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SUMMARY OF EVENTS COMPILING OFFICER Fg. Off. B.A.E. Sanderson. |
REF. TO APPENDICES |
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| R.A.F. Jever |
1st. |
November 1956 |
A good start was made to the beginning of this month, seven aircraft were
serviceable and the first four were airborne by 0815 hours.
Unfortunately Fg. Off. J.E. Pigdon and Fg. Off. P. Leigh-Lancaster were involved
in a major accident on the airfield: one ended up in sick quarters. [Click here to see 93 Squadron Stories for a fully description]
At Midday in rather poor conditions the aerobatic team gave a bad weather show
for the German press. In the afternoon Amber 3 conditions prevailed with restricted
flying. In spite of this however the Squadron finished up with a total of 31.10
hours flown for 41 sorties. |
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2nd. |
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Squadron flying commenced at 09.30 hours this morning when the fog lifted to
low cloud and poor visibility. At about 1200 hrs. Fg. Offs. B.A.E. Sanderson, R.
Garthwaite and R.H. Biggs were diverted to Leeuwarden through the unexpected arrival
of a bank of fog over the airfield. This dispersed in the afternoon. |
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3rd. |
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Inclement weather prevented any flying this morning, so the pilots and
ground crew got down to Squadron jobs. We were stood down at midday for the
weekend. Flying on Saturday morning is generally not considered, as the majority of
airmen are on Trade Training lectures. |
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5th. |
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Fog which had been with us over the weekend soon cleared and a good days flying
ensued. High level Battle formation and Dog fights had been briefed for. Quite
a few kills were claimed. When the hangar doors were shut we had achieved 44:30 hrs.
from 53 sorties.
Fg. Off. J.R. Lynn returned from leave.
Fg. Off. R. Garthwaite proceeded to Wildenwrath for an Aviation Medicine Course. |
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6th. |
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Green weather conditions prevailed. Training consisted of practice Snake
climbs, Battle formation and Dog fights. Again a good day's effort for 40.10 hrs.
out of 51 sorties were achieved. |
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7th. |
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Weather restricted us to limited flying but we managed five turn rounds on four
aircraft by 11.30 hrs., when the station assembled for an address by the Station
Commander who spoke on the international situation. Sports afternoon followed.
In the evening the squadron pilots held a dinner to say farewell to three members
Fg. Offs. W.B.C. Ritchie, D. Exley, and P. Leigh-Lancaster and one Honorary member
Fg. Off. A. Avery (Tech), who are due for repatriation. |
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8th. |
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Fg. Off. D. Exley left this morning by car for the U.K., repatriated. With him
went Fg. Off. A.W.E. Johnston on three weeks leave.
Fg. Off. C. Taylor has come back to the Squadron after leave and an I.R.E.'s
course at West Raynham.
Bad haze conditions prevailed with clear blue skies. Main emphasis today has
been on cine quarters.
A number of night flying sorties were carried out. |
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9th. |
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The airfield remained amber most of the day. High level cine quarters were the
day's task. A lot of emphasis is now being placed on cine practice in preparation
for air to air firing at Sylt in the New Year. |
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10th. |
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The Squadron paraded as No. 2 Flight on the Station Commander's Parade at 0805
hrs. and then dispersed to the Squadron Hangar. The pilots were debriefed on their
cine practice. Results showed a general improvement throughout. Routine servicing
was carried out in the Hangar.
Flt. Lt. B. Watson left for Berlin on a Rugby tour, and is returning Monday. |
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11th. |
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500ft. and less than a mile visibility prevented any flying today. A general
discussion on Q.G.H. and G.C.A. procedures was held in the Wing Briefing room. This
was followed by a very interesting talk given by Wg. Cdr. A. Shaw on our present
Control and reporting technique and equipment.
The day finished with a keen game of football between ourselves and 118 Squadron.
Servicing consisted of Primaries and aircraft snags rectification.
