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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0387.PDF
23 February 1950 259 BRISTOL FICHTER 3A ,-. 191& A.W. ATLAS 1929 UAWKSK A OB AX , , ISS3 take-off, and often sank axle-deep in the all-embracing mud.Up to this time, since re-forming, the squadron had not had a photographic section. At Farnborough all processing workhad been done for them by the School of Photography. At Kilia, for the first six weeks, the work was done on moonlessnights in two bell tents and a three-ton lorry. Towards the end of October gales of 60-70 m.p.h. were ex-perienced. Hangars and tents were blown down and torn to shreds. With the winds came heavy rains, causing extensiveflooding. The portable hangars—of the R.E.7 type—were in bad condition, having been packed when taken out of usedaring the war. When one was unrolled some letters and par- cels dated 1916 fell out. One letter was signed " Two OldLadies of Ascot''! In an attempt to combat the mud problem a rough runwaymeasuring 60 yards by 10 yards was made with wire netting stretched over canvas and pegged. By this means it was hopedto get the Brisfits near enough to flying-speed to avoid their sinking. It was found that even when on this "runway"they sank five or six inches, and conditions eventually got so bad that the aircraft had to stand on planks even when in thehangars. A move was then made to Kilid el Bahr. The old-type horse-drawn G.S. wagons were found to be the only serviceable trans- port under such primitive conditions, and there were no hangarsat all for those of the R.E.7 type had been torn to shreds, and no transport was able to bring up the heavier Bessonneau kind. The squadron returned to England in September, 1923, againgoing to its old station at Farnborough, and in May, 1924, was re-designated No. 4 (Army Co-operation) Squadron. The oldpeacetime training programme became the order of the day, with reviews and displays to relieve the monotony. In 1925, S/L. Blount, who had commanded the squadronfor a longer period than any other CO., was posted and his place taken by S/L. J. C. Slessor (now Air Chief Marshal SirJohn Slessor, G.C.B., D.S.O., M.C., the recently appointed Chief of Air Staff). The new CO. had joined the R.F.C. in thespring of 1915, and was wounded while flying a B.E.2e in 1916. He took over just in time for the King's review and the bigmanoeuvres that took place in 1925. The next year saw the General Strike and, because thingslooked somewhat ugly at times in the North, No. 4 was sent to Tumhouse to patrol railways in case of possible sabotage andderailment. The stores of wartime aircraft were then coming to an end,and new designs were being tried out. The prototypes of the Vickers Vespa, Armstrong Whitworth Atlas, De HavillandHyena and Bristol Boarhound were all sent to the squadron for trials, but it was not until 1929 that the Bristol Fighterswere discarded in favour of the Atlas. In addition to the usual camps with the Army and manoeuvres,giving air-experience flights to Army officers and O.T.C.s of universities and schools, there was the occasional practicemobilization. One such practice started on October zoth, 1931. War equipment was fitted, reservists reported, and the squad-ron moved off to Sealand. By 1630 hr on the 23rd mobilization was complete. Another, held in 1934, took seven days beforeit was completed. One of the members of the squadron in 1934 was F/O. the Viscount Acheson, now a Group Captain. He hasrecalled for the present generation one of two of the '' airfield '' problems of an army co-op pilot of 16 years ago. "The workof Army Co-operation squadrons before World War II," he writes, '' was based on the fact that the squadron aircraft couldoperate from ordinary fields in the neighbourhood of the Army H.Q. to which the squadron was attached. This necessitatedthe pilots being trained to land their aircraft, i.e., the Audax, in small fields. " Secondly, the pilot of those days was sent up on sortiesof anything up to two hours, during which time he covered a reasonably large area of ground and had to send his own mes-sages back by Morse. Flying the aircraft was more or less coincidental, and his passenger was an air-gunner who confinedhis activities to looking out for ' enemy' aircraft. "I remember that once, when 'A' Flight was attached tothe one and only armoured brigade at Tilshead in 1934, our ' airfield' was a strip of ground on the side of a hill approxi-mately 75 yards by 350 yards, the long leg being along the slope. Landing on this strip caused a deal of excitement (andamusement to the watching Army officers) whenever the wind was not up or down the long leg. Furthermore, the positioowas complicated when the tanks lost their way one night on returning from a mannoeuvre, and wandered across the middleof our strip, only failing to demolish our tents by a matter of six feet. The mess their tracks made of the strip made our life even more exciting. " We had an extremely close liaison with the Army in those days and 3pent a great amount of our time between exercises and giving Army officers air experience. Liaison is as close as ever today, but it cannot be as personal as it was then." S/L. E. J. Kingston-McLoughry, who is now an Air Vice- Marshal and A.O.C. No. 38 Group, took over command of No. 4 in January, 1936, and the first air liaison officer, Capt. J. R. Kirkman, R.A., was posted to the squadron. The same year the unit's present badge was approved by King Edward VIII. The motto "In Futurum Videre" (freely translated, " Looking Ahead ") refers to the main role of reconnaissance. The badge (the sun in splendour divided pet band by a flash of lightning) symbolizes " light for the army"—the black half indicating night reconnaissance. The flash has two interpretations, speed of action and the squadron's early asso- ciation with wireless telegraphy. It was S/L. Kingston-McLoughry, incidentally, who took the precaution of having Cody's tree at Farnborough fenced in and preserved. Changes of aircraft had come. The Atlases had been replaced in 1931 by -Hawker Audaxes and these were changed for Hectors in 1937. In 1938 the squadron was again re-equipped, this time with Westland Lysanders and with these, in 1939, No. 4 went to war for the second time. On September 22nd, the rail party entrained for Southamp- ton and embarked in the Maid of Orleans for Cherbourg. From there they proceeded to Mons-en-Chaussee where they were joined by the air. party to become a unit of No. 50 (Army Co- operation) Wing, which was part of the Air Component of the British Expeditionary Force. S/L. G. P. Charles was in command. On arrival at Mons-en-Chaussee it was found that the M.T. had not put in an appearance and the airmen were without either blankets or kit. Rations were drawn from the French Air Force: bread, jam, Camembert cheese—and horse-meat. The blankets eventually arrived on October 1st. On October 12th a Wing parade was held of No. 4 and their companions from Odiham, No. 13 Squadron. Inspection was by A.V-M. Blount who had commanded No. 4 in 1920. Before settling down to the "phoney" war, there followed a long period of wondering whether the Germans would come through Belgium, as they had in 1914. The weather generally was bad, airfields were frequently unserviceable and anything—classes, football, boxing, P.T. and debating—was used to combat boredom. The Army were, of course, continually asking for air photographs of various areas and this gave the unit some real work to do. * (Above) Two early commanding officers: Left, Major Jenkins, who had the squadron in 1916 and, right, Major R. E. Saul, who succeeded him. (Below) The German airfield at Linselles. taken over by No. 4 in October, 1918, during the final advance.
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