A Very Unusual Air War (22 page)
Read A Very Unusual Air War Online
Authors: Gill Griffin
As a rest from operations, officers up to the rank of Wing Commander were often posted to AFDU. Like me, up to the time of joining the unit, many had not flown multi-engined aircraft. As a result I sometimes found myself in the role of instructor and it was my great pleasure to instruct Squadron Leader Haywood, who proved an able pupil.
23 July
: On some of the affiliation flights the Spitfires operated singly, either at varying times or over a different area. Usually not more than four bombers would take part in each sortie, taking it in turns to be the target aircraft. The fighter would carry out mock attacks on each in turn. In this way most of the bomber crews got their chance to practise taking evasive action, particularly by ‘corkscrewing’.
29 July
:
| Summary for:- July 1942 | Spitfire | 26–30 |
| Unit:- AFDU Duxford | Defiant | 2–50 |
| Date:- 3/8/42 | Oxford | 9–40 |
| Signature:- H.L. Thorne | | |
H.S. Sewell
Flt Lt
For O/C Flying AFDU
During this month Wing Commander Campbell-Orde and Squadron Leader Ted Smith were sent over to the US on a flag-waving publicity tour, to help the war effort. During their temporary absence, F/Lt H.S. (Bert) Sewell took over as acting O/C Flying, and in that capacity signed my logbook. F/Lt Sewell, known to us all as Susie, became my closest friend during our time together. He was the perfect example of a fighter pilot: young, handsome, debonair, popular. He played a mean game of snooker and had an inexhaustible store of songs and stories. Before the war I understood that he was a car salesman in Darlington and would certainly have fitted the bill. After the war I got in touch with him and found him settled down with his wife in a lovely village in the Darlington area. He was by then the headmaster of a junior school, very changed, not the Susie I remembered.
| YEAR | 1942 | AIRCRAFT | Pilot or 1st Pilot | 2nd Pilot, Pupil or Pass. | DUTY (Including Results and Remarks) | Flying Time | Passenger | ||
| MONTH | DATE | Type | No. | Dual | Solo | ||||
| August | 4th | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Dishforth | | 1–25 | |
| | 5th | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Middleton-St.-George | | −20 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op with Halifaxes | | −25 | |
| | Boston | AFZ | S/Ldr Swales | Self | To Dishforth | | | −20 | |
| | 6th | Boston | AFZ | S/Ldr Swales | Self | To Middleton-St.-George | | | −25 |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Air test | | −20 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op with Halifaxes | | −40 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Dishforth | | −25 | |
| | 7th | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Middleton-St.-George | | −25 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Dishforth | | −25 | |
| | 9th | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Duxford | | 1–00 | |
| | 19th | Magister | R1915 | Self | S/Ldr Watkins | Ferrying to Hucknall | | 1–00 | |
| | | Magister | R1915 | Self | S/Ldr Watkins | Return to Duxford | | 1–00 | |
| | 20th | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Mildenhall | | −20 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op with Wimpies (Wellingtons) | | 1–00 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op with Wimpies | | −50 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Return to Duxford | | −15 | |
| | 21st | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Upwood | | −15 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Blenheims | | 1–00 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Blenheims | | −45 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Blenheims | | −40 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Blenheims | | −45 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Return to Duxford | | −20 | |
| | 22nd | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Oakington | | −10 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Stirlings and return | | 1–00 | |
| | 23rd | Spitfire | T | Self | | Weather test | | −10 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Lakenheath | | −20 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Stirlings | | −50 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Return to Duxford | | −20 | |