Fg. Off. W.R. Clayton-Jones proceeded on a three day C and R course. |
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13th. |
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A fairly low cloud base restricted flying in the morning to pairs of aircraft
which carried out cine practices. The weather cleared in the afternoon and the
Squadron flew some dusk sorties in the evening. |
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14th. |
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Only five sorties were carried out in the morning. This was due to a warm
sector giving very marginal conditions. The afternoon was a normal sports afternoon. |
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15th. |
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Good conditions prevailed with the result that 33 hours 20 minutes were flown.
The Squadron carried out cine quarters in the morning and Battle formation training
in the afternoon ending the day with dusk sorties. |
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16th. |
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Aircraft serviceability remained good throughout the day and eight Hunters were
flown continually producing a total of 41.35 hours. Dog fights and coordinated cine
quarters at high level were carried out. The quarters showed much promise and
a number of kills were claimed in the dog fights.
A Station Dining In Night was held where Fg. Off. W.B.C. Ritchie and P. Leigh-
Lancaster were dined out. |
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17th. |
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The Squadron has now flown 304 hours 45 minutes this month and is well on its
way to reaching their target. Primary and rectification servicing was pursued
in the hangar while the pilots were given an interesting lecture by Lt. T.F.B.
Young (R.N.) on carrier operations in the Royal Navy. |
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19th. |
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Aircraft unserviceability, such as hydraulic leaks, reduced the flying programme
to a minimum.
Fg. Off. W.B.C. Ritchie and Fg. Off. P. Leigh-Lancaster were given a grand send
off after three years valuable service on the Squadron. Squadron Leader D.F.M.
Browne A.F.C. proceeded on ten days leave to U.K. and Flt. Lt. A.J. Colvin took over
the command of the Squadron. |
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20th. |
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The number of sorties per day are now being reduced owing to the fact that the
Squadron is now reaching the target, two thirds of the way through the month.
Lt. T.F.B. Young (R.N.) led a section of four aircraft to Bruggen for lunch. Apart
from the beneficial cross-country practice this also gave two of the newer arrivals
the opportunity to familiarise themselves with another 2nd T.A.F station.
12 Night Flying sorties were flown. |
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21st. |
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The morning was devoted to aircraft servicing. Only three Hunter sorties were
flown.
Sports were played in the afternoon during which the Squadron was placed second
in an inter-section cross-country run. |
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22nd. |
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The Squadron reached its target of 348 hours with the completion of the first
sortie. This is the ninth successive month that this has been achieved.
Fg. Off. B.A.E. Sanderson led a section of four aircraft to R.A.F. Wunstorf for
the lunchtime period. |
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23rd. |
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Having passed the target flying is down to a minimum. Only nine Hunter sorties,
carrying out high level battle formation sweeps, were flown.
Twelve instrument training sorties were flown in the Vampire T.11. |
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24th & 25th |
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Station Stand Down. |
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26th. |
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The weather rapidly deteriorated throughout the morning until in the afternoon
winds were reaching gale force and flying ceased.
The Squadron pilots were given a lecture by Flt. Lt. R.S.G. Poole on Broadcast Control
and then attended a film show in the main briefing room on icing before cease work
at 1700 hours. |
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27th. |
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Four aircraft flew eight sorties of pairs on cine quarters carried out at above
thirty thousand feet.
More emphasis is now placed on high level cine-gun practices and good hitting
time results have been achieved by the more experienced pilots.
Two new pilots joined the Squadron this morning, they are Plt. Off. A.J.
Netherton from O.C.U. Chivenor and Plt. Off. R.E. Hymans from Celle, where he was
found to be too long in the leg to fly Venoms. |
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28th. |
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A limited number of sorties were flown eight in all, six on cine quarters and
two on low flying map reading practices. A normal sports afternoon followed. |
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29th. |
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A local fog bank covered the airfield, clearing at 11.30 hours, leaving showery
conditions. The runway was also iced in patches but thawed out by midday.
