The Tangmere
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The Tangmere Logbook Magazine of the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum Summer 2008 In this issue: Memories of RAF Tangmere, 1929-1930 An Acquaintance with “Bud” Day • The Water-Meadow Tangmere Military Aviation Museum Trust Company Patron: The Duke of Richmond and Gordon Hon. President: Duncan Simpson, OBE Council of Trustees Chairman: Group Captain David Baron, OBE Keith Arnold Alan Bower Terry Bryant Bill Toozs-Hobson Phil Isaac Bob Nagle Ken Shepherd Joyce Warren Officers of the Company Hon. Treasurer: Ken Shepherd Hon. Secretary: Joyce Warren Management Team Director: Alan Bower Curator: David Coxon Works Manager: Keith Arnold Marketing Manager: Peter Allison Shop Manager: Sheila Shepherd Registered in England and Wales as a Charity Charity Commission Registration Number 299327 Registered Office: Tangmere, near Chichester, West Sussex PO20 2ES, England Telephone: 01243 790090 Fax: 01243 789490 Website: www.tangmere-museum.org.uk E-mail: [email protected] 2 The Tangmere Logbook The Tangmere Logbook Magazine of the Tangmere Military AviationMuseum Summer 2008 Notes from My Logbook 4 Part 2 of an autobiographical memoir, Royal Air Force Tangmere, 1929-1930 Air Marshal Sir Anthony Selway, KCB DFC An Acquaintance with “Bud” Day, a Remarkable Man 12 Group Captain David Baron, OBE The Water Meadow 15 An SOE flight that got stuck, conclusion Sir Robin Hooper, KCMG DSO DFC Letters, Notes, and Queries 21 The Seletar Sunderland, Gordon Mitchell’s true story, our Tangmere gardeners, the National Service (RAF) Association, Argosy mishap, words of advice to American GIs, how the crew of the “Twentieth Century” dropped in for tea with Miss Cheney, the strange story of the Pagham Harbour Typhoon, and Photo Quiz Published by the Society of Friends of the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, Tangmere, near Chichester, West Sussex PO20 2ES, England Edited by Dr Reginald Byron, who may be contacted care of the Museum at the above postal address, or by e-mail at [email protected] Copyright © 2008 by the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum Trust Company All rights reserved. ISSN 1756-0039 Notes from My Logbook Part 2 of an autobiographical memoir, Royal Air Force Tangmere, 1929-1930 Air Marshal Sir Anthony Selway, KCB DFC Alpha, Beta, and April On March 3rd, someone, I forget who it was, came back and reported that he had seen a most remarkable thing. It was somewhere near Meonmarsh, which was just inland of Lee-on-Solent and he had been flying round in that area when he had spotted in large white letters in a garden the words “PLEASE STUNT”. These words seemed to be written on a lawn. Now in those days the word “stunt” was used instead of “aerobatics” and when he read this he felt the same emotional reaction that all red- blooded pilots should feel when they are invited to show off their skill, and not at all unwillingly he commenced to put on a show of low aerobatics. I need hardly say that low aerobatics were strictly forbidden as they so frequently led to nasty accidents. 4 The Tangmere Logbook Nevertheless he put up a show of loops, and the lunchtime interval each day rolls, slow rolls, half-rolls and in fact was always an interesting event everything he could remember. And because at that time the pilots used to then he saw that while he was doing meet in the Mess and exchange stories this three beautiful girls — or what about what they had been up to that could be estimated to be beautiful girls morning. One day someone came back at that height and speed, began to run and said he had spotted a most about in the garden and lay out white mysterious figure made in what he strips to form phrases such as “Good supposed was chalk on a hill side near Show”, “Nice Loop”, and “Again, Dorchester. He said that it was about Please”. He obliged to the best of his 100 feet high at least and, the figure, ability and then, realising that his fuel unmistakably a man, carried a club in was running short, had to make for his right hand and it was very home. noticeable that he was very well At lunchtime we were told about equipped below the belt. We express- this remarkable find. No one believed it ed much interest in this and the and we each decided that we must go following day some of us set off for off and have a look for ourselves. The Dorchester which was a town rather off news had spread around and when I our usual beat, in