A Very Unusual Air War (6 page)
Read A Very Unusual Air War Online
Authors: Gill Griffin
16 January
: Night flying was one of the course highlights. At approximately 11 p.m. (23.00 hours) on a moonless night, we were taken in the three-ton Bedford pick-up trucks to Babdown Farm (near to where Prince Charles now lives at Highgrove). There were no electric landing lights, just a line of paraffin (kerosene) burning ‘gooseneck’ flares (ordinary steel watering cans with a length of rope stuffed down the spouts). See more about this later on April 7/8th.
| Summary for:- January 1941 | 1. Master |
| Unit:- No.9 SFTS Hullavington | N/F 1.00 |
| Date:- 1/2/41 | Dual 3.00 |
| Signature: - G. Paul F/Lt O/C ‘A’ Flight | Solo 4.50 |
In an earlier note I remarked that the winter weather was very severe, with much snow. We often had to clear it off the aircraft and muck in with the ground staff to clear the take-off paths (Hullavington had no runways at that time). When we were able to continue the training flights, it was a real pleasure to fly over snow-covered countryside, especially as Hullavington was towards the southern end of the Cotswold Hills. One notable landmark was the Fosse Way, the Roman road running north to south across the area.
For a period of three weeks there was almost no flying training, we concentrated on ground training and lectures. We had been introduced to the Link trainer during October while at Desford and during this period of bad weather the ‘Link’ kept us in touch with flying. Although I was assessed as average on it, I never really took to the Link but it certainly served a very useful purpose. It is still used today as a simulator for modern aircraft but is greatly improved and much more realistic than those early machines.
One dark and dismal morning we received a sharp reminder that there was a war on. A Heinkel 111 bomber came from the west out of low cloud; he dropped a stick of bombs in a line parallel with the hangars, at the same time spraying the area with machine-gun fire. When the air-raid warning siren sounded, all of us brave young budding fighter pilots made a rush for the nearest air shelter. A number of Tiger Moths of the EFTS on the far side of the airfield were destroyed and two of our Masters were damaged. I cannot remember if there were any casualties but we cadets escaped with a severe fright. The Luftwaffe aircraft was brought down by ground fire and crashed near Bath between the villages of Box and Corsham.
| YEAR | 1940 | AIRCRAFT | Pilot or 1st Pilot | 2nd Pilot, Pupil or Pass. | DUTY (Including Results and Remarks) | Flying Time | Passenger | ||
| MONTH | DATE | Type | No. | Dual | Solo | ||||
| February | 3rd | Miles Master | T8385 | Sgt Nutter | Self | 6, 7, 8, 13 and 19 (IF.) | −50 | | |
| | 6th | Miles Master | T8387 | Self | | 7, 8, 15, 16 and 17 | | −45 | |
| | | Miles Master | T8387 | Self | | 7 and 8 | | −10 | |
| | 12th | Miles Master | T8483 | P/O Roberts | Self | Formation positions 1, 2 and 3 | 1–30 | | |
| | 14th | Miles Master | T8383 | Sgt Nutter | Self | 19, Instrument flying | 1–00 | | |
| | | Miles Master | T8483 | Self | | 13 and 17 | | 1–05 | |
| 15th | Miles Master | T8387 | Self | | 8, 13, 15, 16 and 17 | | 1–05 | | |
| | | Miles Master | T8387 | P/O Roberts | Self | 23, Navigation | 1–20 | | |
| | | | | | | Grand total to date: 72 hours 15 minutes | | | |
6 February
: The flight on February 6th was cut short by bad weather. Note that F/Sgt Roberts was commissioned at the end of January.
