sanderson & Jimmy Jones, SAC Dave Moss plus 1. Onmove of Red Cross relief supplies from Khartoum to Juba in the Sudan |
| February | Exercise Hardfall | Odiham, UK to Sola, Norway | Fg Off Alistair Gallaugher, FS Chas Dalgleish, Sgt Tony Pyne, SACs Hugh Curran & Troop Smith. Deployment of 4 Wessex Helicopters to Sola in two Belfast aircraft |
| March | Special | Darwin, NT, Australia to Waddington, UK | Fg Off Tim Leaming, FS Dave Eggleton, Sgt John Bell, JT Ted Moore & SAC Jim Barr. Recovery of 50 Squadron (Vulcans) from Australia to Waddington |
| March | Special | UK to Dacca, Bangladesh | FS Chas Dalgleish, Cpl Norman Poole, SACs Hugh Curran & Troop Smith plus 1. Deployment of 2 Wessex Helicopters of 72 Squadron to Bangladesh |
| March | Special | Atar, Mauritania to UK | Fg Off Steve Richmond, Sgt Dave Barton & SAC Ian Bell. Recovery of Joint Services Expedition from Mauritania back to UK |
| March | Exercise Sunray | Darwin, NT, Australia to UK | Fg Off Tim Leaning, FS Dave Eggleton, JT Ted Moore & SAC Jim Barr. Recovery of personnel and freight of 50 Squadron (Vulcans) from Australia to UK |
| 7-13 April | Flood Relief | UK to Algiers, Algeria | Algiers – Flood Relief. FS Bob Hope, Sgt DK Henderson, Cpl Jimmy Jones, SACs Ian Place & Tim Newstead plus 1. Delivery of Red Cross supplies as part of flood relief |
| April | Ice Trials | Boscombe Down, UK | FS Pete Underwood, Sgt Dave Wright, Cpl Geordie Sanderson, SAC Dave Moss plus 1. Off load of Sea King, Wessex and Scout helicopters after cold weather trials in Ottawa |
| April | Brigloc | Kai Tak, Hong Kong and Kathmandu, Nepal | Sgt Ross McKerron, Cpl Ian Berry, JT Gordon Gourdie & SAC Bob Tring (Hong Kong), Flt Lt Gus Hatter & FS Ken Browne (Nepal). Rotation of Ghurkha troops and families between Hong Kong and Nepal |
| May | RAF Regiment Rotation | Catterick, UK to Belize and return | FS Dave Barton, Cpl George Lynes & SAC Mac Maclean. Rotation of RAF Regt landrovers between Catterick and Belize |
| May | Exercise Pale Jade | Sharjah and Dubai, UAE | Flt Lt Gordon Townsend, FS Pete Underwood, Sgt Dave Wright, Cpls Ian Berry & Geordie Sanderson, SAC Dave Moss. Route support to detachments deploying Victors and Phantoms to the Far East |
| May | Operation Dragonfly | Leuchars to Marham, UK | Flt Lt Gerry Keyworth, Sgt D K Henderson, Cpl Jimmy Jones, SAC Ian Place. Recovery of personnel and equipment of 57 Squadron (Victors) from Scotland to Marham |
| June | Exercise Hellenic Express | Odiham, UK to Mikra, Greece | Flt Lt Norrie Radcliffe, Fg Off Tony Willis, FS Tony Barrell, Sgt Bob Turner, Cpl Norman Poole, SACs Boot Pratt & Jim Marchant plus 2. Deployment of 72 Squadron (Wessex) from Odiham to Mikra (Thessaloniki) in Greece |
| June | Special | Luqa, Malta to Scampton, UK | Flt Lt Gordon Townsend, FS Pete Underwood, Sgt Dave Elliott, Cpl Geordie Sanderson, SAC Dave Moss. Recovery of 617 Squadron (Vulcans) from Malta to Scampton |
| June | Special | Wyton, UK to Midway Island | FS Ben Johnston plus 2. Deployment of personnel and equipment of 543 Squadron (Victors) from Wyton to the Pacific |
