CONTACT !

The Newsletter of the former RAF Defford Reunion Association, now merged with the

DEFFORD AIRFIELD HERITAGE GROUP in partnership with THE NATIONAL TRUST, CROOME http://deffordairfieldheritagegroup.wordpress.com Editor Mike Mullins - email Michael.mullins2 @outlook.com Number 134, March / April 2020

Shaun Pocock

RAF Defford WW2 serviceman and museum Steward adds more details of the 1961 non-fatal Valiant crash

See page 2

The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito

Originally conceived as an unarmed fast bomber, the Mosquito evolved during the war into many roles, including low- to medium-altitude daytime tactical bomber, high-altitude night bomber, pathfinder, day or night fighter, fighter-bomber, intruder, maritime strike, and photo-reconnaissance aircraft. The Mosquito proved to be very fast indeed, with a top speed of 380mph. This was 20mph faster than the Spitfire. The Mosquito entered RAF service in November 1941 and came to RAF Defford in 1942. It was a popular aircraft and proved a good platform for testing airborne radar and other roles. See pages 6 and 7 Harry Badger, Defford and Pershore aircraft engineer and now museum steward talks about his experiences working on Defford

and Pershore aircraft. See pages 4 and 5

Shaun Pocock adds more details about his friend Douglas Webber who was trapped in the 1961 Valiant crash at RRE Pershore. Shaun also looks at the subsequent work of Roy Hodges and George Randall on the Valiant aircraft.

The failed Valiant take off took place on the 14th of March 1961. There was a crew of five including Douglas Webber, a civilian experimental officer from RRE Malvern. The crash was well documented by Bob and Dennis in Contacts 123 and 124 in 2019. These are Shaun’s words………… “I read the information in Contact 123 about the Valliant crash. I am surprised that no mention was made about the boffin, Douglas Webber, who was trapped seven hours in the cockpit, before he was rescued. Doug was a friend of mine who often visited my calibration room and instrument workshop. He often came with Roy Hodges as they were from the same section in Malvern and were working on the H2S project. Doug told me about his rescue, how he was covered with earth scooped up by the aircraft, only his legs were injured. Doug also was a maths teacher at Malvern College of further education. He was a very good teacher as I found out, when the Malvern people joined us for the third year of the National ONC course I was taking. Their maths was far superior to ours even though we were taught by the head master of the local grammar school. Doug also spent time winning competitions. He had many free holidays around the world and a new garage and plenty of money prizes. Some of these firms paid him to test their new competitions before they would set them up.

My mechanic with our Valiant was George RAF Engineer George Randall, they eventually found the Randall later became a problem and the RAF were very pleased Councillor and leader and modified their gyro units as George of Worcester City had done. When George left RRE he Council between 1980 eventually became the Mayor of and 1992 Worcester.

Roy Hodges wanted some information from the aircraft’s automatic control to work his product. With help from the manufacturer of the autopilot, we were able to modify the gyro until it gave Roy the control his equipment needed. Roy was testing these results in the Valiant at Gaydon when another problem arose. This was known by the RAF on all jet aircraft”.

Roy Hodges (foreground) with Stella Budden (standing) and other wartime TRE colleagues at Malvern College. Photo courtesy of Jayne Stephenson Page 2 Roy Hodges and his wife Yvonne were keen swimmers. This photo was taken in Sheffield in 1996 when they both competed in the Masters swimming championships. Both won several events in their group, including Roy in the 100m backstroke and Yvonne in the 200m individual medley. Their daughter, Jayne Stephenson is a Museum Steward. She is also a keen swimmer, see below.

Roy and Yvonne’s Daughter Jayne Stephenson is a Museum Steward and keen swimmer. She recently competed in the Masters Championships in Gwangju South Korea winning a medal in the 800m free style. Photos courtesy of Jayne Stephenson

Shaun the Record Breaker - August Bank Holiday 2016. Shaun has been a steward

since the opening of the museum in Sept 2014, He has regularly worked the Monday morning shift and has done so continuously almost without an absence. Mondays can sometimes be quiet, but not so on Bank Holiday Mondays. Shaun was on duty on the 29th August 2016 when Croome was packed. A total of 1002 visitors came through the museum that day. This is an all-time record for the number of visitors in a single day. The day was extremely hot (and there was no air conditioning then) but everyone was good natured and patient and the day was a great success. Bob sent a nice thank you note to Shaun and all the stewards involved.