order to see this got to the Lee-on-Solent area the air was figure for ourselves. Sure enough there thick with Siskins madly doing their it was, as described, and he was well stunts at the lowest possible height. and truly camera gunned before we Not only Siskins either, for we observed left. We later learned that it was a very Flycatchers from the Navy and also a well-known figure which had been Fairey IIIF, which was a large fleet drawn on the ground at Cerne Abbas a spotter reconnaissance aircraft in which great many centuries ago and that it the pilot was heroically trying to was probably a fertility god of some emulate the feats of the fighter boys. sort. We weren’t at that time in our We must have been making a great deal lives very interested in fertility, in fact of noise and we observed that several rather the reverse, and so we left him gardens contained residents who were alone. not girls but middle-aged and older men and they certainly weren’t waving “Hucks!” but shaking their fists at us in a most uncomplimentary way. Alas youth I can’t help thinking that visitors to cares not and we went on our way Tangmere, or for that matter to any heedless of the concern felt by others. fighter station, must have been puz- Well this was a nine-day wonder and zled at a number of things and one of much of our time was spent over them was to observe pilots sitting Meonmarsh and later on we somehow quietly in their aircraft for a few min- got to find out who these girls were and utes and then letting out a very loud we met them. Alpha, Beta, and April shout of “Hucks!” Should there be no (surname of Hughes, I recall!). Two of apparent action resulting from this he them were twins and the other an elder would again shout “Hucks!” — not, of sister. All mad on flying and not bad course unconscious of the fact it could lookers either. be mistaken for another word, and then a strange motor vehicle would ap- Cerne Abbas Man proach from the tarmac and pull up in front of his engine. Life proceeded smoothly at Tangmere This was the Hucks starter and it Summer 2008 5 consisted of a flat chassis and engine of on several types. He immediately a Model T Ford on which had been built joined the Navy and in 1941 he was an arrangement of pinions, pulleys and commanding a squadron of Swordfish chains ending in a toggle which the torpedo bombers in the Fleet Air Arm. driver inserted into the boss of the It was during that command that he propeller and, on returning to his seat and his squadron played a vital part in he would rev up the Model T engine, the locating and sinking of the German engage the clutch and start the battleship Bismarck and after the action aeroplane’s engine. I believe it was the Esmonde was awarded the DSO. invention of an early wartime aviator, But in February 1942 came the one B. C. Hucks. We had a number of famous “break out” of the Gneisnau, them and they were the only means of Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen from Brest. starting the engines in a reasonable These three Nazi capital ships were time. We had just begun to be fitted commerce raiders with a great nuisance with gas bottles which would mean that value in the Atlantic and other oceans our Siskins could then be started from and part of their function was to keep the cockpit. the British Navy busy stopping them from doing great damage to our vital convoys. One of these ships alone would have been able to sink a fifty- ship convoy in a matter of hours. At this stage in the war they had retired to the German-occupied port of Brest where they were bombed at regular intervals by the RAF. The RN and the RAF kept them under surveillance and substantial forces were available in case they should break out towards our vital shipping routes. But Hitler had other Eugene Esmonde, VC plans and wanted them back in Kiel. He did not want to risk sending them The only other thing of note to happen back round the usual route via Iceland that week was that a very young Pilot where they would have to fight and Officer arrived by the name of Eugene possibly suffer the same fate as the Esmonde. He was dark and small and Bismarck. So he decided on a Channel very quiet and turned out to be a very dash and made secret arrangements nice chap and we were glad to have him which unfortunately led our intel- as a messmate. He joined 43 Squadron ligence services to believe he would and used to come out with us on all our leave Brest at such time to let the ships parties.