I did my para training in 1961 at Abingdon and this news clip really brought back memories. Went on to do 60 jumps in total with the aircraft shown, static line Argosy and Beverly and free falling in France and the U.K. in the venerable but reliable De Havilland Rapide in France and the U.K. Happy days! All under the umbrella of 21SAS.
My grandad went to Abingdon in 1963 he either jumped out of a Argosy or Beverly though he only stayed a weekend he was in TA he was he went Aldershot first he did his final jump in Cyprus out of a Hastings he did 8 jumps he did.
Just wish to point out that the Paras never took Pegasus Bridge on D Day. It was 6 platoons of the 'Ox and Bucks' plus a detachment of Royal Engineers under the command of Major Howard. Although they were all part of 6th Airborne they were not 'Paras' in the real sense but Glider borne Troops.
My Grandad went to RAF Abingdon in 1963 at weekends to do para training he also did some para training at Aldershot as well at weekends he was in REME TA.
Loved the comment that chutes always open - not. Did my course in 1965 from Support Co. 10 Para. No mention of BPs, crosswinds or mid - air collisions. Great feeling when getting wings.
@@broontroot1991 Mine was also at Weston. 6th jump carrying personal weapons container. Dropping the container and releasing my reserve chute was interesting.
I did my basic para course at Brize Norton in 1997, looks like the course didnt change much at all. First two jumps out of the Shorts Skyvan then the C130 Hercules after that.
yes..though of course as it was the pure parachute bit i think everyone was already a trained soldier ..nonetheless ballsy thing to do..didnt say if he was an officer?
I love the way they explained the facts in by-gone days. Not dumbed down, just the facts. Today they assume everyone is an idiot and can't absorb simple facts. This is a great time piece and slice of history
@@seltaeb9691 To be fair things are dumbed down in the military for good reasons and it isn't you were stupid per se. If things and communications weren't dumbed down to their simplest form then 50 people may have 50 different interpretations of how a piece of kit works or what a situation really is and that could be very dangerous.
The RAFs worst peacetime fixed wing air crash started at RAF Abingdon in 1965 , a Handley Page Hastings transport took off with Paratroopers on board and crashed near the village of Toot Baldon just south of Oxford , 41 servicemen were killed .
Remember it I was told a gruesome detail. They asked for volunteers and gave them all a plastic bag had them form a long line and walk across the crash site picking up anything that looked human.
my dad who was TA para after regular army service in Sigs said the balloon jump was worse than the aircraft as no noise to distract you except the sound of wind and the noise of the cables swaying
That brings back memories, Aldershot, Abingdon, then out to Egypt, We jumped from Valettas, and DC-3, Alan Lad was filming the RED Berit at Aldershot at the time (we were Extras ) 1951 , i think, 16th Ind, Para Bgd Group, I was RMP Airborne, I wonder if there any left of the 16th ???
shows the variety of colours in Denison smocks and even the colours of the helmets. I always remember being told off, not in a military concept, and been reminded that uniform means all the same..which of course is not quite true as ally and gucci kit etc and associated concepts has always demonstrated, probably from the the time of legionaries on Hadrians Wall
I was 10 Para and did my Para course at Abingdon in 1966. Because of bad weather we actually did our first jump from a Hastings. This was shortly after a Hastings has crashed killing all the trainees. You can imaging how we all felt, then to crown it all we had an engine fire and although we were hooked up were told to unhook and assume the crash position as the aircraft returned to Abingdon. As we landed the runway was lined with fire trucks🤪. An hour later we were back in the air to complete our first jump. My next jump was from a balloon and that was much more frightening. I still remember the creaking cables holding the basket as I stood in the door.
That’s totally terrifying, to continue after what had happened to you. Did you find that you continued because you were on auto pilot, or did the nco’s keep everyone moving, or was it through you being focused?
Standing in the door of the balloon for my first jump and waiting for the man before to clear the dispatcher pointed out the sights of Oxford to distract my attention. it was a very friendly chat and I remember trying to think of something intelligent to say in response - without success - I just kept nodding.
