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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 0504.PDF
3O2 FLIGHT to 1947 SERVICE Royal Air Force and Naval Aviation News and Announcements PARADE IN THE SUN : TheVickers Vikings of the King's Flight make a proud sight asthey await the Royal Family at Bloemfontein. Battle of Britain Memorial HIS MAJESTY THE KING hasgraciously consented to unveil the Battle of Britain Chapel in WestminsterAbbey at noon on Thursday, July 10th, 1947. The next of kin of aircrew ofR.A.F. Commands and the Fleet Air Arm who are known to have lost theirlives ID the battle (between July 10th and October 31st, 1940) are invited tosubmit written applications without delay for tickets to enable them toattend the ceremony. When submitting applications next ofkin are requested to state their relation- ship and the number, rank, full namesand squadron of the aircrew in respect of whom application is made. As thespace is limited, the number of tickets it will be possible to issue to any applicantwill depend on the number of applica- tions received. All applications and en-quiries should be addressed to Air Min- istry (S.4 (f)). King Charles Street,Whitehall, S.W.i. Bruneval Ceremony THE historic raid on the Brunevalradar installation will be com- memorated by a monument, the firststone of which is to be laid near the site by General de Gaulle next Sunday. Air-craft of the R.A.F. may fly past, and there will be a strong military repre-sentation, including men who took part in the raid. It may be recalled that after the in-stallation had been located by a P.R.U. aircraft in 1941 S/L. "Tony" Hill, con-sidered the greatest low-oblique photo- C grapher of the war, made a close recon-naissance and reported on the appearance of the installation, but his camera failed. Next day, when about to take offagain, he was stopped because three air- craft from another squadron werescheduled ta be near Bruneval at the same time. Thereupon, it is said, hetaxied across and told them that if he found them within 20 miles of the targethe would shoot them down. He got his pictures unmolested and they were amongthe classics of the war. The French Resistance Movement, whoare subscribing to the cost of the memorial, which is near the site of theraided radar station, provided a plan of the German defences. The success of thelanding finally depended on F/S. C. W. H. Cox, who had never beforeleft England, by sea or air. Warned at his final briefing of the danger of interro-gation if captured, and above all against any German who might be kind to him,he smiled and said: "I can stand a lot of kindness, sir." Parachuting with theArmy Commandos from one of the R.A.F. carrying aircraft, which were ledby the late G/C. P. C. Pickard, his cool- ness under fire in dismantling the Germanradar set, which bore bullet scars when he brought it back helped largely towardsthe success of the raid. Exit the Fore-and-Aft? A BERET may be adopted for allranks of the R.A.F. and W.A.A.F., replacing the forage cap for men. The badge will be clipped to the front, above the right eye. VS. of S. Defends Aircraft WTH a very cheerful gathering at theConnaught Rooms, on March 24th, the University of London Air Squadronheld their first post-war dinner. Intro- ducing the guest of honour, Mr. Geoffreyde Freitas, M.P., U.S. of S. for Air, W/C. D. W. Reid, D.F.C., the Chief Instruc-tor, gave a review of the squadron's history from its formation in 1935, Badge of No. 123 (East India) Squad- ron, R.A.F.—"Swrift to Strike." Badge of Central Gunnery Sch<ool, R.A.F.—"I hold myaim." through the vicissitudes of war up to thepresent basing at Biggin Hill with a strength of three Tiger Moths and anexpectation «of eight. The present estab- lishment of the squadron is 100, but forthe current year a strength of 75 per cent obtains, although there is no lack ofapplications for membership. Ex-R.A.F. members are on the strength for the firsttime, completing training, and the squadron is again effectively a V.R.training establishment. Mr. Geoffrey de Freitas, said in hisspeech: " I have heard it said that the aero-plane to-day is as obsolete as the battle- ship and that the age of pilotless aircraftand guided missiles is upon us. I can assure you that the aeroplane will bewith us for many, many years. This is not devotion to an instrument whichserved us so well in the last war, and it is not reliance on the weapons of the lastwar to fight the next war. It is merely a statement based on the stage of tech-nical development which we have reached. Furthermore, I can assure youthat the air marshals and generals of to- day are not like the cavalry officers ofnot so long ago who refused to experi- ment with tanks because they did notwhinny or eat hay." Among the guests were A. V-M. SirAllan Lees, C. in C. Reserve Command, A. V-M. F. H. M. Maynard, A. Cdre.E. P. H. Davies, A.O.C. 65 (L.R) Group, and A. Cdre. D. MacFadyen. Borneo CourierT HE following account by F/O. R. P.Connor illustrates the value of the work of a non-military nature now under-taken by the R.A.F. Regularly once a week, he writes,sharp at 8 a.m. every Thursday, a Sunderland of No. 209 Squadron takesoff from R.A.F. Base, Seletar, with a load of passengers, freight and mail,bound for a round trip of Borneo. En route, the aircraft calls in at Kuching,Labuan and Jesselton, and if the neces- sity arises it will stop at remote placessuch as Brunei, Sandakan, Sibu and Kudat. This service is a very popular one withthe European inhabitants of Borneo, as
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