FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1951
1951 - 2217.PDF
58o SERVICE AVIATION . . . to move about freely. Included in theequipment is over 860 lb of radio and radar, 720 lb of "electrics" and services, andnearly 200 lb of special navigation devices. Additionally, there is some 700 lb ofmiscellaneous gear peculiar to the training role for which the aircraft is fitted out,leaving an additional disposable load of over 2,420 lb for fuel, crew and stores. In service with the Royal Navy, the SeaPrince will perform various aircrew training roles (other than that of "flyingclass-room"), when alternative equipment is installed on attachments for whichprovision is made in the basic design. Award of George Cross A POSTHUMOUS award of tne GeorgeCross has been made to F/L. J. A. Quinton of No. 228 Operational Conver- sion Unit, for his exceptional bravery in an air collision between a Wellington, in which he was flying as a navigator, and a fighter. He gave the only parachute avail- able to an A.T.C. Cadet, Derek Coates, whose life was saved. The citation reads : "The force of the impact caused the aircraft to break up, and, as it was plunging to earth out of control, F/L. Quinton picked up the only para- chute within reach and clipped it on to the cadet's harness. "He pointed to the rip-cord and a gaping hole in the aircraft, thereby indicating that the cadet should jump. At that moment a further portion of the aircraft was torn away and the cadet, clutching the rip-cord was flung through the side. He landed safely. "F/L. Quinton acted with superhuman speed, displaying the most commendable courage and self-sacrifice, as he well knew that in giving up the only parachute within reach he was forfeiting any chance of saving his own life." Shepherd Memorial Essay FOR this year's Gordon ShepherdMemorial Prize Essay Competition the problem set was : "The rapidly increasing speeds and ranges of aircraft mean that, in a future war, air forces of two or more nations may have to operate in close co- operation, not only strategically, but tacti- cally, from bases separated possibly by thousands of miles. Command, strategy, tactics, mobility, communications, equip- ment, training and many other problems are involved. How should an air force be developed and trained to meet these prob- lems successfully?" The winners were: 1st, F/L. E. A. ETERNAL SUMMER: Aircraftmen servicing a D.H. Hornet in Malaya, where the temperature is rarely known to fall below 86 deg F. For operations against the bandits the Hornet carries 2x 1,000 Ib bombs, four rockets and four 20 mm cannon. Knighton; 2nd, S/L. E. Graham; 3rd, F/L. R. Brickwood. A. V-M. D. A. Boyle, A. V-M. Sir Harry Broadhurst and A. V-M. L. F. Pendred were the referees. W.R.A.F. AppointmentT HE Air Ministry has announced the appointment of G/O. J. L. A. Conan Doyle, O.B.E., as Deputy Director (Per- sonnel) of the W.R.A.F. The new Deputy Director is the daughter of the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and has, since February, 1950, been W.R.A.F. Staff Officer at H.Q. Technical Training Command. Mountain Rescue Awards IN recognition of the devotion and cour-age they displayed as leader and mem- ber of a mountain rescue team, F/L. P. Dawes has been awarded the M.B.E. and A/C. M. Brown the B.E.M. Operating from R.A.F Kinloss, the team to which they belong went to the wreckage of a Lancaster near the summit of a 3,200ft mountain in north-west Scotland. Ten ascents were made when the mountain was covered with 10 to 12ft of snow and in winds which reached 100 m.p.h. Scone Trophy GLASGOW University Air Squadronhas won the Scone Trophy in com- petition against the Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St. Andrews squadrons. The Trophy was given by Airwork Ltd., to Scone airfield for competition between the Scottish University air squadrons. It was accepted earlier this year by A. Cdre. A. R. Wardle, A.O.C. No. 66 Group, who decided that the competition should include pilot-navigation, formation flying and individual aerobatics. Each team consists of three cadets and three instructors. The Glasgow team comprised F/Cdts. G. S. S. Barr, S. James and G. Moffat and F/Ls. W. A. Gill, J. G. Duncan and R. Kinder. The runners-up were Edinburgh. PATHFINDER MEMORIAL : At the 7th anniver- sary party of the Pathfinder Club, held last Monday evening, the president Dr. J. C. MacGown, D.F.C., unveiled a bronze memorial tablet, the inscription on which dedicated the Club to the service of past and present members of the R.A.F., Dominion and Allied air forces. MEDME Despatch (COMPLEMENTARY to Field Marshal ^ Viscount Alexander's despatch dealing with the Italian campaign is another, by Air Chief Marshal Sir Guy Garrod, under the title The Part Played by the Allied Air Forces in the Final Defeat of the Enemy in the Mediterranean Theatre, March to May, 1945. It is issued as a supplement to the London Gazette for October 29th, 1951. Sir Guy was C-in-C. R.A.F. Mediterranean and Middle East and Deputy Air C-in-C. Mediterranean Allied Air Forces. This is no story of equally matched forces slogging away at one another, for during the period under review the Allies could put 4,000 aircraft against the enemy's meagre 130. It tells rather of strategic and tactical interdiction, carried out so thoroughly that the enemy could no longer fight where he stood, yet neither could he retreat. It also deals with the air support given to the army during the actual battles and the difficulties of the Balkan Air Force's campaign in Jugoslavia. Oil production provided most important targets, and by the end of March the enemy's production of liquid fuels and lubricants had been reduced to less than 20 per cent of the April, 1944, level and petrol to about 10 per cent. Oxen had to be used to tow lorries and members of the German 98th Division were offered a reward of a thousand cigarettes if they returned from a patrol with a tin of cap- tured petrol. In confirmation of the effect of the sus- tained air attack, Sir Guy quotes two German generals. A statement by General von Senger, commanding the German XIV Panzer Corps, says : "It was the bombing of the river Po crossings that finished us. We could have withdrawn successfully with normal rear-guard action despite the heavy pressure but, due to the destruction of the ferries and river crossings, we lost all our equipment. North of the river we were no longer an army." General von Vietinghoff, German Su- preme Commander, corroborated by stat- ing : "The crossings of the Reno and Fo rivers were decisively influenced by ti>e employment of the Allied Air Forces. The smashing of almost all ferries and bridges made an ordered retreat across the Po n° longer possible."
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
