Our journey to Jever was uneventful. We arrived back as planned on Monday, ready for work the next day.
I must point out at this juncture that all this had taken place, and I had done all these things, before the 9th of December, and before I had completed 10 weeks Squadron service.
I have to add that, as with all RAF Stations, there is an ever-changing population and it wasn't long before better players took our places in the Station Hockey team. I didn't stop playing, but my future matches were of a more local nature involving far less travel.
It was after my return from Berlin that I read on SROs that I had been appointed Officer i/c Tug of War.5 A brief mention of this to the PFO elicited the information that there was little interest in the sport, and no equipment.6 I decided to lie low for as long as I could get away with it.

>

Video showing SEN-018 clip from Ken Senar's film.   TITLE: "Frith v Jones".   This boxing sequence was taken during the 2nd TAF boxing championships held in the sports hangar at Jever.   Details are forgotten although (I think) the event lasted for more than one day.   The lighting was bad.   (The sports hangar was also used for indoor hockey matches, a particularly `Jever' form of sport which was very fast and could be dangerous on the concrete floor.   It was like a form of ice hockey, but without the benefit of personal protection from a rising hard ball!   It was popular with the aircrew).

More to my liking was the recent innovation of indoor hockey. It was played in an otherwise empty hangar on the domestic site side of the airfield. The pitch was roughly the size of that for Ice Hockey and with similar goals and board surround. We played using standard (not Indian) hockey sticks and a hard ball instead of a puck. From memory, we played 20 minutes each way, with a team of seven a side. Play was fast and downright bloody dangerous if the ball picked up above knee height. I played with the Squadron Officers' Team on many occasions. There was much inter-Section, inter-Wing, and Squadron rivalry. It was a popular sport and was usually played well, with scores as high as 12 for any one side not being unusual. Most matches were in the evenings, sometimes with two or three being played in one session. When the ball flew the spectators had to take care of themselves and this added excitement to watching the matches.
During my two and a half year tour at Jever I maintained my general fitness by participating in Squadron visits to the gym, playing hockey, and, in the summer season, swimming, and by a great deal of walking. The station pool was really only a large EWS tank with shelving sides and no shallow end.7 It was good to have a swim after tea and before dinner on a hot summer's evening.



Video showing SEN-017 clip from Ken Senar's film.   Jever swimming pool in use.   The pool was used by all ranks most evenings and weekends in the warmer weather.   It had very steeply shelving sides and was adapted for use from a pre-existing emergency water tank.   It served its purpose well and was frequently very busy in the summer heat.   It was also sometimes used for dinghy drill.   Robbie Roberts tells us that later he scrounged wood from old discarded jet-engine crates from the Supply Branch, and built a fence round the outside.

As for the walking, the Station was so big, and I had no private transport, that walking was an inevitable necessity. Even the Astra Cinema was outside the camp at the outer extremity of the approach road on the fringe of the married quarters, getting on for half a mile from my room.
As mentioned, other pilots involved themselves with soccer, rugger, basket ball, volley ball, tennis (in season), and squash. I tried my hand at squash but, although my reach was good, couldn't control my gangling frame with sufficient finesse to do justice to the game; tried twice and that was enough. Tennis was a nogo area for me because of my tendency to hay fever. Whenever I attempted to play I had to give up because of streaming eyes and sneezing. I think the dust from the hard courts at the back of the Mess had something to do with it.
Having mentioned physical fitness, sport, and my associated experiences, I shall refer to them again only in passing and in due course. It is time to go back to work.
__________________________________
5 SROs = Station Routine Orders.
6 PFO = Physical Fitness Officer.
7 EWS = Emergency Water Supply. Used by the Fire Section in cases of emergency. 68