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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1960.PDF
•536 FLIGHT NOVEMBER 6TH, 1947 Service Aviation Spectacular Training SPITFIRES, Mustangs and Corsairs otthe British Commonwealth Air Forces demonstrated their striking-power in an exercise over the Japanese Inland Sea during September. The display was watched by Lt. Gen. E. C. Whitehead (Commanding General of the Far East Air Force, with Headquarters in Tokyo), Maj. Gen. K. B. Wolfe (Commanding General, 5th U.S. Air Force), Lt. Gen. H. C. H. Robertson (Commander-in- Chief, British Commonwealth Occupation Force), Lt. Gen. V. H. Sturdee (Chief of the General Staff, Australian Military Forces) and other high-ranking Allied commanders. The operation was under the command of Air Vice Marshal C. A. Bouchier, C.B., C.B.E., D.F.C. (A.O.C. B.C.A.I.R.). The striking-force consisted of three squadrons of R.P.-firing Mustangs of the R.A.A.F., two squadrons of Spitfire fighter-bombers of the R.A.F. and one squadron of R.P.-firing and bomb-carry- ing Corsairs of the R.N.Z.A.F. Before the attack the aircraft flew in squadron formation over the Australian destroyer H.M.A.S. Bataan which had the C.-in-C. B.C.O.F. and Lt. Gen. Sturdee aboard. Then for 45 minutes high explosive bombs and rockets pounded the five tar- gets set along the beaches of a small uninhabited island between Hiroshima and Miyajima. Spitfires opened the dis- play with a bombing attack, after which they re-formed and dived to strafe a second target with 20 mm and 0.5 inch gun fire. Next the Corsairs attacked in a dive from 6,000 feet, and fired their rockets from a thousand yards. The first salvo struck the target, which burst into flames. Forty-eight Mustangs now came in, each firing ten 60-lb high explosive R.P.s at Japanese landing barges, filled with contaminated fuel, beached on the fore- shore. Direct hits soon caused the barges to explode and as rocket after rocket struck home, flames and smoke rose to i.ooo feet. Re-forming in sections of four the Mustangs dived on the island again and spattered the beaches and foot- LUNCH AT VALKEN&URG : News that the Netherlands Air Force, like the R.A.F., is to adopt the Gloster Meteor IV as its standard interceptor, lends interest to this luncheon party at Valkenburg earlier this year. Mr. Eric Greenwood modestly effaces himself with blossoms. Next to him is Rear-Admiral M. de Vries, G\C. Heber-Percy and Mr. R. Harker. In the foreground is Flag Officer A. W. Witholt and on the right, partly visible, General J. J. C. P. Wilson. hills with thousands of rounds of 0.5inch machine gun ammunition. The last attack was dive bombing bythe New Zealand Corsairs. As the 500- 1b bombs found their mark plumes ofdebris, rock and earth were flung sky- wards. Delayed action fuses on thebombs enabled aircraft to fly out of the danger area before the explosion. Winter Trials T TNDER the command of Lt. Cdr. (P.)w H. P. Leidl, Royal Canadian Navy, a combined Royal Navy and R.C.N. de-tachment is again testing modern first- line aircraft under severe winter condi-tions at the Winter Experimental Establishment, R.C.A.F. Station, Ed-monton, Alberta. The programme opened on September 1st and will continue untilspring. A Firefly IV, a Sea Fury and a Sea Hornet are the aircraft concerned.At Edmonton last year, in a temperature GENTLY DOES IT: S/L White (right) of the R.A.F. Institute of Tropical Medicine and Pathology, supervises a demonstrtrtion of how an injured pilot should be extracted from a crashed Spitfire. of 50 deg below zero, a Firefly I witha cold engine started with only one cart- ridge. The combined R.N. and R.C.N. partyat Edmonton is subject to purely Naval discipline and the Naval Division,H.M.C.S. Nonsuch, acts as the "mother ship." However, the party works inclose co-operation with the R.C.A.F. and is under the general administration of theAir Force station. P.R.O.s QatherB Y the end of the war Public Rela-tions Officers of the R.A.F. had pro- duced nearly 20,000 news stories, takenmore than 44,000 photographs and 6,000,000 feet of film and producedpamphlets of which more than 10,000,000 copies were sold. These facts must havegiven great satisfaction to those who attended the first annual dinner of theAir Public Relations Association on October 18th. Lord Willoughby deBroke, former D.P.R. Air Ministry, gave the toast of the Air Ministry, to whichSir James Barnes, Permanent Under- secretary of State, responded. SirArthur Street, wartime P.U.S. at the Air Ministry and now Vice-Chairman ofthe National Coal Board, also spoke. message from Mr. Arthur Henderson,newly appointed Secretary of State for Air, was read by the chairman, AirChief Marshal Sir Philip Joubert. An- other was received from Lord Tedder. ReunionsA NY ex-members of No. 2 A.D.U.(M.E.) who were not present at the first reunion dinner on September 27thand would like to have news of any similar occasion should communicatewith H. H. Wynn, 33, Darley Avenue, West Didsbury, Manchester, 20. # # * It is proposed to hold a reunion inLondon early in 1948 for members of No. 547 Squadron. Those interested areinvited to write for details to F/O. J. W. Daley, R.A.F. Station, Deflord, Worces-tershire.
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