The G.C.A. equipment has now been installed on the Station for nearly three
months
giving the pilots much valuable practice and also enabling limited flying to be
carried out in marginal weather conditions i.e. 800 yards and three to five hundred
feet. |
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30th. |
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All pilots attended a discussion led by Wing Commander C.O. Brignal C.O.,
Handling
Squadron, Boscombe Down. Many good points were brought out on the 'Pros
and Cons'
of the present Hunter pilots notes.
Ice patches on the runway, which had prevented flying in the morning thawed out
by one o'clock.
Flt. Lt. B. Watson led a section of four aircraft to R.A.F. Celle for the
afternoon. On the return flight interceptions were made against Hunter aircraft from
R.A.F. Oldenburg.
The monthly flying target of 348 hours has been easily passed and the Squadron
is now in sight of the yearly task, nearly 300 hours being required by the end of
December. |
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PERSONNEL |
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5th. |
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Fg. Off. R. Garthwaite Proceeded to Wildenwrath for an Aviation Medicine Course. |
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8th. |
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Fg. Off. R. Garthwaite returned from Wildenwrath. |
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8th. |
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Fg. Off. C. Taylor returned to the Squadron after I.R.E.'s course at West Raynham. |
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12th. |
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Fg. Off. Clayton-Jones proceeded on a three day C. and R. course. |
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OPERATIONAL
November's flying target was comfortably reached and slightly exceeded, to
compensate for the fact that the pilot strength reached a temporary peak of 24 and to
give a little 'cushioning' effect for the month of December in case of consistently bad weather. The annual flying syllabus target for a 14 U.E. Squadron with 19 pilots
is some 4,100 operational hours, and the prospect of reaching this are now very fair.
The beneficial effects of the trial "Flying day Primaries", especially with the rather
depleted ground crew strength, are most noticeable, and this is coupled with a higher
flying intensity in marginal weather conditions, thanks to the G.C.A.: so the winter
prospects are greatly improved over previous years.
The flying training was generally evenly balanced, although extra emphasis was
given to cine exercises at 30,000 feet and above, to compensate for the limitations last
month. Also night and dusk flying was possible more often, with the earlier nights
without increasing the length of the working day. Towards the end of the month
several visits to other airfields were made by sections of four aircraft, which
provided good experience for pilots new in the Command.
Ground lectures have played an increasingly prominent part in this months
training with more frequent bad weather periods. Visiting lecturers and
specialist teams from U.K. are most appreciated and this type of programme could be
profitably extended to include visits from "local" teams, within the Command, who
perform different specialist roles. |
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NOMINAL ROLE OF PILOTS
Sqn. Ldr. D.F.M. Browne, A.F.C. Officer Commanding.
'A' Flight. 'B' Flight.
Flt. Lt. B. Watson Flt. Lt. R.S.G. Poole
Fg. Off. C. Taylor Lt. T.F.B. Young (R.N.)
Fg. Off. C.H.C. Hardie Fg. Off. B.A.E. Sanderson
Fg. Off. J.P. Busby Fg. Off. J.K. Pigdon
Fg. Off. W.R. Clayton-Jones Fg. Off. R.H. Biggs
Fg. Off. A.J. Landon Fg. Off. J.R. Lynn
Fg. Off. A.W.E. Johnston Fg. Off. T. Page
Plt. Off. A.G. Clifton Plt. Off. P.L.F. Bradley
Plt. Off. R.E. Hymans Plt. Off. A.J. Netherton
Nominal Roll of S.N.C.O.s
F.S. O'Neill J.
F.S. Bellas
C.T. Wibberley T.
Sgt. Scholes J.
Sgt. Rowbottom L.
Sgt. Walls A.
Sgt. Granger-Phillips J.W.H.
Sgt. Cowlishaw W.
Sgt. Best B.
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Signed DFM Browne
(D.F.M. BROWNE)
Squadron Leader.
Officer Commanding,
No. 93 Squadron. |
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