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The

Logbook

Magazine of the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum

Autumn 2010

Coastal Command Catalina Spots Suspicious Submarine Lightning Bail-out • , ’s ALG Foxtrot Delta One-Three-Seven, Suez 1956

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 Peter Allison Keith Arnold Alan Bower Dudley Hooley Phil Isaac Ken Shepherd Mike Stanton 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 Publicity Manager: Cherry Greveson Treasurer: Ken Shepherd

Shop Manager: Sheila Shepherd

Registered in and as a Charity Charity Commission Registration Number 299327

Registered Office: Tangmere, near Chichester, West 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 Aviation Museum

Autumn 2010

A Grand Day Out 4 Bailing out of a Lightning, as told to grandchildren during a visit to the Museum Terry Carlton

“Get a picture of it!” 9 The crew of a Coastal Command Catalina encounter a strange submarine Robert Smallman

Apuldram: An Airfield by 13 The colourful life of an Advanced Landing Ground David Coxon and Dudley Hooley

Foxtrot Delta One-Three-Seven, Suez 1956 21 A neophyte goes operational Colin Richardson

Letters, Notes, and Queries 25 An aircraft carrier gets lost; the Brown Job; Accrington, Church and Oswaldtwistle; Hope or Aitken?; Snippets from our archives; and Photo Quiz

Published by the Society of Friends of the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, Tangmere, near Chichester, PO20 2ES, England Edited by Dr Reginald Byron, who may be contacted care of the Museum at the postal address given above, or by e-mail at [email protected] Copyright © 2010 by the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum Trust Company All rights reserved. ISSN 1756-0039

for them a first visit. Like so many con- temporaries, most of us never talk much about our life and times when we were serving, especially those like me whose career spanned the Cold War and with the exception of one brief moment in the eastern Mediterranean, had never experienced “hot” war, al- though we all spent many hours, days, even years, standing by and training and preparing for the real thing which, thankfully, never came — deterrence did work in the end! It is not only the sight of the Second World War exhibits which so fascinates, there is a smell combined with an am- bience which even nearly 70 years later is characteristic, strong and compelling. But, after a suitable interval having

taken it all in, we moved on to the next room where we came across many of A Grand Day Out the aircraft I was involved with in fly- ing and operations. These machines all Air Commodore Terry Carlton whispered to me from down the years as did many of the pilots who had flown them, none more so than Neville Walking into the Tangmere Military Duke, whose speed-record-breaking Aviation Museum, one immediately Hunter has pride of place. The late feels the excitement and energy ema- was a boyhood hero of nating from the collections, especially mine and I well recall setting off to those relating to the people, machines Farnborough for the air show, in my and memorabilia of the Second World brand new school blazer, during which War. Neville broke the sound barrier in a And so it was for me when I arrived Hunter over the airfield — what an age on the day that a new book arrived at us young boys were on the threshold of the Museum on the life of one of “The — made even more exciting, although Few”, Group Captain Frank Carey. deeply tragically so, when John ’s Whilst all of “” were distin- DH110 broke up over the north of the guished in so many ways, none was airfield and whose engines went liter- more so than Frank. His exploits in the ally just feet over my head and front line of many theatres of war from ploughed into the crowd behind. 1939 to 1945 are all head-shakingly More than 30 years later when I was breathtaking. The book, by Norman approaching the end of my RAF career, Franks, available at the Museum shop, I discovered that Neville was using his reflects all of this brilliantly, and is exceptional test pilot skills to develop strongly recommended as are the full- and market a new machine, the Optica, page obituaries from The Times and the which was designed for police observa- Daily Telegraph — a rare honour. tion work, was powered by a Volks- I had taken my family to Tangmere, wagen car engine, had a wooden pro- including my teenage grandchildren; peller, and was very quiet; a very basic

4 The Tangmere Logbook flying machine in reality. But there I Squadron and the Lightning Opera- was flying it with Neville as my men- tional Conversion Unit at Coltishall tor. Having progressed through Hunt- where I was one of the three squadron ers, Lightnings, Jaguars and the Tor- commanders. It struck me that my nado, this experience from the Old Sa- grandchildren might be a little bit inter- rum airfield with Neville joined all ested in some of this and I was able to those other high spots of my military tell them that only six years after I left aviation experiences and I treasure the school, which was just 10 years after the memory of my day with him. end of World War Two, my contempo- Sensing that my grandchildren were raries and I were able to fly up to twice ready to move on, we made our way the speed of sound and climb to nearly into the ”new” hangar; I knew that a 70,000 ft in the Lightning, an aircraft Lightning aircraft had recently been which went onto the drawing board in placed there but was unprepared for its the late 1940s, entered RAF service with sheer size as it seemed to rear up before No. 74 Squadron in 1959 — with a first us. But I had difficulty working out appearance at Farnborough that year — which mark the aircraft was. Certainly and gave sterling service with the RAF it was one of the later marks and I had and other air forces until the late 1980s. the suspicion that it was, in fact, a hy- As we walked around the aircraft I brid with a mix of some of the major noted that most of the engine air intake parts which although could never fly which housed the air interception radar together nonetheless provided a most was missing, and shortly after we impressive presence. I now know it is found it mounted on a stand nearby. I called a Mark 53. had never really had a good look inside All told I spent eight years flying the at the engine configuration, where al- Lightning, divided between Treble One most uniquely in the world, the en-

English Electric Lightning prototype XL628, the aircraft shown at the Society of British Aircraft Constructors’ show at Farnborough, in flight, 1959. Charles Edward Brown photo, RAF Museum.

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gines are mounted one above and The throttles were immediately pulled slightly behind the other. back and we turned back towards Colt- The second interesting thing was ishall which was visible just below our that the dielectric cone providing both right wing. the air intake and the cover for the ra- My initial assessment was that it dar had been responsible for what was was probably the nose wheel which the most memorable moment of my had burst after its gyrations on takeoff. entire flying career. I somewhat uncer- I announced my problem to Air Traffic, tainly thought that my grandchildren descended and planned to lower the might like to be let into a small corner undercarriage and fly past the tower to of their grandpa’s past and thought, ah enable the undercarriage to be visually well, here goes! checked. All went unremarkably until So I began by telling them that one at about 1,500 ft I started to level off cold and frosty morning in January and gently eased the throttles forward. 1967, I was detailed to fly as instructor Nothing happened except that the jet in the right-hand seat of a Lightning T4 pipe temperature needle went off the — XM971 — with a student, Flt Lt (later clock and the RPM gauges moved not a Gp Capt) Tony Gross, on a radar train- jot! The speed was decaying fast and ing exercise where the student pilot we had to keep descending to retain would perform interceptions on a Can- flying speed, and with no power things berra target aircraft. started to happen very rapidly indeed.

