STORIES
Over the years that our Association has been formed, the Committee, via the regular newsletters, asked members to send in stories of their experiences, or incidents, which they thought would be of interest. The response was overwhelming and there were enough stories to form a book. Ben Mitchell put the stories together and edited them ready for publishing. A publisher read the stories and was shown many of the photographs which are on file, and agreed to publish them. Sam Bugg and Ben Mitchell liaised with the publisher and Sam was involved with the content and design of the front and rear covers, and which photographs to include. The Committee thought it would be fitting to include on the web site, periodically, a story from the book about some of the many escapades which the 51st got up to either during their apprenticeship or the remainder of their service career, this one is by Don Ellis
THERE WAS I …… WITH MY NEPTUNE’S COLD WAR DIVERSION
Don Ellis
In May 1955 I was a comparatively experienced Navigator on 217 Squadron, operating Lockheed Neptunes and based at RAF Kinloss in Northern Scotland. The Neptune, a bit bigger than the Lancaster, had only two engines, each of 3,500 hp, and unlike the Lancaster, Shackleton and almost any British aircraft one could think of, was remarkably quiet to fly in. It performed well, but was said to be not too happy on one engine when heavy. It had originally been intended as an Airborne Early Warning aircraft, and was equipped with a massive, powerful radar ideal for that purpose, but had been lent to the RAF by the Americans to form four maritime squadrons. This would bolster up the existing Coastal Command force of Shackletons and Sunderlands now that the Cold War was developing.
The Cold War affected us in that occasionally Russian naval forces would put to sea, and NATO wanted to know what they were, where they were going and what they were up to. The Command had a brief, on such occasions, to mount Operation Reason, and crews would be detailed to ‘Locate, report and shadow’. Perversely, the Russians invariably embarked on these expeditions at weekends, and on our squadron we all believed that World War 3 would begin during the Easter, August or Christmas Grant. Sure enough, one Sunday, 15th May, my crew was called in to briefing, to ‘locate, report and shadow’ a force of two cruisers and four destroyers which had been sighted on Saturday coming out of the Baltic, and were expected to turn North after clearing the Skaggerak. At that time, a Summit Conference was in progress in Geneva, attended by Anthony Eden, the then Prime Minister. We were briefed that having found the Russian task force, we were not on any account to close nearer than 20 miles, lest we initiate an international incident. In his next breath, the Intelligence Officer said that if we were able to bring back photographs they would be much appreciated! We also learned that we would be defensively armed - at that time the Neptune had a mid-upper gun turret with 2 x 20 mm cannon, as well as nose and tail turrets, and all our Signallers were trained Air Gunners as well. We took off at 07.10 hrs and headed off to the Northeast, heavy with fuel and our 20 mm ammunition, our brief being to remain until PLE (Prudent Limit of Endurance). I was navigating (there were two navigators on the crew) and being a recent graduate of the Staff Navigation Course, I had worked out an interception course based on the last known position (on Saturday afternoon) of the Russians and their likely movement.
Flying at 2,000 ft, we reached a point where I had estimated that we would be within radar range of the force, so the set was switched from ‘Standby’ to ‘On’, and lo and behold a force of six blips was visible on the screen within 20 miles of the position I had predicted (guessed?). Radar gave me a range and bearing on the force, which I plotted from my DR (Dead Reckoning) position, and we decided to climb to 4,000 ft, so that radar could obtain a firm fix on the Southwest corner of Norway, some 80 miles away. The Captain put on climbing power, and up we went. As we levelled off at 4,000 ft, the RPM on the starboard engine ran away and the pilots carried out feathering drill. We had by now been airborne for about 1 hr 30 mins, so had not burned off a lot of fuel, and as the propeller was being feathered, the aircraft dropped about 1,000 ft so we set off for Kinloss on one engine at 3,000 ft with an estimated 1 hr 30 mins to run. Pilot’s Notes told us that we should be able to maintain height at 135 knots on the live engine, but inside half-an-hour we had lost another 1,500 ft, so with full climbing power and speed down to 120 knots and still going down slowly, the decision was taken to get rid of some excess weight.
