By Adrian Hughes

Orkney Armed Forces’ and Veterans’ Breakfast Club: 30th March 2024.

Beautiful Spring weather and a smooth crossing welcomed Orkney Veterans Club to Lyness. this month, when they returned to Hoy for the very first time to visit the Scapa Flow Museum and, of course, have breakfast.

Thirty-four veterans and family members sat down in the museum’s café to enjoy an especially prepared breakfast buffet, and were introduced to the renowned historian and broadcaster, Nick Hewitt, who is OIC’s Team Leader for Culture.

After breakfast, Nick treated the group to an insiders view of artefacts not usually on display to the general public. Some of these items were of particular interest, and dismay to some veterans, as they discovered equipment they had used during their time in the forces, now qualify as museum relics.

One veteran on the Hoy visit was regular breakfaster and former RAF man, Colin Will.

After 18 months at RAF Cosford, Wolverhampton, he found himself based in Kinloss, working on Nimrods. But, his training had been on fast jets, like Jaguars and Tornadoes; he’d never even heard of these large maritime patrol aircraft. He soon learnt, however:

” I became what is known as a, Composite Servicing Mechanic. This meant that, as well as servicing the weapons, I could service the whole jet; all the trades, front to back. Two technicians could service a Nimrod in under an hour, a quick turnaround to have the aircraft back in the air as quickly as possible.”

These additional skills gave the young Col the opportunity to travel; something he made the most of at every opportunity, working in diverse locations such as California, Curacao and Oman.

After several years on Nimrods, Col thought it was time for a change. But he certainly wasn’t looking for an easy life; his next job was bomb disposal.

“I’d been applying for ages and ages and I eventually got picked up for the job and sent to RAF Wittering.

“There’s two different types of bomb disposal: CMD, conventional munitions disposal; that’s mines, booby traps and air dropped weapons, for example when somebody digs up a wartime bomb in their garden. And there’s IEDD; improvised explosive device disposal. that’s home-made weapons, such as terrorists’ bombs and involves extra training and qualifications. I did both.”

Like many who’ve faced it in the past, Col dismisses the danger, simply saying he was just doing his job; It’s what he got paid for. But in reality, he and his colleagues were clearly putting themselves in harm’s way. However, its not the IEDs that stick in his mind. He was in Iraq a number of times, and its the mortar and rocket attacks he remembers the most.

Back in the UK; on one occasion they were called to a youth centre in Northampton, where a suspicious package had been discovered, outside:

“We rushed down there, driving for about 30 or 40 minutes, blue lights flashing and sirens on. By the time we arrived, there were armed police, a cordon had been set up and nearby homes had been evacuated. I set up my control area, got everyone to switch off their radios, armed up the robot with expensive devices and sent it on its way, whilst the other guy got suited up.

” I found the package with the robot and shot it, twice; then the man in the suit went down to take a look.

“Apparently, the youth centre had a play on, the previous week, and somebody had googled how to make an IED to use as a prop. And they made it very well. But instead of taking it apart when the play had finished, they just threw it in the bins, outside.

“When the council came to empty the bins, they found this very, very, very realistic looking IED, and this is what my colleague found.

“This is a really fun story, I know, but the thing is; you don’t know if it is real or not. You’re in the moment. Everything is real to you until you finish doing the job!”

Colin left the RAF in 2014 and moved to Orkney 2017 when his job as a distiller with Chivas Brothers brought him to the Scapa Distillery from Glenallachie. He and his Estonian partner, Karmen, have been joining the other veterans for breakfast for more than five years and have very rarely missed the monthly event:

“I think the breakfast club is really good; it gets you out of the house and gives veterans a safe comfortable space to chat and reminisce, often about topics that civilians would not understand.”

The Orkney Veterans Breakfast Club meets at various locations around the county on the last Saturday of each month. If you’re a veteran, or a serving member, of any of the armed forces, Regular of Reserve, or their immediate family, you’re welcome to join them. There’s no admin and no fees apart from the price of your breakfast, but you’ll probably be asked a bit about your time in the service.

Breakfasts usually run between 0930 and 1130 (ish) although March’s event was a bit different. The visit to Hoy provided the veterans with an opportunity to sit down and a chat a little longer than usual as they normally disband shortly after the meal. But because of the ferry timetable, they all had to make a day of it.

Simon Brodie, the group’s founder and coordinator, daid:

“The feedback from today’s breakfast was excellent. I don’t think I have seen our social media this active after an event. It’s great to do something different for a change and the Scapa Flow Museum was definitely a highlight of our year.”

The breakfast club’s membership continues to grow, with well over 30 now showing up each month. They are victims of their own success, meaning they are now unable to use some of the smaller venues they went to in the past. If you’re a manager of a café, restaurant or pub in Orkney that might like to host the veterans one Saturday morning, please get in touch. Most order a traditional cooked breakfast, although there’s a handful with a vegetarian requirement.

For more details please visit the group’s Facebook page, or contact Simon on 70970 640884 or email orkneyveteransbreakfastclub@outlook.com