Smudger Snippets
Created | Updated Jul 1, 2004
I suppose it's because I have so much time on my hands these days, that all these memories come flooding back to me.
The Tent
Even though it was a long time ago I can still remember it just like it was yesterday.
I was sixteen at the time, and was a member of the local RAF Mountain rescue team as one of the civilian volunteers. The reason that it all started was that one of our lodgers had stayed with us so long that he was like a member of the family. He was a keen outdoor type and went climbing with the local team and asked my parents if we could join him. My sister was just as keen to get out of house as I was, and we took every chance that came along. The Mountain Rescue team from the local RAF base used to go up on the mountains on a regular basis, this was to carry out training for the newcomers and map reading exercises. The complete team was made up of local volunteers and the RAF personnel who did that as a career - to locate and return pilots that had bailed out.
I had been out on every exercise whereas my sister had missed a few, dating her boyfriend of the time. So, when we were called out to a real job, only the regular ones were picked to join the team.
This was the first time we were going to try the new nylon tent that had been issued to us for use on a trial basis. As I was the one who normally carried the tent, I was amazed as to just how light it was compared to the clumsy and heavy canvas ones. Looking back on it now I should have kept my mouth shut because, as soon as I had shared the delight of my lighter load, the team leader came along and gave me the radio to carry as well. Now this was way back in the sixties when the radios of the time were heavy and clumsy to carry, but I didn't want to complain as I knew that doing so would mean being told to stay behind and my place given to some one else. I had already put my place on the team in jeopardy by showing negative feeling to the leader when he first gave me the radio.
Anyway, we were soon in the back of the large ten ton trucks and heading for the hills which were around a two hours drive away. It was five in the morning, on a cold and bitter winter's day, and not everyone shared in my enthusiasm at that time. I was soon told to 'shut up, sit down and keep quiet' by the more grumpy and hung-over team members. Being the youngest member of the team, I had to do as I was told when I was told. This was always pointed out to me by the boss as he told me that I was too young to be on the team; the minimum age being eighteen.
We arrived at the base point at seven in the morning, the blizzard was still blowing and it was bitterly cold. We all remained huddled up in the back of the truck while the boss went into the office to get all the information and map references. The wind whistled in and flapped the canvas on the sides of the truck, making it feel even colder.
After what seemed like a long time to us, we were on our way up the mountain, roped together as visibility was very poor and the biting wind was so strong we had to lean into it to walk. At the time I never felt frightened as we all had confidence in our leader, which is probably a good thing when you find yourself in such a position, but when you are young you don't know the meaning of fear. We had been climbing all day and well into the early evening when the leader stopped and decided to set up camp. This was the other big difference with our new nylon tent. It was far easier to erect in those conditions and it was not long before we were all huddled inside it.
At this point the boss contacted base camp on the radio and was told that there were serious casualities and even some dead involved. So he decided to carry on with his team and to leave me behind so they had a rest point to return to the next morning.
Needless to say I was not very pleased at the idea of staying behind, but the boss insisted telling me that I was too young to go with them and that they needed the camp there for their return.
So I stayed and tried to settle down for the rest of the night, but the noise of the wind and the flapping tent meant that I only slept for a few moments at a time.
It was around three in the morning when I decided to make a brew in case the team came back early. I filled the pan with snow and started to light the burner. Now this was no ordinary burner. It was, in fact, like a small jet engine with had to be pumped up and then the flap would be turned to deflect the flame exhaust which gave the heat. I had to shut the flaps of the tent in order to light it as the wind was howling in, but then I made the mistake of not opening them again. This became evident to me when I tilted the burner flap to the exhaust mode during lighting; the tent had filled up with fumes! All I remember was hearing a whooshing noise, followed by a flash, and then I felt cold.
I had forgotten that the tent was nylon and very flammable, as well as forgetting to vent the tent prior to lighting. Have you ever that feeling where you wish you were somewhere else at a particular moment in time? Well at that point, that is exactly what I felt, along with a feeling of vulnerability. I had to act fast to survive the situation. I looked around to see what I could use. All I saw was the molten guy ropes of the tent - the burner was still going, albeit covered in a molten substance, probably the rest of the tent. The radio was still there at least, which was more than could be said for all my hair and hands. Luckily I had been wearing a woolly hat, so it was only the hair sticking out from the hat that was burnt off. My other facial hair was all gone.
So I started to dig a survival hole to climb into - a snow hole we called it. Anyway, I used the snow which was being dug out to build a shelter wall for the burner, to keep it lit. Then I climbed into it, and tried to keep warm as best I could. It must have worked as I had fallen asleep and was woken up by a very confused team leader. Confused in as much as all he saw while coming over the brow was the flag that I had tied onto the twelve foot radio mast and a black area of snow. I could see the funny looks I was getting from the rest of the team while my face and hands were being treated with burn cream; they were all trying hard not to laugh, but were not successful in their attempts.
In the end the team leader even saw the funny side of it all. Although he shared in the humour of it all he still gave me one of the sledges, which had one of the dead in it, to take all the way down by myself, as a reminder that what I did was not funny by any means - even though the team did get their hot drink before we started down. I was really tired when we got back to the truck and even managed to sleep in the back of it on the bumpy roads all the way home. The worst part of it all was filling out the forms explaining what happened to the nylon tent that we had on trial. I did, however, manage a smile when I mentioned the fact that it was not fireproof on the accident report form.