Behind the mainplane, which went right through the fuselage, was an area known as the beam, from Coastal's Flying Boat days. Above it was the mid-upper turret. In the floor of the beam was a large hatchway and adjacent to it, one of our five Signallers was asleep. He was woken by our Senior Signaller, a Flight Sergeant, who thrust a pannier full of 20 mm ammunition into his hands and indicated the wide-open hatch and the sea beneath with the instruction “Throw that through there!”. The young sergeant did as he had been bid at once, then said “Why, Chief?”. A splendid example of crew discipline! That pannier, and others, were simply not enough, and after some agonising, the pilots and engineer decided that the tip tanks must go. These tanks each carried 300 gallons of fuel. The port tank also carried some expensive, secret electronic equipment, while the starboard tank housed a very powerful searchlight and another radar scanner. However, the engineer jettisoned them (they were pushed away from the mainplane by very strong springs) and they peeled off gracefully into the water. Rather them than us! We now were able to begin a very gentle climb and decided to divert to Sumburgh, at the Southern tip of Shetland.
We discovered en route that Sumburgh airfield was closed on Sundays, and that its runway was a mere 3,900 ft, with a hill just off each end! However, dry land was dry land! When we arrived overhead we could see sheep on the grass below and for the only time in my flying career I fired a red Very cartridge in anger. Whether the sheep understood or not, I don’t know, but the runway was clear and we landed. The Neptune was equipped with reverse pitch propellers, one of the first RAF aircraft to have them, and fortuitously both of our pilots had practised reversing pitch when landing with only one live engine. We stopped with feet to spare, and taxied in.
Sumburgh is a civil airport and in those pre oil rig days was very much smaller than it is now, so we were somewhat surprised to be marshalled in by airport firemen. We were given to understand that they had come on duty as a result of our red Very cartridge, and as they entertained us with cups of tea and biscuits we wondered whether they were just a wee bit disappointed that we hadn’t made a more dramatic arrival. We also learned that they were being paid double time for all the time we were there! We discovered too that an Air Traffic Controller and a telephonist were manning the Tower, and a taxi had turned up from Lerwick in case we wanted to go somewhere! Our Captain telephoned Kinloss and was told another aircraft would come to pick us up later in the afternoon. It was now around lunchtime.
We were told that the Sumburgh Head Hotel was about 20 minutes walk across the airfield, so we left one unfortunate Signaller, who drew the short straw, in charge of the aircraft while we set off in search of nourishment. I think we all enjoyed the nicest pint of beer we had ever had before going into the dining room for Sunday lunch. The dining room was quite busy and we were rather conspicuous in our uniforms, but nevertheless it was good to eat in civilised conditions. When the manageress brought our bills she told us that Sunday lunch was normally priced at 5/-, but because it was an emergency she would only charge us 4/6d!
We were glad to get back home, and for some time afterwards people kept telling us what we should have done, one of such gems being that we should have operated the live engine at take-off power to maintain height. I need hardly add that in the aircraft we were well aware that our live engine was the only one we had! Our reply to all the experts was that we had done what we did, and were here to prove that it worked.
JANKERS
Following discussions at the 1994 Reunion as to who did the most days jankers at Halton, Narcy Burford came up with 109 days, but this was put in the shade by the 151 days, plus a ‘few’ inside, by Del Harris. So Del took the dubious honour of being our worst ‘criminal’.and when he was on jankers, and was also the Duty Trumpeter responsible for sounding ‘Reveille’ and ‘Lights Out’, he made the ‘calls’ from his Barrack Room window! At the same time, it was also established that Ken Savage was the first in the Entry to be awarded jankers and the punishment took place over the Battle of Britain weekend, when there were civilians visiting RAF Halton. While being marched from No.1 Wing to No.2 Wing cookhouse, the Cpl i/c enjoyed giving orders in a loud voice prefixed by “Defaulters”.