When I signed for the aircraft it was It was difficult at the time, never noted that the nose wheel had vibrated mind now, to recall exactly the se- somewhat on the previous takeoff but quence of events, but as we were de- was considered acceptable. Sure scending well below 1,000 ft I realised enough, as the wheels were raised after that we had no choice but to leave the takeoff, the nose wheel rattled away aircraft, made a rapid Mayday call and considerably more than usual before told Tony Gross to EJECT! He needed finally settling down. no second bidding! Suddenly, the hood The Lightning climbs very rapidly in went and half a second later I was cold power (and even more so in reheat aware of his mass rising literally up my when it could climb to 36,000 ft from left arm — we sat that close — and the brakes release in about 110 seconds: not bang which was his primary seat car- many, if any, aircraft can do that even tridge firing. today!) and we were soon passing I then reached up and pulled my 10,000 ft when suddenly there was a Martin-Baker seat blind; there was a loud bang from down between our feet. short delay and then I was out, tum-

6 The Tangmere Logbook bling forward — I reckon one complete grounded.” What I have not told you somersault — then I realised I was in so far is that the day before my ejection my ‘chute looking down at the ground I had been promoted to Squadron and the railway line between Leader, having assumed command of and North Walsham with a train com- my squadron in acting rank only a few ing straight at me about 100 yards weeks earlier. As the chopper chugged away! But I immediately realised that I its way on the short journey back, my was drifting downwind, glanced that future career, or rather the end of it, way and saw high tension cables loom- flashed before my staring eyes. Chop- ing up. In the event my feet missed per landed, door opened, and standing these cables but they brushed the can- before me were the Station Commander opy shroud lines as I approached the and (Flying) genu- ground. I reckon it was more than five inely wanting to enquire after our good but less than 10 seconds from my pull- health and wellbeing — and the very ing the blind to landing on the frosty last people in the world I then wanted plough. to see. So for me, that was it, Game’s As I completed quite a good para- Up and even Over! And then some- chute roll on landing, I spotted a fire- thing absolutely marvellous happened: ball in the next field where the aircraft the ambulance was standing by ready had “landed”. Tony Gross was about to take us to Sick Quarters. As the Sta- 100 yards away, on his feet by now, tion and Wing Commanders ap- dusting off the mud. The train had proached us they were brushed aside stopped, the driver and passengers by a very large Corporal medic with a waved to us, we waved back, and then “‘S’cuse me Sirs, these gentlemen must the Coltishall Search and Rescue heli- be taken to the crash bay immediately!” copter arrived. I never followed up on that but if I meet So far so good! We were helped into that Corporal medic one day he will be the chopper which immediately headed surprised when a greying, grizzled old back to Coltishall. It then dawned on guy kisses him full on the mouth! me that I had another problem which Escape! Er, not quite. When we got had the potential of having much more to the crash bay, the Station Medical serious long-term consequences for me Officer was waiting and advised that than the incident which I had just sur- there was only one crash bay so if either vived! of us were hurt in any way . . . I, in my A few months earlier a pilot had enhanced state of survival, immediately ejected when not wearing a piece of interjected, “Tony has hurt his back!” flying clothing which resulted in his Quick as a flash Tony was whisked immersion suit filling with water, away and I was left with the injunction thereby drowning him. In those ringing in my ears, “Don’t go too far as slightly less serious days we occasion- I want all your flying kit so that I can ally took it upon ourselves to not use do my report for the Board of Inquiry.” certain flying safety equipment because Panic!! But only for a moment when it was inconvenient and/or, in our my well-honed survival instincts reap- opinion, unnecessary. peared. I nipped into the MO’s office, But as a result of the fatality, the climbed through his window and guys from the head shed had finger- legged it between the hangars back to waggingly insisted that “the next air- my squadron changing room, stuffed crew who fails to do as required as re- all my kit in with that I should have gards safety equipment will be severely been wearing, walked across the hangar disciplined to the extent of being and stood nonchalantly by the Ops

Autumn 2010 7

Desk enjoying the congrats and slaps But what had happened, and why on the back from the rest of the guys. was I standing in front of the Lightning One of the guys enquired if my wife radar bullet at Tangmere 40-odd years knew what had happened; I didn’t later trying to wow my grandchildren? know but thought I would probably The first thing the Board of Enquiry like to tell her myself. So I went off to spotted was that the nose cone was the married patch, along several devi- missing. They put out a TV appeal for ous pathways to remain well out of the information and were rewarded when a way, and walked in to find my wife young boy told his mum that he had trying to give two toddlers their lunch. seen this “spacecraft-looking thing in a She had not heard anything and when I ditch at the bottom of their garden” started to tell her she was hugely un- from whence it was duly recovered. derwhelmed and told me she couldn’t What had actually happened was that a be bothered with all of that at that mo- pressure relief valve in the radar as- ment and would I kindly make myself sembly had failed, the pressure in the useful and feed one of the children. I bullet rose as we climbed until the fas- was delighted to comply as talking gib- teners which held the cone onto the berish to a toddler was much preferred housing failed, the nose cone departed, to having one-sided conversations with the radar gubbins went into the en- MOs and Station Commanders. gines, stripped the compressors (with Later I sauntered back to the squad- no sound of complaint) and the rest of ron, expressed great surprise that I was the story you’ve already been told. being looked for, and spent the rest of Having got all that off my chest — the afternoon filling in forms and an- the first time I’d ever really told anyone swering the well-meaning questions of the full story — I looked around at my those who had a job to do as regards grandchildren. They were gently nod- the crash. ding their heads. After a brief interval My afternoon came to an end when I of head-nodding the younger one was told that the Rolls-Royce and Eng- asked, “Grandpa, did you say we were lish Electric reps were waiting to meet going to have tea and ice cream here?” us in the Officers’ Mess bar to buy Tony and me a drink and no doubt find out which one of their companies might be responsible for the crash. Black Velvet never tasted so good! Within a day or two, Martin-Baker, manufacturers of the world’s most suc- cessful ejection seats, accounting to date for saving 7,293 lives, sent my wife and me several pieces of memorabilia which we retain and treasure to this day. I was also made a member of the Cater- pillar Club which exists to record all those who have saved their lives using a parachute and am proud to wear their Our thanks to Terry Carlton for writing this story especially for us, and for the photos on gold silkworm pin which connects me pages 4 and 8. The photos on pages 5 and 6 with all those others who, for well over are Crown Copyright, reproduced under half a century, have had experiences licence. —Ed. similar to mine.

8 The Tangmere Logbook

“Get a picture of it!”

Robert Smallman

During a routine patrol on 1st August whether any of their depth bombs had 1942, the crew of a Gibraltar-based had any effect. Coastal Command Catalina of No. 202 Squadron spotted a submarine on the surface of the sea a few miles northwest of the Spanish coast. As the Catalina approached, the submarine took eva- sive action and began to submerge. The Catalina’s first pilot and captain, A. P. Smallman, care- fully noted its enormous size, the float- plane catapult on its foredeck, the un- usual profile of its conning tower, the deck gun mounted aft, its aerial array and gantry mounted well aft. His train- On their return to base and the de- ing in anti-submarine warfare had briefing room, the crew reported what taught him to recognise submarines of they had seen and what action they had all kinds. He realised that they were taken. The photographs were devel- looking at a long-range submarine of oped and studied. Smallman was con- the Imperial Japanese Navy. Pat Small- vinced that what he and his fellow man ordered the navigator to take pho- crewman had located was a Japanese tographs of it, circled and lined up the submarine. While it was known that Catalina for an attack. By then, the sub the Imperial Japanese Navy did indeed had submerged completely, and the have a number of big, long-range sub- Catalina’s crew were unable to tell marines and it was also known that the

Autumn 2010 9

Japanese had boasted recently about By the time the German news was using these vessels as blockade-runners released on September 22nd, I-30 had to Europe, as yet there had been no been refitted with Mauser quad-mount evidence that they had actually at- 20-mm anti-aircraft guns and a Metox tempted to do so. Unfortunately, the radar detector, replenished, loaded photographs of the mostly submerged with her return cargo and was already submarine were so indistinct that the well on the way home, having set sail Air Ministry intelligence chiefs were from L’orient on August 22nd. She reluctant to accept them as credible reached Penang via the Cape of Good evidence that the mysterious submarine Hope on October 8th, a voyage of over was in fact what Pat Smallman claimed 11,000 nautical miles lasting 47 days it to be. without at any time being seen or heard Several weeks later, a German news by the Allies. agency announced that Japanese sub- marine I-30 had arrived at the U-boat Pat Smallman had been right. It was base in the occupied French port of a Japanese submarine that he and his L’orient on August 5th, the first — it crew had attacked, but they were amaz- was said — of many to follow. To mark ingly lucky to have seen it at all. Com- the importance of the occasion, her cap- mander Endo and his crew, clearly, tain and crew were received with full were experts in avoiding detection. As naval honours by no less a personage a result of the German propaganda, the than Großadmiral Raeder himself. The Air Ministry decided not only to accept captain of the submarine, Commander Smallman’s claim, but to issue a Shinobu Endo, and some of the ship’s counter-propaganda press release ac- company were invited to an audience companied by a copy of one of his pho- with the Führer in Berlin, where they tographs — ironically now meant to be were again received with ceremony and taken as conclusive proof that the Japa- awarded medals. nese submarine mentioned in the Ger- Propaganda film footage was re- man news bulletin had been spotted leased of a Japanese aeroplane operat- and bombed by the RAF. That Pat ing from a German base in , Smallman was not mentioned by name which was in fact the solitary sectional in the press release as the captain of the floatplane from I-30 to which false unit Catalina was at that time routine pro- markings had been applied by the cedure. Germans to give the impression that What was a Japanese submarine do- many such Japanese aircraft and avia- ing in European waters? When Japan tors, along with numerous Imperial entered the war in September 1939, the Japanese Navy submarines, were now Axis Tripartite Agreement provided for — or would soon be — working along- an exchange of strategic materials and side other Axis forces in Europe. manufactured goods between Europe