| June | Special | Moffett NAS, CA, USA to UK | Flt Lt Gus Hatter, Sgt Ross McKerron, Cpl Geordie Sanderson, JT Gordon Gourdie, SAC Bob Tring plus 1. Recovery of 5 Inniskillen Dragoon Guards from San Francisco after Swingfire Missile trials |
| July | Squadron Recovery | Midway Island to Wyton, UK | Fg Off Tim Leaning, Cpl Dave Wilkin & JT Ted Moore. Recovery of 39 Sqn (Canberras) from Fiji to Wyton |
| July | Red Cross Relief | Tengah, Singapore to Phnom Penh, Cambodia | Fg Off Tim Leaning with Cpl Dave Wilkin and JT Ted Moore were returning from task 310 at Nandi, Fiji when their Belfast, flight number 9496 was diverted from Tengah, Singapore, to Phnom Penh with 31,000lbs of 6 man tents. These were loaded by Tengah Air Movements Squadron. On arrival at the Cambodian capital they were met by HE the British Ambassador. Cpl Wilkin erected one tent to demonstrate to the Red Cross team how it was done (rumour has it that it was inside out!). |
| July | Exercise Gimcrack | Benson to Stornoway, UK | FS Bob Hope, Sgt DK Henderson, Cpl Jimmy Jones, SACs Ian Place & Tim Newstead plus 1. Deployment of TCW from RAF Benson to Outer Hebrides |
| July | Exercise Bargano | UK to Laarbruch, Germany | Flt Lt Gus Hatter, Cpl Ian Berry, SAC Bob Tring plus 1. Deployment of 9(Plessey) LAD Regt from UK to Germany for Rapier trials |
| July | Squadron Exchange | Soesterberg, Holland to UK | Fg Off Alistair Gallaugher, FS Chas Ainscough, Sgt Dave Bernard, Cpl Norman Poole, SACs Hugh Curran and Troop Smith. Recovery of personnel and equipment of 43 Squadron (Phantoms) from Holland to UK after a squadron exchange |
| July | Exercise Belted Flyer | Leconfield, UK | Flt Lt Brian Clucas, FS Taff Thomas, SACs Bob Thacker & Bob Ford. Deployment of personnel and equipment of 11 Squadron (Lightnings) from UK to Malta |
| July | Special | Valkenburg, Holland to UK | Fg Off Tony Willis, FSgt Tony Barrell, Sgt Bob Turner, Cpl Norman Poole, SACs Jim Marchant & Norman (Boot) Pratt. Recovery of Dutch Navy Wasp helicopter from Holland to Brize Norton. |
| August | Special | Nandi, Fiji to UK | Flt Lt Chris Twyman, FS John Evans, Cpl George Lynes, SACs Tony Gale & Tony Moore plus 1. Recovery of personnel and equipment from 39 Squadron (Canberras) from Fiji to UK |
| 4-31 August | Operation Sahel Cascade | Senegal and Central Africa | Flt Lt Brian Clucas, FS Taff Thomas, Sgt Ivan Gervais, Cpl Tommy Blues, SACs Bob Ford & Bob Thacker. Airlift 4,000 tons of grain from Senegal to the Sahel region of Central Africa |
| August | Flood Relief | UK to Lahore, Pakistan | Floods struck Pakistan in August 1973 and it wasn't long before 2 VC10s and 2 Belfasts were on their way to Lahore, loaded with relief supplies. The Pakistani army were in abundance at Lahore Airport to offload the aircraft under the supervision of Fg Off Pete Arnold and his team. |
| August | Special | Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA to UK | Flt Lt Jock McKay, SAC Keri Eynon plus 1. Recovery of 4 x Spey, 1 x Nimbus and 1 x Gnome aero engines (ex- HMS Ark Royal) from Florida to UK |