However, Del Harris, our reputably longest serving janker wallah, recently went on holiday to Tenerife and called on fellow 51st colleague, Roy Studart, who now resides there. During conversation, the subject of jankers came up and it transpired that Roy was a seasoned janker wallah himself. Roy cannot recall the exact number of ‘days’ that he did, but he thinks it was around the 120 mark. He also said that he did two lots of 28 days, plus sundry other days, in the ‘mush’. ‘Mush’ was the punishment for crimes that were more serious than those given for jankers, in that one ‘resided’ in a guardroom cell for the duration of the punishment under the watchful eye of the Snoops, and went to Schools and Workshops under escort. As neither of them kept a Log Book of their punishments, we have decided that from their confessions, we consider that both were as bad as each other, so they tie for first place, with Narcy Burford relegated to third place – unless someone out there knows better!. However, if Chiefy Thomas has a ‘janker’ file tucked away in the attic, perhaps he can adjudicate for us and let us know who did the most ‘days’!
‘Jankers’ was the colloquial name given to the punishment for committing a minor offence in the eyes of the RAF during our training at Halton. We are not talking about serious offences such as murder, grievous bodily harm, drug dealing, burglary etc, but lesser crimes, such as dirty brass buttons, late on parade, caught wearing civilian clothes, untidy bedspace, room job not done properly, caught outside the Block after ‘lights out’ (at 21.30 hrs), absent from parade, smoking etc. If you were caught, then you were charged, marched in before the Squadron Commander and given 3, 7, 10 days (or whatever) CB (confined to barracks). The Apprentice receiving this punishment was called a ‘Janker Wallah’ and he would wear a White armband throughout his sentence. A day in the life of such a person, with reveille at 06.30 hrs, would be:-
| 06.45 hrs | Report to the Henderson Square in Best Blue for Roll Call |
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07.45 hrs | Report to Henderson Square in Working Blue for Colour Hoisting parade |
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13.00 hrs | Report to Henderson Square in Working Blue for Roll Call |
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17.45 hrs | Report to Henderson Square in Best Blue for Colour Lowering parade |
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18.00 hrs | Kit Inspection (Lay out kit on own bed in barrack room) |
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19.00 hrs | Report in Working Blue for fatigues - usually in cookhouse |
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20.00 hrs | Report to Henderson Square in Best Blue for Roll Call |
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21.00 hrs | Report to Henderson Square in Best Blue for Roll Call |
THE BOOK
POST WAR BRATS AT LARGE
This book contains a collection of stories written by members of the 51st Entry of RAF Aircraft Apprentices, often referred to as “Trenchard’s Brats” after their founder, Marshal of the RAF the Viscount Trenchard. It covers the years since they, 252 young men, joined the RAF in 1945, six days after the end of the Second World War, and includes stories from their 3-year Apprenticeship, throughout their subsequent RAF careers and into retirement as senior citizens.
There are some amusing and incredible tales from their Apprentice days - beating the system without getting caught (but not always!) was a popular pastime. When they were finally ‘at large’, many of the Entry left their basic trades and were trained as aircrew and inevitably some of the more exciting stories relate to their flying experiences. Some, unfortunately, did not survive to tell their tales.
Service overseas is another source of interesting experiences, although sadly many of these postings are no longer available to the RAF personnel of today. Nevertheless, these stories provide a worthwhile insight into Service life away from home, as it was from the late 1940’s to early 1980’s.
Sixty years on, the former apprentices of the 51st Entry still have many more stories to tell, and no doubt some emerged during the Diamond Anniversary Reunion which was held at RAF Halton on 21st August 2005, in honour of which this book is being published.
This book will be of considerable interest to members of the 51st Entry and other RAF Aircraft Apprentices, their families and friends. It should also appeal to those who have never served, but have an interest in the history of military aviation and the Royal Air Force.
