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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0475.PDF
FLIGHT, 19 February 1954 223 SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm News High Command Appointments THE Queen has been pleased to ap prove the following appointments: Air Marshal Sir Donald Hardman, K.C.B., O.B.E., D.F.C., to be Air Mem ber for Supply and Organisation; Air Marshal C. E. N. Guest, K.B.E., C.B., C.B.E., to be Inspector-General of the R.A.F.; A.V-M. G. R. Beamish, C.B., C.B.E., to be A.O.C-in-C. Transport Command. Sir Donald Hardman succeeds Air Chief Marshal Sir John Whitworth Jones, K.C.B., C.B.E., who is retiring. He has recently returned from Australia, where for the past two years he has been Chief of the Air Staff to the R.A.A.F. Before going to Australia Sir Donald was A.O.C- in-C. Home Command. Air Marshal Guest, in his new post as Inspector-General, will succeed Air Marshal S. C. Strafford, C.B., C.B.E., D.F.C., who, also, is retiring from the Service. Air Marshal Guest has been A.O.C-in-C. Transport Command since May 1952 and before that date was at the Air Ministry as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations). A.V-M. Beamish, who takes over Transport Command, has for the past two years been Director-General of Personnel (II) at the Air Ministry, and was formerly A.O.C. Iraq. He entered the Service as a cadet at R.A.F. College Cranwell, in 1923 and commanded the College in 1949. The two officers who are retiring both have very long service to their credit. Sir John Whitworth Jones served in the Royal Engineers (T.A.) from 1912 until he was commissioned in the Royal Flying Corps in 1917, transferring to the R.A.F. on its formation on April 1st, 1918. As a squadron commander he specialized in army co-operation work but much of his later service has dealt with operations and organization. Air Marshal Strafford was commissioned in the Royal Naval Air A GOOD DOZEN: Twelve Meteor 8s of No. 63 Squadron, led by S/L. F. W. Doherty, flying in "echelon starboard, stepped up" over Cambridgeshire. In addition to those painted on the fuselage, squadron markings appear on the wing-tips. Service in 1917 changing, of course, to the R.A.F. when it was formed a year later. He won his D.F.C. while serving with No. 224 Squadron in the 1914-18 war. The last two posts which he held be fore becoming Inspector-General were as Commandant-General of the R.A.F. Regi ment and S.A.S.O. at Bomber Command. The First Swift Squadron SPECULATION as to which unit would be the first to receive Supermarine Swifts is now ended—No. 56 Squadron, commanded by S/L. C. J. Storey, is to have that honour. No. 56 has quite a remarkable record in both wars. It was formed at Gosport in June 1916, from a nucleus provided by No. 28 (Home Defence) Squadron. Des pite its comparatively late start the squad ron was credited in the 1914-18 war with the destruction of 395 enemy aircraft and six balloons. Its pilots were remarkable exponents of the S.E.5. Capt. Albert Ball and Capt. J. B. McCudden both won the Victoria Cross while serving with the unit. HAWK-EYED: Bearded Lt. Cdr. P. C. S. "Pat") Chilton, R.N., commanding No. 806 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, keeps an eye on his Sea Hawk as it is struck down after flying aboard H.M.S. "Eagle" with other aircraft of the squadron. No. 806 had previously been working up at Rrawdy, Pembrokeshire, as No. 898 are doing at present (see article "Sea Hawks" in this issue). In the 1939-45 war No. 56 first had Spitfires and, later, Tempests. It served in France, at Dunkirk, in the Battle of Britain and on the Continent and was credited with destroying 149 enemy aircraft. No. 26 Squadron Ceremony /"\N the 20th of this month a ceremony is *•* due to take place at R.A.F. Olden burg, Germany, at which Commandant A. J. Mossop, C.B.E., representing the South African Air Force, will present a mounted springbok head to No. 26 Squadron, R.A.F. It will be received by S/L. K. Smith, D.F.C., the CO. The relationship between South Africa and No. 26 dates back as far as November 1914, when a unit of the South African Aviation Corps was formed for service in South West Africa. This unit, in October 1915, became embodied in No. 26 (South African) Squadron, R.F.C., and during most of the 1914-18 war continued to serve in South Africa. It returned to Britain in July 1918. During the stay abroad the springbok's head was adopted as the squadron's insignia, and later incorporated in the official badge, with the motto in Afrikaans "N' Wafter in Die Lug" (The Watcher in the Sky). For many years the squadron's role was that of army co-operation but it is now equipped with Sabres and operates as a fighter/interceptor unit. R.A.F.A. Raise Funds T O raise funds for the welfare of ex- Service personnel undergoing treat ment for tuberculosis in Switzerland, two gala Balls and a film premiere were or ganized by the Royal Air Forces Associa tion at Davos and St. Moritz earlier this month. Both functions were attended by the British ambassador, Sir Lionel Lambe. A party of well-known people, including Lord and Lady Tedder, S/L. Neville Duke, Lt-Cdr. Michael Lithgow and S/L. Leslie Colquhoun, together with the dance section of the R.A.F. Central Band, flew by Silver City Airways from Blackbushe to Zurich.
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