| August | Exercise Pale Jade | Sharjah | Flt Lt Gordon Townsend, Sgt Dave Wright, Cpls Geordie Sanderson & Ian Berry, SAC Dave Moss plus 1. Handling all AT aircraft at Sharjah & Dubai in support of the Phantom & Victor Force deploying to the Far East |
| 21-27 August | Red Cross Flood Relief | UK to Karachi, Pakistan | Flt Lt Gerry Keyworth, FS Bob Hope plus 4. Delivery of relief supplies to Pakistan |
| September | Special | Wildenrath, Germany to Leeming, UK | Fg Off Steve Richmond, FS Al Storey, Sgt Ben Johnson, Cpl Gerry Phelan, SAC Dinger Bell plus 1. Recovery of 48 Squadron RAF Regt (Tigercat) from Germany to UK |
| September | Exercise Pale Jade | Coningsby, UK | Flt Lt Bob Burdett, FS Dave Eggleton, Sgt Syd Avery, Cpl Jim Gallagher plus 3. Recovery of personnel and equipment of 54 Squadron (Phantoms) to Coningsby from Tengah |
| September | Exercise Quick Shave | Wattisham to Predannack, UK | Flt Lt Gordon Townsend, Sgt Dave Wright, Cpls Geordie Sanderson & Ian Berry, SACs Dave Moss & Dave Cromb. Deployment of ARI Cabin from 1 ACC Wattisham to Culdrose satellite airfield |
| September | Special | UK to Sao Paulo, Brazil | Flt Lt Mike Collins, FS Reg Carey, Sgt Eddy Leonard, Cpl Dave Wilkins, SACs Polly Parkin & Terry Fryer. Deployment of Harrier to Brazil for Sales Demo |
| September | Exercise Pale Jade II | Sharjah/Dubai | Flt Lt Gus Hatter, Sgt Bob Turner, Cpl Ian Berry, JT Gordon Gourdie & SAC Jim Barr plus 1. Handling AT aircraft staging through from far east to UK and recovery of FAPs. |
| October | Special | Sao Paolo, Brazil to UK | Fg Off Alistair Gallaugher, FS Chas Dalgleish, Sgt Dave Bernard, Cpl Don Stewart, SACs Troop Smith and Hugh Curran. Recovery of Harrier aircraft from Brazil to UK on Belfast task 9031. |
| October | Squadron Exchange | Orange, France to Binbrook, UK | Fg Off Tim Leaning, FS Dave Eggleton, Sgt Syd Avery, JT Ted Moore, SAC Jimmy Barr plus 1. recovery of 11 Squadron (Lightnings) from France to Binbrook |
| October | Exercise Swift Move | Lossiemouth to Honington, UK | Fg Off Glen Morton plus 2. Recovery of 12 Sqn (Buccaneer S2B) and 809 RNAS (Buccaneer S2) from Lossiemouth to Suffolk. |
| October | Special | Brize Norton, UK to Goa, India | Flt Lt Gerry Keyworth, Sgt DK Henderson, Cpl Ian Berry, SACs Boot Pratt, Ian Place and Tim Newstead. Delivery of Sea King helicopters from Brize to Goa for the Indian Navy on Belfast tasks 9416/9356 |
| 26-31 October | UN Peacekeepers (Yom Kippur) |
Egypt | The Arab/Israeli War (Yom Kippur) terminated at Km101 on the Cairo to Suez Road. With great haste the UN went into action. This meant that UKMAMS positioned two teams (C & K) in quick succession at Cairo to offload scores of peace keeping troops and their equipment. |
| 27 October - December | Operation Lucan | Karachi, Pakistan to Bangladesh & return | FSgt Dave Barton, Sgt Bob Turner and Cpls Hugh Curran and Jack Gordon. Assistance to UN and Red Cross in transferring refugees between East Pakistan and Bangladesh |
| October | Exercise Varnish | UK to Sharjah, UAE | Fg Off Tony Willis, FS Tony Barrell, Sgt Bob Turner, SACs Jim Marchant & Boot Pratt. Deployment of 1 Bn Coldstream Guards and elements of AAC to UAE |
