NO 93 SQUADRON - Form 540 April 1953

F540 Operations Record Book April 1953 NO 93 SQUADRON. PRO Kew No. AIR27 Piece 2636 Microfilm Row 1 Draws 52-71 from Duncan Curtis
PLACE	DATE	TIME	SUMMARY OF EVENTS COMPILING OFFICER Sqn.Ldr. S.M. McGREGOR	REF. TO APPENDICES
JEVER.	APRIL	1st.	WEDNESDAY. The Squadron provided a Battle Flight in the morning, which only flew once before its stand-down at lunch-time. There was a certain amount of time lost in coming to readiness after the flight, because all the I.F.F. sets had to be checked whether they had been used or not during the flight. There was a complete cloud coverage, but it still gave a good base, and the tops were not more than 5,000 feet. In the afternoon, after Battle Flight had stood down, the available aircraft were used for low-level cross countries and low level Battle formation practices. Low level "breaks" were practiced in pairs, and a few sorties of cine were flown with the guns unloaded. Flying finished at 17.30 hours.
		2nd	THURSDAY. Battle Flight aircraft were the only ones flown all day. In the morning they flew three times, once on P.I.'s and twice they intercepted the same B.29 near Bremen. All their sorties were highly successful. A certain amount of trouble was caused by flat accumulators giving wet starts. In the afternoon the rest of the Squadron stood down for the Easter Break, and the Easter Battle Flight of two took over and came to readiness with two aircraft from No. 4 Squadron. Each of these two pairs flew once in very fine weather, broken cloud up to 10,000 feet with strong sunshine. The first pair intercepted and identified a D.C.3, and the second went to the East of the Zone and chased a target which was hidden by cloud. No interception was made. They were stood down at 17.30.
		3rd.	FRIDAY. In the early hours of the morning a signal was received about oxygen equipment, and consequently some of the spare aircraft were late coming up. All the aircraft on Battle Flight had been cleared and were ready by the time they were needed. The weather had deteriorated and a weather recce, were sent out. On their sortie they intercepted a Viking aircraft. The second pair tried unsuccessfully to intercept a B.45. They had been scrambled too early, consequently when they were in a good closing position they were forced to return to base and abandon the exercise. On their return they found cloud down to 300 feet, with patches even lower, and also continuous rain. No more flying was called for that day.
		4th.	SATURDAY. A fine morning, for which Met. however, forecast a deterioration. In due time one section took off and the other was later scrambled to intercept it. Cirrus at 20,000 feet made the interception abortive. After both pairs had been refueled one took off and identified a D.C.4. When this pair had landed the other two were put up as target, taken to the Dummer and then flown North where they were intercepted by their companions from Jever. Both pairs returned to base, and soon after they had landed the airfield became "red". No further flying was attempted.
		5th.	SUNDAY. Throughout the whole day only two sorties were flown. The first sortie comprised of pair and on the second both sections were combined to intercept the Venoms from Wunstorf. On the second three aircraft only became airborne, the third remaining behind because of unserviceable igniter plugs. The interception was rendered abortive by their superior performance of the Venoms, which were able to climb easily away from the attack. Once again the weather was cloudy and showery but was quite fit for flying.
		6th.	MONDAY. In all three pairs flew all day. The first took off on a weather recce but finding conditions fair they climbed to 20,000 feet under control and were intercepted on their way home. Later the same routine on scrambling one pair and intercepting with the remaining one, was adhered to. Some very good P.I.'s were achieved, although at times relative speeds seemed to give the controller some trouble in positioning the fighter. Easter Battle Flight stood down at 17.30 for the last time, in weather which promised to continue fair for the next few days.
		7th.	TUESDAY. The weather was very good but little use could be made of it since the Squadron had only three aircraft available. The S.T.I. on the balance weights was still in progress owing to a lack of personnel qualified to carry out the modification. On top of this several of the aircraft were still undergoing the further check on oxygen equipment occasioned by the suspected presence of swarf in the regulators. In the afternoon a limited rocketing programme was carried out. 39 rockets were fired for 1 hang-up. Plt.Off. Standish had an I.F. trip in the Meteor. Sgt. WEBSTER went on a weeks continental leave. Flt.Lt. PEARCH proceeded to the U.K. for 3 weeks. Sgt's THOMAS and WALKER returned from Continental leave.
