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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 2256.PDF
28 December 1950 birthday festivities were held. The day was declared a holidayafter a short parade in the morning, during which a short his- tory of the squadron was read. Celebration dinners were heldin all messes and the day finished with an anniversary ball for all ranks. In September of the same year came another change ofmount—this time to Hawker Harts, with an additional flight (D) having Demons. Six of the Gordons went to No. 14 Squadronand the remaining six to No. 47. On arrival the new Harts were tested for endurance with full war load. The first glimmerings of coming conflict were discernible inFebruary, 1936, when a practice move was made to the squad- ron's war station in the Western desert. With the groundcrews flying by bomber-transport the move took only 24 hours —an excellent performance. By this time No. 6 must haveaccumulated more "know how" on moving camp than had any other unit. By the middle of 1936 the situation in Palestine had de-teriorated very considerably. A striking force had to be kept at 45 minutes' readiness, but most stringent orders were issuedto prevent precipitate action. Propaganda leaflets were dropped over villages, trains escorted and road convoys protected. Someactions were on a considerable scale. For instance, on June 21st a flight escorting a convoy on the Tulkarm-Nablus roadobserved Arabs attacking from both sides. In reply to emer- gency signals sent to H.Q., air action was taken which lasteduntil 19.00 hr. The squadron's aircraft were hit 13 times, forced landings following in three cases. The utmost patience had to be shown, as was exemplifiedwhen, during September, a pilot of No. 6 answered an emer- gency call at Motza and located a group of Arabs. Theypromptly bolted into a nearby hut. Instead of attacking, the pilot informed the road patrol and kept the Arabs pinned in thehut until the arrival of troops to capture the whole gang. On this type of work, the CO., S/L. Massey, was shot throughthe knee, P/O. Rampling was shot through the thigh and wrist, and another Hart was shot down, killing both occupants.For their service during this period S/L. Massey, F/L. Clark and P/O. Bums all were awarded the D.F.C. and Sgt. Dalethe D.F.M. The squadron badge and mono were registered in Novem-ber, 1937, and in connection with this fact there is a tale to relate. Up to February, 1937, the badge consisted of ablack falcon perched inside the loop of the numeral 6. with the motto " Oculi Exercirus." When this design was submittedto the Inspector of RAJ7. Badges for registration he stated 623 in reply that, with few exceptions, numerals were not to beintroduced into R-A.F. badges. A protest was promptly made, pointing out that No. 1 Squadron had been allowed to retainits numeral and also that the existing No. 6 badge had been in use since 1920 and was engraved on all the mess silver.A final reason given was that No. 6 was the oldest of the squadrons never to have been disbanded. The Inspector wasadamant. It seemed that the badge would have to be re- modelled completely—until a bright brain had the idea ofadding a snake's head and tail to the figure 6. Honours were even between the squadron and Higher Authority. . . . Troubles between Arabs and Jews flared up again at theend of 1937 and aircrews were again put at immediate readi- ness. The commanding officer, S/L. E. R. C. Hobson, D.F.C.,was killed (he was awarded a posthumous D.S.O.) and S/L. Selway took over until S/L. Adams arrived on posting. The shooting by the Arabs was very accurate and nearlyevery aircraft was hit by small-arms fire each time the squadron flew a patrol. On October 11th, 1938, two aircraft were lostfrom this cause: both were bit by rifle fire and F/L. Brown force-landed on a road and returned with his air gunner. Theother crew baled out and, although the air gunner returned safely, the pilot, Sgt. Tarrant-Packer, was never heard of again. On the last day of January, 1939, the squadron completed25 years' continuous service. The silver jubilee celebrations were presided over by S/L. N. C. Singer, who had assumedcommand. This period of service earned for the squadron the award of the King's Standard. The disturbed conditions in Palestine continued throughout1939. That life was truly strenuous at times is exemplified by an action which took place in May. P/O. McFall, flyingfrom Haifa, located a large armed band and a continuous series of sorties against them took place, in which Sgt. Jarvis joinedforces. A/C.l Conway, an air gunner, flew alternately with these two pilots, spending 6 hr 45 min over the area and firingover 900 rounds of Lewis-gun ammunition. Both aircraft were hit and Sgt. Coggins in another aircraft, who flew CoL Christieover the area, was seriously wounded. He collapsed after flying back and landing at Jisr el Mujamiyeh. It is very doubtful whether any other unit of any of theServices has ever been awarded so many decorations for bravery during peace-time. For service in Palestine, up to the out-break of war in 1939, members of No. 6 received three D.S.O.s, four D.F.C.s, nine D.F.M.s and two O-B.E.s, while a numberwere mentioned in despatches. (To be concluded) "MAKING ALL EARTH A FANE, ALL HEAVEN ITS DOME'-THE MATCHLESS COMET Tom Hood's vfords seem singularly applicable to the D.H. Comet—built to range fast and far in the pursuit of commerce and peace: an inspiration both in form and purpose—and British to the last rivet. Three Comets already exist; several others will join them in the months ahead. Ce. i
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