The following extract is by Les Phipps, who was later Air Vice Marshal
and Air Secretary. This was whilst I was with 208:
Beyond Malta
As a fighter recce squadron the services of 208 had always been in frequent demand throughout the Middle East. Whilst based in Malta the main commitment was in the Western Aden Protectorate in southern Arabia where a two aircraft detachment was maintained at Aden’s Khormaksar air base. In October/November 1957 it was my turn, flying for three days as a pair from Ta Kali via El Adem, Nicosia. Habbaniya,
Bahrain, Masirah and Salalah. During the month at Khormaksar we practiced our trade for real, providing photographs and other observations used for operations in the Protectorate.
There was one flying experience which reflected the way military aircraft just flew around the world in those days, The normal Meteor FR.9 return route from Aden to Malta included an extra refuelling stop at Diyarbakir in Turkey, necessary because of the prevailing headwinds usually encountered between Habbaniya in Iraq and Nicosia. Earlier with 208, and before the Khormaksar detachment, I had led a pair of aircraft to and from Bahrain via Habbaniya for what was a convenient aircraft changeover, On the return leg from Habbaniya to Diyarbakir I spotted the airfield with all the right geographical features for our destination - terrain, river, road. railway 
We had plenty of fuel so took our time burning it off away from the airfield. Only on the run in to break and land could I see something wrong: the runway heading was 20 degrees different to what it should have been and the place seemed deserted. It was in fact Batman, an airfield 20 miles short of Diyarbakir, not on the map and still being developed. There was now no fuel to continue so we landed and spent the night, refuelling successfully and being looked after by the resident construction company. The next day we were onwards to Nicosia direct. The point about all this is that our unconventional air movements did not seem to concern anyone at the time, nor afterwards. In 1957 things like this just happened - you drew a line on a map and went!
- Al Thomas