10 The Tangmere Logbook and the Far East. Surface ships made hundred 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, in- these initial Yanagi (“Willow”) ex- dustrial diamonds valued at one mil- changes, but when that became no lion yen and fifty top-secret T-Enigma longer possible, submarines were used. coding machines. Later Yanagi mis- The Imperial Japanese Navy possessed sions would include similarly vital and twenty I-15 Class diesel-electric scout- secret materials, plans and equipment; ing submarines built between 1939 and gold bullion; opium (for the manufac- 1942. They were 352 feet long and had, ture of morphine); rocket engines; and surfaced, a maximum speed of 23.4 important passengers. knots and a range of 14,000 nautical Despite her successful secret 11,000- miles at an economical cruising speed. mile homeward-bound voyage from They had a war complement of 94 offi- L’orient to Penang, I-30 never delivered cers and men (although the boats could her cargo as intended. After having accommodate 110 or more) and carried replenished at Penang, she proceeded a floatplane stowed in sections in a to Singapore as ordered to land ten of hangar forward of the conning tower the T-Enigma coding machines. Arriv- launched from a catapult on the fore- ing in the night, Commander Endo at- deck. Their armament consisted of six tempted to request a pilot but failed to tubes and seventeen 21-inch torpedoes, contact the base because his codes were a 5.5-inch deck gun, and two 1.0-inch outdated. Endo then decided to navi- anti-aircraft guns. Later, some I-15 gate the harbour entrance independ- Class boats would be fitted with quad- ently, standing off for the night and mount 20- and 37-mm anti-aircraft entering the harbour in daylight the guns. next morning. The Enigma machines These submarines were big, fast, and were delivered, and at 16.09 on the formidable. By the end of 1942, they same day the boat cast off for Kure, in had already sunk the American capital the Japanese home islands. Three miles ships USS Wasp and USS Juneau, crip- east of Keppel Harbour she hit a drift- pled the USS Saratoga and the USS ing British mine which badly holed her. North Carolina, and by the war’s end Fortunately help was close at hand: would send other warships and over Commander Endo and 96 crewmen 350,000 tons of merchant shipping to were rescued from the sinking subma- the bottom of the sea. rine, but 13 men had been killed by the I-30’s inbound cargo, when Pat explosion or had drowned in flooded Smallman spotted her, included 3,300 compartments. Divers salvaged some lbs of mica (used in electrical capaci- of I-30’s cargo including most of the 20- tors) and 1,452 lbs of shellac, used in mm guns and torpedo data computers. military pyrotechnics. The submarine The T-Enigma coding machines and also carried the engineering drawings Würzburg radar equipment and draw- of the Japanese Type 91 aerial torpedo. ings were, however, destroyed. Four On her homeward voyage, her cargo months later, Tokyo finally informed consisted of the drawings of the Würz- Berlin of the loss the 40 T-Enigma ma- burg air defence ground radar and a chines. complete Würzburg set, five German I-30’s voyage would be followed by G7a aerial torpedoes, three G7e electric five other Yanagi missions. Now that it torpedoes, five Torpedovorhalterechner was definitely known that Japanese (torpedo data computers), 240 Bolde submarines were reaching European sonar countermeasure rounds, rocket waters, initially largely thanks to Pat and glider bombs, anti-tank guns, a Smallman’s eyewitness report and pho- Zeiss anti-aircraft artillery director, two tographs, the Allies’ efforts to detect

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and destroy them were redoubled. De- Shackletons at Ballykelly. He then be- velopments in airborne radar, signals came an air staff officer at HQ 18 Group interception, and decryption all played in Coastal Command. During a visit to their part. Only one of the five later RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall he was Yanagi missions, that of the voyage of flying in a Lancaster as an observer. I-8 from June to December 1943, suc- The pilot, under instruction, misjudged ceeded in making a complete round- his height of approach to the runway; trip transit from Kure to an Axis- the aircraft hit some trees and crashed. occupied European port and back to its Smallman was thrown clear and se- base in the Japanese home islands. The verely concussed. He never regained other Imperial Japanese Navy subma- his flying medical category and retired, rines which attempted the voyage, I-34, on medical grounds, as a Wing Com- I-29, and I-52 were located by Magic or mander in March 1957. Ultra signals intercepts and destroyed After he left the RAF, my father at sea by the Allies; two in the Pacific worked in the public relations depart- and one off the coast of Mozambique. ment of Hawker Siddeley Aviation at Pat Smallman continued to fly Cata- Hatfield before joining Sperry Gyro- linas with No. 202 Squadron. He flew scope Company where, for eleven patrols off the North African coast in years, he was manager of the publicity support of Operation Torch, the Allied services. He later became an estate landings in Algeria. In one five-week agent and spent many years at Seaview period, he flew an astonishing 360 on the Isle of Wight where he designed hours of operational flying and in Feb- the family holiday home, ran a small- ruary 1943 he was awarded the DSO — holding and indulged in his passion for a rare award for such a junior officer — sailing his Shearwater catamaran. He when he was described as an out- died, aged 87, in 2006. standing captain with a fine fighting spirit. Smallman returned to England to instruct flying boat pilots where he once again excelled and for his work with No. 131 Operational Training Unit he was awarded the AFC. In Septem- ber he returned to operational flying as a flight commander with No. 210 Squadron flying Catalinas from Sullom Voe in the Shetlands. With the loss of the French Biscay ports, the U-boat war had moved to the North Atlantic. Over the period of VE Day, Smallman and his crews were out searching for Ger- man submarines flying the flag of sur- render. Pat Smallman remained in the RAF and was granted a permanent commis- sion. After attending the RAF Staff Col- lege, Smallman spent almost three years With thanks to my mother, sisters and brothers, and to the Editor of The Tangmere as the RAF member of the Directing Logbook, for their contributions to father’s Staff at RMA Sandhurst. He returned story. The picture on Page 9 is one of the to flying in April 1954 in command of photos taken of the submarine from his No. 240 Squadron equipped with Catalina on 1st August 1942. — RS

12 The Tangmere Logbook

Spitfire LF Mk IXB DU-I of No. 312 (Czech) Squadron at Apuldram, 1944

Apuldram: An Airfield by Chichester Harbour

David Coxon and Dudley Hooley

By the summer of 1943 there were eight airfields surrounding the ancient city of Chich- ester on England’s south coast. Four of these were the established airfields of Tang- mere, its satellite airfields , , and Thorney Island. The others were temporary airfields, known as Advanced Landing Grounds, built to support the forthcoming landings. The four temporary airfields constructed near Chichester were at , to the west, and Bognor to the south, and one adjacent to Chichester Harbour at Apuldram.