| October | Special | UK to Goa, India | Flt Lt Alistair Gallaugher, FS Chas Dalgleish, Sgt Dave Bernard, Cpl Carson, SACs Hugh Curran & Troop Smith. Delivery of Sea King helicopter to India for Indian Navy |
| October | Squadron Exchange | Grazzinese, Italy to Leuchars, UK | Fg Off Brian Hunt, FSgt Al Storey, SAC Ian Bell. Recovery of pax and freight of 23 Sqn (Lightnings) from Italy to Leuchars |
| November | Special | Valley, UK to Wattisham, UK | Fg Off Tony Willis, Sgt Bob Turner, Cpl Norman Booth, SACs Boot Pratt and Jim Marchant. Recovery of personnel and equipment of 29 Squadron (Phantoms) from Valley to Wattisham |
| November | Exercise Absalon Express | Denmark to Wittering, UK | Flt Lt Jock McKay, FS John Evans, Cpl George Lynes, SACs Jack Gordon and Chris Cahill. Recovery of 1 Squadron (Harriers) from Denmark to Wittering |
| November | Exercise Fincastle | UK to Woomera, Luqa, Malta to Edinburgh Field and return to UK | Flt Lts Gus Hatter and Bob Burdett. FS Roy Armstrong, Sgt Ross McKerron, Cpl Ian Berry and SAC Bob Tring. Deployment of Rapier Trials equipment from UK to Woomera. Deployment of 203 Squadron (Nimrods) from Luqa to Edinburgh Field and recovery of Jindiviks and SeaDart missiles from Adelaide to UK on Belfast task 9418. |
| November | Exercise Knee Run | Honington, UK | Fg Off Pete Arnold, FS Merv Corke, SACs Keri Eynon & Fred Kitts. Deployment of personnel and equipment of 12 Squadron (Buccaneers) to Lossiemouth |
| November | Missex | West Raynham, UK to Germany and return | Flt Lt Gerry Keyworth, FS Bob Hope, Sgt DK Henderson, Cpl Jimmy Jones, SACs Ian Place & Tim Newstead. Rotation of 25 Squadron (Bloodhound Missiles) between UK and Germany |
| December | Special | Fairford to Tangiers, Morocco | Flt Lt Gordon Townsend, Sgt Dave Wright, Cpl Geordie Sanderson, SACs Dave Moss plus1. deployment of Concorde support equipment from Fairford to Tangiers |
| December | MOD Special | UK to Halim, Indonesia | Fg Off Brian Hunt, FS Al Storey, Sgt Ben Johnston, Cpl Gerry Phelan, SACs Dinger Bell & Gordon. Deployment of 2 x Scorpion CVRTs to Indonesia for MOD Sales Team |
| December | Exercise Trout Bench | Wittering, UK | Fg Off Tim Leaning, FS Dave Eggleton, Sgt John Bell, JT Ted Moore, SAC Jimmy Barr plus 1. Deployment of 1 Squadron (Harriers) from UK to Decimomannu |
| December | Special | Halim, Indonesia to UK | Fg Off Brian Hunt, FS Al Storey, Sgt Ben Johnson, Cpl Gerry Phelan, SACs Dinger Bell and Hoppy Porter. Recovery of Scorpion CVRTs and Sales Team from Indonesia to UK |
| December | Fincastle Trophy | UK and Malta to Edinburgh Field, South Australia and Return | Flt Lts Gus Hatter & Bob Burdett, FSgt Roy Armstriong, Sgt Ross McKerron, Cpl Ian Berry & SAC Bob Tring. Deployment of rapier trials equipment from UK to Woomera and freight of 203 Sqn (Nimrods) from Luqa to Adelaide. Recovery of Sea Dart, Ikarus Missiles and a Jindivik Drone from Australia back to UK. (Two officers as both emigrating and out for a recce!) |
| December | Special | UK to New Orleans, USA and return | Fg Off Collins, Cpl Dave Wilkin, SAC Terry Fryer. Deployment and recovery of a Proteus engine and spares to repair a u/s Britannia |