Page 3

Harry Badger and his experiences working on Defford and Pershore aircraft.

Harry’s first involvement with the RAF came when he joined the Air Training Corps (ATC) in 1944 at Pershore. In 1948. He was recruited as a Maintenance Assistant at Defford, then after two years he passed the exam to become an aircraft fitter craftsman grade 1. Harry worked

Harry’s logbook is a meticulous record of in this role until Defford closed 1957. He then moved to his service and has proved to be a mine of Pershore until the base there closed in 1976. information. Starting in 1944 with the ATC at Pershore it documents all the aircraft Harry has worked on and flown in. In total Harry flew on 46 aircraft types and worked on many more aircraft types. This was a remarkable achievement, bearing in mind these aircraft had many different marks and sub – variants, because they were undergoing rapid development at that time and were subject to many design changes.

Harry working “flat out” on the engine of the Handley Page Hermes at Pershore

Harry standing against an Avro Shackleton at Pershore. Harry is in the centre on the engine of a Meteor at Page 4 Pershore whilst Defford’s runway was being repaired

Harry is in the centre on the engine of an Avro Ashton at Defford Harry on the afternoon shift

Harry works as a museum Steward. He started in 2014 when the museum opened and to date has completed over 250 shifts. Harry is normally on duty on Friday and Saturday afternoons, so it’s great if you can meet up with him then. But stewards and visitors can hear Harry’s voice anytime on one of the audioposts in the musuem (button no.8). On this, Harry mentions working on various aircraft, but gives a specific account of an intermittent problem they had with a Mosquito aileron. Harry flew the aircraft with three different pilots who all noted the stiffness in starboard aileron control, despite having been passed by the inspector as “Controls checked, full and free satisfactory”. Eventually it was found to be a loose screw which had lodged against the aileron cable pulley and had progressively

frayed the cable until it formed a “wire bunch” which Harry in a de Havilland Vampire at Defford restricted movement over the pulley.

Harry was always

vigilant and was congratulated in 1974 by the Ministry of Defence for spotting a frayed cable on a Canberra which was outside his normal work schedule.

Page 5 The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito

The prototype Mosquito made its maiden flight on 25 November 1940

The Mosquito came to Defford in 1942 and rapidly had Airborne Radar fitted. These are photos of the A1 Mk IX installation and of the aircraft undergoing trials. Photos © Crown copyright

Page 6

Mosquito Aircraft at RAF Defford extracts from W.H. Sleigh’s RSRE Report “Aircraft for Airborne Radar Development”.

The MOSQUITO AIRCRAFT was a unique de Havilland concept of 1938 for a high performance twin-engine aircraft relying on speed rather than defensive armament. It mostly was constructed from wood, for both industrial economy and quickness of production. The prototype Mosquito made its maiden flight on 25 Mosquito VT679 with 'Bull Nose' radome to accommodate British or November 1940 with the fighter version following on American SCR 720 Al systems. 15 May 1941. Some 46 different variants were produced, 19 of these variants being fitted with a wide

variety of radar systems, initially involving the early 1.5 metre Al Mk VI equipment, for incursion activity over enemy territory, but in the main they were fitted with

British AI Mks VIII and IX, the American SCR 720 [Al Mk X] and ASH [Al Mk 15] systems.

Mosquitoes at TFU were also involved in the development of the Oboe precision marker system, H2S for reconnaissance work and in a wide selection of radar RCM systems. Over 79 Mosquito aircraft are known to have been at Defford between 1942 and 1953 whose projects embraced 62% of the science activity groups listed in Annex 2. In terms of individual aircraft 35% were associated with Al radars compared with 16% being involved with bombing systems such as Oboe, H2S and G-H radars.

The night fighter prototype, Mosquito NF Mk ll DD715, was a conversion of a basic NF Mk ll by transfer of the front mounted guns to the lower fuselage and in their place a new nose was constructed to accommodate Mk Vlll radar with its airframe profiled radome. On completion DD715 was allotted to Defford in September 1942 for its radar proving trials which resulted in some 90 similar aircraft being produced, one of the first of these, Mosquito NF Mk II HJ946, was also allotted to Defford for radar type approval. Following the foregoing conversion the American SCR 720 (Al Mk X) radar was also fitted, but as the Mosquito ML 926 fitted with OBOE Mk 2 centimetric relay system using radar head was larger than the British Al Mk Vlll it required a bigger radome modified SCR 720 (AI Mk 10) aerial which in turn enabled such installation to accept either Al Mks Vlll or X. dishes for receive and onward transmit function to extend range.