Site selection and construction As early as 1942 it had become obvious that additional airfields would be required for the Allied assault on Europe, particularly during the build-up and during the actual landings. The need would be for rudimentary airfields that would require only basic facilities for day-only operations. These airfields, to be known as Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs), would therefore need runways, refuelling and re-arming points and hard-standings for the aircraft. The belief was that the ALGs would not be used during the winter months and therefore accommodation under canvas and in requisitioned nearby houses would suffice. By 1942, thirty-six suitable ALG sites had been identified. However, some farmers were reluctant to give up their fields and grazing land and in some cases compulsory

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requisition had to be used. Agreements were also reached with some farmers that al- lowed them to use the airfields for animal grazing when they were not in use. The specification of the ALGs included a main runway of 4,800 feet (1,463 metres) in length with a secondary runway of 4,200 feet (1,280 metres). However, when necessary, a reduction of 200 feet (61 metres) was accepted providing the longest runway was east- west (the direction of the prevailing wind). The construction of the ALGs was carried out by RAF and Army airfield construction groups, the first of which was formed in the summer of 1942. It would be these groups that would go on to construct temporary air- fields on the Continent in support of the Allied armies as they fought their way across Europe. The aim was to complete the ALGs by March 1943 and work on grading and clearing the sites quickly got under way following the formation of the construction groups. Trees also had to be felled to provide adequate clearance on either side of the runway strips and on the approaches to the runways. However, due to the poor winter weather of 1942-43 many of the ALGs were not completed until the early summer of 1943. The material used for the runways was usually Sommerfeld Track, a steel netting construc- tion held rigid by steel bars and rods and secured in position by angled pickets. The intensive operations that began in the summer of 1943 identified problem areas where Sommerfeld Track was not suitable and in these areas Square Mesh Track (SMT), a 76- millimetre square mesh, was often used.

RAF Apuldram In February 1943 construction began on the site to the south of Chichester near the vil- lage church of Apuldram. Two runways were constructed at Manor Farm, the longest running NE-SW from Appledram Lane, towards the village of . A subsidiary NW-SE runway was constructed to the NE of the site giving a runway plan resembling a crucifix. The runways were laid with the metal track which allowed the grass to grow between the steel mesh. This was important as the farmers at Apuldram were allowed to graze their animals on the airfield when it was not in use.

14 The Tangmere Logbook

The main domestic site was located adjacent to the sharp bend in Appledram Lane. Some buildings were erected but in the main, tented accommodation was provided for pilots and ground crew. Nearby cottages were also requisitioned and field kitchens set up. The building of the subsidiary NW-SE runway across the Dell Quay road required the road to be sealed off and a house to be demolished. However, aircraft taking off from this runway passed very close to a house that exists to this day: Toll Bar Cottage.

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On 2 June 1943, at No. 124 Airfield (as Apuldram ALG was designated at that time), three squadrons of Hawker Typhoons (Nos. 175, 181 and 182) under the command of Acting Wing Commander Denis Crowley-Milling, who had served in 1941 at Tangmere under , arrived. The crews quickly settled in, erecting their accommoda- tion tents. They were at Apuldram for a month, initially carrying out practice sorties in the local area which included testing the feasibility of the airfield metal runways when bombed-up with two 500 lb bombs. Ten days after arriving, the squadrons carried out their first offensive operation over enemy territory when they attacked Abbeville aero- drome.

No. 181 Squadron, June 1943

Summer weather had now arrived and the ground crew and pilots began to enjoy their camping lifestyle. Home kitchens were built, rabbit and ducks were poached and cooked and Chichester was close enough for off-duty recreation. Pilots and airmen could go to the cinemas such as the Plaza on South Street. Regular dances were held in the city’s Assembly Rooms and at Kimbell’s, a favourite tearoom opposite and, of course, there were the pubs — the pilots’ favourite pub in Chichester being the Unicorn (now the Chichester Observer newspaper offices) with its welcoming landlord Arthur King.

Between mid-June and the end of the month Apuldram’s Typhoons continued to at- tack targets in France but not without loss or incident. On 19 June, Cack- borne (a speedway motorcycle rider before the war) failed to return after he was seen attacking a railway train. On 23 June the squadrons were bombed up for another attack on Abbeville aerodrome, an escort being provided by the Tangmere Typhoons of No. 486 RNZAF Squadron. The bombing was successful despite an attempted interruption by Fw190s, two of which were shot down by the Kiwi Typhoons.

16 The Tangmere Logbook Back at Apuldram, aircraft were having continuing problems using the metal run- ways and often became bogged down after leaving the runways. A more serious acci- dent occurred when a No. 175 Squadron pilot crashed into a ditch and the aircraft turned upside down. He was trapped for some hours until a heavy crane was brought over from Tangmere to release him from his cockpit.

Apuldram’s control tower. The sign on the tent says “Flying Control”.

On 30 June an interesting event occurred when an American B-17 four-engined bomber aircraft was seen orbiting over the airfield. The aircraft made an approach from the Chichester direction over Donnington and Stockbridge and made a safe landing. One of the crew was the actor Clark Gable. He had joined the US Army Air Corps after the death of his actress wife Carole Lombard in an aircraft crash. Gable had arrived in the UK in April 1943 and joined the 508th Bomb Squadron flying from US Base 110, Polebrook, . Acting as a cameraman, he was making a recruiting film and flew five missions in total, including the one that ended in the emergency landing at Apuldram. It is said that, to the delight of the local female population, he attended local dances in Chichester before the B-17 departed after being repaired.

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The Czechs arrive After the Typhoons left, the airfield reverted to stand-by status and by the end of the year all flying on the airfield had ceased, enabling the construction teams to return. The drainage problems experienced during the previous summer months were tackled and four half-hooped-shaped Extra Over Blister hangars were erected to provide some pro- tection from the weather for aircraft maintenance and repairs. Also, extra metal track was laid for aircraft hard-standings. On 1 April 1944, No. 134 Airfield comprising three Czech squadrons (Nos. 310, 312 and 313) arrived with their clipped-wing Spitfire LF (low flying) Mk IXB aircraft. That evening their ground crews with their tools arrived by road and Apuldram was once again operational. To provide anti-aircraft protection, No. 2804 Squadron RAF Regi- ment set up camp in the field by Apuldram Church. They quickly set up gun positions around the airfield installing large Bofors guns near Manor House, Crouches’ Farm, the Black Horse pub and by the houses at Dell Quay. Bombs for the aircraft arrived by road and were stored in a bomb dump near the Black Horse on the Birdham road. Living accommodation mainly continued to be under canvas with the Officers’ Mess located in a barn. Temporary HQ buildings were brought in by road and set up near to Dell Quay. The airfield’s compliment had now reached nearly two thousand, necessitating some officers being billeted in houses in Chichester. During April, the weather turned for the worse and although operational capability was not affected, the domestic site, near Ap- pledram Lane, turned into a sea of mud. Additional off-duty attractions included a camp cinema (entry prices: one shilling for officers, sixpence for NCOs and fourpence for other ranks) and “Harry’s Café” set up on a large barge moored on the harbour side at Dell Quay.

18 The Tangmere Logbook The Czech squadrons were tasked up to D-Day with a variety of missions including “Noball” attacks (bombing V-1 flying bomb sites), bomber escort duties and offensive patrols. Sadly, as the offensive operations built up during the late spring of 1944, Apul- dram’s squadrons suffered inevitable losses. In early May, funerals were held for three Czech pilots who had been killed in flying accidents at Apuldram. The funeral service was held at St Richard’s Roman , Chichester, followed by the burials at Chichester’s Portfield Cemetery, No. 2804 Squadron RAF Regiment providing the bearer and firing parties. In mid-May one of 312 Squadron’s pilots was killed when his aircraft collided after landing with the one behind as he vacated the runway. The last day of May was particularly sad for the Czechs when four pilots were lost when attack- ing targets in the St Malo area, including the CO of one of the squadrons. The build-up also meant visits by senior officers. On 21 April, Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force, and Air Marshal Sir Arthur Conningham, Commander of the 2nd TAF, were among a group of VIPs who arrived by road at Apuldram to greet the Supreme Commander Allied Expe- ditionary Force, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who flew into the airfield in his Da- kota. He was here to visit Bishop Otter College, now Chichester University, where an operations room had been set up to control the D-Day air operations. He dined that night at a dinner arranged in his honour by RAF Tangmere at the Ship Hotel, North Street, Chichester.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower is on the left (partly obscured) with ACM Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory speaking to him; ACM Sir Arthur Tedder, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe, is to the right. At the Ship Hotel, Chichester, 21st April 1944.