Wow, one of the very 1st, they were stitched up with no way back home, did he remain a POW in Italy, my Grandad was 2nd Battalion Paras & WIA Tunisia . www.paradata.org.uk/event/tragino-operation-colossus#:~:text=Towards%20the%20end%20of%201940%20at%20a%20meeting,place%20called%20Tragino%20near%20Naples%20in%20southern%20Italy.
@@finchedward1 He escaped after Italy Capitulated and woke up to an unguarded camp, then they all took to the hills and Hitler sent in a fallschirmjäger regiment and getting recaptured put on a train to Germany, he asked the station master at Cocullo Italy to slow the train on a curve and a whole bunch jumped off , he carried his mate who broke his legs for most of the trip back to allied lines after being hidden by a woman , Agata De Cesare .. made it back to England and shipped out to the Pacific - Operation Faros till the end of the war -- www.paradata.org.uk/people/james-parker
@@Droodog127 Thankyou for the reply & great information & the link to Para data, what a war he had. Please find attached my Grandads profile on the site. I have been to several locations, cemeteries etc in Sicily & Italy associated with the war & my Grandad. I hope to visit Tunisia in the next few years all being well. Thankyou for the reply & great information & the link to Para data, what a war he had. with best wishes Edward www.paradata.org.uk/people/walter-h-handscomb
yes, they said they were obsolete and too expensive to maintain, but apparently the Belgians are still using them for parachute training. Someone else said the reason they were so expensive because the RAF balloon crews had to be put up in hotels.
@@freebeerfordworkers I was in Brize 76-78. Did you rmbr Concorde doing it's Touch & Go laps for hours, the noise was deafening, ornaments rattled telly full vol & the heatwave of 76 was a furnace. The Base was in revolt & by way of 'sorry' we had a Concorde open day. It is really cramped inside, fast yes but give me a Vicky VC10 anytime. Beautiful aircraft just short of 1000mph.
@@seltaeb9691 no, I did my course at Abingdon about five years before, terrific place they told us it would be like a holiday camp. I wouldn't go that far, but it was a good fortnight in summer.
Sheer guts & I didn't have enough to do the course & knew the balloon jump would kill me, so I didn't volunteer & stayed put in my Corp. First rule in the army is Don't Volunteer, Second rule is Don't get Caught..
@@seltaeb9691 - I did one of the first jumps courses after the balloon had been retired, I was very pleased. I wasn't so pleased when it then turned up at my unit 3 months later and we all had to turn to for a Parachute Parade!! I did 3 jumps that day and can't really say I enjoyed any of them. Once the balloon completed its tour of UK units it was fully retired and thankfully I never had to do it again. I still don't get lads who loved it!
@@JammyDodger45 the balloon was terrific. After you've done the first one of the day the rest became us casual as crossing the street. We had American airborne visitors for a weekend at Strensall and laid on a balloon. To the embarrassment of the Yanks and our great amusement one of them refused Their captain asked for three men to go up again and if he refused they were to "kick the sonofabitch out". As I recall three the biggest guys volunteered and they had no trouble second time.
@@freebeerfordworkers - the shame of refusing is bad enough, doing it in front of another nation is shocking. We had a refusal on my BPC, on his 4th jump, by the time we got back to the accom at Bzn he had packed all his kit and disappeared. There was no second chance with us!
Very different from Ft. Benning US Army Airborne School. The training apparatus that is except for the 34 foot exit door, running PLF ramp, and barrage balloon jump. I wish we had the barrage balloon jump.
we don't anymore. This film was from 1960. Balloon jump was replaced by Skyvan jumps a few years back, and we only do static line now (so no rip cords)
I'd jump out of the plane but the Barrage Balloon Jump is no way jose. No safety ropes just the wind whistling goodbye.. guts & stupidity needed for that. It's killed a few.
