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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0493.PDF
FLIGHT, 17 April 1953 489 "Flight" photograph For the set piece. Nine Acks of No. 207 Squadron taking off at the R.A.F. Pageant in 1924. They were to bomb the "ships " seen in the background. No. 207 Squadron per cent; and rear-gun ground target and towed target, 62 and 92 per cent respectively. In January 1933, S/L. J. L. Vachell, M.C., came from the Staff College to take over from S/L. J. W. Woodhouse who, with the rank of wing commander, went to command the practice camp at North Coates Fitties. Vachell did not remain long with the unit, for he was replaced by S/L. G. Dawson in September of the same year, but in November, F/L. Wright took over temporary command while the CO. went to C.F.S. to attend the new "Instrument Flying Course"—the beginning of blind flying. An Avro 504 N with hood over the rear cockpit was allotted to the squadron from C.F.S. for training new pilots in this new fangled technique. In 1935, with trouble brewing in Abyssinia, the squadron again went overseas, this time to Ed Darner in the Sudan, where it shared a mess with No. 35 Squadron. The aircraft were taken to an emergency airfield at Port Sudan, where they were erected and later flown to Ed Damer. From the beginning of November, 1935, until the end of the following March the squadron was employed in siting and prepar ing advanced landing grounds and bomb dumps, and maintainng a daily air mail service between Ed Damer, Kassala and Khartoum. Some of the advanced landing grounds were as far distant as 300 miles. The Fairey Gordons had a pretty bad time. They were picketed in the open, and the engines suffered much from sand storms, the grit causing excessive wear and considerable increases in oil consumption. At the end of March 1936, S/L. Rodwell left the unit owing to ill-health and was replaced by S/L. J. W. Lissett. In addition to the change in command the unit moved to Gebeit (about 60 miles west of Port Sudan and some 2,600ft above sea level) and changed its Fairey Gordons for Vickers Vincents. These, however, were held for only a short while. In July the Vincents were handed over to No. 47 (B) Squadron and that unit's Fairey Gordons were taken in exchange. Gebeit was also the scene of the presentation of the Squadron badge by G/C. R. Collishaw. The badge is one of the very few signed by King Edward VIII before he abdicated. August 1936, saw No. 207 on its way back to England in company with Nos. 3, 12, 35 and 41 Squadrons. It was posted to Worthy Down as part of No. 2 Group and re-formed on a two-flight basis. With the expansion of the R.A.F.—which was then in full swing because of the international situation—a number of new pilots direct from F.T.S.s were being sent to the squadron. None of them had ever flown a Gordon, and there were no dual-control Gordons available for instruction. However, with ground, instruction, passenger flights and taxying practice, all managed to convert without breaking any aircraft. It was about this time, also, that No. 207 initiated the use of photography for practice bombing in place of the old camera-obscura method. It was so successful that the idea was promptly seized upon by Bomber Command. An interesting feature of the training in 1937 was the increase in night flying demanded of the single-engined "day" bombers. The chief reason was the reclassification of bombers from "day" and "night" bombers into light, medium and heavy categories. In September 1937, the Gordons were replaced by Vickers Wellesleys. The first was collected from Brooklands on the last day of August, In view of the complicated nature of the aircraft (Washingtons) which the squadron now flies it is interesting to read in the diary : "As the new aircraft are fitted with modern contrivances such as variable-pitch airscrews, retractable under carriages, hydraulically-operated flaps and air-pressure brakes, the pilots are given printed cards to refer to, so that they will remember the sequence of operations." Thus was cockpit drill born. The beginning of 1938—Munich year—saw the squadron working-up very hard. Fhghts of over five hours were made, and practice bombing carried out from 10,000, 15,000 and 20,000ft to ascertain the limits of visibility from the bomb-aimer's position in the Wellesley. On one of the long-range trips to Durham a Wellesley was lost in a forced landing. Considerable trouble was experienced with the aircraft emptying one wing tank before the other and developing an air-lock in the fuel system. In April 1938, came another double change. The squaSron moved to Cottesmore, in Rutland, and was re-equipped with Battles, thus going back to Fairey aircraft once more. The Wellesleys went to the Middle East, where their long-range capabilities were more appreciated. In August, S/L. J. N. D. Anderson was posted to command No. 207 in place of S/L. Lissett, who went to Training Command H.Q. In September came the Munich crisis. All leave was stopped and key personnel recalled. The squadron mobilization scheme required everything and everybody to be ready to move at one day's notice. With Hitler's suave promises, conveyed by Mr. Chamberlain as "peace in our time," the excitement died down and the squadron was notified that it was no longer regarded as an emergency squadron. The Battle is with Merlin is were changed for Battle is with Merlin 2s, and normal training proceeded. At the outbreak of war in September, 1939, the squadron was scarcely an operational unit. It had moved from Cottesmore to Cranfield and was, to all intents and purposes, a unit for training pilots, air observers and wireless operator/air gunners. A number of aircraft and crews were posted away to bring other squadrons up to war strength. These were soon replaced and the early part of the "phoney war" period was spent as an O.T.U., with a move back to Cottesmore because of airfield unserviceability at Cran field. In April the squadron was absorbed into No. 12 Opera tional Training Unit and later became once more a separate entity—at Waddington, in November 1940, as part of No. 5 Group. W/C. N. C. Hyde was in command, and the aircraft on strength were Avro Manchesters with Rolls-Royce Vulture 2 engines. Certain difficulties with both engines and airframes owing to hurried wartime production caused a lot of unserviceability. Six of the Manchesters were detailed for intensive flying until 500 Flight Commander F/L. W. Elliott, D.F.C. (with dog), in front of his Fairey IIIF in 1928. He later became A.O.C-in-C. Fighter Command. Practising for the R.A.F. Display, 1928. The tails show the differences between the IIIFs from the R.A.F. and those from the Fleet Air Arm. "Flight" photographs
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