A Very Unusual Air War (23 page)
Read A Very Unusual Air War Online
Authors: Gill Griffin
I always had visions of the potential damage to one’s private undercarriage if the shaft fractured, although I never heard that such an accident ever occurred. The installation allowed a cannon to fire through the propeller boss, which would add considerably to its accuracy. This machine, the Mk I version, was powered by an American Allison engine and was turned down by the RAF because of poor performance at altitude. Some were used in the North Africa and Italian campaigns and others to very good effect in Russia.
31 August
:
| Summary for:- August 1942 | 1 Spitfire | 24–55 |
| Unit:- AFDU Duxford | 2 Boston | −45 |
| Date:- 1/9/42 | 3 Magister | 2–00 |
| Signature:- H.L. Thorne | 4 Stinson | −25 |
| | 5 Wellington | 1–30 |
| | 6 Airacobra | −35 |
Signed:
D. Clive
Fl Lt
O/C Flying AFDU
F/Lt H.S. Sewell (Susie) was posted back to his squadron round about this date and newly promoted. F/Lt Denis Clive took over as flight commander. Denis was a fine figure of a man, over six feet tall and broad with it; he had a real fighter pilot’s moustache. He told us of his pre-war career as a film star and, when Estelle and I went to a cinema in Cambridge to see a film, we were amused to spot him in a minor part, the stars being Jessie Matthews and Alistair Sim. He and his wife Jane also had rooms in Duxford village and Estelle sometimes joined Jane and the other wives for morning coffee.
| 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 | ||||
| September | 2nd | Defiant | V1121 | Self | P/O Ireland | To Nottingham | | −45 | |
| | | Defiant | V1121 | Self | | To Duxford | | −45 | |
| | 3rd | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Tempsford | | −15 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Chelveston | | −15 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Duxford | | −20 | |
| | 6th | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Dishforth | | 1–00 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Topcliffe | | −15 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Wellingtons | | 1–20 | |
| | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Dishforth | | −15 | | |
| | 7th | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Topcliffe | | −15 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | 1–15 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Dishforth | | −15 | |
| | 8th | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | 1–20 | |
| | | | | | | GRAND TOTAL TO DATE 536 hours 10 minutes | 3–30 | 8–25 | |
| | | | | | | | 58–30 | 465–45 | 8–00 |
| | | Spitfire | V | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | 1–00 | |
| | 9th | Spitfire | V | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | 1–10 | |
| | | Spitfire | V | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | 1–00 | |
| | 10th | Spitfire | V | Self | | To Skipton | | −15 | |
| | | Spitfire | V | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | 1–30 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | −40 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | −40 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Wimpy. Landed at Dishforth | | −35 | |
| | 11th | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Skipton | | −10 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | 1–10 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | −40 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | −45 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | −30 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Dishforth | | −10 | |
| | | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Duxford | | 1–00 | |
| | 12th | Spitfire | O | Self | | Sighting test then on to Lakenheath | | −20 | |
| | | Spitfire | O | Self | | Co-op Stirlings | | 1–00 | |
| | | Spitfire | O | Self | | To Duxford | | −20 | |
| 13th | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | 1–05 | | |
| | 14th | Spitfire | AD318 | Self | | Speed trial | | −20 | |
| | 15th | Spitfire | S | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | 1–05 | |
| | 16th | Hurricane | AFU | Self | | To White Waltham | | −40 | |
| | | Hurricane | AFU | Self | | White Waltham to Northolt | | −15 | |
| | | Hurricane | AFU | Self | | To Duxford | | −40 | |
| | 17th | Oxford | BG549 | Self | Messrs Hall, Lovelock & Austin | A fun flight for members of the Observer Corps | | 1–30 | |
| | 20th | Spitfire | Y | Self | | Air test | | −20 | |
| | 21st | Spitfire | W | Self | | Co-op Wimpy | | 1–05 | |
| | 22nd | Spitfire | R | Self | | To Waterbeach | | −15 | |
| | | Spitfire | R | Self | | Co-op Stirlings | | −40 | |
| | | Spitfire | R | Self | | To Duxford | | −15 | |
| | 23rd | Spitfire | W | Self | | To Thurleigh for co-op with B-17s (Flying Fortresses) | | 1–15 | |
| | 24th | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Fortresses | | −55 | |
| | | Stinson Reliant | ? | S/Ldr J.A.F. MacLachlan | Self & P/O Godefroy | To Langley | | | −30 |
| | | Stinson Reliant | ? | P/O Godefroy | Self | To Duxford | | −30 | |
| | 27th | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Bourne | | −10 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Stirlings | | 1–00 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Duxford | | −10 | |
| | 29th | Spitfire | T | Self | | To Upwood | | −15 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Blenheims | | −50 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Blenheims | | −45 | |
| | | Spitfire | T | Self | | Co-op Blenheims and return to Duxford | | 1–05 | |
2 September
: I had hoped that I had seen the last of the Defiant (known as the Daffy) but had to fly it back to base. Luckily, it was my final flight in one. It was not my favourite aeroplane and my sympathies went out to those brave chaps who had to fly one during its brief operational career.
11 September
: From the 5th to the 11th was a week of detachment and the commanding officers of the Wellington Squadrons made us really earn our corn. Remembering that there were three of us in the affiliation flight, all of whom would have taken part at all times, this was a week of intensive activity. I was very relieved to get back to Duxford, as the 11th was Estelle’s birthday and she would have been very fed up if I had not returned in time to celebrate it.
13 September
: We must have missed this one up at Skipton and he followed us home.
15 September
: Another one we missed at Skipton!
16 September
: This was our first wedding anniversary. I was not given the day off but some easy cross-country and some fun flying in an old Hurricane, including a ‘show off’ to White Waltham and a very quick visit to the Climer family at Slough. I made sure that I got back to Duxford in good time and was let off duty early. Assuming that I needed rest, the CO gave me light duties the next day.
17 September
: I gave them a trip over the Thames valley. Actually it was a very gentle cross-country at only 2,000 feet, taking in Marlow on the Thames, Bicester and Banbury, then back to base. My three passengers varied in age but no one was airsick and all assured me that it was a very pleasant experience.
23 September
: My logbook does not say but I assume that the Fortresses were the early arrivals of the USAAC (United States Army Air Corps), getting ready for their daylight raids on Germany. This was not my first meeting with a ‘Fort’; earlier in the year a single machine landed at Duxford. The pilot was completely lost and asking for directions back to his base, apparently having no idea of how to call up on radar.
24 September
: These exercises were interceptions followed by mock attacks on the American machines to get the crews used to seeing fighters come in and, hopefully, let them know what a Spitfire looked like.