The prototype Mosquito NF Mk ll DZ659, had its radar fitted by a TRE/TFU working party flown to Hatfield. This aircraft was later recorded as having been at Defford. Also in 1942, with the pending threat of high altitude bombing attack, de Havilland was contracted to produce a small number of high altitude night fighters, this design was achieved by modifying PR Mk Vlll aircraft, fitted with Merlin Mk 61 two-stage supercharged engines, by increasing wing span and reducing weight. The prototype Mosquito NF Mk XV MP469, was allotted to Defford in November 1942 for evaluation of its Al Mk Vlll radar, with specially profiled radome, at altitudes up to 44,000 feet. In 1943/44 Mosquitoes MM132 and MM175 were recorded as having H2S Mk III fitted, whilst in the same period Mosquitoes [letter prefixes not known] 898 and 929 were associated with Oboe work. Between 1943 and 1947 Mosquitoes 621 and 673 were engaged on G-H projects, and latterly Mosquito SZ960 was engaged in Doppler research with its equipment interchangeable with fittings in Lancaster PA417.

Page 7 Members and Friends J.A.G Thomas (TAFF) Service no 2352632 (Passed away 26th November 2019)

Stationed at Defford with Bruce his Alsatian dog.

From some notes found in my father’s papers regarding his time with Bruce his dog at R.A.F Defford – Richard Thomas. At the beginning of WWII the call went out to civilian dog owners to loan their Alsatian dogs or similar to the RAF police for training as security dogs on airfields. Bruce was one of these dogs and came from the Gloucester area, he was posted to Defford with a handler where he remained to the end of his service. In late 1947 Bruce was posted to Staverton, for a new handler which was myself (TAFF) as his previous handler was demobbed, and after getting used to each other we were posted to Defford. In 1949 the security in Defford was gradually taken over by the then Air Ministry Police. By this time there were only five dog handlers left, by July this was reduced to two and then I became the last RAF Dog Handler at Defford. Bruce was returned to RAF Staverton in early August 1949 and after returning him I was attached to the RAF Station Police at Defford until my demob in the following September. DAHG would like to thank Richard and Frederick Thomas for all the information and photographs.

Gordon Thomas, Bruce and Gordon’s 1949 Service and release papers.

RAF Police Handlers with their dogs at RAF Defford about 1947. We think Gordon Thomas with his dog Bruce are on the left.

After leaving the RAF, Gordon joined the Police Force, serving in North Wales until retirement. His wife, Margaret, also a staunch supporter of the RAF Defford Reunion Association and DAHG, whom he met at Defford, died in November 2017 (obituary Contact 115). His son Richard Thomas said that Gordon often talked about the reunions he had at Defford and his time in the RAF, a very important time in his life as it was while he was stationed there that he met his wife to be. Dennis remembers “Taff” Thomas as a stalwart of the RAF Defford Reunions.

The Blind date My father’s friend was dating a girl in Worcester who had an older sister, this friend asked my father to go on a blind date with the sister so he could spend some alone time with his girlfriend. Who was the sister on the blind date, yes it was my mother Margaret. They were married for over 65 years until she passed away in 2017. – Frederick Thomas Page 8 - Frederick Thomas Joyce Dunworth "A well-known and much loved Defford partnership had final closure in January with the sad loss of Joyce Dunworth. On January 8th 2020, Dorothy Joyce Dunworth, of Bridgnorth, Shropshire, formerly of Blisland, Cornwall, aged 89, passed away. Joyce was the widow of the late Lt-Cdr. Geoffrey ('Loopy') Dunworth,

DSC, RN (Rtd) who had been Officer Commanding the Naval Section at Defford 1951-53. The couple married at Pershore in 1954 after Geoff had retired from the service and joined Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd, as a test pilot, still based at RRE Defford and later at RRE Pershore. While there together, they renovated the formerly derelict

Dunstall House at Dunstall Common, Earls Croome as their home. Geoff retired from flying in 1961. 1962 saw the opening of the M5 motorway junctions from 4 to 8 which unfortunately passed within yards of what had until then been a quiet rural garden. With the motorway becoming increasingly busy they moved to Cornwall. Joyce was mother to Claire and the late Iain, grandmother to Sabrina, Imogen and Jory. The funeral service was held at Shrewsbury on the 31st January attended by family and friends. DAHG members’ condolences and best wishes go out to the family." We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Les Whitehouse for this obituary and photo of Dunstall House.

