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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0544.PDF
FLIGHT, JUNE 10, 1932 guns have a good range of fire. If she can sight her assailant she ought to give a good account of herself. In the Air Exercises of 1930 it may be remembered that the A.O.C. of the southern belligerent country used his night bombers for long-range raids into the northern terri tory by day. There was a gap through the imaginary mountain range near Sealand, and as the distance from the southern aerodromes to the northern centres via this gap was beyond the range of the southern day bombers, the northern command left the gap unguarded. It was very much surprised when the " Virginias " flew up by day through this gap, absolutely unmolested, and calmly pro ceeded to bomb some important points. Both No. 7 and No. 58 B.S. were employed on that adventurous raid. It showed that the work of heavy bombers need not neces sarily be confined only to night bombing. The establishment of a night bomber squadron is 10 machines organised in two flights. Each flight is com manded by a squadron leader, and the squadron by a wing commander. The station of Worthy Down is com manded by a group captain. The present Station CO. is Group Capt. J. R. W. Smyth-Pigott, D.S.O., who took his Aero Club certificate (No. 725) on January 15, 1914, having learnt to fly at the old Bristol School. The great pride of Worthy Down station is that every year one or other of its squadrons wins the Lawrence Minot Trophy presented for the best all-round night bomber squadron of the year. No. 58 Squadron won it a couple of years ago, and No. 7 has won it four or five times. It is given for points gained in competitions at Catfoss shooting camp. Squadrons have to compete with practice bombs and live bombs both by day and night. Marks are also given for machine-gun practice at targets in the air and on the ground, as well as for other elements of efficiency. No. 7 B.S. rejoices in the possession of automatic pilots on all its machines. This device is a great success. Not only does it rest the pilots and relieve the strain of diffi cult flying, but it definitely makes flying possible on days when, without the automatic pilot, no cross-country fly ing would be advisable. One senior pilot of the squadron mentioned an occasion when he was in the north of the country and was due to fly back on a certain day to Worthy Down. The weather was dirty and treacherous, and he said frankly that on another type of machine he would have postponed his start. But with the automatic pilot he felt absolute confidence, and got home with no untoward results. The device makes other things possible, too, such as flying in formation through clouds. No. 58 Squadron recalled how on the daylight raid in 1930, after passing through the Sealand gap, they met huge banks of clouds. No. 7 B.S. in front of them climbed unhesi tatingly in formation into the clouds. The automatic pilots would not be confused by the lack of visibility and would see to it that there were no collisions. No. 58 had to work painfully round, and as they approached their objective they met No. 7 B.S. returning home, having released all their bombs. A device which makes such a difference to operations is a great asset. No. 58 B.S. is proud of the fact that not only was it a night bomber squadron during the war, but also when it was re-formed in 1922 by Sqd. Ldr. Harris it was then the only night bomber squadron in the Royal Air Force. One of the best known officers in the squadron after its resur rection was the late Sqd. Ldr. Longton, who was as skil ful in handling a twin-engined bomber as he was with the fastest racing machines of those days. It was No. 58 which supplied the machine from which our photographer took the photographs which illustrate this article. The five-point electrical communication device on the machine is a great convenience, and the skill of the pilot (who inci dentally is one of the well-known athletes of the Royal Air Force) in handling his great machine was impressive. The pictures of the formation flying by both squadrons speak for themselves. By night, of course, squadrons do not fly in formation. Both squadrons have honourable war records, and below we give short accounts of the history of each. No. 7 (Bomber) Squadron No. 7 Squadron has a long and very honourable war history. Its function during the war was army co-opera tion, which included artillery observation, photography, contacts patrols, bombing behind the enemy's lines, and occasional attacks with machine guns on enemy troops. Its work was mostly carried out on B.E. machines of various categories up to June, 1917, and after that on R.E. 8's. The formation of the squadron was commenced in the summer before the war, namely, in May, 1914, at South Farnborough. The process was not complete when war was declared, and not unnaturally all the personnel were trans ferred to other squadrons which were going overseas. The war had not been in progress for long, however, when it became apparent that four squadrons would not suffice for the needs of Sir John French's Army. As the battle lines became consolidated after the battle of the Aisne, the demand for more squadrons arose, and the formation of No. 7 was taken up again in September, 1914. The officer entrusted with this task was Capt. A. G. Board, who is Off on a night raid : Warming up the " Lion " engines. 504 (FLIGHT Photo.)
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