@@seltaeb9691 I don't think it did. They told us there hadn't been a fatality since WW2. There was one in the late 1970s when they introduced a harness with quick release buckles on the shoulder. Problem was they sometimes released of their own accord. The lads who saw it, said he went straight in from about 600 feet his fully deployed parachute floating above like a handkerchief in a gentle breeze.
I did my last jump onto Hankley Common from an Argosy. For some reason nearly everyone had loads of twists. One bloke apparently ended upside down with his legs in his rigging lines, he was supposedly heard shouting “help me, help me”. Dislocated shoulder. Lol
wait for next census but the last one had 87% of population as white British i think. Went out in Punjabi restaurant in Manchester, white, black, brown, Chinese, Asian..door person was of Asian appearance but broad Manc accent
My late dad did his para training here, he was guards airborne, he was very proud of his service, miss you dad 💂♂️
I did my para training in 1961 at Abingdon and this news clip really brought back memories. Went on to do 60 jumps in total with the aircraft shown, static line Argosy and Beverly and free falling in France and the U.K. in the venerable but reliable De Havilland Rapide in France and the U.K. Happy days! All under the umbrella of 21SAS.
My grandad went to Abingdon in 1963 he either jumped out of a Argosy or Beverly though he only stayed a weekend he was in TA he was he went Aldershot first he did his final jump in Cyprus out of a Hastings he did 8 jumps he did.
@5:06 good to see the Padre jumping as well. Sums up how involved they are with the troops in their care.
That struck me, too. If main 'chute fails release & try reserve; if reserve fails try yanking on Padre.
it was a test of his faith.
This brings back memories, I did mine in 1970 lol
The quality of the film is fantastic and the training .
Love the Denison smock & Para helmet, 37 or 44 pattern webbing belt - these chaps wouldn't have looked out of place at Arnhem, or Pegasus Bridge.
Yeah noticed those, look very good quality. Quite a collector's item now I believe and not cheap!
@@wallbars8684 they are not - a few years ago one fetched £600, but I think they go for four figures now.
Just wish to point out that the Paras never took Pegasus Bridge on D Day. It was 6 platoons of the 'Ox and Bucks' plus a detachment of Royal Engineers under the command of Major Howard. Although they were all part of 6th Airborne they were not 'Paras' in the real sense but Glider borne Troops.
@@belfastbrit Excellent point! I knew this but forgot!
This is excellent footage !
1971 I was there, happy days. Weston on the green, one guy landed on a hangar and got pulled off by the wind, ouch!
Superb from a different era of understatement and little fuss. Great lads as they are now. Best to all.
I never knew the Beverley had a separate chamber in the tail boom for extra parachutists. Fancy that.
My Grandad went to RAF Abingdon in 1963 at weekends to do para training he also did some para training at Aldershot as well at weekends he was in REME TA.
Loved the comment that chutes always open - not. Did my course in 1965 from Support Co. 10 Para. No mention of BPs, crosswinds or mid - air collisions. Great feeling when getting wings.
Roger that !
My mate had a BP out of the balloon at Weston.
@@broontroot1991 Mine was also at Weston. 6th jump carrying personal weapons container. Dropping the container and releasing my reserve chute was interesting.
I wonder where Jack is nowadays. I bet he'd love to see this!
He should be in his early to mid eighties now!
I did my basic para course at Brize Norton in 1997, looks like the course didnt change much at all. First two jumps out of the Shorts Skyvan then the C130 Hercules after that.
lol. Imagine turning up at Aldershot in the 90s with a guitar on your back....
Ironing board - yes; guitar - no!
yes..though of course as it was the pure parachute bit i think everyone was already a trained soldier ..nonetheless ballsy thing to do..didnt say if he was an officer?
Didn't mention Jack doing P Company - bet that wasn't a 'piece of cake'!
I was impressed to see that Ken Dodd was navigating the aircraft and the drop at 7:18. Well done, Mr Dodd, you were a man with hidden talents!
1:48 SAS trooper on the course too.
Love the music to this, it sounds like the intro to a "CARRY ON" film !
“Jumping today vicar?”
Judging from the comments, a lot of fine men have seen this video. My hat off to them all!