		8th.	WEDNESDAY. In the morning a team of four plus two spares left for Gutersloh. The same day they did a practice for a rocket demonstration and fly past to be held on the morrow. They remained at Gutersloh over night. One aircraft returned to the Squadron from Oldenburg where it had undergone a Cat.3 repair to an intake strut. All aircraft were limited to a height of 15,000 feet until such time as the oxygen trouble had been completely cleared up. A new pilots, Plt.Off. RAMSAY arrived to join the Squadron from O.C.U. Also keeping the aircraft on the ground was a check which had to be made on all barostats, following numerous recent cases of failure of this equipment throughout the Command.
		9th.	THURSDAY. No aircraft flew all day, since besides the barostats having to be checked all the bowsers had to be cleaned out and their filters examined for dirt. At Gutersloh the weather was good with a high cloud base, a thin layer of alto-stratus prevented glare and there was little turbulence. The morning was spent practising rocket circuits in stream in order to perfect the spacing. In the afternoon the actual demonstration was given. John Severne Drops the First RAF Napalm from 98 Sqn Venom on Fassberg Ranges. This was not the same demonstration as John's first drop was 10May54. [Photo not in F540]. The target was well hit and demonstration of the Napalm bomb was most impressive. The firing was followed by a close formation fly-past in which all squadrons attending took part. Neither of 93 Squadron spare aircraft flew. The demonstration was given for Air Chief Marshal Sir William Dickson. In the afternoon the Squadron flew back independent of No. 4 Squadron who had also taken part in the demonstration..
		10th.	FRIDAY. The Squadron's two available aircraft flew all day with aircraft of 4 Squadron on Battle Flight. The aircraft with limited to low flying and so a rocketing programme was carried out throughout the day. Wg.Cdr. Coulson flew with them on some of the sorties. The rest of the Squadron pilots went to A.S.F. for part of the day where they had instruction on primary servicing and for the rest of the time were occupied at the Hangar with Aircraft Recognition Lectures.
		11th.	SATURDAY. A normal C.O.'s parade was held in the morning, but Flying Wing were excused because the grave unserviceability situation demanded work on the aircraft.
		12th.	SUNDAY.
		13th.	MONDAY. The Squadron were on Battle Flight and although four aircraft flew on the first two missions only three were available for the last three. These were the Squadron's total number of serviceable aircraft. On the last two sorties 4 Squadron supplied a fourth. The day commenced with a solid layer of cloud which gradually thinned out towards afternoon. The controlling started poorly but improved throughout the day. A Night Flying programme was attempted during the evening but was eventually cancelled at 22.00 hours. Again this was due to unserviceability and refuelling difficulties occasioned by a shortage of bowsers.
		14th.	TUESDAY. Once again the Squadron could only provide three aircraft for Battle Flight but their number was made up by one of 4 Squadron. In the afternoon all four aircraft were provided by 93 Squadron. Broken Cumulus clouds with tops about 8,000 gave no trouble but approaching Cirrus and Alto-Stratus gave trouble on the interceptions as the day wore on. Once again the controllers were prone to take the fighters ahead of the target.
		15th.	WEDNESDAY. Pilots were briefed for exercise "APRIL SHOWER" immediately after Met. Briefing. Eight aircraft were demanded and the exercise was due to start originally at 10.00 hours. This was later changed to 13.30, so the aircraft shaped up as two fours and practised cine attacks independently. At 13.30 the two sections were scrambled shortly after one another and both made contact with Thunder Jets flying at approximately 40,000 feet. The controlling was good but only one section was able to make any semblance of an attack owing to the superior Mach characteristics of the targets. Their sole evasive action was a shallow dive. No surprise was possible because at that height all aircraft were trailing. These two sorties were the only ones flown on the exercise, and when the aircraft had been refueled the Squadron closed down for sports in the afternoon. The weather at first was quite unfit for flying and even later when the cloud base lifted there was still Cirrus up to approximately 28,000 feet. Sgt. KNIGHT joined the Squadron. He has completed a two year tour with Fighter Command, and is to do a Vampire conversion on the Unit.