| Summary for:- February | 1. Master 4–40 dual |
| Unit:- No.9 SFTS Hullavington | 3.05 solo |
| Date:- 28/2/41 | |
| Signature:- B.B. Hallowes pp O/C ‘A’ Flight | |
| YEAR | 1940 | AIRCRAFT | Pilot or 1st Pilot | 2nd Pilot, Pupil or Pass. | DUTY (Including Results and Remarks) | Flying Time | Passenger | ||
| MONTH | DATE | Type | No. | Dual | Solo | ||||
| March | 6th | Miles Master | T86468 | P/O Roberts | Self | 7 and 8 | −30 | | |
| | | Miles Master | T8468 | Self | | 7 and 8 | | −50 | |
| | 9th | Miles Master | T8385 | P/O Roberts | Self | 19, Instrument flying | −50 | | |
| | 13th | Miles Master | T8385 | Self | | Navigation test | | 1–15 | |
| | | Hurricane | 3116 | Self | | 7 and 8 FIRST SOLO | | −30 | |
| | 14th | Miles Master | T8401 | Self | LAC Cadet John Timmis | 19, Instrument flying “under the hood” | | −45 | |
| | | Miles Master | T8401 | LAC Timmis | Self | 19, Safety pilot | −45 | | |
| | 15th | Hurricane | 3807 | Self | | 7, 8, 13, 15 and 16 | | 1–00 | |
| | | Miles Master | T8390 | P/O Roberts | Self | 22 and 19 | 1–10 | | |
| | 16th | Miles Master | T8390 | P/O Roberts | Self | Formations in positions 1, 2 and 3 | −45 | | |
| | 18th | Miles Master | T8400 | F/Sgt Rowney | Self | 19, Instrument flying | −25 | | |
| | | Miles Master | T8385 | F/Lt Paul | Self | Formation | −45 | | |
| | 19th | Hurricane | 3320 | Self | | 15 and 16 | | −45 | |
| | Miles Master | T8483 | P/O Roberts | Self | 22, Aerobatics and 19 | 1–10 | | | |
| | 20th | Miles Master | T8375 | P/O Roberts | Self | Instrument fly-ing Cross country (No. 2) | −55 | | |
| | 21st | Miles Master | T8404 | LAC Stevens | Self | 10, Safety pilot | | 1–00 | |
| | | Miles Master | T8404 | Self | LAC Stevens | 10, Instrument flying | 1–00 | | |
| | | Miles Master | T8404 | LAC Drinkwater | Self | Safety pilot | | −50 | |
| | | Miles Master | T8404 | Self | LAC Drinkwater | Instrument flying | −45 | | |
| | | Miles Master | T8404 | Self | | Cross country | 1–30 | | |
| | | Miles Master | T8404 | Self | LAC Drinkwater | 19, Instrument flying | −30 | | |
| | 22nd | Miles Master | T8401 | Self | | 13, Precautionary landing | | −55 | |
| | | Miles Master | T8404 | Self | | Formation | | −45 | |
| | 23rd | Miles Master | T8401 | P/O Russell | Self | 6, 7 and 8 | −45 | | |
| | | Hurricane | 3211 | Self | | Formation | | −55 | |
| | 25th | Hurricane | 3211 | Self | | Formation | | −45 | |
| | 26th | Miles Master | T8391 | P/O Rowley | Self | Formation flying | | −40 | |
| | | Miles Master | T8393 | P/O Rowley | Self | Formation flying | | −4 | |
| | | Miles Master | T8387 | P/O Harding | Self | Formation flying | | −30 | |
| | | Hurricane | 3211 | Self | | Formation flying as leader | | −45 | |
| | | Hurricane | 1742 | Self | | Formation flying | | −45 | |
| | 27th | Hurricane | 2548 | Self | | Cross country No. 2 | | 1–30 | |
| | 30th | Miles Master | T8482 | Self | | Cross country No. 3 | | 1–50 | |
| | | Miles Master | T8375 | P/O Roberts | Self | 20a, Night flying, 5, Landings | −50 | | |
| | | Miles Master | T8375 | Self | | 20a, Night flying, 5, Landings | | −30 | |
| | 31st | Hurricane | 3807 | Self | | Use of radio, air to ground | | −35 | |
13
March
: Up to this time in the RAF, advanced training after going solo on the Miles Master had been carried out on the obsolete Hawker Hart biplane. Due to the urgent need for newly trained fighter pilots as replacements for those lost the previous year and to man the many newly formed squadrons, our No.28 course was the subject of a drastic (or dramatic) experiment. After only a few hours, in my case 4 hours 5 minutes, I soloed in the Master. After a further 10 hours of solo training I, like the other cadets, transferred straight on to a front line fighter, the renowned Hawker Hurricane, for the remainder of my solo training.
This drastic step resulted in a crop of minor accidents and some more serious ones; three resulted in fatalities. One of these was an army captain who had transferred to the RAF and another was one of the group of Indian Air Force officers who were members of the course.
In an attempt to tighten up, and bring about an improvement, the CFI instituted a ‘black list’ displayed in the operations tent. It was my bad luck to be the first to qualify for my name to head the list after holding off a little too high when landing. The Hurricane stalled when still a few feet from the ground, dropped the starboard wing, which brushed the ground, and was slightly damaged. Other names followed but the idea backfired, causing a drop in morale and a loss of confidence. The list was dropped but it had in fact brought about an improvement.
14 March
: For instrument flying practice the pupil in the rear cockpit was ‘under the hood’, a cowl which pulled forward totally enclosing the cockpit. Initially one of the instructors occupied the front cockpit but as the course advanced another cadet would act as safety pilot (see March 21st). On one of these flights I was ‘under the hood’ flying blind completely on instruments. My safety pilot must have taken a nap as, when my time was up, I emerged into daylight and to my horror found we were in the middle of the Wolverhampton balloon barrage. By the grace of God we escaped unscathed but my comments to the other cadet are unprintable.