The padre jumping with his spectacles on.
I did Abingdon Jan 1968. Great times
I love the way they explained the facts in by-gone days. Not dumbed down, just the facts. Today they assume everyone is an idiot and can't absorb simple facts. This is a great time piece and slice of history
Can't and shouldn't blame them. There really are that many idiots in the society now.
We were all stoopid. Plain & simple. Para Course is terribly hard, abusive sun up to sun down.
@@seltaeb9691 To be fair things are dumbed down in the military for good reasons and it isn't you were stupid per se. If things and communications weren't dumbed down to their simplest form then 50 people may have 50 different interpretations of how a piece of kit works or what a situation really is and that could be very dangerous.
It absolutely is, the correct manner in which to do things.
My father was in 3 Para back in the 60`s , I have a photograph of the aircraft in the opening shot ,A " Beverly "jump plane.
A Beverly, yea God's that must be WW2 flotsam.
@@seltaeb9691 I worked on the Beverleys from 1959 until 1965 with 242OCU at RAF Disforth and Thorney Island
The RAFs worst peacetime fixed wing air crash started at RAF Abingdon in 1965 , a Handley Page Hastings transport took off with Paratroopers on board and crashed near the village of Toot Baldon just south of Oxford , 41 servicemen were killed .
Remember it I was told a gruesome detail. They asked for volunteers and gave them all a plastic bag had them form a long line and walk across the crash site picking up anything that looked human.
Just what I was thinking..!
Reminds me of my training days.
My course was 3 weeks. 2 Balloon jumps door and aperture 6 aircraft . Argosy Beverley and Hastings aircraft.
Tom Parker 2 Para ?
@@Rationpack No wasn't 2 para I served with 63 para sqd. Part of 1para log regt
my dad who was TA para after regular army service in Sigs said the balloon jump was worse than the aircraft as no noise to distract you except the sound of wind and the noise of the cables swaying
@@tomparker1269 Are you "Taff" Parker, Bahrein 1966 ?
@@williamcarrington61 no Tom Parker ex 63 para squadron rct
How brave these guys.
See the Chaplain lined up for the jump looking tense!
That was Reverend Timothy Farthing from Dads Army, I didnt see the Verger there though! LOL!
I thought he was la-di- da Gunner Graham !!!
That brings back memories, Aldershot, Abingdon, then out to Egypt, We jumped from Valettas, and DC-3, Alan Lad was filming the RED Berit at Aldershot at the time (we were Extras ) 1951 , i think, 16th Ind, Para Bgd Group, I was RMP Airborne, I wonder if there any left of the 16th ???
So was my dad.He was very disappointed as he played a German.
6:38 'It's easy to guess what the padre is doing" :-)
shows the variety of colours in Denison smocks and even the colours of the helmets. I always remember being told off, not in a military concept, and been reminded that uniform means all the same..which of course is not quite true as ally and gucci kit etc and associated concepts has always demonstrated, probably from the the time of legionaries on Hadrians Wall
I was 10 Para and did my Para course at Abingdon in 1966. Because of bad weather we actually did our first jump from a Hastings. This was shortly after a Hastings has crashed killing all the trainees. You can imaging how we all felt, then to crown it all we had an engine fire and although we were hooked up were told to unhook and assume the crash position as the aircraft returned to Abingdon. As we landed the runway was lined with fire trucks🤪. An hour later we were back in the air to complete our first jump. My next jump was from a balloon and that was much more frightening. I still remember the creaking cables holding the basket as I stood in the door.
That’s totally terrifying, to continue after what had happened to you. Did you find that you continued because you were on auto pilot, or did the nco’s keep everyone moving, or was it through you being focused?
@@stevenlangdon-griffiths293 I was totally focused on getting my wings
Grant Kinnaird outstanding mindset
@@stevenlangdon-griffiths293 thank you
Standing in the door of the balloon for my first jump and waiting for the man before to clear the dispatcher pointed out the sights of Oxford to distract my attention. it was a very friendly chat and I remember trying to think of something intelligent to say in response - without success - I just kept nodding.