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D-Day and after On 5 June, the pilots were briefed at 20.30 hours on their role for D-Day. Early the fol- lowing day, the Czech squadrons were placed on thirty minutes’ notice, their allotted task being to cover the landing forces on the Eastern sector of the beaches i.e., the British and Canadian troops. Throughout the day they flew fifty-minute patrols and it is claimed that Apuldram’s Czech squadrons carried out more operational sorties on 6 June than any other unit. The three Czech squadrons left on 22 June for Tangmere to carry out more “Noball” missions. They were replaced at Apuldram six days later by the Polish pilots of No. 131 Wing, flying Spitfire IXs. The Poles were tasked with army support missions using their Spitfires as dive bombers. After three weeks the Polish squadrons left and shortly after, the metal tracking was taken up and Apuldram returned again to its peaceful activities.

Postscript In 2009, an ex-pilot visited Tangmere Military Aviation Museum and asked for direc- tions to Apuldram airfield. Wing Commander Withey then told the Museum’s staff about his connection with Apuldram. Three days before D-Day he was operating with his Typhoon squadron out of Thorney Island when his aircraft was hit by flak when at- tacking a radar installation near Le Havre. He described how, after firing his rockets into the target, he pulled away from the target and opened his hood, ready to bail out. After re-trimming the aircraft to counter the drag caused by the damage to the wing, he turned north for England. In the climb he called his squadron but only heard an Eng- lish-speaking German controller offering him an airfield if he made a 180 degree turn! Continuing in a northerly direction with a spluttering engine, he saw the English coast and an airstrip (Apuldram) on his port side. At that moment the engine gave a final cough and he knew he would have to make a dead-stick landing. The landing was fast and took him to the end of the strip where there was an area of boggy land, into which his Typhoon (HF-L) tipped onto its nose. The station commander, Group Captain “Sailor” Malan, came out and picked him up, put his parachute into his jeep and drove him back to Thorney Island.

Our sources include Chris Ashworth, Action Stations Vol. 9 (Patrick Stephens, 1990); Robin J. Brooks, Sussex Airfields in the Second World War (Countryside Books, 1994); and Ken Rimell, The Merlin and the Sabre: The Story of RAF Apuldram 1943-45 (Privately published, 1992). Photo credits: Pages 13, 14, 17 and 18, Crown Copyright, reproduced under licence; Page 16 via Chris Thomas; Page 19, Museum Collection; Page 20, public domain. Map by David Coxon. — DC and DH

20 The Tangmere Logbook keep your mouths shut and your eyes open. OK, let’s go.”

We sign out in the books and walk out to the four Venoms. I wonder what it’s going to be like. What if a fuel tank was punctured or the engine damaged? It would be desperate to eject over . I wonder what they would do to you. It might happen. On the other hand it might not. It’s too late to worry now. That’s my aircraft, “George” in the recently superseded phonetic alphabet. Foxtrot Delta Eight 60 lb rockets under the wings, One-Three-Seven, and a red flag askew in the nose wheel door to show that the guns are armed Suez 1956 — all four 20 mm cannons. The squad- ron markings have been removed. In- Colin Richardson stead there are black and yellow stripes round the tail booms and wings, stand- ing out from the drab camouflage paint. I was a young first tourist on 6 Squad- All the allied aircraft have these mark- ron and not yet operational when the ings. A quick inspection of the aircraft Suez operations started. Although I had and everything looks normal. The done rocketting on the weapons range oleos look a bit flat, but with a full war and air-to-air firing on the banner, I had load and full under-wing tanks it’s never fired the guns at a ground target. hardly surprising. I’m glad it’s my own During the first few days of the Suez aircraft. It’s getting old and dirty, but operations I was a frustrated bystander for some reason it’s still one of the fast- while the operational pilots destroyed est on the squadron. Let’s not have any the Egyptian MiG 15s on the ground. I of your stupid electrical fires today, old made a real nuisance of myself to George, and don’t let me down. We Harry, my flight commander, pestering want to get back don’t we? him to take me on an operational sortie. Vic takes a photo of me just before I “I’ve got you down for a trip today” get into the cockpit. That’s supposed to said Harry. You’re number two to me be bad luck, isn’t it? Then into the on a four-ship.” And there was my cockpit. Connect the G-suit and the air- name on the board. Great! ventilated suit, helmet on and plugged We pile into the Land Rover and in, pin out and the pre-start checks. drive to the ops tent. A full briefing on There is the start signal from Harry. the task, issue of gold coins and check Press the start button. Acrid black the rest of the escape kit, and then back smoke and the roar of rushing gas. The to the squadron. We buckle on our re- engine has lit up and all gauges normal. volvers as Harry briefs. “Well, you The radio crackles “Foxtrot Delta One- know what it’s all about. It’s the tank Three-Seven check in” from Harry. park until we get bored. Then we’ll “Two” I say. “Three,” “Four,” from the look round for anything interesting in- others. “All fives” says Harry. “Foxtrot cluding the airfield which is our secon- Delta One-Three-Seven, taxi.” I wave dary. All procedures SOP, and remem- away the chocks as ATC gives clear- ber its radio silence ‘til we get there. So ance.

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We taxi out in turn. Not too close behind us now for low-level battle for- now, and a bit sideways from Harry’s mation. I ease back to be a little behind exhaust. Careful with the trigger. Com- Harry and to one side. And now we ing up to the runway threshold, and are down, skimming along the ground. there are our armourers. Up alongside All around us is alien territory and eve- Harry and brake to a halt. Hands up on rything is enemy except for Harry and the windscreen while the armourers the pair behind. Look all round, and plug in the rocket pigtails. Thumbs up don’t fly into the sand. Christ, Harry is from everybody, canopy closed, and low. Should be there soon. Harry pulls taxi onto the runway alongside Harry. up abruptly and I follow. We are there, Wind-up signal from Harry, so I open and there are the rows of tanks just like the throttle and giv e him the thumbs the photograph in the ops tent. They up. Forward chop signal from Harry so are our tanks in storage in Egypt, but wheel brakes off and we accelerate to- we don’t want the Egyptians to use gether down the runway. The other them against us. Seventy-two feet on pair will follow in a few seconds. I lift the gunsight, range set to MRP and into the air with Harry. Squeeze the guns/RP to RP. Harry is rolling in brake lever and then select undercar- now. Leave it a bit longer, and now I riage up. I turn away into battle forma- pull round and dive down behind him. tion, flaps up and check the gauges. Select salvo. Bottom diamond on that There is the other pair drawing up tank in the middle. Steady now, and abreast on the other side and several uncage the gyro. Wait ‘til Harry is out hundred yards away. So far so good. of the way, I don’t want to hit him. His Cyprus slips astern. It’s sea now until rockets snake down and he pulls away Egypt. to one side. Drift that bottom diamond Egypt! What we are doing is still a touch left. Fireballs explode along- almost unbelievable. I never thought side my tank. Never mind Harry’s we would actually do it. This is not a rockets — concentrate. Right. Now! normal training sortie. This is the real There is a sharp roar and a glimpse of thing. The heavily loaded aircraft claw white smoke. The rockets are away. I their way up through the thin bright press the button again and the other air. Harry is levelling off now, but four rockets are on their way. Don’t there is still a long way to go. I ease out wait to see them strike, pull round and a bit further to get a better view behind. get low. Where the hell is Harry? Ah, That’s my job now. I am a pair of eyes there he is. Get up with him again. searching the sky behind the other pair. What now? That’s them, two black specks sus- Harry’s voice: “One-Three-Seven, Four, pended in the glare. They depend on what did it look like?” me. If they are bounced by MiGs it’s “Good. All on target.” my fault. Check the MiGs’ wingspan is set on the gyro gunsight, guns/RP se- “Flak?” lector to guns, oxygen check and every- “Wouldn’t chuckle. They had woken thing seems OK. Keep looking behind! up by the time I came in.” There is Egypt and the canal. “Roger. We won’t make a second pass. Funny, that sandbar. It makes it look as Anyone got any rockets left?” if the whole coast is flooded. We are “Three still has four.” letting down now. This is when it is “Poke them into a hangar at the secon- most difficult to look behind. As we let dary. We are going there.” down, the arid landscape expands in front of us. The other pair is slipping in “Roger.”