| 24th | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Lakenheath | | −20 | | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Stirlings | | −40 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Return to Duxford | | −20 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Colerne | | −50 | |
| | | Spitfire Mk V | Q | Self | | Return to Duxford | | −50 | |
| | 26th | Spitfire Mk IX | BF273 | Self | | Air test to 25,000ft | | −50 | |
| | | Spitfire | V | Self | | Co-op with ‘Wimpies’ | | 1–05 | |
| | 27th | Spitfire | BF273 | Self | | To Cranfield | | −20 | |
| | | Stinson Reliant | ? | P/O Walker | Self & P/O Mause | To Duxford | | −25 | |
| | 28th | Spitfire | S | Self | | To Lakenheath | | −40 | |
| | | Spitfire | S | Self | | Co-op Stirlings. Landed back at Duxford | | −40 | |
| | 29th | Wellington | ? | F/Sgt ? | Self & crew | Co-op by ‘Teddy and Scotty’ | | | 1–30 |
| | | Airacobra | AH574 | Self | | Air test | | −35 | |
| | 30th | Spitfire | AD318 | Self | | Air and engine test | | −50 | |
| | 31st | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Upwood | | −20 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Blenheims | | −45 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Blenheims | | −45 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Blenheims | | 1–15 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Return to Duxford | | −20 | |
| | | | | | | GRAND TOTAL TO DATE 527 hours 55 minutes | 3–30 | 8–25 | |
| | | | | | | | 58–30 | 457–30 | 9–30 |
6 August
: First flight. Flying as a passenger in a Douglas Boston was an interesting experience. Our machine was the light bomber/night fighter version, with a crew of three, each isolated from the others: the pilot, who also did the navigation, a mid upper gun position and a bomb aimer position in the nose. By choice I usually flew
in the latter position, lying prone and watching the runway hurtling past on take-off and landing; the ground looked very close at these times.
19 August
: Hucknall was an airfield near Nottingham, the headquarters and production unit of Rolls-Royce Aero Engine division.
24 August
: The flight to Colerne made a change; after weeks going north and east I enjoyed the trip to Colerne near Bath, on a lovely day, over familiar territory. The co-op too, was a new one with Mosquitos. The Mosquito had an all-wooden fuselage and wings, two Merlin engines, and was very fast. It became known as ‘the Wooden Wonder’. The PRU (Photographic Reconnaissance Unit) version was faster than most contemporary fighters and needed no armament, relying on its speed for protection. On arrival at Colerne, the Mossies were already airborne so we completed the exercise before landing, then enjoyed a very pleasant lunch before returning to Duxford.
26 August
: This was my first flight in a Spitfire Mk IX. After nearly a year of domination by the Focke Wulf FW190s, the RAF was able to re-establish its superiority. Strangely, the Spitfire Mk IX was intended as a temporary measure, being a Mk V modified to take the larger and more powerful Merlin 60 series engine. With its 2-speed, 2-stage supercharger it was faster and could operate at greater heights than its predecessor. Its handling was superb and most pilots agreed that it was the best of all the Spitfires.
The Mk VIII was still on the drawing board, with a completely redesigned airframe to take the bigger engine and would not be ready for action until many Mk IXs were already in action. By the end of 1942, two American companies, Packard and Ford, were manufacturing Merlin 60 series engines, mainly for their own needs in the Mustang (P51) aircraft but also for the increasing British demands for the Spitfire and Lancaster. Spitfires powered by the American engine were known as Mk XVIs; this version also had American .5mm machine guns instead of the Hispano 20mm cannons.
27 August
: The first Mk IXs, like the Mk Vs, had the original flat-sided sliding cockpit canopy. I believe that the flight to Cranfield was to have a blister hood with bulging sides fitted to improve visibility, especially to the rear.
29 August
: To assist the Wellington crew I took over the controls soon after take-off to demonstrate the action of ‘corkscrewing’. This constituted my first solo in that type of aircraft.
That day also saw my first solo in a Bell Airacobra and my first experience of a tricycle undercarriage (i.e. a nose instead of a tail wheel). The Airacobra was a unique aircraft in that the power plant was installed in the rear fuselage behind the pilot and drove a propeller by a shaft that passed through the cockpit under the pilot’s seat.