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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0819.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 31, 1931 ; SOMEWHERE IN BLUELAND": No. 12 (Bomber) Squadron in readiness at Andover before setting off to raid Redland. (FLIGHT Photo.) sky, and the few that there were floated about at an enor-mous height. The day bombers would rind no cover from them. Consequently they flew at a very great altitude,wnere it was extremely difficult to spot them with the naked eye, and even binoculars had difficulty in pickingthem up and identifying the type of machine. Anxious to see something of the two-seater fighters, Iwent to Kenley for the evening operations. The squadrons stationed there are No. 23 (Fighter) Squadron, underSquadron Leader Woollett, D.S.O., M.C., which, as stated above, has two nights of Bulldogs and one of Harts ; andNo. 32 F.S., under Squadron Leader B. E. Baker, D.S.O., M.C., A.F.C., which is completely equipped with Bulldogs.No. 23 F.S. was the duty squadron for the evening, and the Bulldogs and Hart fighters were drawn up on theaerodrome waiting for orders. A large chunk of the aero- drome was undergoing levelling operations, which rathercramped the style of a squadron about to take off. As zero hour approached, the station klaxons enlivened theafternoon by indulging in a little band practice. We had not long to wait. The first wave of bomberswould doubtless cross the coast at 6 p.m., and the second wave at 6.30 p.m. At seven minutes past six, a Verylight was fired, and immediately No. 23 F.S. buzzed with activity. Handles turned in the cockpit set the com-pressed-air starters working on the Jupiter engines, and they responded promptly. The Kestrels were in motionjust as quickly. " A " Flight (the three Harts) taxied out, turned into wind, and took off as speedily as eachmachine could contrive. The two Bulldog flights followed in the same manner. They took up formation when inthe air. I suppose this was due to the levelling opera- tions ; but I could not help recalling a raid warning atKenley in the 1928 Exercises, when the same squadron, then flying " Gamecocks," had taken off by flights, eachflight in perfect formation as it left the ground. That certainly looked much better, but I -wonder if the take-offindividually and the rally in the air saves a trifle of time. It may do so, and, if so, it is an improvement, forseconds may be of importance when Nos. 12 and 33 B.S. are out on the raid. I had hoped to see a raid come over Kenley aerodrome,or, at least, within sight of it, and be engaged by No. 23 F.S., as I had been lucky enough to see in 1928. Thistime I was not so lucky, and our defenders vanished from sight into the vast expanse of gleaming blue sky. Theofficial report says that No. 23 F.S. engaged No. 33 B.S. over the Wormwood Scrubbs target, and kept up a runninglight for 15 min. A long fight, that, and it is described as a heavy one. Five of the bombers were judged to havebeen shot down, while the fighters lost four machines. It is very noteworthy that on this raid, No. 33 B.S. had the better of No. 43 F.S., the only " Fury " squadron.In the neighbourhood of Petworth the raiders passed 10,000 ft. over the heads of the interceptors, who abso-lutely failed to see them. The communique in question states that No. 33 B.S.came in near Bognor about 6.30 p.m. In that case, No. 23^ F.S. had got into the air some 20 min. before thisparticular raid had crossed the coast. One is set wondering whether information of that raid had been receivedactually before it crossed the coast (which hardly seems likely), or whether No. 23 F.S. had been ordered up tocatch another raid but failed to find it, and spotted No. 33 B.S. more or less by chance. Another possibilityis that No. 23 F.S. was sent up on general patrol on the grounds that some raids that evening were sure to cross itssector, and that it was directed by wireless on to No. 331 B.S. when that squadron was reported as having come in.No. 23 returned and landed after having been just an hour in the air. There was a good deal to interest the privileged spec-tators during the time of waiting. For one thing, Kenley aerodrome is not at all an unpleasant spot on which tospend a fine summer afternoon, and the mess is a hospit- able place where one can retire for periodic refreshment.The booming of invisible engines overhead was almost incessant. Several times we saw formations, sometimes asquadron, sometimes a couple of flights, of Bulldogs flying about over Biggin Hill aerodrome, where we knew thatNos. 3 and 17 (Fighter) Squadrons were living under canvas for the period of the exercises. The communiquetold us afterwards that No. 17 F.S. were after No. 602 (City of Glasgow) (Bomber) Squadron. The Scots. Auxiliaries had got up the Thames estuary unperceived,and had dropped a ton of bombs on the R.A.F. Depot at Kidbrooke. Then they were caught by No. 17 F.S., whichshot down four of the " Wapitis," with the loss of two- Bulldogs. Presently, in the west, we saw a line of Archie bursts,the white puffs looking very pretty against the azure blue sky. They recalled memories of Ypres in April, 1915, when-first I saw those white puffs, and a German aeroplane zig- zagging to escape them. How we of the P.B.I, longed to-see a direct hit! But Archie in those days was seldom so lucky. This time the white puffs rather surprised us,for we had been given to understand that anti-aircraft guns were not taking an active part in these exercises, andthe final communique confirmed this opinion. These little smoke shells were obviously fired well below and to therear of a bomber formation, but they served to draw our attention to it. Even so, it was with some difficulty thatour binoculars picked up the raiders. We hoped that some patrolling fighters would see them too, but they passed 765
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