22 The Tangmere Logbook Three and Four are catching up Harry. “One-Three-Seven, let’s get the nicely and everything is tidy. Select hell out of here.” guns and check round the cockpit. All Quite right. It’s like wasps round a readings are normal. Look round the rotten plum. We have been here too sky for MiGs. And Israelis. Here’s the long. I still have a few shells left in case airfield ahead. Harry pulls up and I we are intercepted. Which one is stay with him looking at the airfield as Harry? That must be him making off it drops away in front of the port wing. north. Full bore to catch him up, and Looks like most of the MiGs are burnt very low round the AA battery at Is- out. There is a single-seater Meteor in mailia. The others are behind some- front of the air traffic control, and a car where. Yes, here they come. Funny to is driving away from it. I’ll take it. see sea-going ships in the middle of the Harry has picked something off to the desert — you can’t see the canal itself left. I roll in and put the fixed cross just from this low. I wonder what they above the Meteor. A bit of bank needed think about all this? They seemed to for the crosswind. Everything steady. have stopped anyway. Not stopped — Now! The whole aircraft shudders as hove to, isn’t that what ships do? For the four cannons fire. This is the first Christ sake stop daydreaming and time I have fired all four guns, and the think about what you are doing. My first time I have fired at anything on the fuel! I can’t get home with that much! ground. The white cross dances on the It must be slow feed from the under- Meteor. Suddenly there are twinkling wing tanks. It’s got to be, or I will be lights on the ground, a little short but sitting in a dinghy in the middle of the creeping up on the Meteor. The shells Mediterranean. Stop worrying and are hitting now. Half a second more. look behind or we won’t get as far as That’s it, stop firing and pull away, the sea. There’s Port Said. There’s a big open the throttle and catch up with fire there. Lots of smoke. It must be Harry. I glance over my shoulder. storage tanks. Does Harry have to fly Three and four are curving in behind quite so low? Dangerous. Good, here’s us. The Meteor is burning and there is the sea. smoke drifting from a hangar. Safely out to sea and Harry is climb- Harry’s voice, “Four from leader, ing. Oxygen OK and out into battle any flak?” “Nope, negative flak.” formation. No, other side you fool, “There’s a fuel tanker on the road down Three and Four are this side. Harry here. We’ll take him. There’s not much will probably take us up to 30,000 feet left on the airfield. The tanker is driv- on the way home so long as we don’t ing like hell” trail. Internal fuel tanks filling up now There he is, poor devil. If I was him that we are no longer full throttle at low I would stop and leg it into the desert. level. Looks like there is enough fuel to He keeps driving but there is nowhere get home. Levelling off now. DME to go. Harry fires on him, and the locked on to the Cyprus beacon. It’s a tanker swerves off the road and stops in long way home. What’s the time any- the sand. I see through the gunsight way? It’s a long old trip. Keep looking that the driver is half hanging out of the back for Pete’s sake, it’s not over yet. cab, dead. I open fire and the shells Hey, what’s that? creep over the tanker. It does not burn “Foxtrot Delta One-Three-Seven until our second time round. Thick Three and Four, two bogies 6 o’clock black smoke. It must be some kind of low two miles,” I find myself saying. oil, not fuel. Probably Yanks. Why can’t they mind “Three fired out.” “Roger,” from their own business? Three and Four are

Autumn 2010 23

breaking away and we are curving in “Er, sorry sir. Harry thought it would behind the bogies. I don’t see any be- be OK.” hind us. “We can’t have non-operational pilots “One-Three-Seven relax, they’re doing this sort of thing, you know. Yank Navy Cougars.” Harry’s voice. You’re operational from now on. Con- We wheel back towards base. The lead- gratulations.” ing Cougar rocks his wings and dives The boss ambled off and a great away. The DME needle slowly creeps weight of guilt was lifted from me. It down as we near Cyprus. That must be was many years later that I discovered it under the yellow haze on the horizon. that Harry had decided to take me Hell, I’m stiff. Looking forward to a along on this trip without telling the cup of coffee and a cigarette. Ah, looks boss. I sign in the books and join the like Harry is letting down. He is taking others at the coffee bar. us straight to the keyhole. Through the “How was it?” says someone. keyhole and there is Akrotiri. What a “It was a doddle,” says one of the for- target it would make. There must be mation. over 100 aircraft there including the Frogs. Let’s make it a smart break and “Next time we go to the tank park you landing. Harry breaks sharply onto the can be tail-end Charlie,” says Four. “En- down wind leg. Three seconds. Now joy yourself?” asks Harry. crisp with the bank and pull round “Tremendous,” I reply. keeping Harry on the horizon. Throttle “Good. Finish your coffee and we’ll go back and airbrakes out. Keep him level. to ops for the debrief and hand in those Undercarriage down and three green sovereigns before they find their way lights. Test the wheel brakes. Air- into the coffee swindle.” brakes in and flaps down, and follow It was all over. But there were oth- him round not too close. He’s landing ers on the following days. left, so I go to the right of the runway centreline. Grease it onto the runway. Keep the nose up, up, up. Now nose- wheel down and reasonable braking. Good. Now flaps up and follow Harry into the squadron dispersal. There’s the marshaller, waving me up beside Harry. Cut the engine and switch eve- rything off. The ground crew put the ejection seat pin in to make the seat Colin Richardson served with the RAF in safe. I climb stiffly out of the cramped Aden and Oman in the late 1950s. After cockpit and take off the tight helmet. retiring from the RAF as a That’s better. A lot better. Legs feel a in 1973, he returned to Oman to serve as a bit shaky. “No, Chief, the guns are not ground attack pilot with the Sultan’s Air Force. He is the author of Masirah: Tales fired out. Everything serviceable.” from a Desert Island, Pentland Press, 2001 When no one is looking I give George a (reprinted 2004 by Midland Counties Publi- pat on the nose and walk back towards cations). We thank the author for contribut- the tent. The boss appears and makes a ing this article. David Watkins kindly gave beeline for Harry. Oh my Gawd, could us permission to use the parts of this story be trouble. They talk for a short time, and the photographs that were published and the boss bears down on me. previously in his book, Venom: De Havilland Venom and Sea Venom: The Complete History “Ah, Colin. What have you been up to?” (Sutton, 2003 and History Press, 2009). —Ed.