The Book (ISBN 1-903953-93-6) priced at £15-00 plus p&p, is obtainable from :-
| Woodfield Publishing, |
| Mail Order Department |
|
Babsham Lane, |
| Bognor Regis, |
| West Sussex, |
| PO21 5EL |
| Telephone 01243 821234 |
| or on the net at www.woodfieldpublishing.com |
BOOKS
CHRIS ASHWORTH- AVIATION HISTORIAN
In the RAF he was Joe - a nick-name acquired in Block 15 Room 5, but it was as Chris Ashworth that he became a significant Aviation Historian. Few of us realised that Joe began the hobby of collecting information and photographs of aircraft, airfields etc., at quite any early age - probably as an ATC cadet before Halton. We were aware that he owned a camera - a rare sight amongst Apprentices in 1945 - and some of us saw several of his pictures. That early start became “...a great passion of his...” (RAeS) and led to a massive collection of books, magazines, articles & photographs which eventually filled three rooms in his home!!
It was the title “Chris Ashworth Collection” of a two page article in a recent Aerospace Professional magazine, published by the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS), which caught the attention of a member of the 51st Entry and prompted further interest in the works of Joe/Chris. The RAeS article listed “... a large number of typescripts recording the development of a number of British civil and military types (particularly detailed in their records of individual aircraft histories and squadron allocations) ...” and “... are a mine of information for anyone researching aircraft or squadrons ...”.
Many of these typescripts were articles which Chris contributed to aviation magazines over the years.
With the help of Margaret Ashworth, it has been possible to put together a summary of Chris’s remarkable collection which included : 4,000+ Books & Magazines - 3,500+ Archive files - 80,000+ photographs from Bristol Fighter to Nimrod ( many originals taken by Chris), and 132,000+ negatives, slides, plates etc.
The Ashworth family decided that the wealth of information contained within the collection would be of value to many other aviation enthusiasts - even though this would, sadly, lead to the break up of the collection. Auctioneers, Dominic Winter, sold Chris’s library of books and his photographic collection at specialist Collectors Sales in May & November 2005 and May 2006.
Chris continued his writing when he retired from the RAF in 1977. In addition to his many magazine articles, Chris published several mini monographs including: Gloster Meteor PR Mk10, De Havilland Comet & Avro York in RAF Service, Avro Shackleton MR Mk3, Vickers Valiant, Bristol Brigand, Airfield Focus St Eval & Kinloss.
His major written and published books are:
| Action Stations: 5. Military airfields of the South West - 266pp (ISBN 085059510X)
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| Action Stations: 9. Military Airfields of the Central South and South East - 328pp (ISBN 0850596084)
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| Encyclopaedia of Modern Royal Air Force Squadrons - 210pp (ISBN 1852600136) |
| RAF Coastal Command 1936-1969 - 256pp (ISBN 1852603453) |
RAF Bomber Command 1936-1968 - 256pp (ISBN 1852603089) |
Avro’s Maritime Heavyweight; The Shackleton - 224pp (ISBN 0946627169) |
Below are just four covers from his major works.
Many of these Monographs and Books are still in print and available new & used from specialist book sellers.The following is a quotation from Chris’s Introduction to one of his books and is typical of the detail and enthusiasm which he gave to his work:
“My first sight of south-east England was the best possible - from the air on a beautiful August day. It was pure chance, for I was just one of many ATC cadets camping at Bircham Newton during the summer of 1944 and when my air experience flight came up it was not in the usual Dominie biplane, but in a Wellington XIII which was flying to Manston and back. I was put in the front turret out of the way and off we went across East Anglia and over the Thames Estuary. The thing I remember most about the flight was the fright I got when a P-47 Thunderbolt attacked us head-on. So convinced was I that it was a Fw 190 that had I known how to switch on the fully-loaded turret I might even have tried to open fire!”
SUPERSTAR- THE FAMILY GOES TO SEA
This is the title of the book written by Eric Mold and was
published in October 1996. The book tells the story of how
Eric & Vera sold up their wordly possessions, bought a boat
with the proceeds and set out for a life on the sea.
It begins with them sailing out of the Solent, with little or
no experience of sailing on the high seas, and ending up 4 years
later in the Caribbean via the Mediterranean as veteran sailors
and running a successful charter boat business. If you would
like to purchase a copy of the book, its reference is
Ident No. ISBN 85200 066X, and was available (in 1996) from
United Writers Publications Ltd, Ailsa Castle Gate, Penzance,
Cornwall TR20 8BG at a cost of £15.95, or alternately borrow it
from your local library.
