THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE JOURNAL VOL. 4 | NO. 2 SPRING 2015 The Heroes:Unsung The Ground Crew of No. 1 (RCAF) Squadron DND By Major Mathias Joost, CD The Hurricanes had scrambled 30 minutes ago. They sat there waiting, some closing their eyes in an effort to catch some sleep, others talking casually—all trying to fill the time until the aircraft returned. Occasionally a contrail could be seen in the sky, but no sounds from the mad fighting in the air reached their ears. The wait and the uncertainty simply added to the tension of whether their airplane, their pilot would return safely having scored a victory over the Luftwaffe.1 f there were unsung heroes during the Battle of Britain, they were the ground crew and support staff who allowed the fighter pilots to do their job of closing with the enemy and shooting him I down. For the airmen of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) serving with No. 1 (RCAF) Squadron, this was no different than for their comrades in the Royal Air Force (RAF).2 None had any experience in combat operations, and yet, they were now thrown into the maelstrom of war, expected to keep the aircraft operational at any cost. The senior ranks were expected to provide guidance and leadership under conditions that they themselves had not experienced before. While the airmen of the squadron, and each of the respective trades, helped to make No. 1 (RCAF) Squadron a success during the Battle of Britain, this article will focus upon the ground crew of the two flights who kept the aircraft ready to scramble at a moment’s notice. They have not received the attention that has been given to the fighter pilots, yet without their strenuous efforts, the results of the squadron’s activities could have been less noteworthy. The ground crew of the two flights remain largely anonymous because their names and efforts have not been recorded, yet there is enough information available to provide an overview of what they were doing and what they accomplished. No discussion about the airmen of No. 1 (RCAF) Squadron would be complete without understanding that this was not a homogenous group. When the squadron arrived in the United Kingdom (UK) in June 1940, more than 300 airmen arrived with the unit: 84 were Regular Force, 72 were Reservists The Unsung Heroes: The Ground Crew of No. 1 (RCAF) Squadron 89 THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE JOURNAL VOL. 4 | NO. 2 SPRING 2015 and 148 had signed up after December 1939 as part of the Special Reserve.3 An assorted group, most of them had very limited experience in independent operations.4 The personnel of the Regular Force and Auxiliary had their own particular cultures based on the nature of their operations, while the members of the Special Reserve were mainly new recruits with limited military experience. This was an obstacle that the leadership of the squadron had to face in creating one large team. Besides the question of integrating three different components, there was the question of merging two squadrons into one. On 26 May 1940, No. 115 (Fighter [F]) Squadron was disbanded, and most of its personnel transferred to No. 1 (RCAF) Squadron. Prior to this, No. 115 Squadron had initially operated the Fleet Fawn but began to receive North American Harvard aircraft in November 1939, and in January 1940, the first Fairey Battles arrived. These were hardly front-line aircraft, which meant that when the squadron’s personnel were merged with No. 1’s, they had a steep learning curve to get themselves up to speed on the Hawker Hurricane.5 No. 1 (RCAF) Squadron began to re-equip with the Hawker Hurricane in February 1939. The start of the war saw it moved from Calgary to St. Hubert and then to Dartmouth, where it performed patrols in the approaches to Halifax Harbour. While some of its personnel had experience in Canadian operations, such as photographic survey work, the transition of the squadron to its wartime establishment brought an influx of new recruits. Some of these additions arrived as late as May 1940, shortly before the squadron deployed to the UK. On 9 June, the squadron embarked for deployment overseas. En route to the UK, the senior personnel of the newly enlarged squadron, both officers and senior non-commissioned officers (NCOs), had to create a unified team out of two squadrons and three components. Once in the UK, the squadron members began training to bring themselves up to date on the latest operational and emergency procedures, such as learning about the new radio equipment and anti-gas drills. Although not yet operational, they were not immune from attack. On 15 August, a German raid demolished two buildings and inflicted minor injuries to two airmen. By 17 August, the squadron had moved to Northolt, which would be its home for the next two months. When No. 1 (RCAF) Squadron became operational on 17 August, the 240 airmen played varying roles in supporting the pilots. The squadron was divided into a headquarters section and two flights. The headquarters section consisted of about half of the establishment, with trades such as clerks, cooks, motor mechanics, batmen, waiters and general-duties airmen, as well as the aircraft servicing trades who were part of the “repair section” or “maintenance section” responsible for the longer-term repairs of the squadron’s aircraft. The large size of the headquarters section can be explained in part by the fact that the squadron was a self-contained unit. There were 26 vehicles on its establishment that required maintenance, including ten tenders, three fuel bowsers and three motorcycles (six bicycles were also authorized!). Each of these support trades had its role to play, whether picking up supplies from depots or keeping the vehicles running, especially the fuel bowsers. The cooks were busy from early in the morning until late in the evening, supported by the batmen and waiters, whether the squadron had been in the air or the pilots were DND returning from a night out.6 90 The Unsung Heroes: The Ground Crew of No. 1 (RCAF) Squadron THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE JOURNAL VOL. 4 | NO. 2 SPRING 2015 The ground crew for the two flights consisted of aero-engine and airframe mechanics, electricians, instrument makers, wireless and electrical mechanics as well as general-duties staff. Led by a flight sergeant, each flight’s ground crew was expected to keep their aircraft functioning through routine maintenance and short-order repairs. Any maintenance or repairs that would take hours rather than minutes were sent to the headquarters maintenance section that included all these trades plus armourers, carpenters, fabric workers and metal workers.7 The maintenance section was also responsible for DND ensuring that the spare aircraft were ready to be brought to the flight line on a moment’s notice. Thus, it was the flight sergeants of “A” and “B” Flights who had the greatest responsibility, having to identify any potential problems and decide whether they could repair them or send the aircraft to maintenance, ensure that the work done was of the highest standard and be responsible for the readiness of the aircraft. For the aircraft maintainers, their goal was to get all 12 of the squadron’s Hurricane aircraft operational each day.8 There was a lot of early morning activity, long before the pilots even got out of bed. Under RAF Fighter Command, England had been broken down into regions or sectors. Each sector operations room would receive instructions as to the state of readiness for the morning.9 The sector would then assign different states to each squadron as required. If brought to immediate readiness, the pilots would get ready, head to the dispersal area and then wait for the telephone call—boredom followed by the rush of excitement.10 The maintainers had to get the aircraft ready for operations, whether the squadron was in a “ready” state or not and regardless of the weather conditions. This was necessary because the unit’s readiness state could change, the weather could clear up, or a pilot or two might be tasked to carry out a more mundane mission, such as conducting a meteorological flight or shooting down a barrage balloon that had gotten loose. The working hours of the maintainers began very early. While the pilots got up an hour before dawn in case of a dawn raid, the maintainers had already been up for an hour or more—testing the engines; checking the radios, their batteries; and ensuring that the aircraft were ready for action.11 When the order was given for a scramble, the fitters were in the cockpits firing the starter cartridges and bringing the Hurricanes’ Merlin engines to life as the pilots ran towards their aircraft.12 Generally, the pilot would arrive on the run, be helped into the cockpit and have his harness secured. The fitter would jump down from the wing and then ensure the chocks were pulled from in front of the wheels. It took a well-practised team to achieve a quick departure. Once the Hurricanes were in the air, there was always nervous tension waiting for the planes to return, sometimes individually, other DND The Unsung Heroes: The Ground Crew of No. 1 (RCAF) Squadron 91 THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE JOURNAL VOL. 4 | NO. 2 SPRING 2015 times in their flights of three or rarely in formation. Preparations began for their return. The armourers would ensure that ammunition was on hand and patches for the gun-ports were ready.