Cedric Williams served in 59 and 34 Sqns. A talented photographer, this image of his (above), is my favourite of my time in Op Crown. His work appears on other pages on this site. I started my passion for photography through working with and learning from Cedric. Cedric, where are you mate?
The peaceful village life of Kok Talat (left) was to undergo a massive change from New Years Day 1964. The benefits the foreigners bought were a boost to the local economy and medical facilities close at hand. In fact people walked considerable distances from remote villages to receive treatment at the camp medical center.
Harry Secombe, Anita Harris, Myna Rose, Johnny Ball and Billy Budd paid Op Crown a visit early in 1967. 34 Fld Sqn were working on the road at the time. They gave a fantastic show in the 'A' frame church, to say we were a captive audience was an understatement. The workweary squaddies soaked up everything on offer.
The Thai people love the global game that is football and so did Crown servicemen. If they weren't playing they were watching (and drinking) The images below (courtesy Richard Cliffe) show a football match between the Aussies and Brits in Ubon.
This game seems to be a pretty formal affair as we start with an opening ceremony involving Brits, Aussies and Thais (above). The majority of the Crown team are made up of 59 although in the pix below the 'bloke' standing first right, is thought to be a Crown Headquarters soldier.
We know some names of the footballers in the pix above. Top row standing first from left is Gary Rhead, third from left is Taff Williams. Second from right is Mick Starkey. Bottom row kneeling second left is Richard Cliffe fourth from left Peter (Storky) Porter. Storky came from Ipswich anyone who knows where he is we want to contact him.
Miss Ubon 1965-66 kicked off the game, what a lovely girl! Standing left of her appears to be an Aussie Airforce Officer. Storky has his eye on the ball instead of Miss Ubon, a lack of concentration no doubt (from what I remember of Storky).Webmaster
The pix above and below were obviously taken on another occasion. We know some of the players, Gary Rhead, Taff Williams, Mick Starkey, Richard Cliffe and Peter (Storky) Porter. I recognise other faces but can't put a name to them. If you recognise someone contact me, give me the name and I'll post it up.Webmaster For the 'snappers' amongst us you may recognise the warm tones of the pictures of a footballing origin as opposed to the cool hard tones of the showbiz pix at the top of the page? Well the difference between the two is the 'Showbiz' pix were printed using Kodak materials and the Football shots used Agfa.
