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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0211.PDF
13 February 1953 209 SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Force and Naval Aviation News The Duke Progresses "THIS week the Duke of Edinburgh is •*• expected to start flying Harvards. He has completed his ab initio training on Chipmunks, flying from Birchan Newton, which is near the royal estates at Sand- ringham. On Saturday last he spent an hour-and- a-half solo, practising forced landings, steep turns and stalls. R.A.F. May Train German Pilots P ROPOSALS were announced by the Foreign Office last week whereby, under the as yet unratified European Defence Community Treaty, the R.A.F. will be responsible for the training of a West German Air Force, the projected size of which is approximately 80,000 men and 1,300 aircraft. The Foreign Office announcement states : "Suggestions for assistance include the provision of training facilities, advice on training matters, the secondment of British officers to E.D.C. staffs, the pro vision of tactical demonstrations and joint unit training exercises. "Suggestions for association include the exchange of officers for command and staff service, joint formation training under the overall command of the Supreme Com mander, Europe, the interchange of air force squadrons and the co-ordination of the systems of air defence." The practical application of the courses suggested, it is stated, would be carried out "in consultation, whenever appro priate with the Supreme Commander, Europe." The proposals "do not deal with matters of planning, intelligence or operational command." In these fields "the European Defence Forces will function within the already existing NATO framework, and will auto matically be associated with the United Kingdom forces already allocated to NATO." If the proposed arrangement comes into being, it is expected that the German air crews will attend R.A.F. training schools, and that the resulting squadrons will train in the R.A.F. operational Commands. The Foreign Office points out that the suggested arrangement is at the moment ON THE WAY: The first of the ten Short Sealand amphibians for the Indian Navy—the machine handed over at Rochester on January T3th—landed at Nicosia, Cyprus, on January 29th and left the next day for Beirut. only a proposal. Neither the Air Ministry nor the Ministry of Defence has any com ments to add to the Foreign Office an nouncement In the House of Commons on Wednes day last, Capt. G. R. Chetwynd was due to ask the Foreign Secretary "Why facilities are being given for the training of German officers and non-commissioned officers as instructors in Britain, and to what extent these arrangements include provisions for the training of airmen?" Operation Floodlight I N more than 70 sorties, flown in six days, the photographic reconnaissance organ ization of Bomber Command last week made a complete survey of the flooded areas of Britain. Over 100,000 photo graphic prints were made from the 16,500 separate negatives obtained. Operation Floodlight, as the task was called, was carried out with wartime operational urgency and proved to be of great training value. The survey started on the morning of Monday February 2nd, and the first pri ority task was get large-scale photographs of the Thames Estuary and the coastline from Hunstanton to Cromer. Next on the list was a small-scale coverage of the whole of the flooded areas and large-scale photographs of the complete coastline from the Humber to Margate. Apart from the great help which these photographs provided in the work of rebuilding the sea walls, they brought to light at least one breach in the sea defences unknown to the ground authorities. In addition to the actual photographic reconnaissance, air crews made reports from visual observations, and photographic interpreters of the three Services provided a daily summary of the main features shown in the photographs as they were obtained. There is also in preparation a map showing the full extent of the floods and the location of each breach in the sea defences. From the photographs forming the basis of this map an assessment will also be made showing the number of buildings destroyed or damaged. Bomber V.C.s' Gathering M EMBERS of Bomber Command who have won the Victoria Cross were invi ted to dine in London on the evening (Feb ruary 1 ith) of the premiere of Appointment in London, an exceptionally fine film which dramatizes the wartime story of a bomber squadron. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir William F. Dickson, was to be present. Of the 19 members of Bomber Com mand awarded the Victoria Cross, only seven were still living; five of these— W/C. H. I. Edwards, S/L. L. H. Trent, F/L. W. Reid, F/L. R. A. B. Learoyd, and Sgt. N. C. Jackson—were to attend the function. From Bombay S/L. J. C. Cruikshank cabled regrets for his absence, and G/C. L. Cheshire is in hospital. Lord Trenchard T UESDAY of last week marked the occasion of die 80th birthday of Marshal of the R.A.F. Lord Trenchard. The follow ing telegram was sent to him by the Secretary of State for Air, Lord De LTsle and Dudley, 33. C.: "I send you on behalf of the Air Council and all ranks of the Royal Air Force warm congratulations on the occasion of your 80th birthday. "We recall with gratitude the courage, determination, and foresight which has done so much to create and inspire the Force. We are immensely proud of the LARGE AND SMALL (Left) Briefing aircrews for the large-scale, 1/5,000, coverage of the flooded areas in Norfolk and the Thames Estuary. (Right) Loading an F.49 camera, with short focus lens, into a P.R., Avro Lancaster for small-scale survey of the whole area covered by the floods.
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