Any old promotor drivers around

A few observations and thoughts from the recent Jeff Stringfellow posts and photographs.

  1. We learned from Jason that Jeff flew back to Tehran to collect the Arthur Evison lorry and was stuck there for six weeks, before being evacuated with the help of the embassy. I’ve found out that the the Yanks, French, Italians and British governments laid on flights to get their nationals out of Iran at that time. The RAF provided planes for the Brits. These flights were spread over weeks not days so we don’t have exact dates for Jeffs departure but he must have been on one of those flights. The evacuation flights occurred between the second and third week of February 1979. It seems the Brits chosen to depart that day met at the British Embassy summer residence in the north of the city from where they were escorted to the airport. However, before they were allowed to join the convoy they all had to sign documents promising to reimburse the British government the cost of their flight even though it may cost more than a commercial flight. Bet the Yanks weren’t given that ultimation!
    So I think Jeff could have flown out to Tehran about the 8th/9th January and returned six weeks later, ie, about 21st/22nd February. He must have had some time off but on his next job, a trip to Saudi for David Duxbury, must have departed the UK mid March as I caught up with him on or about the 21st/22nd in Greece as we made our way to Volos to catch the ferry to Syria.

  2. A nice little anecdote from Jason regarding Jeff and the ‘Jesus sandals’ as Jeff called them, that he wore. It seems he loved wearing those sandals so much that he wore them continuously when abroad the way they are meant to be worn, ie, without socks but when in the UK he still wore them but with socks. When Jeff died, the family knowing how much he love his ‘Jesus sandals’ had him buried wearing them. What I don’t know is — was he wearing socks as well!!!

  3. And finally where did that photograph of me wearing swimming trunks standing by my lorry in about 83 come from. The remainder of Jeffs photos are dated 79 or earlier. I saw him only once more in 80. How come he had a photo of me in his collection taken three years later?