Anyone based at Abingdon in 1960 remember John Hollyer, acting corporal in SAC Air Traffic Control
RAF Abingdon is now earmarked for housing development.
Granddad did his training at Ringway and Tatton Park 1940 then for real February 10th 1941 Tragino Italy
Wow, one of the very 1st, they were stitched up with no way back home, did he remain a POW in Italy, my Grandad was 2nd Battalion Paras & WIA Tunisia . www.paradata.org.uk/event/tragino-operation-colossus#:~:text=Towards%20the%20end%20of%201940%20at%20a%20meeting,place%20called%20Tragino%20near%20Naples%20in%20southern%20Italy.
@@finchedward1 He escaped after Italy Capitulated and woke up to an unguarded camp, then they all took to the hills and Hitler sent in a fallschirmjäger regiment and getting recaptured put on a train to Germany, he asked the station master at Cocullo Italy to slow the train on a curve and a whole bunch jumped off , he carried his mate who broke his legs for most of the trip back to allied lines after being hidden by a woman , Agata De Cesare .. made it back to England and shipped out to the Pacific - Operation Faros till the end of the war -- www.paradata.org.uk/people/james-parker
@@Droodog127 Thankyou for the reply & great information & the link to Para data, what a war he had.
Please find attached my Grandads profile on the site.
I have been to several locations, cemeteries etc in Sicily & Italy associated with the war & my Grandad.
I hope to visit Tunisia in the next few years all being well.
Thankyou for the reply & great information & the link to Para data, what a war he had.
with best wishes
Edward www.paradata.org.uk/people/walter-h-handscomb
@@finchedward1 Outstanding!! Sad they both died young , Granddad died in 1973 😥
Brilliant
The paras have no equal...!
Haha awesome I'm just down the road from Abingdon
Great place in 1969 I believe it's an industrial estate now?
Member of the sas there by the looks of it
204 Platoon1960 . Rock on !!!
01:57 I wonder, I wonder whether John Addison, composer of the Suite for ABTF, had seen this particular film and heard the music??
Memories. Did this at Brize 1976. Training looked identical. No more balloons. Shame
yes, they said they were obsolete and too expensive to maintain, but apparently the Belgians are still using them for parachute training. Someone else said the reason they were so expensive because the RAF balloon crews had to be put up in hotels.
@@freebeerfordworkers I was in Brize 76-78. Did you rmbr Concorde doing it's Touch & Go laps for hours, the noise was deafening, ornaments rattled telly full vol & the heatwave of 76 was a furnace. The Base was in revolt & by way of 'sorry' we had a Concorde open day. It is really cramped inside, fast yes but give me a Vicky VC10 anytime. Beautiful aircraft just short of 1000mph.
@@seltaeb9691 no, I did my course at Abingdon about five years before, terrific place they told us it would be like a holiday camp. I wouldn't go that far, but it was a good fortnight in summer.
It's done at Brize Norton now.
"...or into battle". This is in 1960. Little did they know but the Parachute Regiment would never jump into action ever again.
Shhhh don't let the "sky gods" hear you say that, you'll dent their egos.
DAD was 23rd P.F.A. at this time
Dropping through the floor looks like added fun!
Sheer guts & I didn't have enough to do the course & knew the balloon jump would kill me, so I didn't volunteer & stayed put in my Corp. First rule in the army is Don't Volunteer, Second rule is Don't get Caught..
@@seltaeb9691 - I did one of the first jumps courses after the balloon had been retired, I was very pleased.
I wasn't so pleased when it then turned up at my unit 3 months later and we all had to turn to for a Parachute Parade!!
I did 3 jumps that day and can't really say I enjoyed any of them.
Once the balloon completed its tour of UK units it was fully retired and thankfully I never had to do it again.
I still don't get lads who loved it!
@Scumfuck McDoucheface - planes are fast, noisy and fun ... Balloons are static, eerily quiet and boring!
