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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0614.PDF
614 FLIGHT,13 May 1955 Officers of 2nd A.T.A.F., and visitors, watch a Hunter aerobatic display by F/L. T. 1. McElhaw at lever, with No. 98 Squadron's other newly arrived Hunters in the background. On the left are G/C. T. O. Prickett, O.C. lever; Air Marshal Sir Harry Eroadhurst, C-in-C. 2nd T.A.F.; S/L 1 H Smith- Carrington, O.C. No. 98 Squadron; and Gen. Raf- faelli, Chief of the Italian Air Staff. Under the fin flash of the nearest Hunter is AV-M. D. G Morris, S.A.S.O. 2nd T.A.F. SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm News R.A.F. AppointmentsF IVE important appointments have beenannounced by the Air Ministry. On the retirement of Air Marshal Sir Victor E.Groom in September, Air Vice-Marshal G. R. Beamish, C.B., C.B.E., will becomeA.O.C-in-C. Technical Training Com- mand. He will assume the acting rank ofair marshal. At present A.V-M. Beamish is A.O.C-in-C. Transport Command, which post A.V-M. A. McKee, C B , C.B.E, D S O,,D.F.C., A.F.C., will take over in October. In September A. Cdre. H. A. V. Hogan,D.F.C., with the acting rank of air vice- marshal, will become A.O.C. British ForcesAden, an appointment which will allow the present commander, A.V-M. S. O. Bufton,C.B., D.F.C., to return to the United King- dom in order to take up a new post asS.A.S.O. at Bomber Command H.Q. The fifth appointment is that of A. Cdre.R. C. Mead, C.B.E., D.F.C., A.F.C., A.D.C., to become A.O.C. No. 81 Group,Fighter Command, in August, a post now held by A. Cdre. Hogan. A.V-M. Beamish has been A.O.C-in-C.,Transport Command, since early 1954. Previous to that he was Director-Generalof Personnel (11) at the Air Ministry, A.O.C. Iraq, and Commandant of theRoyal Air Force College, Cranwell. His wartime service was mainly in the MiddleEast and Mediterranean theatre. As a young man he was a famous rugby inter-national; he was capped six times for Ireland and captained the Irish XV in1932. A.V-M. McKee has, since October 1953,been S.A.S.O., Bomber Command, with which he spent most of the war. Since thewar he has been A.O.C. No. 205 Group, Egypt, S.A.S.O., Mediterranean andMiddle East Command, Commandant of the Officers' Advanced Training School,Commandant of the R.A.F. Flying College at Manby, and A.O.C. No. 21 Group,Flying Training Command. A.V-M. Bufton has been A.O.C., BritishForces, Aden, since October 1953. During the war he served with Bomber Commandand as Director of Bomber Operations at the Air Ministry, and since has been Direc-tor of Weapons at the Air Ministry, Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations and Plans) atHeadquarters, Air Forces Western Europe (now Allied Forces Central Europe), andA.O.A., Bomber Command. A. Cdre. Hogan became A.O.C., No. 81 (Fighter) Group, in April 1954 after beingNorthern Sector Commander, Fighter Command. He served in France early inthe war and commanded a Hurricane squadron at Croydon during the Battle ofBritain. A. Cdre. Mead was Director of FlyingTraining at the Air Ministry from December 1952 until last January whenhe attended the Senior Officers' War Course at Greenwich. While commanding aCoastal Command squadron during the war he was second pilot of a Halifax which,following a successful attack on a U-boat, was shot down. He and five other survivorsdrifted for eleven days in a dinghy in the Bay of Biscay before being picked up. C.F.S. Team Visits AmericaA TEAM of nine officers from theCentral Flying School, Little Ris- sington, led by the Commandant, A. Cdre.G. I. C. Paul, D.F.C., is at present visiting flying training units of the RoyalCanadian Air Force, the United States Air Force and the U.S. Navy. They leftby B.O.A.C. on May 7th and the tour is expected to last until May 28m. This tourfollows a visit paid to R.A.F. flying train- ing units last year by Canadian andAmerican service representatives. Washington Post THE appointment is announced ofG/C. G. F. W. Heycock, D.F.C., as Senior Air Staff Officer, British JointServices Mission, Washington, D.C. When war broke out G/C. Heycockwas a pilot in the experimental section at the Royal Aircraft Establishment andlater, during the Battle of Britain, com- manded No. 23 Squadron—then a nightfighter squadron equipped with Blen- heims. Other wartime appointmentsincluded command of West Raynham, a Mosquito base. G/C. Heycock has helda variety of posts since the war, one of which was as Director of Operations tothe Indian Air Force. R.Aux.A.F. Summer Training TOURING the next few months sixteenU Royal Auxiliary Air Force fighter squadrons will fly overseas for their fort-night's summer camp. Eight will go to Germany and eight to Gibraltar. Theremaining four will spend summer camp at fighter stations in England. Of the squadrons for Germany, fourwill go to R.A.F. Wunstorf. They are Nos. 600 (City of London), Biggin Hill;601 (County of London), North Weald; 604 (County of Middlesex), NorthWeald; and 615 (County of Surrey), Biggin Hill. The other four squadrons,which will go to R.A.F. Celle, are: Nos. 500 (County of Kent), West Mailing; 609(West Riding), Church Fenton; 611 (West Lancashire), Hooton Park; and 616 (SouthYorkshire), Finningley. The squadrons going to Gibraltar are:Nos. 501 (County of Gloucester), Filton; 502 (Ulster), Aldergrove; 603 (City ofEdinburgh), Turnhouse; 605 (County of Warwick),- Honiley; 607 (County ofDurham), Ouston; 608 (North Riding), Thornaby; 613 (City of Manchester),Ringway; and 614 (County of Glamorgan), Llandow.More than 2,000 members of the Women's Royal Auxiliary Air Force,including 80 officers, will shortly start their 14 days' annual summer training. To Command H.M.A.S.'Melbourne'A T present Australian Naval attache inL Washington, Capt. G. G. O. Gatacre, D.S.O., D.S.C. and Bar, R.A.N., is tocommand the Australian aircraft carrier H.M.A.S. Melbourne when she begins herfirst commission next October. Honour for R.A.F. AbingdonA T a recent ceremony attended by- Lord de L'Isle and Dudley, V.C., Dr. G. Fitzgerald O'Connor, the Mayorof Abingdon, handed to G/C. S. P. Hagger, who commands R.A.F. Abing-don, a casket containing a scroll record- ing the granting of the freedom of entryto the borough, with leave to march through the town "with bayonets fixedand colours flying." R.Aux.A.F. Appointment T"HE Air Ministry has announced the-•- appointment of S/L. T. E. Johnson, D.F.C., to command No. 612 (County ofAberdeen) Squadron, R.Aux.A.F. S/L. Johnson, who is a Regularofficer, served much of the war as a pilot in the Middle East with Nos. 43, 601, 92and 253 Squadrons. Since the war he has held a number of training appoint-'ments. -. , ; Reunion T^HE fifth annual reunion of No. 80-* Squadron will be held at the Prince of Wales, Drury Lane, London, W.C.2, onSaturday, June 4th, at 7 p.m. All ranks who have served with the squadron areinvited to attend. Tickets (13s) and particulars may be hadfrom Mr. N. Garfoot, 80 Redway Drive, Whitton, Middlesex.
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