24 The Tangmere Logbook Letters, Notes, ing to direct ground-attack Scimitars on to a bombing range on the Norwegian and Queries coast near Bodø at 67°20’N. Like all other aircrew we wore immersion suits The Editor welcomes your artwork, photo- and a crude and heavy emergency loca- graphs, letters, and contributions (long or tor device called TALBE (Talk And Lis- short) on any subject of interest to our read- ten BEacon). Our Skyraider had full ers. If you have a question about a military drop-tanks for a briefed sortie length of aviation topic that you think another reader 7½ hours and, after many hours direct- or one of our volunteers might be able to answer, please send it to the Editor. Test- ing successive waves of Scimitars onto your-knowledge questions and photo quiz- their target, I gave pilot Barry Hartwell zes are also welcome! The Editor’s ad- a southerly heading and we started dresses are given on Page 3. back south for “Mother”. Confident of picking her up very soon on our mag- nificent radar, I began to think of large In the drink meals and hot baths. As a brand new observer, I joined 849 But it was not to be. When we got to Squadron “B” Flight in the summer of Victorious’s predicted position it was as 1959, flying Skyraiders from HMS Vic- if the whole task force had never ex- torious in the Airborne Early Warning isted. No carrier, no escorts, no aircraft, (AEW) role. The Douglas Skyraider and a total and eerie silence on the ra- AD-4W was powered by a single dio. Nothing even on the “YE” Beacon, Wright Cyclone engine and carried a a rudimentary but usually totally reli- 200-mile-range AN/APS-20C down- able radio homing gadget for pilots. ward-looking radar; its primary use One or two small radar contacts, proba- was to give the fleet early warning of bly fishing boats, were the only other low-level air attack, but it could also signs of human presence on the planet. provide strike-direction and surface A hasty search proved futile, and after surveillance. It was crewed by a pilot about half an hour Barry announced and two observers, the senior of whom that we had enough fuel to investigate was concerned with the primary role one more radar contact, and if it wasn’t whilst the No. 2, unfortunately me at a carrier we would have to ditch in the this stage of my career, was responsible sea alongside it. The radar blip came for navigation. slowly down the scope and turned into a Russian trawler. Fuel gauges on zero, Barry warned, “Stand by to ditch!” Once all the splashing and fuss was over, we boarded our dinghies and tied ourselves together in the approved fashion. The Skyraider’s tail slid out of sight leaving two aimless-looking drop- tanks bobbing about on the surface. We were alive and unhurt and the sun had come out. Not too bad so far. A big swell was running, and although we At 05.30 on 22 September 1959 I was could see nothing at the bottom of the in the first aircraft launched from Victo- troughs, when we bobbed up to the top rious, flagship of a task force in the there was the comforting sight of the opening phase of a large NATO exer- Russian churning his way towards us. cise in the North Atlantic, our task be- To my horror, after getting close

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enough for a good look, it turned away After twenty-four hours they trans- and started heading fast towards the ferred us to their depot ship, the Atlan- horizon. Even now I find it difficult to tika, and two days later the describe my feelings at that moment. in the form of HMS Urchin diverted The elation of survival drained away from fishery protection off Iceland, re- leaving me cold and frightened. After claimed us. The Atlantika’s crew of- what seemed a lifetime the Russian fered us their only two books in Eng- hove back into view and manoeuvred lish, one ghastly political novel, and, alongside, and to my indescribable re- without a word of a lie, Three Men in a lief the crew started shouting and Boat. throwing ropes. The subsequent Board of Enquiry I should pause here for some con- found that whereas we were briefed temporary history. In 1959 the Cold that the Task Force would be advancing War was approaching freezing point, north at twenty knots throughout our the world’s political thinking starkly sortie, great minds in high places de- polarized between Moscow and Wash- cided it should go west at fifteen knots ington and, in the course of a world instead, and nobody thought to tell us. propaganda tour, Bulganin and Pythagoras could have told them that Khruschev, Premier of the USSR and was going to put the fleet about 180 First Secretary of the Russian Commu- miles south-west of where I expected nist Party respectively, had recently them to be, so I got off the hook. But I been given a spectacularly bad recep- believe some heads did roll. tion in New . Tension between A couple of months later, Barry East and West had never been worse. Hartwell got his feet wet again, this However, in a tiny dinghy in what time flying on his own with a load of felt like the middle of the Atlantic, poli- mail in the Mediterranean, when his tics seemed unimportant — until, that Skyraider’s engine quit suddenly. Al- is, you are fished up dripping on to a though for some reason his safety har- trawler’s deck to be faced by a grim- ness was not done up, he braced his feet looking Russian pointing a large pistol against the instrument panel before hit- at you. ting the sea and climbed out unhurt. “Amerikan!” he growled menacingly. — Bill Walker “Who, us? No! ENGLISH!” Our thanks to the Officers’ The effect was magical. The Russian’s Association for permission to reprint this story, originally published in Fly Navy: The face split into a broad grin and he put View from the Cockpit, 1945-2000 edited by away his gun. Charles Manning (Leo Cooper, 2000). —Ed. “Ha! English! VODKA!” The whole crew could not have been Footprints on the ceiling kinder. They hadn’t much to offer, but everything they had was ours, includ- A friend of mine here in Australia gave ing the captain’s own quarters. Be- me an edition of your publication, The tween them they mustered a few words Tangmere Logbook. During the war, I of English, and when they found we was a Subaltern in the 60th Regiment were fellow sailors and therefore real Royal Artillery, and in late October friends, they were delighted. Really 1940 a troop of this regiment took up delighted! They hadn’t picked us up position to the north of Tangmere. Our straight away because they had to re- role was to cover the runways of RAF port to Moscow and obtain official Tangmere in the event of German permission to save us. planes landing parachutists or attempt-

26 The Tangmere Logbook ing landings of gliders, since Britain outbreak of the Second World War and was expecting invasion. strongly encouraged by Lord Beaver- The countryside around Tangmere brook after his appointment by Winston was very flat and we were billeted in a Churchill as Minister of Aircraft Pro- country house at Park. The duction in 1940. A price list was pro- owner and his wife gave over half of duced for different categories of air- their house as a mess for the officers of craft, to be known as “Presentation Air- the regiment. Since the land was so flat, craft,” with £5,000 being adopted for an observation post was established in the Spitfire (a bargain given that the the shape of a dugout near the end of true cost was nearer £12,000). More the runways at Tangmere. This OP had Spitfires — at least 3,000 in all — were to be manned during the hours of day- funded in this way than any other air- light. This was my task at Tangmere craft type. and I was most kindly given temporary Cities, towns, companies, newspa- membership of the RAF mess and the pers, all sorts of organisations and even share of a room to sleep in at the mess individuals went to great lengths to building. I spent about three weeks or raise the required sum by launching so there, and given very kind hospital- “Buy a Spitfire” funds. Penny by ity. I was affectionately known as penny, and pound by pound, such “That Brown Job”. funds grew until the day the target was It was a sad time in many ways; so reached and an aircraft allocated to bear many hours of waiting for the return of the name of the donor (or any caption pilots who never made it. There was they chose) usually marked in yellow also a raid which was probably directed on the engine cowling. to destroying the runways, but did damage to the hangers and the WAAFs’ quarters. Our regiment was given orders to move on, sadly for me, since I felt thor- oughly integrated with my role at Tangmere. There was a tradition in the mess that personnel leaving Tangmere were given a send-off in the bar. The person leaving was stripped of his shoes and socks, his feet dipped in a bowl of blue liquid, he was upended and his feet planted on the ceiling. I Some of the names were wonder- was granted this honour but red liquid fully apposite such as “The Dogfighter” was used. I was very sorry to leave — a gift, from the Kennel Club! “The Tangmere where I had made many Marksman” from Marks & Spencer, good friends. I shall always treasure “Skysweeper” came from Hoover Ltd, the experience of those times. “Edgelets” from the Brooke Bond Tea — Bernard Walter Boyce Company, and “The Swan” from Bry- ant & May. Families were not to be outdone. “Shepley” was donated by a Presentation Spitfires family of that name that had lost three The donation of specially marked members in the first eleven months of weapons of war to the principal com- the war, and it was whilst airborne in batants has been carried out for centu- “Lord Lloyd I” that RAF Tangmere ries. The idea was resurrected at the Wing’s commanding officer, Douglas