Photo "A low-level recon of Dunstall House flying east shows the roof undergoing renovation by Geoff. To the rear above the immediate trees is the Dunstall Castle folly and all along the skyline the southern corner of RAF Defford airfield. The dark horizontal in the left upper corner locates the most northerly of the two ex-maintenance Hangars allocated to Boulton Paul where their roofing can be seen – still existing and now themselves renovated and occupied previously by Countrywide Farmers."

Pamela Shaw It is sad to report that Pamela Shaw passed away in February after a short illness. This came just a few months after her Husband Bob Shaw (and former DAHG Chairman) died (see contact 133).

Pam was a founding member of the plant research group at Croome after the National Trust took over the grounds in 1996. “Pam was part of a small group of volunteers who pored over the 18th century plant bills trying to work out what was purchased for Croome; how much things cost and if there were any first introductions into the country. (Plant names change and the handwriting was difficult to read sometimes). The group have been working on this for over a decade and the results so far have been published in the Garden History Society Journal. The group also produced a fascinating book called ‘An Eighteenth Century Obsession; the Plant Collection of the 6th Earl of Coventry at Croome’, which is available to buy at Croome shop”.

Katherine Alker Garden and Outdoors Manager, Croome

Bob’s involvement with The DAHG and National Trust came about through Pam, who ably supported him when he became Chair of DAHG. She was a DAHG member attended many DAHG meetings

Page 9 and events. Pamela and Bob had a son Geoff and daughter Jane. New members and Volunteers to DAHG We welcome John Brown as a new member of DAHG. John was born in 1942 and educated at the Worcester Royal Grammar School (WRGS) from 1953 to 1959. Whilst there he joined the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) and transferred to the RAF section at the first available opportunity. John went to a number of summer camps including RAF North Weald, then the home of Treble One and their black Hunters and the nascent BBMF. Another was RAF Kinloss where his claim to fame was being the only cadet NOT to be airsick during a 6 hour practice bombing session over the North Sea in a tail dragging Shackleton. Perhaps it was because he spent most of the time up front with the bomb aimer!

John was the son of Flt Sgt R. E. Brown, a navigator/wireless operator on

Beaufighters of 46 Sqn. operating out of North Africa. On the night of 3/4th April

1944 on an interdiction mission to the Aegean, he failed to return and was posted as Missing, Presumed Killed. Later on the 4th, a Beaufighter, flying a similar mission, spotted a dinghy and immediately returned to base (radio silence) to organise a search. Unfortunately the dinghy couldn't be found. This was their first mission in a TF10 - perhaps they were downed due to unfamiliarity or mechanical failure. Squadron records show little enemy action at the time. Model of 46 Sqn Beaufighter

Some years later John's mother remarried to Flt Lt Frank Walter. Frank was a contemporary of Douglas Bader, Johnnie Johnson, etc. and was adjutant at 616 Sqn. for a while during their tenure. John was privileged to meet Johnnie Johnson when he took Frank to one of Dilip Sarkar's book launches in Worcester. Frank finished his RAF career instructing on Tiger Moths at Perdiswell, Worcester. John was born with balsa cement in his blood and by (very) early teens was building and flying own design models of all types on Perdiswell. The usual hiatus of marriage and kids stopped any production until the children had grown up and gone away (no interest in modelling!). On retirement, boredom set in until modelling was rediscovered. Now all is sweetness and light, building and flying rubber powered model aircraft (anyone remember Keil Kraft and Veron?) on Perdiswell once more.

We also welcome Derek Broderick as a new Museum Steward. Derek is semi-retired, but recently he and his wife became foster carers.

Annual Subscriptions

We would like to remind DAHG members that this is when we collect the annual subscriptions. Still at £5.00, this can be paid by BACS (sort code 30-80-34; account number 34335768), or by cheque payable to ‘Defford Airfield Heritage Group’ and sent to the Treasurer, John Sterry, Hornbeams, Lampitt Lane, Bredon’s Norton, Tewkesbury, Glos. GL20 7HB.

Copies of Dennis Williams’ book Defford Airfield 1941-57 are available (price £5.00) at the museum at Croome or for those of you living more distantly, they can be posted (£8.00 including postage).We also have copies of the museum video available for sale, priced £8.00, giving a concise history of the airfield with views of Croome Park.

For both of the above, please contact us at the above address, or on 01684 772234, or [email protected]

Page 10