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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0286.PDF
286 FLIGHT, 4 March 1955 SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm News Royal Visitor at Biggin HillO N Tuesday last week the Shah ofPersia visited R.A.F. Station Biggin Hill. After being received by Marshal ofthe Royal Air Force Sir William Dickson, Chief of the Air Staff, and Mr. GeorgeWard, Under-Secretary of State for Air, the Shah inspected a guard of honour andsaw the Queen's Colour paraded. He then inspected the cockpits of a Hunter, aCanberra, a Meteor and a Vampire Trainer. The flying display, which wasto have included a fly-past by the Hunter 2s of No. 257 Sqn., specially detachedfrom Wattisham, was curtailed by extremely bad weather. S/L. I. G. Toppgave a spectacular display of tight, low- level turns in a Canberra, the Hunterstook off for their home base and finally the Shah watched in the G.C.A. caravanwhile several pairs of Meteors were talked down to a landing. He is himself anexperienced pilot. Sir Clifford Sanderson RetiresT HE retirement is announced of AirMarshal Sir A. Clifford Sanderson, K.B.E., C.B., D.F.C., who from 1952until last November was C-in-C. F.E.A.F. Sir Clifford served in both wars. InFebruary 1945, as an air commodore, he was seriously injured in an accident toan aircraft carrying a number of Sir Winston Churchill's staff. From 1948 to1949 he was A.O.C. Air H.Q. Malaya and later became Director General (1) at theAir Ministry. Future of the R.Aux.A.F. SPEAKING at the annual dinner of No.612 (City of Aberdeen) Squadron, R.Aux.A.F., Air Marshal Sir Dermot A.Boyle, C-in-C. Fighter Command, referred to the future of the Auxiliarysquadrons. He said that the advent of nuclear weapons made the first three daysthe most vital if war should break out; that fact had to be reconciled with adesire to keep on the Auxiliaries, with their wonderful spirit. Those in authorityhad a two-fold responsibility—to see that the taxpayers' money was well spent and to see that the tremeadous amount ofvoluntary effort put in by the Auxiliaries was not in vain. [News of plans for theR.Aux.A.F., given in the Air Estimates- Memorandum, appears on p. 260.]Sir Dermot went on to say that he thought it unwise to try to look too farinto the future; but, he told the squadron, "You won't be going out of business.Nothing will happen to you for at least three years." He also broke the newsthat they would not be going abroad for summer camp this year. The camp, spentin Malta last year, will be held in the south of England, probably in Devon orSussex. Other speakers at the dinner wereA. Cdre. Finlay Crerar, the first CO. of the Squadron when it was formed inJune 1937; A. Cdre. Sir Ian A. Forbes- Leith; S/L. N. H. McLean, CO. of theSquadron, and F/L. F. D. Mainland. S/L. McLean is relinquishing his com-mand next month and occasion was taken to present him with a mounted model ofa Vampire, the aircraft with which the squadron was equipped during his com-mand. The model was handed over by Sir Ian Forbes-Leith. R.C.A.F. Neptunes T\ELIVERY of the Lockheed Neptunes•*-' for the Royal Canadian Air Force is expected to begin this month.The first few will be handed over at Lockheed's factory at Burbank, Cali-fornia, where Canadian crews will com- plete their operation, servicing andmaintenance training on them. The Neptunes will be flown to theirnew home at Greenwood, N.S., where at some future date they will be joined bythe maritime reconnaissance Britannias, now being developed. D-Day Commemoration Plaque SPONSORED by members of the Para-k-* chute and Glider Pilot Regiments and No. 38 Group R.A.F. Old Comrades Asso-ciations, a plaque is being erected at Har- well. It is to commemorate the departure,from that point—originally an R.A.F. air- field—of the first R.A.F. aircraft of No. 38 A feature of H.M.S. "Ark Royal" is the deck-edge aircraft lift, the first of its kind to be installed in a British carrier. This additional lift and the two centre-well lifts were installed by the Fraser and Chalmers Engineering works of G.E.C. Ltd. Group (Airborne Forces), carrying troopsof the 6th Airborne Division for the D-Day landings. The memorial will be unveiledby General Sir Richard Gale, G.C.B., K.B.E., D.S.O., M.C., on May 14th. The cost of the plaque is being met fromprivate donations, and contributions should be sent to the Honorary Secretary, HarwellCommemoration Plaque, 54^ Lombard Stieet, London, E.C.3. Canberras for Canadian Exercises EIGHT Royal Air Force Canberras willfly to Canada this summer to take part in Canadian exercises. They will be basedat Goose Bay and from there will operate as "enemy" bombers. During the latter part of their visit theCanberras will visit Ottawa and Montreal and make a tour of the R.C.A.F. train-ing bases in western Canada. Cranwell Reunion in Singapore AT the sixth annual reunion of old Cran-wellians in Singapore no fewer than 32 former cadets were present, includingA.V-M. W. J. M. Akerman, who entered the college in 1921, the year it wasfounded. The guest of honour was A.V-M. F. R.W. Scherger, R.A.A.F., and among those present were Air Marshal F. J. Fressanges,C-in-C. F.E.A.F., who presided, A.V-M. A. D. Gillmore, A.V-M. W. H. Kyle,A. Cdre R. C. Field and A. Cdre. Moore. "Lore of the R.A.F." ^ A MEMBER of the Military HistoricalSociety, Mr. B. N. F. Bright, is engaged on writing a book to be publishedunder the title of The Lore of the Royal Air Force. It will deal with Service cus-toms, traditions and practices, and uni- forms and badges. Anyone who can assist the author withsuitable material is asked to get in touch with him at 92 Brook Lane, Newton,Chester. - • . R.Aux.A.F. AppointmentsT HE appointment has been made ofW/C. D. F. Perrens, D.S.O., D.F.C., R.Aux.A.F., to command No. 3618(County of Sussex) Fighter Control Unit, and W/C. E. L. T. Barton, O.B.E.,R.Aux.A.F., to command No. 3700 (County of London) Radar ReportingUnit. W/C. Perrens spent most of his warservice doing tactical reconnaissance work with the Desert Air Force, being awardedthe D.F.C. in 1944 and the D.S.O. a year later. He joined the R.Aux.A.F. in1948 and has been with No. 3618 F.C.U. since its formation. W/C. Barton is a specialized radar andsignals officer. He was mentioned in Despatches in 1945 and awarded theO.B.E. in June 1946. Reunions THE eighth annual reunion of No. 2A Group Officers', Association will be held on May 7th at the Park Lane Hotel, jLondon. The reunion covers all the wings, \ squadrons and units, and a special welcome 1is extended to W.A.A.F. officers. Particu- A lars from S/L. J. A. Beanie, 55, Shirley 'Street, Hove 3, Sussex. An all-ranks reunion of present and pastmembers of No. 21 Squadron is to be held at the Albert Tavern, 52, Victoria 'iStreet, London, S.W.I, at 1900 hr on •:• May 21st. Lounge suits will be worn. :Further particulars and tickets (8s 6d) from Mr. J. G. B. Draper, Cross Leys, SouthStoke, Reading, Berkshire.
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