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Bader, was shot down and taken pris- or July 1940. The Editor does not know oner. The Lancashire Constabulary with certainty who their pilots were at saved to purchase “Red Rose I” only to the time the photos were taken. John see their Spitfire lost on its first opera- and David have opted for Sandy Johns- tional sortie. Intent on providing a re- tone for LO-G. John thinks that UF-N placement, fund-raising was resumed was flown by Sir Archibald Hope, but with vigour and no more than four David thinks the pilot may have been months later a total of almost £18,000 Max Aitken. Further thoughts, anyone? had been raised to buy “Red Rose II”, “Red Rose III” and “Red Rose IV” with Snippets from our archives . . . the balance going to RAF charities. On RAF Form 541 occasions, if a town was unable to reach Operations Record Book the required £5,000, it often joined Details of Work Carried Out forces with one or more other towns No. 43 Squadron, 19th August 1942 experiencing a similar difficulty and hence such names as “Accrington, The squadron took an energetic part in Church and Oswaldtwistle”. the combined operation on Dieppe. We came to readiness at 04.00 hours and were put to 30 mins. at 15.14 hours — on the top line for 12 hours continu- ously. During that time we had four complete squadron trips to Dieppe, a total of 48 sorties. This was more than any other squadron in the Tangmere sector (there were 21 squadrons operat- ing from the sector). Details as follows: 1st Sortie. Red Section: S/Ldr Du Vivier, F/S Wik, P/O Wills, P/O Trenchard-Smith. Green Section: F/L

Lister, Sgt Smith, P/O Snell, Sgt Web- Today, only a single Presentation ster. Blue Section: F/L Armstrong, F/S Spitfire is known to have survived. Lewis, P/O Daniels, Sgt Ball. Named “Soebang” it was presented to Took off 04.25 hours. Landed 06.20 the RAF by Queen Wilhelmina of The hours. To attack gun positions on the and is now on display at beaches and in the buildings immedi- the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa. ately to the west of the harbour. These —David Baron were the main landing beaches of our troops and were very heavily defended with machine gun and light and heavy Answer to Photo Quiz, Summer 2010 flak. 43 Squadron was the first squad- Congratulations to David Burleigh and ron to go in, just as it was getting light. John Hanmore, both of whom correctly Two attacks were made in line abreast identified our mystery pictures. The turning to port after the attacks. All top photo, Spitfire X4382 of No. 602 pilots reported hits on gun posts, build- (City of ) Squadron, was taken ings, wireless masts, etc. but of the 12 at Westhampnett in August or Septem- who went out only 5 came back un- ber 1940; the bottom picture, of Hurri- touched. cane R4120 of No. 601 (County of Lon- F/Sgt Wik (Canada) is missing. don) Squadron was taken at Tangmere P/O Snell was missing after having probably by Charles E. Brown, in June been heard to say on the R/T that he

28 The Tangmere Logbook was baling out, but later the same eve- Up 11.15. Down 12.45. To attack ning word came through that he had gun positions on eastern headland in been safely picked up by the Air/Sea company with No. 3 Squadron with Rescue Service. F/Lt Lister had the two Spitfire squadrons as escort. One underside of one wing badly shot up by low level attack made. Many hits seen a cannon shell in addition to minor on gun posts. All came back safely. damage by flak. He had to make a Much less flak than on 1st sortie though crash landing at Tangmere, but was one or two aircraft received minor quite unhurt. 4 other aircraft of the damage. We could still muster 12 air- squadron were hit by flak but came craft for the 4th trip. back safely. 4th Sortie. Red section: S/L du Vivier, Weather: slight haze, but visibility Sgt Webster, P/O Lea, Sgt Nelson. good up to 15 miles. 5/10 cloud at Green section: F/L Lister, Sgt Hedder- 5,000 feet to 6,000 feet. wick, P/O Trenchard-Smith, Sgt Bierer. 2nd Sortie: Red section: S/Ldr du Blue section: F/Lt Armstrong, P/O Vivier, P/O Trenchard-Smith, P/O Turkington, P/O Wills, Sgt Figgis. Wills, P/O Barker. Green section: P/O Up 13.45 down 15.05. Same target Daniels, P/O Torrance, Sgt Webster, and same task as in 3rd sortie. Evi- Sgt Ball. Blue section: F/L Armstrong, dently some of the posts had not been P/O Turkington, F/S Lewis, Sgt Figgis. silenced or had been re-occupied. At Up at 07.50 hours to rendezvous least 6 gun positions received direct with No. 3 Squadron and 2 squadrons hits. No. 3 Squadron, who were ahead of Spitfire escort at Beachy Head and and slightly below 43 Squadron, were attack 10 “E” boats coming out of Bou- jumped on by 6 or 8 Fw190s but only Sgt Bierer among our pilots was at- logne and turning south. All went ac- tacked. He had one hit from an cording to plan, but although they Fw190’s m.g. but got away with it al- searched the coast from Boulogne to right. Dieppe no “E” boats were seen. 3rd Sortie. Red section: S/Ldr du Transcribed by the Editor from the original Vivier, P/O Barker, P/O Daniels, Sgt pages of RAF Form 541, the Operations Re- cord Book for No. 43 Squadron for the Bierer. Green Section: F/L Lister, Sgt month of August 1942. The handwritten Hedderwick, Sgt Smith, P/O Torrance. entries are unsigned but are believed to be Blue section: F/S Lewis, Sgt Lewis, in the hand of Squadron Leader Daniel Le P/O Lea, Sgt Leeming. Roy du Vivier DFC, Officer Commanding.

— From the Tangmere Times, 1948

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Avis Joan Hearn MM, WAAF (later Avis Parsons)

On 18th August 1940, during an enemy air attack on Poling A.M.E. station, 87 bombs were dropped in an around the Receiver end of the compound and concentrated round the Receiver Hut and ‘R’ Block, doing very considerable damage. In the ‘R’ Block, every door and window was blown in and one of the main walls between the RF6 and Calculator rooms was badly cracked. Several heavy bombs of 500 Kg fell alongside the ‘R’ Block. Alone in this block was ACW Hearn controlling telephones. Throughout the attack, ACW Hearn remained at her post in a building which threatened to collapse about her, doing her work as far as she was able over the terrific noise. The words of the original recommendation for the award of the Military Medal by the commanding officer of the Poling Chain Home station, Flight Lieutenant C. J. Bayley, as endorsed by Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, are reproduced above. An error by either a clerk in the Air Ministry or by a member of the Gazette’s editorial staff resulted in Avis Joan Hearn’s name appearing mistakenly as Joan Hearn-Avis in the published citation of 10th January 1941. This was corrected nineteen years later.

— From copies of the original documents in the Museum’s coll ections

30 The Tangmere Logbook

— Official U. S. Navy photograph Photo Quiz Name the ship, the approximate date, and approximate location. Identify the aircraft (both British and American) visible in the picture, and explain why U. S. Navy aircraft are aboard a Royal Navy carrier.

Friends of the Museum — New Membership Rates The Museum’s regular supporters, the Frien ds of the Museum, are offered unlimited personal free entry to the Museum for a per iod of 12 months, a copy of our magazine The Tangmere Logbook (published twice annually) and invitations to several organised events in the year. Given that there has been no change to the cost of annual Friends membership since 2004 and that it has twice been necessary to increase standard admis- sion prices to the Museum during the intervening period, an associated increase in the Friends’ subscription is regrettably unavoidable. Accordingly, with effect from 1st Janu- ary 2011, membership will be priced at: Family (2 adults & 2 children) £25, Single £20, Senior (over 60) and Student (under 16) £10. We hope that all Friends will agree that these new prices still constitute extremely good value for money. — Joyce Warren

Cover illustrations and photo credits not otherwise mentioned Front cover: Our cover illustration depicts a Typhoon of No. 175 Squadron, EK139 HH- N “Dirty Dora”, being armed with concrete practice bombs at Apuldram in June 1943; provenance of photo unknown. Pages 9, 24, 25, 27: Crown Copyright, reproduced un- der licence. Page 10: Public domain. Back cover: Computer-generated image courtesy of Phil Perrott of AlphaSim Ltd.

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