1953 Computing

I didn't take this, but I did download it!
I was looking for something else related to RAF Communications and was searching on the TG11 association website (Trade Group 11) which was all about communications.
I was a Telegraphist so covered C/W (Continuous Wave (Morse Code)), voice comms UHF/VHF/SSB, Telephrinters, secure circuits, Civil Aviation circuits etc...... Anything to do with comms really.

In 1971 I was leaving Singapore (RAF Seletar which is on the Johore Straits, to the West of Changi), and was posted to RAF Boddington, near Cheltenham.
It housed the first military communications computer which was based on a Strowger switch using Uni-Selectors. This was for voice switching on telephone exchanges but the same thing was applied to teleprinter message communications and in 1953 the ATS STC102 was installed at Boddington with the Army controlling it. They later saw sense and made it an RAF communications centre!

So what's the point of all of this - Yes, that is me sitting in the controllers position :-) I don't even remember the photograph being taken but now that I think about it I do remember something about a publicity campaign and photographers being around.
This was taken in 1974 because I was at Boddington February 1971 to September 1972 and was then posted to RAF Luqa in Malta. January 1974 I was promoted to Corporal and posted back to Boddington. That is why I know it was 1974 and not 1971, you can see the Corporal chevrons on my shoulder epaulette.
It was great fun to control, lots of moving lights, switches and buttons and you really had to get to know it inside out. E.G. If I noticed there was a large amount of messages queuing for Singapore I could divert some of the traffic to the message relay at RAF Gan, Maldives, or Ottowa through Washington etc. all over the world.
We handled NATO, it's allies and inter service communications.
It was normally quite leisurely but at times it would go beserk such as 20 July 1974 when Turkey invaded Cyprus. We had, and still have, military base(s) in Cyprus and they were all sending messages about the invasion, mostly 'FLASH' category which is the highest precedence for speedy handling of messages. Each Flash message required us to send a receipt, which was done manually (not by me, I was controlling :-)  )

Happy days, but I still preferred sitting on a morse key.

Edit Note - Spares were in short supply and in 1974 we were in the process of switching over to the more modern computer an ITT ADX6400.
The spring had gone on one of the switches and I've only just noticed the elastic band holding the switch down! If I needed it up I just released the elastic band - Hi-tech or what!