		16th.	THURSDAY. Battle Flight flew four sorties - three aircraft on the first, and four on the remainder. The first three sorties were P.I.'s and upon return to base from the third they were briefed to fly as pairs with a thirty minute interval patrolling Ahlhorn under ground control as practice targets for radar gun sighting equipment. A square flight pattern was flown at 15,000 feet for thirty minutes by each pair in succession. The rest of the available aircraft were rocketing on the range once it was opened. Before that they practiced cloud flying and Q.G.H.'s as well as a weather recce. The weather was extremely unsettled and by evening there was so much low cloud that Night Flying was impossible. On the rocket programme 44 rockets were fired to no hang-ups. Plt.Off. RAMSAY went to Fassburg in the Meteor to take a course in soft ball. On the way he practiced in Instrument Flying in the back cockpit.
		17th.	FRIDAY. Battle Flight were plagued all day with petty unserviceability. Gradually they used up the aircraft which were on the air/ground firing programme until only one was left. Their first sortie, which was intended to be another calibration run at Ahlhorn, ended in all the aircraft returning, one with suspected barostat failure and the rest through a misunderstanding. Next they went off in pairs and intercepted one another. The rest of the day they did interceptions with other Wings. Flt.Lt. PATERSON flew the Tiger Moth locally. 600 rounds were fired during the day with no stoppages.
		18th.	SATURDAY. The Commanding Officer's parade was held in fair weather and was followed by 20 minutes of drill. Plt.Off. RAMSAY returned from Fassburg with all the information necessary to form a soft ball team. Flt.Lt. PATERSON commenced his Continental leave. Yet another new pilot Plt.Off. BOLTON, arrived from O.C.U. to join the Squadron.
		19th.	SUNDAY.
		20th.	MONDAY. One of the available aircraft was on loan to Battle Flight all day. In any case few were available because of servicing troubles and the present lack of experienced manpower. What flying was done consisted mainly of Cine Parallel Quarters. Plt.Off. BOULTON was checked out in a Meteor and later did a sector recce in a Vampire. Two of the pilots flew the meteor all day on simulated I.F. The weather continued very fair. Sgt. WILLIAMS left the Squadron to attend a course at O.C.T.U. on the 29th. Plt.Off. GOODWILL returned from U.K. leave.
		21st.	TUESDAY. Once again cine formed the main part of the flying programme. A few familiarisation and sector recce flights were flown. Gp.Capt. POWELL-SHEDDON flew twice with Sqn.Ldr. McGREGOR on formation sorties. The Meteor was once again used for I.F. Plt.Off. STANDISH and Sgt. WEBSTER both passed their Instrument Rating Tests. The weather was cloudless all day and led into a beautiful evening during which 11 night flying sorties were flown. Night flying ended uneventfully at 22.30 hours.
		22nd.	WEDNESDAY. The main commitment in the morning was for Army co-operation work near Ahlhorn. Pairs of aircraft were to fly over detailed pinpoints, doing simulated high level rocket attacks and then to make a high level run over the pinpoint at 20,000 feet. The remainder of the flying consisted of odd trips of aerobatics and cine Quarter Attacks in trail, as they will eventually have to be done at Sylt. No low flying is being done at all as there are still isolated occurrences of barostat failure. The afternoon was spent playing Soft-Ball.
		23rd.	THURSDAY. With aircraft available thirty-two sorties were flown throughout a thoroughly uneventful day. Main emphasis still lay with cine practice for Sylt. The Zone remained in an area of high pressure which gave good weather with slightly decreased visibility.
		24th.	FRIDAY. The Squadron was on the rocketing range all day and fired 93 rockets, suffering 3 hang-ups. Results were watched with interest to see whether the fitting of new short rocket rails made any difference. Fg.Off's WOOD and BATES, while doing I.F. in the Meteor had a turbine blade fracture but landed successfully on the airfield where a slight fire in the engine was extinguished. Sqn.Ldr. McGREGOR flew to Gutersloh. Although the cloud coverage increased rapidly in the afternoon and caused flying to be suspended, he returned early in the evening.
		25th.	SATURDAY. The normal C.O.'s parade in the morning was followed by a full kit inspection for the airmen in their Barrack Block.
		26th.	SUNDAY.
		27th.	MONDAY. The N.C.O.'s and officers had their first taste of Spring Drill from 07.30 to 08.00 ours. This is to continue at the same time for a fortnight. Three of the pilots started a weeks training of Pre-Flight Inspections with the airmen. At the end of this time they will be tested and qualified as Crew Chiefs. The weather was good with a strong cross wind, and the poor early morning visibility gradually improved throughout the day. Once again cine was concentrated on. Flt.Sgt. TELFER joined the Squadron. He comes from Towing Flight at Sylt, and although his Vampire conversion is still being completed he has been with Operational Squadrons previously.
