I Sank The Bismarck (35 page)
Read I Sank The Bismarck Online
Authors: John Moffat
at Netheravon and conditions at
posted to Eastleigh for naval fighter aircraft instruction
sent to Naval Air Station Arbroath to practise carrier landings
TSR aircraft course at Abbotsinch and flying of Swordfish
Personal Life
courtship with and marriage to Marjorie
Oran (Algeria)
operation against French ships in
O'Sullivan, Lieutenant 'Spike'
attack on by
Bismarck
and damaging of
sinking of by Japanese bombers
sinking of
Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS)
Royal Naval College (Greenwich)
Sardinia
Scharnhorst
attack on
Glorious
and sinking of
wiping out of 825 Squadron in attempted attack on
Shaw, Lt Commander Terence ('Shaggy')
accidental firing on by Swordfish
Somerville, Rear Admiral 'Slim'
exoneration of
Italian fleet attack and inquiry
stickler for training/practice
Southern Rhodesian Mounted Police
Squadron 825
wiping out of in attack on German warships
Taranto harbour
TSR aircraft course (Torpedo Spotter and Reconnaissance)
In our final prank at Greenwich
before we went to our various
squadrons, we hoisted this field gun
onto the protective brick tower in the
dead of night.
This portrait was taken when I
was eighty-five years old while we were
filming the wreck of the
Ark Royal.
The Black Hand Gang poses for
its last picture.
From left to right
: Eric
Margetts, Robert Lawson, me, Buster
May and Glan Evans.
My Swordfish
after the crash
in Scotland. The
lower wing is
further back down
the track, and it
seems to have
taken the top off a
decent fir tree.
HMS
Argus
was one
of the ugliest carriers afloat, but she
managed to survive the war. Her
deck lifts were an odd shape and,
even with their wings folded, the
Swordfish were a tight fit.
I was happier
on the
Ark Royal,
which
still had a squadron of
Skuas on board. It was
this aircraft that had
made me think of
flying Swordfish.
This photo is of my first
deck landing, which I did a few
days after joining the
Ark.
There
were plenty of spectators wanting
to see me make a mess of it.
The flight
deck of the
Ark
could be a noisy
and dangerous
place. Here, two
squadrons of
Swordfish are
ranged up, their
engines starting
as they prepare
for take-off.
This Swordfish has an 18in
torpedo mounted underneath it.
This was an exercise – if it had
been a real mission an observer
and air gunner would have been
in the rear cockpit.
Aircraft could be catapulted
off the front of the flight deck, and
here a Skua and a Swordfish are
ready to be launched. Another
Swordfish waits in the queue.
A Fulmar, its tail hook
down, makes a hash of
landing. The unmistakable
figure of Pat Stringer is
running for safety.
The ready rooms under
the bridge were always a hive
of activity. During the hunt
for the German cruiser
Scharnhorst
we slept in
here for several days.