@@JammyDodger45 the balloon was terrific. After you've done the first one of the day the rest became us casual as crossing the street. We had American airborne visitors for a weekend at Strensall and laid on a balloon. To the embarrassment of the Yanks and our great amusement one of them refused Their captain asked for three men to go up again and if he refused they were to "kick the sonofabitch out". As I recall three the biggest guys volunteered and they had no trouble second time.
@@freebeerfordworkers - the shame of refusing is bad enough, doing it in front of another nation is shocking.
We had a refusal on my BPC, on his 4th jump, by the time we got back to the accom at Bzn he had packed all his kit and disappeared. There was no second chance with us!
Very different from Ft. Benning US Army Airborne School. The training apparatus that is except for the 34 foot exit door, running PLF ramp, and barrage balloon jump. I wish we had the barrage balloon jump.
we don't anymore. This film was from 1960. Balloon jump was replaced by Skyvan jumps a few years back, and we only do static line now (so no rip cords)
I'd jump out of the plane but the Barrage Balloon Jump is no way jose. No safety ropes just the wind whistling goodbye.. guts & stupidity needed for that. It's killed a few.
@@seltaeb9691 I don't think it did. They told us there hadn't been a fatality since WW2. There was one in the late 1970s when they introduced a harness with quick release buckles on the shoulder. Problem was they sometimes released of their own accord. The lads who saw it, said he went straight in from about 600 feet his fully deployed parachute floating above like a handkerchief in a gentle breeze.
The balloon at night on Hankley Common, a real test of nerves, you can hear guys talking on the ground at 800ft!
My OC asked me & 3 mates just joined new unit (not Para's, Sigs) to do Para Course, ie Hell on Earth, yes yes yes & no! No way Jose!... ('71).
1:49 SAS reservist at the front there?
Good observation! Notice his boots too, no puttees!Looks like 'boots combat high' but I'm sure they didn't exist in 1960.
Could be guards. Brown beret black leather gaiters.
@@jonjon9047 Very true, although it does look rather sandy
1:31 He looks like Steve Buscemi of Boradwalk Empire.
Apart from the aircraft not much change from Arnhem in September 1944
world was a different place then
@3:11 - LOL ! That poor sod is shitting himself !
Brings back old memories from abingdon on my jump course in the sixties.
My grandad went there in 63 and got his wings
Did mine in '63 as well - part of training as a jump instructor. Had Paras and Gurkhas to practice on :)
@@CrabAir how long was you there for I think my grandad was there for a weekend he went to Aldershot first he did.
@@Crash-zm2qd 8 weeks July August. First 11 days learning to jump and the rest training a as PJI
@@CrabAir my grandad did 8 jumps his last one in Cyprus he was in TA reme.
What about P company?
Parachute, 2,Para, keep it up, next time, S. A. S.!
Probably was safer to jump with a parachute packed by a woman than it was to stay in a Blackburn Beverley.
but jack should had gone through p company first, so the para course would had been a piss to do
Wondered that myself and was a Reserve All Arms P Coy in operation for the non Para Reg ranks?
P company is a fitness course , the jumps course is the opposite, the two are totally different.
And one arrives at depot with a rock N roll guitar
@@CrispinBac0n Why's that buddy?
@@h7283 because he's a star
Some PLF they did huh?
Dennison smocks, PJI's, Balloon Jumps, Beverley's, Abingdon and Hankley Common..!! 😂
I did my last jump onto Hankley Common from an Argosy. For some reason nearly everyone had loads of twists. One bloke apparently ended upside down with his legs in his rigging lines, he was supposedly heard shouting “help me, help me”. Dislocated shoulder. Lol
Couldnt afford a guitar case!
He entitled to say Parachuting is a piece of piss..
I feel quite sick just looking at height on film 😂
Excuse me daddy, was this when this country used to be Britain?
wait for next census but the last one had 87% of population as white British i think. Went out in Punjabi restaurant in Manchester, white, black, brown, Chinese, Asian..door person was of Asian appearance but broad Manc accent
Fajny film