		28th.	TUESDAY. All day the weather was somewhat threatening, with a fair incidence of thunder storms. Cine was again flown all day. One radar calibration sortie was flown with Oldenburg airfield as the point of aim. Fg.Off. WOOD took and passed his Re-Rating Test. Towards evening the rain showers became less frequent and the convection cloud subsided enough not to interfere with the Night Flying programme. None of the sorties were cancelled and the programme went off uneventfully, finishing by 23.00 hours.
		29th.	WEDNESDAY. Work began on the Monthly Returns. The available aircraft were used on a programme of low level cross countries as a change form the incessant cine which has been occupying the Squadron of late. Two aircraft went to G.C.A. training at Wunstorf. They flew down as a pair, did their G.C.A.'s separately, and returned as a pair after refuelling. The weather was fair with a few large Cu, giving infrequent showers. In the afternoon Soft-ball was played by the airmen and the aircrew who were not engaged on other sport. The weather however proved disastrous and after several soakings again was abandoned.
		30th.	THURSDAY. The best days were at the beginning of the month succeeded in disposing of 101 rockets. The hang-up rate - nine - was excessive because one aircraft which had two hang-ups on its first trip was flown again to determine whether the plugs had been faultily connected by the airman at the end of the runway. Also several aircraft have shown signs of intermittent functioning of the firing circuit due to vibration of the rocket rail stubs. This sort of fault was very difficult to detect on the ground. Two air tests were flown and one of the new pilots did a sortie of aerobatics and practiced Q.G.H.'s.
			ADMINISTRATION The unit is now starting to enter the period when the rundown of the more experienced pilots who have been on the strength for two and half years will occur. This combined with losses to courses, Korea, etc., make for a rather unsettling time ahead. The shortage of advanced airframe trades is still the main stumbling block in keeping on top of aircraft unserviceability. The normal daily availability remains around six or seven aircraft but should improve shortly.
			Total hours flown -Vampire. 311.40 Meteor. 17.00 Sorties flown -Vampire. 431 Meteor. 23 Ammunition expended - 20 m.m. 600 rounds R/P336
			MOVEMENTS Sgt. R.G. KNIGHTPosted in w.e.f. 15.4.53. Plt.Off. A.G. RAMSAYPosted in w.e.f. 8.4.53. Plt.Off. R.D.G. BOULTONPosted in w.e.f. 18.4.53. F/Sgt. C.J. TELFERPosted in w.e.f. 27.4.53. Sgt. C. WILLIAMSPosted to O.C.T.U. w.e.f. 21.4.53. Flt.Lt. A.W. PATERSON.Leave w.e.f. 18.4.53. Flt.Lt K.M. PEARCH.Leave w.e.f. 17.4.53. Plt.Off. G. GOODWILL.Returned from leave w.e.f. 20.4.53. Sgt. J.E.M. WALKER ) Sgt. D.T. THOMAS )Returned from leave w.e.f. 5.4.53. Sgt. D. WEBSTERGrant and leave 7th - 13th -4-53.
			NOMINAL ROLL OF PILOTS Sqn.Ldr. S.M. McGREGOR "A" FLIGHT"B" FLIGHT FLT.LT. A.W. PATERSON FLT.LT. K.M. PEARCH Fg.Off. A.V.H. STURMAN Fg.Off. J.E.F. HARDCASTLE Fg.Off. J.G.M. WOOD Fg.Off. E.K.G. BATES Fg.Off. A.R. WALLACE Fg.Off. G.W. SPEARMAN Plt.Off. D.W. STANDISH Plt.Off. G.F.C. GOODWILL Plt.Off. R.D.G. BOULTON Plt.Off. A.C. RAMSAY Sgt. D. WEBSTER F/Sgt. C.J. TELFER Sgt. C. WILLIAMS Sgt, J.E.M. WALKER Sgt. D.J. THOMAS Sgt. R.G. KNIGHT. Signed SM McGregor (S. M. McGREGOR) 4th May, 1953.Squadron Leader, Commanding, No. 93 Squadron, R.A.F.